A typical 10 mile long run goes like this for me:
Walk to my starting spot. Look at my Garmin. Look down the road. sigh out loud and then trot, trot, trot down that road I go. Miles 1 -4 go by pretty quick.
At mile 5 I realize I have just made it half way. This begins the mental break down. It's like I suddenly assess my body for the first time all run. I think to myself I should be tired. Are my legs tired? Does my knee hurt? Am I getting a blister? How are my feet? oh, they are tired. This continues on for the next 2 miles.
By mile 7 I've had it with running wondering why I decided to run this far today.
By mile 8 I'm ready to quit 2 more miles just seems impossible. Everything I just talked myself into in miles 5 and 6 is starting to come to fruition. I literally talked myself into a sore knee and blisters on my feet.
All of the sudden I hit mile 9 and realize I just started the last mile. It's like watching the timer on the microwave :59 seconds is under a minute the foods almost done! The same thing happens in running. You hit the last mile marker before the finish line and it's this moment of less than a mile! It's like this happy switch gets turned on. I pick up the pace, my knee stops hurting the blisters have disappeared and it's like I just started out on my run. All my aches, pain and misery just disappear.
That last part happens on every single training run I do. I wish it was that way in races, but seriously when I'm in a race I am thankful that I will be able to collapse and die in less than a mile.
I've been working on this mental issue for the past year. I nearly had it beat during marathon training when each run was a major chore and last mile or not there was no happy switch, but I'd rather not be back in that space. That reminds me of the time I wanted to be eaten by a bear. But that's, another story.
