Sunday's good and bad LSD

So, Sunday, my LSD trip was both good and bad. You ever have those? Aspects you really like, and aspects you don't?


Oh...
no, I'm not talking about Lysergic acid diethylamide.
I'm talking about a Long Slow Distance run.

I went out around noon, and it was overcast... I said to myself, well, since it's overcast, I won't really need to bring water or anything along those lines.
Yep. About a mile from my place, the sky clears right up.
Thanks.

So, I trucked around town.. I ran by a park that had a water fountain, and proceeded to drink up, as well as douse myself in the water. No one really was there, so I didn't get any strange looks. (The strangest looks came from me doing that on a golf course one time. Chuckle.)

I ran by another park later in the run, but they didn't have a water fountain. Really? I mean, what is that? A park with no water fountains? That's just mean.


So, yes.. back to the good parts and bad parts.. The good part was that it was my longest pain free run of the year. I clocked in 8 miles. My IT band twinged a little, I felt some pressure on the outside of my knee.. It seems OK today, but I think I really need to do some strengthening exercises and stretching on a regular basis.

The bad part.. Well, I started out saying "I need to go slow". I proceeded to run my normal long run clip of 9 minute miles. I was really hoping to do 10:30/mile or so.

(For the non-runners, the theory is that if you go slower for the majority of a longer run, the body doesn't break down as badly, and you're less likely to hurt yourself.)

After the water break, I did slow down some, but it wound up being about a 10 minute/mile pace after all was said and done. I'm just mad at myself.

But yes, it was my longest run of the year. Hopefully I'm getting back into good long running shape, provided I can slow it down. I'd like to do a half-marathon this fall.. I need to bump up the mileage a bit on the long run to do that, though.

I also finished week 4 of the 100 pushup challenge. Next is an exhaustion test (I should pass, I'm exhausted!). Week 5 looks pretty challenging.