Long May You Run

One of the things running bloggers and runner friends seem to love to talk about is the dreaded long run.

I was beginning to think I've been doing something wrong, because long runs haven't been bad for me. Long runs are demanding, sure, but they've never been hellish for me like they seem to be for other runners. They never required me to summon Herculean amounts of strength and energy and they never completely wiped me out for the next 1-2 days. Granted, my long runs haven't been that long so far, relatively speaking, but whenever I hear runners griping about the long run I can't help but think: are long runs really THAT bad, folks? Or am I not doing them right? Do I just have a higher pain threshold? Are some people just natural complainers? What gives?

The other day, I was discussing long runs with a running friend of mine and she mentioned how a long run ruins not only that day, but sometimes the whole weekend if it's on a Saturday or the following Monday if it's on a Sunday, too. I didn't really know what to say because this has not been my experience, but I didn't want to be all, "well I always feel fine after MY long runs!" My long runs are always pretty exhausting, and make me kinda sore, and some of them don't go as well as others, but I usually am able to go on with the rest of my day and feel normal once they're over.

That is, until yesterday. Yesterday I did an 11-mile long run (it's amazing how close I'm getting to 13.1!). It wasn't a bad run and went swimmingly for the most part, but on my way back I hit a wall at about mile 8.5. Suddenly home seemed another 11 miles away. My legs ached and it felt like torture trying to pull myself through those last couple miles.

I got through it. I managed to make it the rest of the way, without stopping or walking. But when I got home I just crashed. I curled up in bed, not even bothering to change out of my cold sweaty running clothes, and slept for an hour. And, it felt great. Today my knees still ache a little bit.

So, you win, long run haters. You were right and I was woefully naive: they are hard and they do sometimes torpedo the rest of your day. I'm gonna be optimistic and chalk my extreme exhaustion up to the fact that I was coming out of a 2 week hiatus and trying to compensate by jamming 19 miles into a span of 4 days (that may not seem like a lot, but up until this point I've been doing that much and sometimes less in a whole week).

While I was running on that wall, it was impossible to believe that I could get through a half marathon in 8 weeks. 11 miles is SO close, but it sure didn't feel that way yesterday! I could not have handled another two. So, how much better can I really get in 8 weeks? Each week that goes by and the half marathon gets closer, I wonder more and more what it's going to look like. I toy with different time goals, but the truth is I really have no idea what I am or am not capable of. What does May 3rd have in store for me? What will 13.1 miles really feel like? So much wondering. I'm so anxious and excited and want race day to hurry up and get here, but at the same time, I'm constantly worried that I'm not prepared enough and that I'm going to let myself down. Will I regret all that hill training I didn't do? Should I have increased my weekly mileage sooner? Am I doing speedwork right?

Anyway, regardless of what it means, I'm choosing to let it motivate me instead of discouraging me. This week I am increasing my tempo and easy run mileage and I'm excited to kick a 12 miler's butt this weekend (12. Holy crap. That's 1.1 miles away from a half marathon)!

Here's to you, long runs: the (mostly) good, the bad, and the ugly.