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From Fellrnr.com, Running tips
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→Practical issues - Lighting
If you are running away from street lights, then carrying your own light source becomes important. (You can run by the light of the moon sometimes, but I do not rely on it.) The most common approaches are headlights or hand held flashlights. The advantage of a hand held flashlight is the light source is lower than your eyes, so bumps in the path cast shadows you can see; this makes it far easier to see the shape of the path. The downside of hand held lights is that having something in your hand is a pain.
A nice solution to this is the Petzl Tactikka XP Adapt ([http://www.rei.com/product/737855%29 http://www.rei.com/product/737855]) This light clips to the waist of your shorts, providing a waist level light that is hands free. The other thing I like about this Petzl light is that it has a diffuser to create a nice even light that works really well. This is my preferred light for most night running. For early mornings it is doubly nice, as when the sun comes up, it is very unobtrusive. It is not recommended for use with lithium batteries, but I have done so without a problem. It does work with rechargeable batteries, but when the power runs out, it runs out fast! I have found that the light works well with compression shorts - I'm not sure how you would get on with something baggy.
For trail running in the dark, where I also want to see much further than the Tactikka, I have the Petzl MYO RXP, which is their first regulated headlight ([http://www.petzl.com/us/outdoor/myo-series/myo-rxp http://www.petzl.com/us/outdoor/myo-series/myo-rxp]). A regulated light stays at the same brightness until the battery in nearly flat, then drops very quickly. The RXP is much, much brighter than the Tactikka and without the diffuser in place, it will illuminate the trail for a good distance. This makes navigation much easier and reduces the sense of confinement you can get when running for a long time at night.
The only other safety tips for night running on remote trails is to carry a bear bell to help keep the creatures away and a cell phone to call for help, just in case.
== Psychological Issues ==
There are a number of psychological issues with running in the dark. The biggest challenge for me running in the evening is that when the sun goes down, I want to go to bed. The feeling of sleepiness, particularly if you have been running for many hours can be overwhelming. I have overcome this, partly with practice, and partly with a different mindset. When I look at my watch and discover it is a particular time, I work to detach myself from the meaning of that time. If it is 10pm, I don't think 'I should be going to bed'. I work to imagine I am in a different country on a different time zone, and generally, it helps. Even on MMT, when I was racing for 34 hours, I did not suffer from sleepiness.
