Mentally Coping With Long Runs

It was last year at about this time, and I was out for one of my first 15 mile runs I had ever done.  I had maintained my composure well, but at about mile 10 I had a mini mental breakdown.  Apparently the heat and leg fatigue had finally cut through my aluminum foil-like mental armor.  By the time I had made it back into town, I had sworn off any hope of ever running that far again.

Fast forward six months, and I was signing up for an 50 mile run, and the terrible thoughts from that 15 miler during the previous summer were haunting me.  Certainly, I would fail.  Little did I know, but a great power was building within me.  A force that would shield my fragile mind from the horrors that sometimes must be confronted on a long run.  Now I come to you, dear reader, for I desire to share my new knowledge of this force.


So here's how it works!
  
Guy A goes for a run.  Guy A starts thinking about how great it will feel to be done with that run.  Guy A starts fantasizing about a couch and that tasty pizza that Guy A will have when he completes that run.  It is then that the full gravity of the situation falls upon Guy A.  Guy A wants pizza and a couch... now, and the rest of the run is dumb and in the way of said pizza!  Running is now Guy A's punisher, his obligation, and his enemy.  Guy A shortens his run to be done with it.  Guy A weeps.  Guy A's pizza tastes of ash.  


Let's now contrast that with Gal B.  Gal B goes for a run.  Gal B leaves thinking about her favorite parts of the route that Gal B will travel.  Gal B brings money and a small snack.  Gal B thinks about how cool it will be to have run the distance before her, but relaxes and lets her mind wander and is in no hurry to finish.  If Gal B starts feeling too much pain, Gal B slows a bit for a while because she has the ability to ignore her ego.  If Gal B ends up longing for food, she has a snack or has a chocolate milk at a gas station.  Gal B ends up running three extra miles and enjoys her post-run pizza, made tastier by the pride of knowing what she was just able to accomplish.  


So here's the summary for bullet-list people:

• Find the least painful route possible if there are none you totally like, and think about your favorite parts of it.
• Bring money and/or a snack so you can stop cravings that come up.  
• Relax and don't dwell on being done.  Try to enjoy being out there.
• Let your mind wander and don't be afraid to think about how cool what you are accomplishing is.
• Let go of your ego.  It's better to be running slow that not running at all.  Speed can come later when your more callused to the distance.  

Keep in mind that you will get better at these the more you run.  It takes time to be able to relax and not think about being done and eating pizza.  Some days are just mentally better than others, and that's okay.  The key is getting better over time and learning to love running and not just see it as a punishment or self-inflicted boot camp.  I've ran for over four hours on many occasions, and I still have the occasional breakdown on runs that are less than ten miles... but I'm getting better all the time.