Early this week one of my favorite running bloggers, Megan over at Runners Kitchen, blogged about long run anxiety. I don't know if anxiety is the right word for me, but I definitely get where she's coming from. Long runs don't seem like such a big deal anymore--what's 20 miles when you've ran 15 a couple days ago? But, they take a lot of time and it's easy to talk yourself into post-poning it.
Oh, maybe I'll just read a little bit more of today's Times, or I really need to catch up 30 Rock...
The longer you wait to get started, the harder it is to get out the door. The first way I try to deal with this is by doing my long runs on Saturday, not Sunday. That way I get them out of the way early in the weekend. Back during school I often did them Friday mornings (although, let's be honest, that was partly so I could go out Friday night...).
It's still easy for me to push them off. Thankfully, this weekend for the second time I ran with members of the Dashing Whippets. That meant I had to be out of my house and on the subway by 8:30 to meet them at Union Square. This was great motivation. It wasn't too early so I felt rested but it kept me from post-poning my run.
I have to say, though, the route today was tough!!! I've posted it after the jump. It involved a relatively flat first 10 miles, but then we hit Central Park and had 4 loops of the Harlem Hills! It doesn't help that my apartment is just a couple of blocks north of the park. Every loop I thought
You could just run off right now. You don't have to do another loop.
Thankfully I was able to stick with it. This kind of mental training will really help me come April. The hills in the final miles of Boston require stamina that is as much mental and physical so it's important to be ready.
With 20+ miles under my belt, it's time to relax and enjoy a 3 day weekend!
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