I went for a run on Friday morning. I left the house at 6:15AM and walked to the trace. It was pitch black. I had my GPS light fully illuminated. I also had my blinky light from my road bike clipped to my waist band. I have been riding in the early morning hours and I know just how hard it is to see runners.
I ran the first couple of miles by intuition. There are several shades of black on the trace. You can just tell where the edges of the trace meet the pine straw covered shoulder. You run by feel. In the back of your mind you know that if there are any obstructions on the trace then you are going down. It took a couple of miles before the sun started to rise enough to make out more detail. Running in the dark is not my favorite activity. Running at tempo is even less fun.
On Sunday morning it was a completely different story. I once again left the house at 6:15AM and the glorious sun had already risen. I could see the trace and all of its contours. There was still a chill in the air but the morning light made it feel warmer. I clicked off my miles and was home before I knew it.
Later in the day I was out running on the mountain bike trails with some friends. We ran for just less than an hour. It was not much mileage but we had fun on the switchbacks. I got back home at around 5PM. The sun was starting to set and it was dark within half an hour.
That is the trade off with day light savings. For me, I’ll take it.
