Running in the dark.

I have always been a morning person. As an attempt at New Year Resolutions and beginning my training for the Great Wall Half-Marathon in May, I have been running before school. The weather has been ideal--low 40s. I only run when the pollution is below 150, which has been 3 days this week. I leave around 5:10 AM, and it's dark, really dark, sometimes creepy dark. This is what it looks like:

I almost always have the right of way. 

I like the mornings because it is quiet. There is little to no traffic. I don't have to wait at stoplights as much. It can be a bit eerie at times though. One of my first runs, I made the mistake of running by the lake and a canal that continues to my house. Some of the lights there were not on, and it was scary. Luckily, I don't have to fear monkeys here, but the occasional cat is enough to push the blood pressure through the roof. 

It reminds me of a really dumb run I took in Madison one time. I was training for the Indianapolis Marathon, and it was summer time. It was so hot all the time. I decided to run after work one day and thought the arboretum was a suitable place because it forced me to run through and not cut distance. Well, it got dark when I was in there, and there weren't any lights. The surrounding trees created a darkness that I had forgotten existed while living the city life. It was so scary and very dangerous. There were a few cars that were driving through. The scariest part was when an equally dumb cyclist was pedaling through and did not have a light either. We literally almost collided. 

Now, I stick to the streets with lights and try to avoid collisions. I listen to my podcasts and enjoy the occasional, "HELLOOOO!" from men on electric scooters.