Left In The Dark

Michelle and I have taken to meet during the week for an evening training run. Great way for both of us to get our behinds out there and not find an excuse.

We are still recovering from the 50km on New Year's Day and I have been avoiding road running as much as possible to give my heels time to heal (pun intended). But where to do you run after dark if not on roads or illuminated paved bike paths?

Equipped with our headlamps we head through a residential neighborhood into the trails along Capilano Canyon. This is familiar territory, but this night seemed darker then others. Pitch black. I am not scared easily and our talks wander around the subject of the trails being slightly spooky, but who would be out here...maybe bears (shouldn't they be hibernating?), maybe coyotes, maybe dangerous creatures from the human species?

Fog reflects the light of our flashlights, the trail is hard to see. Stop, is that another flashlight between the giant rain forest firs? Another runner passes us, commenting that he was not the only nut bar out there tonight. The spooky mood is broken, but stop, look at the reflection of that sign-post. Doesn't it look exactly like eyes. They ARE eyes...What is it? The dark silhouette of a big creature is just visible against the faint glow from the canyon. A dog (best case scenario), a bear, a coyote? We settle on dog being the most likely. Hang on, didn't a human just cross our path?
Us: "Hullo, is this your dog? HULLO?"
Voice from the dark: "Oh, yes. Come on, Fido"
Fido doesn't move. Can you hear our hearts hammer? Is this big dog going to attack us? Are his hunting instincts roused? Maybe he is just a scared city dog, confused by the lights and strange voices. Scared dogs do bite, don't they? Finally the pooch makes his way past us, giving us as much space as possible, tail between his legs. He was scared, no hunting instincts! Phew!