Thu, Oct 31, 2019 - 9K - 01:20:00
9K Dark Halloween Run with 5K-Timed-IKEA-Run (24:14)
By the time I got out for my run today, with Sunday's daylight savings time switch, it was much darker than I imagined it would be. On the way to the starting line, I saw numerous packs of trick-or-treaters already, and by the time I got to my IKEA 5K starting line, there was only faint light left in the Western sky, but the temperature was perfect.  
 
I took off at a good pace, however, when I got up the ramp to Priesterweg, it occurred to me that there is absolutely no lighting on the Priesterweg stretch at night and that I was running into a pitch black 2-kilometer stretch. 
 
I quickly took out my smartphone, flipped on the flashlight, and carried that in my hand, using it to light up the path in front of me. It worked quite well, although it didn't prevent me from suddenly stepping on a decent-size branch that had fallen from a tree but my foot rolled off it nicely and all was good to continue on. But I made a mental note that, while it is possible, it is probably not advisable to run the IKEA 5K loop after night fall.  
 
The rest of the route was quite well lit, and the icy cool air was wonderful. I felt a little extra power from my legs which had recovered from Monday morning's HIIT-with-PIETER workout video with Hannah. I really think those workouts and my reinstated Friday 1K swims are going to help get my 5K time quite low by the April Rotterdam Marathon.  
 
I wanted to get into the 23s by the end of October but today's time showed I was 14 seconds shy of that, so October's goal has become November's goal.