Oh Long run . . . how I love and yet hate you in the same breath! The anxiety and pre-anticipation of pain and suffering you always seem to cause! Yet when the time comes, and I am in the midst of your greatness I smile to myself and think “Look what I can do!”
Today I ran 17 miles. And for the record that I am not a morning person. Or for that matter, someone who can just hop out of bed in the morning and do an easy long run. There is not doubt that the long run is essential to marathon training. Besides the obvious of getting your body use to the mileage, and trying out different methods of hydration and fueling up, what I find most important is the mental training!
Seeing that this isn’t my first marathon, it goes without saying that I have done my fair share of 17 + mile runs in the past. Yet it is always the first time in training where I question whether I can really do it. Is my body ready for this? Did I run too hard this week to finish such a long run? Today’s long run was no different than many other first long runs of seasons past. About halfway though I start to think, “God I still have 8 miles to go” and ”can i really run this far?” It doesn’t help when it involves running through a downpour like today, which started only 45 minutes into what was to be almost a 2.5 hour run. But like my boyfriend Adam said before leaving for his run today, it give you character.
At about 11 miles into the run I entered Central Park, and prepared to do one full loop around to finish out my run. At the same time I am thinking, “maybe I should just do the 5 mile inner loop instead”. But what I love about Central Park is that EVERYONE runs the loop. So during those last 6 miles I saw not one, but 5 familiar faces. Just like in races, seeing someone familiar while doing a long run is always helpful and encouraging. So when the time came to turn down the path of the 5 mile inner loop, I resisted. And in the end I actually finished the full loop strong and slightly faster then the beginning of the run. And THAT is what I love most about the long run. Time and again it proves to me just how strong I really am!
