Without a doubt the key to Marathon training is the long run. Despite a stomach virus that took hold of me this past week, I knew that my long run was a necessary step in my marathon training.
While many of my running friends prefer to run in a group when doing their long runs, I actually prefer to run alone. The battle that takes place in my mind while I do this long run is truly remarkable. I go through so many different emotions during this time and at times I really need to remember that I'm running because I swear it feels like I'm in a different zone sometimes. It's probably why I've had so many close calls with oncoming traffic. During the long run I will think about everything from past relationships, my kids to what I'm going to eat after I finish. Nothing is off limits during this time. Running long distances allows me to process things that normally I may keep bottled up inside.
Music is something that motivates me during my long run and as I started out I made sure that my music player was fully charged and ready to go. The previous week I ran 30K and I wanted to stay relatively close to that mileage but without knowing how my stomach would hold up, I really had to just hope for the best.
The previous week I had run the Ajax/Pickering waterfront trail. I decided that I wanted to run this same route but instead of doing an out and back, I wanted to do a long square. This time I took more money with me just in case I needed to buy some water along the way.
It was 27 degrees when I left my house and I knew that things were only going to get worse. As was the case the previous week, the first 6 miles were fairly easy. In fact, with each training session I complete, I can feel myself getting stronger and stronger. At the 9 mile mark I had finished running the waterfront trail and started to make my way home. I decided to run on the roads for the remainder of my run. However, the weather was getting warmer and without the shade from the trail I knew that it was going to be a tough finish.
I had to stop at a convenience store to buy some water and that really seemed to help. I poured most of it on my head and then started off for the last part of the run. About 4K's from home I spotted three runners who I knew. They were obviously struggling to finish as the temperature must have been over 30 degrees by now. I stopped for a brief moment to say hello but then it was time for me to finish. It's amazing how the sight of a familiar face can really energize me and it's why that I hope to have many family and friends cheering me on at my Marathon in October.
As I climbed the first of two long hills to complete my run I really started to feel the heat. Even though I was so close to home, there was a small part of me that just wanted to stop and walk the rest of the way. However, that negative thinking just served to motivate me even more and I really pushed hard up that last hill and made it home.
I was happy to see that I completed 27K's despite being sick for most of the week. On Sunday I ran a nice 11K recovery run and picked up the pace a little bit more than usual.
With another week completed I can feel my body really starting to get more acclimated not only to the longer distances but also the heat. A few short weeks ago 10K's were a bit of a struggle but now they are becoming much easier. There is no substitute for putting in the training and I'm pleased that despite a minor setback in the week, I'm still ahead of schedule. One of my favorite sayings is, "pain is temporary but quitting lasts forever!"
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