The pleasures of headlamp running

This winter, thanks to Melkesyre, a whole new running and hiking experience has been revealed to me: afternoon and evening runs in the dark on unlit paths with a headlamp. I could never have imagined how extremely cool and nice this is! In fact, it has only advantages: the boring paths become much more interesting and exciting in the dark, and if you are up in the mountains the views of the city are incredible. If you are lucky enough to be out when the skies are clear, you can in addition enjoy the stars and refresh your knowledge of astronomy.

In the weekly schedule of Melkesyre there are two afternoon sessions: Monday runs at Hordnesskogen (an unlit gravel path in the forest) and Thursday runs up to Stoltzekleiven continuing to Brushytten. As the afternoons started getting darker, I was wondering whether these sessions would be moved to earlier in the afternoon. When I first heard that the time is fixed and they simply go with headlamps, I was pretty surprised, at least about Stoltzekleiven. I simply could not imagine how it would be to go up there in the dark. Well, it is simply fantastic!!! This week, I had a new PR up Stoltzekleiven; I beat my previous record by 6 seconds! In the dark! With a headlamp!

Earlier winters my running in the dark limited itself to running on lit paths, which basically meant on the streets or at Svartediket (a gravel path by a lake), and definitely no mountain running. As a result, I was doing much more indoor running on a treadmill in the winter, and finding it incredibly boring, at least for longer distances. Joining Barry's Bootcamp helped a lot, as the indoor training there is great fun, and in the end I did not think that I was missing outdoor running in the winter. Well, I was wrong. You never know what you are missing until you get to experience it!

I usually find running in Hordnesskogen a little boring, as it is in the forest with no views. However it becomes much more interesting in the dark! Then you can even imagine that you are on top of a mountain or by a lake. But the real joy of headlamp running for me is definitely up in the mountains. I have now tried several of the paths I know in the dark with a headlamp, and I have had the most wonderful experiences. The setting very easily gets quite magical, with unbelievably beautiful views of the city. And the path looks pretty different in the dark, which adds to the excitement.

As if this all is not fun enough, there is an upcoming mountain race in the dark, which I am really really looking forward to: Det lille julewhiskyløpet. But the course is pretty tough, even in the dark and with a headlamp. I just hope that the snow will not hit us before to race.... To be able to continue with winter running in the mountains, the next step for me should be to get winter running shoes with spikes.

If you have dismissed the possibility of afternoon and evening runs in the mountains or other unlit pahts, consider it again. Try headlamp running; it is really great fun, especially if you have friends to do it with. This reminds me of a song by the German pop duo Ich und Ich: Mach dein Licht an und weiter gehts...

Turn on your light and go!