Running in the Dark

So I said I would run 20-30 miles by the end of the week, but with the business of the week (Missions Conference at church and lots and lots of apartments to clean at work) and tending to my heel/foot problem, I found myself Saturday night frustrated at not being able to run. So I did something that I figured would be dumb, but it actually turned out to be just fine: I left my house at 2:00 Sunday morning and ran for three hours in the darkness. It was daylight savings time so I waited for my phone to change an hour forward. I was told it changes at 2am but mine didn't change till 3 (very few people were actually watching, I am sure).

I went slow so as not to damage my foot any further. It was great, but the last couple of miles really hurt. I got in about 18 miles--not 20-30, but then again it was also a new week if you want to get technical. Anyway, I enjoy running in the dark. I get the road to myself, pretty much. I seem to be more alert at night, even on a couple hours of sleep. And I can hear little more than my thoughts and the rhythm of my shuffling feet against the asphalt.

I typically don't run on Sundays unless I am finishing an ultra marathon, but I figured this would be okay as long as I made it to church in time to drive the church bus. I did, and surprisingly I didn't struggle too badly to stay awake during the services. Sunday evening was a little harder, but I was so excited about the Missions Conference that I stayed in there for the most part.

This evening (actually yesterday evening since I'm editing right now) I did about a half-mile barefoot (I know a lot of people won't understand the reasoning behind this, but ask me and I will tell you more). I could have ran a lot further, but I know from experience that if you run for more than a mile on bare feet that are not fully conditioned (I usually run about two when my feet can take it), you get blisters on the balls of your feet the size of golf balls--ouch!