Running at night

I don't usually run in the evening, for a variety of reasons. I'm cooking dinner, talking with my kids, winding down from a busy day, it's too dark, it's too cold - the list of reasons NOT to run goes on and on.

But now I'm leading a training group for the More half-marathon in NYC, and one of our weekly sessions starts at 5:30pm. Last night it wasn't quite dark as I drove to our meeting site, but by the time we headed out the door 15 minutes later, full darkness set in.

What a great run! It was lightly snowing, there was about 1/2 inch of fresh snow on the sidewalks, and it wasn't too cold (about 25 degrees). It was almost surreal to run along, hearing your footsteps crunch in the snow, and see your breath puffing in and out in the cold air. The time and miles flew by, and I felt like I was floating along above the snow.

As one of the women said, the hardest part about running is that first step out the door. Take that step, and the rest is easy and a joy.