Going Solo

Well this evening was certainly an interesting run. I was unable to get much sleep on Thursday night, so I opted to sleep later instead of run in the morning. I didn't eat anything other than breakfast before work and I didn't get a break until 5 hours were up. I developed a headache and eating McDonald's during break wasn't any help.

I was still determined to get out and run in the beautiful 31 degree weather though (wind chill of 24 degrees). I ended up resting for about an hour to try to clear my headache. Following that, I opted to just attempt to sleep instead and make up the run at another time.

Of course the Friday night party downstairs started up and I couldn't sleep. As 10:30 rolled around, I just decided to head out the door for a run. Kind of crazy, but I might as well do something productive. I ran a 4 miler. I started on Kelly Drive and did an out and back for a total of a mile. I then ran the Schuykill Banks loop.

Not surprisingly, I was the only runner out. I was passed by about 5 bikers and a couple walkers. I think most people that were crazy enough to be out an 11 PM on a Friday were just commuting from somewhere.

I figured that I had dressed too warm with a jacket over my shirt. I was worried about going out without a jacket that late at night though. I was right, it was definitely too hot. Throughout some of the run, I had to open the jacket.

I ran a nice solid pace on this easy day. My quads were a bit sore from yesterday's hills, but other than that, I felt good. I was even crazy enough to add two hill sprints behind the Art Museum. Luckily, no one saw me. I would've looked completely ridiculous running uphill at full speed with tights and a yellow shirt on over my jacket.

I'm really starting to like this night running thing. The skyline is beautiful and everything is so peaceful. Of course, I've always enjoyed the darkness in general. If it wasn't somewhat dangerous, I might run more often at night.

This was good practice for the upcoming New Year's Midnight run that I signed up for along the river. As I was walking home, the clock hit 12 AM and it officially became my birthday. Speaking of which, I'd still like to get a 9 mile long run in tomorrow afternoon. It might get tricky because a big snowstorm is supposed to start overnight.

4 miles - 32:26 (8:07 pace)