There was a time I did not think twice about doing a long run. No matter the distance or pace my attitude was bring it on. Lately I find myself obsessing over the long run. Will I complete that distance, can I hold that pace for that long, drinks or gels, are among the myriad questions that I ask myself.
Take today's run for example. I've been thinking about it all week. The plan called for 170 minutes run - the first 90 minutes @ 10 min/mile and the last 80 minutes @ 9min/miles. Tough one. And the questions have been flying thick and thin through my mind. Amazingly though it never crossed my mind to forgo the run. So 5:00am I'm on the road taking tentative steps in what would turn out to be a great run for me. I ran it a tad faster than planned - did the first 90 minutes@ about 9:51 and the last 80 minutes @ about 8:47. I was able to hold the pace. Legs felt strong; I just knuckled down and got on with it. The strategy for taking in gels and drinking (Lucozade sports drink) on the run went well. I had a gel after the first hour and one every 45 minutes thereafter. I drank to thirst.
There was one thing though that really got me going. After the first few miles a thought dropped into my mind that changed my attitude and got me going. The thought: "You will never know what you can or cannot do until you try!"
Like a friend of mine on dailymile commented after this run - I will file this one away as a huge confidence booster! I will remember this one!
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