Evening run

These days it's unusual for me to run in the evening, but I did so yesterday. I arrived at Valley Green around 6:30 p.m. for a run on the orange trail towards Lincoln Drive and back to Valley Green along Forbidden Drive.

At this time of the year, sunset is well after 8:30, so I considered running the outbound on Forbidden Drive and returning on the trail. After all, I've still not run the complete stretch of the red trail from Lincoln Drive towards Valley Green yet. Nevertheless, the sun was low, and the Wissahickon Valley was getting dark, so I decided to put off the return trip until another time.

For the first time, I had to contend with a lot of cyclists. Although bicycles are prohibited on most of the orange trail, as one approaches Lincoln Drive, multiple trails share the same paths. I found myself dodging the bicycles as they flew past, seemingly without regard for other users of the trail. Perhaps, too, the time of day contributed to the amount of traffic on the trails. With a short amount of time between work and sunset, a higher number of people may want to use the trails than at any given time during the weekend.

Still, I had a nice run, and I can tell that my familiarity with the trail is increasing, if for no other reason than that I'm mentally recording spans I hadn't recalled from previous runs. I also enjoy running in the early evening: doing so helps me to wind down and relax after a day at the office.  (Morning runs also have a salutary effect, but they usually affect my attitude going into the office.)  Perhaps in coming weeks I can take more advantage of the long summer days.