Other possible titles for this post:

• Stretching is your friend
• Pace yourself
• Hydration and you: a primer
• Sleep matters

In order to provide MORE proof of my total idiocy, I decided to go out for a 5-miler a mere 16 hours after finishing my 10k.

Ordinarily, I don't really think this would've been a huge issue, but as it happens, I got about 3 hours of sleep last night. Not for any particular reason, I hit the sack around 12:30, and proceeded to lie in bed until 3:30am or so. And even when I did sleep, I had some wacky dreams that kept waking me up.

Anyhow, I was on the fence about even doing a run today, but with the day off I couldn't really pass it up, so when my wife and daughter headed out to enjoy some Labor Day festivities, I opted to head out for a post-race 5-miler.

As soon as I stepped out the door and started up the gradual hill on my street, I could tell my legs were going to fight me every step of the way. So, instead of listening to my body I went out at 8:58 for the first mile and 8:44 for the second. Genius.

At about 3 miles I began the old walk/run routine, albeit not as badly as usual. As a ran by the high school on my way back I noticed the temp was 90, much too hot for a sleep-deprived post-race run I think! I actually ended up cutting things short at about 4.5 miles and cursed myself the entire way home. Tomorrow I will surely rest, and try for better runs on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.