Creatures of Darkness

After the sun goes down and the world is plunged in darkness, they emerge from their dens, these creatures of darkness, these silent shadowy forms scurrying along the alleys and byways of the oblivious city. Their movement seems purposeful, if plodding, but their intentions are obscure. Are they foraging? Are they setting out on a nocturnal migration South to escape the cold winter months?

...

Sunday morning was great -- an extra hour in the morning thanks to the return to standard time, a long run on the Minuteman trail, and back home well before noon. Hey, I thought, November's not going to be so bad.

Monday night was the other side of the time-change coin. I arrived home shortly after five and by the time I got out for what I thought would be my "afternoon" run, it was pretty much pitch black. Not even a moon to light the way.

It wasn't too cold... not yet, anyway, but the thought of doing all my weekday runs in the dark for the next three months was depressing. My old standby, the six-miler through Auburndale, West Newton, and Newtonville seemed strange and forbidding, a risky dash on uneven surfaces, blinded by headlights from oncoming cars.

Wednesday night I ran in Concord and after a spooky mile or so around town, I circled back to the town track and ran several miles there, barely able to see the ground in front of me.

I think I've become more affected by the change of daylight in recent years. For one thing, my eyesight isn't as good as it used to be, and I can't see the ground as well. at this time of year, navigating sidewalks with their leaves and debris is harrowing. I run in fear, thinking about rocks and bottles half-hidden in the leaves and just waiting there ready to roll my ankle.

And traffic is much more of a problem now that the cars can't see you even if you have on the reflective vest and halogen light. I'm tempted to wait until after rush hour to run, but that has its own issues -- shifting my entire schedule later and later. This is not a desirable change for a morning person.

The last couple of years, turning the clocks back has provided me an excuse to start running early in the morning. It's still dark, but at least there's a chance of seeing the sun rise as you finish your run. It's sure cold in the mornings, though...

Either way, this is the time of year when just trying to get in your daily runs makes you feel like a social misfit. Running in the dark is somehow offensive to common sense in a way that a happy little jog in the daytime isn't.

Still, I still feel that the socially acceptable but mind-numbing alternative -- taking to the treadmills -- would be worse.

So I ask only that on your drive home from work or school you try not to run me down out there on the streets of Newton... that is, if you see me at all.