Putting the S into LSD

That was most definitely me, this beautiful Delhi morning.

Putting the S into LSD.

Today I had no choice but to take it slowly, after a month of only intermittent short runs during my travels.

To be honest, the thought of a long run this morning – the weekly LSD or Long Slow Distance – was a bit daunting.

Though I ran while on holiday, I didn’t do any long runs, so it’s been an age since I racked up the kilometres.

But buoyed up by the group energy (and the fact that we are all in countdown mode to the racing season) I managed to run nearly 16km, and felt fantastic after it.

Stiff, but fantastic 😛

We met at Nehru Park, quite a large group from our ASICS Running Club.

We usually do our LSDs on a Sunday, but we ran today because tomorrow is Karva Chaut, (a Hindu festival where wives fast so that their husbands will have a long life) so the long run was switched to suit the ladies.

More traffic than on a Sunday, naturally, but it wasn’t that bad.

We quickly split into smaller groups – not quite sure why – so we were 7 for our almost-16km run.

Well, actually, we were 7 + a street dog for about half the run.

He firmly attached himself to us – to Sonali, mainly, who was leading the pack at the time, so must’ve seemed to be the natural leader!

Saw off a group of dogs lounging in the dust near the Oberoi – literally ignored them as we ran through their territory.

They all barked like crazy, but our fella just ran with us, his head held high.  He joined in our group photo at India Gate where we met one of our runners cycling – if that makes sense – and then he peeled off at some point on Raj Path, having run kilometres from his original beat, bless him.

We ran quite a section of the half marathon route, through Lutyens Delhi, past some of the city’s finest and most iconic spots.

India Gate

Raisina Hill

The weather was fabulous – warm but not too hot or humid – but, sadly, I could feel the poor air quality, after weeks away from the city…and we haven’t had Diwali, or the foggy weather yet, God help us.

This is our track log:

To finish, I’m sharing a link to a very interesting article about the different ways to run one’s LSD, and I do like the idea of treating them as a dress rehearsal for the main event.

Good to be running “properly” again, but boy-oh-boy am I stiff and out of shape…and when you look at the photos (below) of our post-run stretching & yoga session, it’s clear why.

I’m lolling there, watching the others work…

Just one last observation…you see us all sitting on the grass, stretching or not, as the case may be :P.

This is Shanti Path, one of the showpiece avenues of Lutyens Delhi, and yet, early in the mornings, it is ours.

There is a definite sense of ownership of the city, early in the day – if that doesn’t sound weird…