Marathon #8 Training: Long Run Sunday (17-miler)

 

Countdown to St. Jude Memphis Marathon: 10 weeks

Long Run Sunday: 17 miles

Training Plan: Hal Higdon Novice II

So, I have this amazing life long goal of running 50 marathons in 50 states. The St. Jude Marathon will be Marathon #8 overall and my third marathon of the year.

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This was actually a long run Sunday, which was followed by church, lunch, movie time with the kids, dinner, meal prep for the week, and then hitting the pillow sometime after it got dark, which felt like quite the accomplishment considering I was ready to tag out and go to sleep about 7:00 pm.

For me, the 17-miler officially means I am out of the honeymoon phase. Which basically means from here on out all my long runs are going to be more miserable than enjoyable for numerous reasons. These reasons include:

  1. Things start to hurt after mile 15…. feet, knees, calves, etc… etc..
  2. Long runs will only get longer and that means more time hitting the pavement.
  3. For some reason the hills seem to get bigger on long runs.
  4. As the distances get longer, my pace always seems to gradually get slower and slower…. creeping close to those 13 minute miles just does not make me smile.
  5. Nutrition… I have to more cognizant and consistent with nutrition.
  6. Stretching. Ugghh…. I am terrible about being diligent and stretching but the ever irritating IT band tightening is always on my mind and reminds me to stretch after every long run.

So, what keeps me going at this point in training? For me, there is this weird rationalization that there is less than 10 miles left to go and having less than double digits in mileage still to cover is some how reassuring (I think that is crazy marathoner brain rationalization). Knowing that all the pain stops as soon as I finish keeps me going. When I think of those who deal with pain and sickness each hour of everyday, then a long run is quickly put in perspective. 

As always, huge thank you to my sponsor, Complete Nutrition Tallahassee, who has kept me healthy, strong, and accountable this year.

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Sunrise about mile 12.

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