Calling Sister Midnight

So once again I'm back on old familiar terrain, with a crib for my mom on the outskirts of Philly, you tryin' to flex on me? Don't be silly...Putting Will Smith aside (for the moment), old familiar terrain starts to quickly become woefully unfamiliar when you cheat the day, and try to beat the heat, by taking a 5 mile run at nighttime when you can't seem to see your feet, nor the street. Part of this danger is how ill lit my little town of Bethlehem, or more accurately, Oreland, is. I've been fortunate enough to have had safely lit paths to run along at any given time of night, both in Tokyo and Ocean City, these past 4 months. The other part is that I made the simple, yet potentially shortsighted, style choice of purchasing black running shoes that blend effortlessly into the hard dark evening air, and absorb into the asphalt below like pitch black panthers panting with giraffe-like tongues penned up in dank caverns, on moonless nights, lappin' bitter bowls of thick Texas tea, baby! So...they're kinda hard to see.

Finding ways to be cool, when you are not...



Sure, I've grown up around here, I spent many months training on this same ground, but since I've been away for so long, pot holes can pop up at any corner, sidewalks can shift, dog feces can be laid by any number of animals, and so on. So I'm left wondering what my other options are at the moment to avoid dehydration and excessive exhaustion from high temperatures? Either stay my ground at high noon, like Gary Cooper, in 90°F heat, run in the pitch black blind fury, like Rutger Hauer, on the shady nighttime suburban streets, or bother my aunt almost everyday by stealing time on her treadmill.

I've found a balance by hitting the streets, either first thing in the morning, as the sun also rises, or when it's just on the cusp of setting in the Westworld at dusk. Thus far, with the exception of that first run, it's never been too hot, nor too dark, to handle. I prefer running first thing in the morning, there's a certain sense of accomplishment that you finish out the rest of your day with once you've already taken time to tackle the track, but I also prefer not waking up first thing in the morning either. Not that I'm lazy, per se, but I do like to savor my winks when I get them.

With all my long winter training runs building up to marathon distance, I've forgotten how unforgiving the summer heat can be. The Hal Higdon schedule started me out in October (for the February race), so I  never once spent more time on the hot & humid summer roads than I could tolerate. This backdraft of summertime blues has me wondering when is the best season for marathon racing/training? Maybe it's a bit of a personal preference, since I tend to thrive more readily in the brisk autumn air. In preparation for the weekend's LSD, I'm stocking up on coconut water for easy hydration while riding out this early heatwave. I'm no clairvoyant, but I also predict a plethora of smoothies are in store this season. The smoothie fiend inside of me rejoices.