Running in the Moonlight

When practicing for your first marathon, they strongly urge you not to miss the long runs. While there will be shorter runs in the middle of the week, it is the long runs that builds up the mileage and the endurance to finish the full 42kms. I do my long runs on Sunday morning and I am now running at 20+ kilometers. I have to wake up early to start my runs.

Last Sunday, I woke up very late. I cant start running at 8am. The sun is up and it will be too hot to run. Besides the roads would be busy with buses and cars. It would be very distracting to run late in the morning. But I was determined not to miss my long run. I should be running a 21km again. So I decided to run in the afternoon at 5pm. It wouldnt be that hot but I expect to return home at night around 8pm.

Dusk and Dawn
I am used to running in the morning. Less cars, warm breeze, scenic sunrise. I haven’t run at dusk. Just thinking of it makes me lazy since it is my time to be a couch potato. I also think it will be too tiring since I would arrive in the evening and start to prepare for work the next day. Nonetheless, I have to stick to the plan and make a long run.

I left the house at 5pm. I had a light snack and dressed up for running. It felt weird when people would stare at me. They might find it weird for someone to run in the afternoon. It also didnt feel right for me to run at that time. But I kept on running. It became comfortable when I crossed Edsa to run at McKinley Road. Few people there to stare. When I reached Lawton Drive, I see several runners having their evening run too. Now, I belong. By the time I reached Bayani Road, it was almost dark and the full moon was shining above.

The Night Life
I thought that an afternoon run will be tiresome and boring. There will be few runners on the road. The street lights will make the road look dull. The streets will be busy by the Sunday shoppers in Ayala and The Fort.

I was wrong. It wasnt that bad. The night gave a new look on the roads I used to run with. There was a subtle yellow glow in the streets of Ayala which was soft to the eyes. The breeze was cool maybe because it is the -ber months already. There were a lot of runners along Lawton Ave and Bayani Road. And the streets were not as busy as I thought expect near the church in McKinley.

However, I have to be extra careful when running at night. I must be at the safe side of the sidewalk and never assume that the drivers will see me on the road.

With this experience, I wont hesistate running late in the afternoon again. But, of course, it is still best for me to run in the morning.

The Aftermath
I finished my Sunday long run with a time of 2 hours and 46 minutes. It was about 21.4 kms long. I am still not happy with the time. The hills at the Fort was very challenging but I managed to run them without stopping. It was my first time to run the course starting from the house to Bayani Road so I was a bit tentative with my pace. I hope to make a better time next time.

However, it took me while to recover from the run last Sunday. I had another short run last Tuesday and my feet were still tired. Had I run at the usual time last Sunday, I could have recovered already.

Next race
The Adidas King of the Road 2008 will be this coming October 11. It is a Saturday so I really cant join this one. But the race singlets were nice and you can view them at takbo.ph. Registration for the KOTR will start this week. We are still waiting for updates on the registration sites and procedures. So drop by the website for the latest updates.

I might drop by the Raising Hope 2 at Rockwell this Sunday. That is, if I wake up early and finish my run early too. I have a church activity in the morning to attend to as well. But I would like to be there so I can register early for the New Balance Power Race on November.