Tuesday, October 16, 2007

EERILY EXHILARATING

There’s something eerily exhilarating about running the trails of Hyland Park in the dark, in the rain. Much of the trails are lined by trees, making it very dark. And there are usually rabbits all over the place just waiting to scare the hell out of me. The sky this morning was a scary gray (or is it grey – I can never keep them straight). My headlamp illuminated the rain coming down, as well as the breath rising from my mouth. Anyway, it all made for a spooky, Halloween-type of atmosphere.

I somehow managed 10 miles without falling or running off the trail. With the headlamp, I can either watch my footing or see where the trail goes – not both. I tend to watch my footing, which is interesting because it also prevents me from seeing any hill. I guess that’s a benefit of running in the dark.

One thing is for sure, the wet trails are doing a number on my shoes and socks. I believe they used to be white, but I can’t be positive any more.

“Someone” emailed me regarding yesterday’s article at runnersworld.com. They feel that, although Carrie Tollefson gets her fair-share of publicity, the rest of Team USA Minnesota doesn’t. Sure they’re not Olympians (yet) like Carrie, but some of the other women on the team have also won national titles.

Anyway, the email got me thinking about professional running teams. To me it seems like Brooks-Hansons is definitely the “media darlings” of the bunch. Personally, I’d stack Team Minnesota up against them any day. On the men’s side, Brooks-Hansons may have more depth than Team Minnesota, by on the women’s side, it’s not even close.

Quote of the day;

“‘They don't often win or make headlines?’ Katie McGregor has won several National Road Titles (10K – 2005 and 2006, 25K 2007) and was also the 10,000 meter Champion in 2005” – commenter on the RW article mentioned above - and no, it wasn't me

3 comments:

Bill said...

Chad, What kind of headlamp do you use. I've never had much luck with them. They either are to bulky and move around to much or the don't Illuminate very well.

Chad said...

Bill, it says Princeton Tec Matrix 2 on it. I always wear it with a baseball cap or winter hat to help with the bouncing. And it's not like it's lighting up the trail like it's high-noon. It's just providing enough light so I don't run into a tree or off the side of a hill.

Kirk said...

I use a Piezl light with 3 LED's. It is pretty good, although I don't think I'd tackle Lebanon Hills with it.