Sunset running

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After a last minute work schedule change yesterday, I found myself lacing up my trail shoes at 5:00 for my run at Palmer Park. Given the pink already tinging the clouds over Pikes Peak, I did bring my little head lamp. I was hoping that I would get a really pretty sunset and then be able to run under the full moon. Well, one out of two isn't that bad. Despite the cold, it was a perfectly still night and great running conditions. The trail was clear and the ground frozen, so I didn't have to deal with mud. As the sun slipped behind the mountains, I was treated to spectacular sunset. Hard to run fast when watching the shades of pink and orange shifting in the clouds! Good thing I didn't need to run fast with this being a recovery week! As for that full moon, well if I want to do a proper full moon run, it needs to be before the full moon, not after. I was very happy that I had my light because once the sun went down, it got dark fast. And it was dark, much darker then I had anticipated. So I had to slow down even more so I could watch my footing. Even with the light, Palmer Park is a little tricky to run in the dark.

It is pretty sad that I have done more night trail runs then rides this year. It's a 24 hour MTB race, not trail run coming up soon!

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