The dark runner2/18/2023 I feel myself as the animal I am, moving through the environment that suits my motion. ![]() Up here I feel this and the heightened awareness edged with the inner tension that arises from venturing into the unknown. My pace picks up – any runner can attest to the seeming super speed that dawns on the legs at night. I pick my feet up higher, step lighter and quicker, let my body feel the trail. I like watching the rocks fade into shadows gradually disappearing into the trail until an even ribbon of grey stretches before me winding through the dark giants of ponderosa pine. Janelle (#53) at the 2021 USATF Trail Marathon Championships. ![]() So I trot up, a little slower than usual and a lot more grateful than usual to see a few others heading up toward the iconic flatiron faces of this running town. As a habitually ill-prepared runner, I have no headlamp strapped to me, but I want to run on a trail, I want to feel free. Heading up the trail the last breath of twilight exhales purple cooling into the swelling blue of night time. It’s now 4:30 and I head out from the little garden shed where I punch my time card daily beneath a few 8,000-foot peaks. But, trails winding through forests and mountains have a way of luring the soul to them time and again. I have to plan what I’m going to wear, only run certain routes and with an ever-growing preference to run exclusively on trails, I’ve felt running this time of year to be pointless at times if I’m bundling up to trot on slushy terrain. However, winter has given me a sense of restriction. This allows me to leave behind the trials and tribulations of daily life. I throw on a pair of shoes and head for the trails. I’ve lived in Colorado my whole life and we have plenty of sunny winter days, so while I’m certain these tips can help ease this seasonal discomfort I feel like there’s a little more to it. Studies have shown that SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) is strongly correlated to vitamin D deficiency and that getting out for a sunny run coupled with eating the right vitamin D-rich foods can help people cope with darker days. A general feeling of malaise can settle over people along with the snow and for some an even stronger sense of depression may set in. As a runner, short cold days have a tendency to make my preferred pastime exceptionally daunting and I’m sure this is the case for many. This description may give you a sense of the existential dread I have personally felt as the fall gives way to winter months. ![]() As our window of light rapidly shortens, the cold sets in mercilessly calm and waiting to embrace any fragile frame of flesh that enters its winter darkness. ![]() It’s a tough time of year to be a human in the Northern Hemisphere. And, I still have an hour and a half of work left before I can head out for a run. I glance down at my watch and cringe at the unblinking face reading 3:00. Watching the sun slowly slide behind Green Mountain, I feel the urge to reach out a hand as if to a falling friend. As well, she is a competitive trail runner recently sponsored by ATRA switchback member inov-8. She presently is based out of Boulder where she works as a gardener. This article first appeared in the winter 2021 issue of ATRA’s quarterly newsletter Trail Times and was written by Janelle Lincks who was born and raised in Colorado.
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