Moonlight Run

I think the hardest thing about the relay was waiting for runs.  It was exciting and wild running from one exchange to another, trying to estimate when your teammate would be finished with a run so we'd be at the exchange in time, scouting out places to park, scouting out porta potties, trying to stay warm, but it seemed like a long time between runs and it kept getting colder and colder.  My second run was anticipated to be between 3 and 4 am.  I usually don't get cold easily, but this was COLD.  About 1 am, I started wondering how I was going to make myself get out there to run and what I should wear when I run.  Jacket or no?  Tired, sleepy, cold, I stayed in the van until about 5 minutes before 1 Mile was scheduled to come in.  I usually heat up quickly when I start running so I decided to trust experience and run with my team jersey, long sleeve shirt, and gloves.  I forced myself to get out of the van just in time to see 1 Mile come tearing around the corner.  He was moving so fast he didn't even seem to see me and I had to yell to get his attention.  I started up the street to the first turn, and it was amazing!  Before I even got to the first turn, I was warm and feeling GREAT to be running.  I felt better than I had in hours even though it was 3:30 am.  It was my first time running with a headlamp.  It was pretty cool and 1 Mile and Monk had told me to shine it ahead of me so I could see the ground. There was a lot of brush and debris so I was really watching to not trip.  I was so intent on looking at the ground at one point, I looked up just in time to see a huge branch coming straight at my face.  I ducked down barely in time to avoid getting smacked in the face.  The rest of the run was along a bike path that was below the level of the road.  There were trees on both sides of the path with a big  reservoir on the right side.  A full moon lit the night with the reflection  shining off the reservoir.  I saw very few runners on that stretch so it was peaceful and beautiful and a fantastic run.  My finish time was a little faster than my anticipated time and I recorded 1 roadkill.  (We won't talk about the negative roadkills :) )