Taking back the night

One of the greatest frustrations as a woman runner in the winter ( at least for me) is the lack of daylight hours in which to run. By the time I finish a day at the office or in the classroom the sun is already receding below the horizon transforming my running routes to dark and unsafe environments.

I typically don't run at night by myself...it's dangerous and stupid. This, however, leaves me at the mercy of my fiance's schedule - on nights when he has class I simply can't fit in the miles I need in the small space between class ending and a reasonable sleep schedule.

So, I've come to the decision that I must be able to run at night by myself. If I get on the road first thing when I get home I can have light for at least the first portion of my run (is it wrong to think that darkness during the second half will give me negative splits?) To make this come about I'm going out to purchase a container of pepper spray and some way to keep it strapped to my wrist to take with me while running.

This may be a stupid decision. The more stupid issue is that I even have to worry when I'm out at night, but that's not something I can fix.