Scared to Run in the Dark

Fall has become my favorite time of year to run. The temps are perfect, the scenery is beautiful, no snakes, etc. Then daylight savings time hit and ruined my weekly running routine.

Where I live it's dark by 4:30 which is when I usually go for my run. But since I'm a woman and a little bit of a scaredy cat, I've been trying over the last few weeks to adjust my running so I can do at least two runs during the week. I've researched several options of what to do to make running in the dark safe and here are my experiences with that advice.

1. Run with a buddy

Me and my hubby

This one is hard for me because I am for sure a lone runner. I like listening to music, an audiobook, or pretty much anything other than having to hold a conversation with another person. Running is my alone time and I love that. But I tried this piece of advice anyways and grabbed my husband. He said he would run with me or near me so I would feel safe.

Well that fell apart as soon as he realized A.) He's not a runner and B.) He hates running. We were running and I needed to do three miles and he decided to turn at the mile 1 mark and make it a 2 mile out and back. I kept going on my favorite running trail and as I kept running I noticed it was getting dark very quickly. I was approaching one of my favorite spots of my run which looks like an enchanted forest. But with the dark encroaching on me, it started to look like that scene in Beauty and the Beast where Belle's dad is looking at the two paths, one dark and scary and one well lit and he pulls Felipe toward the dark path. Felipe, smarter than your average horse, pulls against the reigns as to say "What are you doing! That is clearly a bad idea!" To which Belle's dad responds "Come on Felipe, it's a shortcut. We'll be there in no time."

Well this is what this route was looking like to me. Good sense told me to turn back...and I listened. Glad I did too because it got completely dark before I even reached my neighborhood. I finished my run in my neighborhood and decided this might be a good idea which leads me into the next piece of advice:

2. Run in a well lit/safe area

The neighborhood I live in is very safe in my opinion and well lit so I decided for the my next run I would stay in my neighborhood and just run several out and backs to get my miles in. Well I took off around 5:00 and I figured I would see some other runners, walkers, bikers...someone! I didn't see a soul. Only person I saw was standing in his garage being way to still and creepy. When I got closer I realized it was a manikin, which seemed even creepier in my scared state. I finished my run early.

3. Run indoors

I decided to join a gym and just run indoors a couple days a week. Not that big of deal right? Well for me it is. I had tried the whole running thing a few years ago and quit because I hate treadmills. I get so bored and can't stop looking at my time and distance. "Is it almost over" mentality the entire run. I'm a fairly happy runner so this is new to me. But I decided to join a gym none the less.

I chose the cheapest one in town (mistake one) and jumped right on the treadmill. Well the treadmill was old, like the rest of the gym, but had a TV attached to the front. I thought "okay, this might be good." But the headphone jack on the treadmill I chose was broken so I couldn't hear it. That's okay I don't need a TV. However, the TV was like a foot from my face so I couldn't not look at the TV and therefore I couldn't concentrate on ANYTHING else - not my music, not an audiobook. It was terrible. I'd been running 4 miles on the road and 2 miles on the treadmill seemed like the worse decision I'd ever made. So I left after two miles and haven't been back since.

4. Join a running group

I'm the (slow) girl in the green jacket,
white headband in the front row.

Owensboro has a local running group that meets at a local running shop once a week. I've been thinking about going, but like I said earlier, I'm a lone runner. But since I needed a running buddy (that could keep up) I decided this might be the fix.

I showed up and soon we were off. Correction, they were off. I was slowly trudging behind them. One thing I forget in my lone running ways is that I'm slower than most runners. 12 minute miles usually, 11 on a really good day. These people were clearly faster and I was left in their dust. Luckily I wasn't the only one, there was one girl behind me. She was much slower than me, though, so I didn't stay with her long. Before I knew I was completely by myself in downtown Owensboro in the dark, the one thing I was trying to avoid.

I survived, obviously, (3.72 miles with a 12:15 pace) but that wasn't going to work either. I was starting to freak out that I wasn't going to get a run in during the week and then not be able to increase my distance and then not be able to train for and run my half marathon!

Then I had a thought: what if I just take off work a little early twice a week to get home and run in the daylight? Make up the time later (which is okay at my job). And that's exactly what I did yesterday. Three miles at a 11:25 pace. Not too shabby.

That's the thing about running. You've got to find what works for you.