71 Days To Go - Mind Games

Date & Time : 13/10/09 09:15
Distance : 18 miles
Total Training Distance (since beginning Sept 09) : 379 miles
Route & Stats: Ring Road & Colney Loop

The link above shows 16.5 miles, it was 18, I managed to accidently switch my garmin off for a mile or so much to my annoyance - so here is the proof it was 18.   It certainly felt like 18, but actually wasn't too bad.   My right ankle got quite sore towards the end and the steep up hill bit at the end of Marsden Lane at about 15 miles was just a physical impossibility to run up.

I think the biggest challenge with these long runs is the mental battle.   You have to find a way to get into the zone, find a rythym where you're not constantly thinking about how far you've gone and how far there is left to go.  If you're not in the zone, every mile can seem like it takes forever, whereas when you're tuned in and running with a nice steady rythym then 3 or 4 miles can slip by without you even noticing.

Today's run was definitely a run of 3 stages.  The first 6 miles weren't a problem at all.  The middle 6 were a bit of a struggle and then the last 6 were OK.  Again I think this is all about the psychology.  After 6 miles I was thinking that there was still 3 miles to go until I was halfway, and then at 9 miles I felt rough and was thinking that there was another 9 miles to go which is mentally tough to deal with. But once I got past 12 miles, I started to feel much better knowing that I was turning for home and the last couple of miles were actually good and I felt quite strong, apart from my sore ankle, which actually felt worse while I was walking than when I was running.   

It's the Great East Run 20K next Sunday in Bungay which I am looking forward to, so will try and get a couple of decent runs in during the week in preparation for that.