night

On our relay last summer one of my legs was at night - it was the middle of the night, right at midnight. I had to wear a headlamp and a reflective vest that I don't think was actually too reflective. Here is a photo of how dark it felt.

I ran for an hour but hardly saw anyone else. The entire time though, there was this woman right behind me. She was just trailing me and trailing me and I didn't dare slow down because I knew as soon as I slowed down she would sprint ahead.

It freaked me out how silent she was. How was she making so little noise?

I couldn't see her, and I couldn't even hear her, but every time a car passed, I could see both our shadows in the headlights.

She was so close she was almost touching me, she definitely could have outpaced me but she was quietly trailing me just to annoy me. Or she was really out of shape and this was her very limit and if I just kept it up she'd slow down eventually. I wasn't sure which but I ran for five miles thinking about it.

I was so tired but not tired enough to let her pass me. I kept running faster and faster and just when I was sure I'd lost her because I couldn't hear her at all anymore, headlights would come by and I'd see both our shadows again.

She had such a good stride she looked so fit, and the weirdest part was she was able to perfectly mimic my movements - that's when, five miles in, I realized that car headlights make two shadows and it had just been me the whole time. I'm not sure what the point of this story is. I guess I just wanted to let you know that car headlights make two shadows, so you don't make the same mistake.