I have been terrible about writing in this blog, despite my best efforts!
Anyway, my half-marathon is four weeks from today. A few days ago, that was making me sweat (with anxiety, not effort). Because of various ailments and scheduling conflicts, I had missed a long run – an event that strikes fear into the heart of anyone training for a long-distance event – and was scheduled to be missing another one soon. Back in 2015 when I trained for my first half, my longest run was 10 miles. I know that in theory, that’s the longest run you need to prepare for a half, physically. But after about 8 or 9 miles, I don’t need physical training: it’s all mental. In fact, it’s a lot like labor. The pain begins to make you panic, which in turn makes you talk yourself into a corner.
Luckily for me, my mom came to visit this week and freed up one of my mornings to tackle the missing long run! My day before was on point with fuel and hydration, and I slept well too. I woke up to mist and cloudy skies. In other words, perfect running weather. I hit the trail and banged out 11 miles!
I discovered that it truly is mental for those last few miles, as I suspected. Your legs are going to hurt regardless, so you have to find a way to coach yourself through it. I was pleasantly surprised to look at my splits when it was over and see how consistent I was throughout! Usually I begin to flag by the end and my times get slower and slower. I thought I was running slower, because it felt so difficult; something I’ve started to tell myself is, “Just because it feels hard doesn’t mean you’re slowing down!” Overall, this long run went as well as it possibly could and I feel much better about my race, mentally!
I even came up with a little poem/acronym while I was running yesterday:
Walking
And
Running
Rainy
Intervals
On the
Road
I’m feeling good about this race! I may not beat my previous time, but I am going to finish feeling proud and strong, which has been my ultimate goal all along. Thank you, Run-Walk-Run!
The Need to Be Clever 