6 Weeks To Go

I did not want to run yesterday, which was a problem considering it was a "long run" day. The Philly Half-Marathon is now in 6 weeks. As part of training to run 13.1 miles, I am supposed to do weekly long runs of ever-increasing mileage so my body is ready to go on November 22. You would think part of me would look forward to these longs runs and see them as a challenge. A man-versus-his-own-physical-limits thing. But you would think wrong.

Instead, yesterday morning I was like a whiny toddler faced with the heartbreak of giving up his favorite sippy cup. The bartering with myself began as soon as the running shoes were on. I tried my best to convince me a long run was a bad idea. I pointed out how cloudy it was outside and how a downpour was sure to start any minute. I reminded myself about having the flu the previous week and insisted my immune system needed additional time to heal. I hadn't slept enough, I said. I wasn't properly hydrated. I was unprepared and unathletic. I tempted myself with ice cream, a warm blanket and the promise that a long run could wait another day.

Except, I did it anyway. 9 miles in 90 minutes. As I pushed myself to get from mile 8 to mile 9, I wondered what all the fuss had been about before starting. Why try to talk myself out of doing something that I can clearly do? Why is it that the hard part of working out isn't the workout at all, but the push to simply get started? The biggest challenge to tackling a physical task like running a longer distance are getting over the hurdles we construct in our own heads.

I don't mean to give the impression it was all easy. My legs might tell a different story, considering they were still stiff and a little sore thirty six hours later. But I've been running now for a year and a half, so my body has had time to get conditioned to go further. My head however, and the doubts it likes to cast, are a different story.

In the next six weeks, I need to build up until I can complete 13 miles. There will be a lot of negativity coming from my naysayer self, but I know I can do this. As long as I can stay out of my own way, it's not going to be a problem. The next long run is 10 miles. Here I come.