Running Along in the Dark

 

 

500 lumens rolling down the trail.

 

 

Sam and his measly one headlamp

Darkness and snow.  That is all you get for the next 4 months.  You can embrace it; or slumber the winter away.  You can enjoy the fresh mountain air; or you can breathe the crap down in the valley.  You can gain 15 lbs over the holidays, or you can adapt to the season and get in some, (dare I say it?) awesome runs.

So the question I asked myself was this:  How do I enjoy running in the darkness and snow?  First... a steady plan on some good, well tracked out trails is a great start.  So, I asked Sam if he would be up for a weekly, Friday run of the Mueller Park loop.  The idea is that, unless otherwise stated, we will have a standing appointment, all the way through March, where we will meet on Fridays at 4:00 am at the Mueller Park trailhead. Then, taking consideration of the trail conditinos, run as far up the trail as we have time for.   Once you hit Rudy's Flats, you might as well keep going, since the running will be all downhill for the rest of the loop and would take about as much time either way to get back to the car.



Mueller Park Bountiful Blvd loop Map and Stats

Matt Ricks has joined us the last two weeks on this run.  We would love to have this be a group run every Friday, so If there is anyone who actually reads our blog (hi mom), you are welcome to join us.  However, this next Friday (Nov 29) we won't be running.

So... the second part of running this time of year is how to deal with the darkness.  A good headlamp is key.  However, I noticed that I don't love running in the darkness with my headlamp.  And after a few early, dark, trail runs this year, I figured out why.  Even though I love my Coast headlamp,  with the lamp so close to my eyes, I couldn't see the projected shadows from rocks, roots, and branches.  


Wristlamps.  You know you want one.

This made it quite difficult to determine depth perception, and my running slowed to a crawl.  So, being the ingenious thinker that I am, I decided to make some "wrist-lamps" to add to my headlamp.  I wanted to still have my hands free, so I bought two more Coast 175 lumen lamps, and did some Frankenstein work on the headlamps till I had two new wristlamps.  The other thing I did was to buy a bunch of good rechargeable batteries for them, so that every time I run, they have full power.  Sure, it cost me about $70 to get my lighting situation under control, but blasting 500 lumens of light on the trail makes running in the dark pretty cool, and removes the sense of impending darkness that you feel is constantly waiting to ambush you.


Here comes the train.

Yup... Embrace the season.  That means you Jake.