Sat. Race - Sun Long

Talking long run plans over the weekend with John and Ryan, they seem to be amazed or at the very least curious about my plans to run 20 miles the day after running a 10 mile race. 

Well, may be running 20 miles after racing 10 mile isn’t the wisest of plans but give it some time. Quite possibly you will come around to my way of thinking.

Consider this situation…

“You are in the last 4 miles of your marathon. You are tired. Your legs are beyond stiff as the veins just below the skin do their very best to whisk away the blood laden with lactic acid.”

 It is very hard to simulate those conditions in training without actually running a race. But then, this is the purpose of racing. Right?

During training all you want to get as close as possible without crossing the line.

So back to my racing on Saturday for 10 miles and then running long on Sunday, yes, my legs were pretty tender come Sunday morning at 5 AM. I didn’t really expect them to have any bounce in them.

The early miles were not easy, but as the run wore on they began to feel better. By the 10 mile point, my legs already felt like that they had done twenty. My brain was forced to work even harder to keep them moving to keep them turning over and over. Is it worth it? Absolutely, it is.

Training the mind for a marathon is probably 90% of the real work while the remaining 10% goes into training the body. If the mind believes it, the body will follow. You have to "believe" first.

So on marathon day, when it comes time to run on tired legs, I’ll not only be ready but I’ll have the confidence to know that I can do it.