Night Running
Night Running can be an enjoyable, exciting, or highly daunting experience. Your vision is reduced, fatigue starts to set in, and you're trying to run fast at the end of an event, but the conditions just made your task of staying on your feet much more challenging.
Some people enjoy Night running more than day running as your focus is only on the spotlight on the ground, and the climbs seem smaller than in the daylight. Night Running can enhance your ability to focus on each step and stay in the moment by blocking out all distractions with darkness. It is a surreal experience and adds excitement to each race or training session.
Practice Makes Perfect.
Train, train, train. Train with your Headlamp and your backup Headlamp.
Make sure you know how to use it. Practice changing the Headlamp settings. Practice changing the batteries over or recharging your battery. Teach your support crew also how to use your Headlamp. It's a good idea to get your support crew a headlamp too.
Make sure your Headlamp fits correctly.
Use a Headskin to reduce the bounce when running, and fits adjust the strap so it does not move when you run.
Charge Your Battery
Charge your Battery the Night Before the Event Or Put in FRESH NEW Batteries before the event or long training session.
During The Race
Wear your BTU Headskin under your Headlamp to protect your head from rubbing. It will catch sweat and prevent it from dripping into your eyes.
Make sure the battery is on the correct setting, and you aren't wasting battery life being on a too powerful setting for the battery you have chosen.
If It is Raining
Wear a Visor it will one-stop water from getting into your eyes.
It will help improve the visibility in the rain by keeping the raindrops away from your Headlamp.
Manage Your Head Lamp Battery Life.
Be aware of your battery life; ay-ups have a life of 6-12 Hours Epic, or 2-6 Hours 1/2 Epic. UTMF I used my Ay-Up on the Medium Setting, and it lasted the whole Night through (We started at 3 pm). Change the setting on your Headlamp to make sure you can get to the end of the event.
If you have rechargeable batteries, test your battery's battery life and write on that battery how long it lasted in a training session. Marked batteries will help you decide which battery to use for each course section.
Slow Down
Your visibility will naturally make you slow down; however, you are more likely to get lost, trip, or fall over in the dark. Be aware and conscious of each step.
Stay calm
Chill out, relax, remember to breathe. Set your torch to Ahead 3-5m. You want to set your distance far enough ahead to have enough time to react while on the run. You may need to slow down and scan ahead for track junctions every minute to prevent getting lost.
Nocturnal Animal Life
Australia has much nocturnal fauna. The bush is alive with rustling as you race along the trails. Stay alert; you may startle animals on the run. Use the nightlife sounds as motivation to keep running fast.
Stay Warm
Chances are the temperature has dropped by at least 10-15 degrees. Put a thermal top on at Dusk to keep your core temperature in "Running Mode." You will be tired and low of Glycogen, and you want all your energy for running, NOT HEATING. Put an extra layer on at night, especially if you are running in winter, on ridge tops, or in the rain. Most of the BTU, Did Not Finish, occur at Night. A decrease in temperatures, and the combination of fatigue, can lead to runners core temperatures becoming too cold to function effectively. Stay warm and comfortable, and you'll feel much better. Your muscle will be warmer and feel less tight.
Grab a hot drink at a checkpoint and heat your core temperature when heading off into the Night Section of the course.
Avoid sitting too long; it will only lead to your body stiffing up. Grab your drink and go, walking with a hot drink in your hand.
Know The Course
If you can train on the course, then do it. Train in the day first to familiarise yourself with the course first, then come back at Night and rerun the course, say on a Friday, after work, when you are fatigued. Knowing the course will reduce your chances of you getting lost. This training session will replicate the feeling of fatigue that you might experience in an event.
If you are running a course that you've not had the chance to train on, for example, in a different country, run with the relevant map/course description in your hands. Study the map, familiarise yourself with the names of the Track Junctions of the course and be aware of the name of your next turn-off. Map awareness will save you time in kilometers while running through the bush at Night. BTU is well marked; however, some courses do not have course markings, course tampering may occur even on well-marked events. Course tampering has happened in all BTU, UTA, UTMF, and more events, be prepared for this and know your course map.