Last night I did something I've never done before!

Now that I have your attention, I will begin!

Yesterday saw 80% of the children back in school, just the pesky teenager left at home on an InSET day. He'd had two friends over for a post trick or treating sleepover so none of them surfaced until mid morning. I went out leafleting for our shop, hoping that they wouldn't burn the house down while I was out.

I selected Crondall as my destination for leafleting, a lovely village with two interesting looking pubs, some very big houses and a higher than average quota of yappy, snappy dogs! It took me about two and a half hours to blitz the village, a task made slightly more pleasant by listening to Michael Caine reading his latest autobiography 'An Elephant To Hollywood' via my iPhone. His reading style is very odd. I have loved listening to Stephen Fry reading his autobiographies, to the extent that I don't think I'd want to read his work now - far better to hear the words from the man himself, but it almost seems as though Michael Caine is unsure of what he is reading. The diction is not always great, words are sometimes slurred and he seems out of breath at times. Still, it is an interesting listen, and whiles away the time.

The rest of the day was spent catching up on various things that had been neglected during half term, packing up parcels for eBay, paying bills, that sort of thing, and all too suddenly it was time for the school run again.

By the time I'd picked up all the children from school and got home again it was nearly 5pm and getting very dark. I hate dark evenings, but feel that to move away from using GMT would be sad, so can't wholeheartedly support the Lighter Later campaign.

So now we get to what I did last night that I've never done before, and this is a running blog, so you shouldn't be surprised to find it has something to do with running! I went for my first ever run in the dark! I've been out before and come home when it is getting dark, but never before have I put on a high viz (bright pink with reflective stripes) vest and set out in the dark, knowing that I will have to stick to pavements and areas with street lamps. It was an odd experience, I ran slower than I normally would - probably because I was not able to see where I was putting my feet, and there were no other runners out and about. I have a head light on my birthday wish list, and hope that this will help me see more clearly as well as being seen more easily. I am going to have to investigate new routes through the town to see if I can find some interesting and challenging routes to keep me motivated over the winter. It certainly beats running on the treadmill at the gym!