Dark nights!
Well, it's that time of year again - the clocks have gone back and it's back to running in the dark evenings again. It seems to come round all too quickly! The problem for me is that living in a rural location it's harder to find suitable routes - I can't do my usual summer routes along the quiet country lanes or the canal towpath as I can't see where I'm going. I'd risk tripping over a pothole or, even worse, taking a dip in the canal! Perhaps I should invest in a head torch like my training partner wears. Do any of you train with a head torch? Are they any good for running with?
There's just one road with streetlights out of my village, plus a mile loop around the village itself, so I have very little choice of route. I can run the 2.5 miles into the nearest town, and do various loops there, but it frustrates me that I have to keep slowing down to cross side roads and avoid pedestrians! I suppose I'm just not used to running in towns and most of you are probably thinking 'what's she complaining about?'!!!
Monday evening was my first totally dark run of the winter, after the clocks had changed. I also managed to find a way to avoid the 'trick or treaters' that evening too - I made my run a couple of miles longer, so was out of the house when they called, and they'd all gone home by the time I finished!
At least the weather has been mild recently - it's when we start getting the freezing cold temperatures as well as dark nights that I really start to struggle - both motivationally and physically (I suffer from Raynaud's syndrome and get painfully cold hands). At the moment I'm trying to look at it positively - at least I only work 4 days a week, so still have 3 days when I can train in the daylight.
One thing I will say, though, is please wear a light coloured top when you're out training - I see loads of runners (& cyclists and pedestrians too) wearing dark clothes - and they're just not visible.
Finally, on a completely different note - due to my silver medal in the World 50k Final I've been nominated for the 2011 ultra-distance Athlete of the Year Award. They will shortlist the nominations at the end of November, and announce the winners (men & women) in January. This year the rules have changed and voting is only open to the IAU Executive Committee and member federations, which I think is probably much fairer (last year anyone could vote, so it was basically down to which athlete had the most friends!!) I've got no hope of winning the title, but it's still nice to be nominated.
Comments On "Dark nights!"
Hand warmers
Hi Ray
Sue Posted on November 7th, 2011Many thanks again for your useful suggestion. I've got some hand warmers for 'everyday' use but haven't actually tried running with them - the main reason being the ones I've got wouldn't fit inside my gloves! I'll have to try and get some smaller ones like you suggest, or bigger gloves!!! Will also have to practice holding a drink bottle / gel with hand warmers in my gloves for long runs - not sure how well that will work!!!!!!! The joys of long distance running!
Thanks again for your comments
Happy training
Sue
Cold Hands
Hi Sue,
RayG Posted on November 5th, 2011I agree, mittens are supposed to be warmer than gloves, due to being able to provide a greater pocker of warm air around the fingers. It's important that gloves are not too tight or too large, but you probably know that.
Have you considered buying some re-usable hand warmers ? They are quite cheap and can be re-used many times by heating them in boiling water. You could try putting one in the palm of your hand inside each mitten. Search 'reusable hand warmers' on Amazon and you will see quite a few options with lots of reviews. Most of them give dimension size, which is important as you need them to fit inside your mittens/gloves.
Good luck,
Ray
Hi Ray
Sue Posted on November 4th, 2011Thanks ever so much for your suggestions, that's really helpful. I'll definitely check out that forum. My training partner was wearing a head torch when we did a session in an unlit park the other day, but as he was in front of me (by quite a way sometimes!) it was difficult to tell how effective it was. I'll have to see if I can borrow his when he gets back from running the New York marathon.
As for gloves - I bought a pair of thick waterproof, windproof, thermal cycling gloves a few years ago but still get painfully cold hands!!!!! I might try mittens as they're supposed to be warmer than gloves.
Anyway, thanks again for your info. (& for reading my blogs!) and happy winter running!
Sue
Hi Sue,
RayG Posted on November 3rd, 2011Congratulations on the nomination. It's well deserved.
I do have a head torch, a Petzl XP Tikka. It cost about £35 and I was amazed how much light it gave off when in a dark room. I have used it on a night time off road run once, but there was about 8 of us , some with much more powerful head torches, so it was hard to tell what it would have been like to run in one by myself. Maybe ask down at your club if someone can let you borrow one.
If you want some better advice on which headtorch for what price, take a look at the FRA forums. Some very helpful people on there (and more knowledgeable than me). In fact, have a look at this thread:
http://forum.fellrunner.org.uk/showthread.php?15581-Head-torch-recommendations
As for cold hands, I bought a great pair of windstopper gloves last winter for about £18, but I can't remember who they were made by.
Take care,
Ray