Strangers in the Night

I had to do a 9-mile run after work last night. Griffith Park has a pretty good horse trail I use; one out-and-back lap is about 8 miles, it's flat, and the packed dirt is much easier on the shins than pavement. You don't have to worry about cars, but it is a little unnerving seeing coyote eyes being reflected back at you from your head lamp in the woods. Best of all, there are water fountains along the trail so I don't need to carry my own water.

I was about 4 miles into the run when I stopped for a water break. I leaned over the fountain, pushed the button, and SPLATTT!!! The thing shot up like a fire hose right into my eye. It was probably a good 20 seconds before I could even open my eye after that; I could feel my contact lens folded over and pressed back into my eye. I was trying to figure out where the nearest hospital was, because I was certain the lens would have to be removed by a doctor. Fortunately, after another minute of blinking and rubbing my eye, the lens settled back into place. It still stung for several hours after that.

Most of the run was uneventful after that; I was far more cautious when I stopped for drinks. I did the last mile of the run on the main road. I like to finish my runs strong, so I did a pretty good sprint for the last 1/2 mile or so. It was bout 7:00 so it was completely dark aside from the car headlights. I saw another running coming towards me. He (it?) was wearing a bright headlamp and every part of his body was glowing with reflective tape. It looked like something out of Tron. We passed each other and I may have given a quick nod of the head, but with his bright lamp shining at me I didn't see his face. About 20 seconds later I heard a voice behind me: "whatsa matter, you don't say hello?" My first thought was "joke's on you pal; I'm not carrying my wallet and I just have a cheap iPod Shuffle on me so it won't do you any good to mug me." I then realized that it (Tron) was IronAndre. He asked how far I was going, I told him I was finishing up a 9-miler. He seemed very impressed with my pace. Of course, at the time he didn't know that I had only started sprinting about 1/10 mile earlier.

Most of my runs are in the dark now. I just need to be careful of the cars. And the coyotes. And the water fountains. And Andre.