Tuesday, August 28, 2007

When the Planets Align

ORN: 4 miles, R6/W1

How cool was that??

Last night on the local news, I heard there was a visible lunar eclipse set for this morning. Even better, it was to peak at the time I usually run.

So, it was very cool to go out the door, look up and see a partially covered full moon. At the start of my run, there was a sliver of moon still visible but by my one mile mark, it was gone and the moon was completely covered.

As I ran, my mind worked back through my high school physics classes, trying to remember the difference between "umbra" and "penumbra," the two types of shadows in an eclipse. I marveled at gravitational pull. Here are three massive bodies, hurtling through space at amazing speeds, yet in perfect choreography with one another, orbiting stably and predictably. And the gravitational pull extends to this plodding runner who needs motion control shoes just to counteract the gravitational pull that overpronates his left foot on every clunky step.

For an amazing but brief 15 minutes, the planets aligned, the sky was clear, I was outside and could attempt to absorb it all. Then, as quietly as it began, the moon slid behind some hazy clouds on the western horizon and it was gone. Merely a memory.

One of the joys of early morning running in an amazing world.

Persevere.

9 comments:

Wes said...

Very.cool :-)

Darrell said...

As a guy who never watches the news, I had no idea. But I did get to read about it on three separate blogs.

Very cool that you were able to enjoy it compliments of a run.

IronWaddler said...

I love running in the morning. The lunar eclipse was a bonus!!!

Mary Gee said...

And you didn't have your camera with you?

Backofpack said...

I missed it - it happened too early here and I'm still trying to catch up from the all-nighter this past weekend. It must of been beautiful though...

Unknown said...

what a great experience!

Anonymous said...

Joe,
I just stopped by to see what you have been up to. What a cool experience! Thanks for sharing!

Sarah said...

How neat! I wish it had occurred at a more decent hour here. Of course, I forgot about it anyway until the next day.

Unknown said...

Sounds very cool. Another good reason to run early in the morning.

On another note, I am amazed that you remember anything from high school. I guess you must have paid attention in class :)