Night LSD

I am working the night shift this week. Part of the recurring ritual is to adjust sleep patterns before hand. Lat night at midnight I headed out for an LSD , how long or how far not really known but I was hoping to go out for three hours or so. I live in a very dark area, the nearest street light is 9km from home! I dawned my head light , Ipod, Garmin and a pocket full of GU and my new

Nathan X Trainer Mutation.....

I love my hand held but there are times when I would rather not carry a bottle. I have tried various fanny packs but I didn't like the bounce. Nathans new belt lives up to its claim details here ....http://www.nathansports.com/our_products/hydration_nutrition/x_trainer_mutation.html

I was fully loaded when I headed out , I addition to the Water Bottle I had a 4 AA Battery Pack in the Mesh Pocket. Starting out I did notice small bounce but after the first K the Belt found a comfortable position around my waste and I never knew it was there for the next 26 km. The bottle was easy to remove and replace. You can adjust the tension holding the bottle , I had it loose and never had any issues with it staying in place.

The night was cold, -2C for early May but it was very still ...not a whisper of a breeze. I headed down the 2nd towards Durham. This was the second time I used my headlight. It provided lots of light in the diffuse mode. I passed by a Cemetery at the end of the 2nd, it was rather ghostly as the frost was just forming on the grass and it was really blotchy .... white images cover the ground. I knew I was in for a treat , LSD combined with the dark was sure to produce some interesting moments. At 9K I drop into the Durham Conservation Area, its a camp ground on the North side of the Saugeen River. Next up was a little Ipod magic , as I was making my way through the park on came Pink Floyd's " Run Like Hell "... the Lyrics made me pick up the pace a bit....

"Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run.You better run all day And run all night."

OK, that was exactly what I had in mind ..... sweet !

Next up was crossing the bridge at Mc Gowan falls , there are large high intensity flood lights aimed at falls and bridge. The bright light was illuminating a cloud of mist caused but the water thundering over the falls. Running through sleepy Durham was really cool , literally. The street lights illuminated the way , there no traffic or signs of anyone stirring at 1:00 am. I was beginning to feel a bit chilled , the Shell was pined against my fleece lines top , being wet from sweat it conducts heat out rather well. The hands were getting cold too , I remember pulling my thumbs back in out of the gloves to warm them. Crossing the Dam at the lower bridge I noticed that the mist was turning into snow... brr! Gelled while I was in town , it really seemed to pick me up, had a new lime flavoured GU ... really yummy but and with the cold it had the consistency of soft ice cream!

Heading out of Durham I made my way back through the park and back into the dark. I really had some GI issues , lots of pressure ! The park has washrooms but I was to afraid of catching a big chill to stop do I decided to tough it out. Headed back up the second , was feeling very chilled decided to Gel again ... this really helped. This stretch of the LSD is not my favorite part of the run , tonight would be different! After the Gel I picked up the pace , the tummy was settled and I just got into an nice smooth stride for the next 5K. It rocked , I was a running machine on cruise control. I started to swing the arms more , much more ... the cold went away! The increased arm swing was awesome , I was finally warming up a bit. 5K from home I was startled by a "Fire Ball " straight over head , it was bright white and blue light with a luminescent tale that lasted for a few seconds. The fire ball was in line with the way home , it was like a trail marker.... this way home. One more interesting thing harped , with about 3K to go there was a reflection from the woods. At first I thought it was a reflector then one bright yellow light became 2 then the yellow lights started to follow me ..... the eyes were set apart more then a human . The light seemed to emanate from theses Devilish Eyes ... gave me the shivers and I carried on wondering what creature of the night that I had just encountered!

I wanted to stretch it out to 3 hours but when I was a couple of Ks from home the GI thing started to act up allot , very painful so I cut it short!

So I managed a 27.56K +500/-496m run at an LSD pace of 5:48/K total time 2 hours 40 minutes. My recovery was an hour in the hot tub with a cool bear under the full moon..... cant wait to do it all over again .. maybe on a warmer night.