December 14, 2007

Friday, December 14, 2007
The verdict is in. I prefer running at night, even in winter. I'm surprised, because, well … because running at night in winter in the mountains of northern New Hampshire just seems silly. I almost didn’t make it out. So comfortable inside, so windy outside. At about 9:00 I began to gather my running gear together. My running pants weren’t in my bag, or the laundry basket, or on the floor. Where the hell are they? I went around the house twice, but couldn’t find them. I didn’t want to go out bare legged – I wanted to stay warm tonight. I briefly considered taking the dnr, but was able to resist temptation and found the pants on the third go-round. No reason to rush the stretch, the longer I delay, the fewer cars I’ll be likely to see. Like 4 instead of 5. I finally made it out the door at about 9:30.
It was about 20 degrees, with 20-30 mph gusts of wind, and I was dressed for about 10 degrees colder, so was toasty warm. There were no cars, no moon, no sounds except my breathing (easy now, not gasping for air like last week) and the soft crunching of snow underfoot. After about a mile I was warm enough to take off my gloves, and the hat came off for the final mile. The snow coating the road makes for the ideal running surface – it’s soft and forgiving and predictable and gentle on the feet and legs, and it shines so prettily in the starlight you’d think it was luminescing. I briefly considered doing another loop, or even getting in my long run early before the big storm Sunday, but was able again to resist temptation. I’ll probably go long tomorrow. We’re expecting over a foot of snow Sunday.
I really love this place