This morning I was out the door of my mom’s house by 6 AM for my run.  No big deal considering at home I sometimes run at 5:30 AM.  Except for the bears, coyotes, foxes, bobcats, and skunks that I’m sure were lurking in all of the shadows…  You see, at home (in suburbia) I run under street lamps and feel completely safe when I have to run that early.  It’s probably a false sense of security, but I’m going with it.  At home I regularly see other runners and people in cars going to work (just hope they see me).  Today I saw a rabbit, and my guess is that if a snarling bear or coyote had come out of the shadows to eat me, the rabbit would have been of very little protection!

Today would have been Dad’s 85th birthday, and considering that before he retired he was outside driving the cows in to be milked by 3 AM every morning, it seemed like a fitting way to start my day.  When I was little he told me about seeing shooting stars, hearing coyotes howl, seeing a momma skunk and her babies waddle by, and many other amazing things while I was sleeping snuggly in my bed.

Today I felt a closeness to Dad as I sang “Happy Birthday” to him as I ran up the quite and lonely road.

GravelRoadDark

At 6 AM, the moon lit the countryside up like never before and shone off of the wet gravel road as I ran along.  A pretty significant rain and wind storm passed through last night and left some beautiful clouds that I could see as a result of the bright moon.  The air was cool and crisp, yet unusually warm at 50 degrees for mid-November…  It was perfect running weather.

6AMMoon

Looking off to the side of the road, everything was dark, yet I continued my run even though I had no idea what was lurking in the shadows next to me.

6AMFence

Almost an hour later, the moon was still bright in the sky even though the sun was up.  I was very happy that I’d spent the morning outside enjoying what Mother Nature had to offer this suburban runner girl!

7AMMoon

  • Questions:
  • What time of day do you usually run?
  • Do you run in the country, city, or suburbia?
  • What’s the scariest thing you’ve seen on a run?