It’s getting so close! 19 more days until our half marathon!
To be honest, I cannot WAIT to be done with training. The shorter runs are all fine and dandy, but these long runs I’ve been doing on Sundays have been a tad bit difficult. I usually don’t do more than 4 miles for “fun,” so spending so much time on long runs has been making me crazy. I’ve never actually realized how insane I get until recently.
Since I’m apparently now sharing all the things I’m not proud of when it comes to running — cough* my running form *cough — I figured I would give a quick look inside what I think on long runs. Recently, I’ve realized just how ridiculous I get. My emotions are all over the place…
You name an emotion, and I probably go through it at some point during my long runs. It gets a bit out of hand.
To give you an idea of what I’m thinking at each stage of my long runs, here’s a quick run-through:
Wake Up: Whose idea was it to set the alarm for 6:30 am on the weekend to workout!? Bleh.
Mile 1: Look at me running in the early morning! Go me! This run is going to be awesome. Can’t wait to finish 11 miles. It actually feels pretty good to be moving.
Mile 2: I’m winded. How on earth am I going to run 9 more miles?! What if I can’t?! Ahh!
Mile 3: Really, GPS watch?! In what universe is this 3 miles?! I feel like I’ve been running for ages. I bet Friends is on right now. I could be bumming around on the couch right now watching Friends.
Mile 4: Wow. Coffee sounds amazing right now. That’s the first thing I’m going to do when I finish this run. Or maybe I’ll take a nap first. This is a tough decision. What time is it anyways? Like 7am? This is ridiculous.
Mile 5: Yay! I’m half done! Wait. Nooooooo, there’s so much left.
Mile 6: This is the worst hobby in the world. Why do I run again? This is so unpleasant. I want coffee. Oo look! A garage sale! I should go to that after. I bet they have some awesome treasures. I should start carrying money with me on runs.
Mile 7: I’m pretty sure I’ve been running for 10 hours by now. This is quite uncomfortable. Quick! Get into deep thought about anything to distract yourself. Blogging? Oo look! Cute dog. I wish I had a dog to run with. I’d probably be that person running who looks like they’re dying, while their dog is next to them just casually walking because I’m going so slow. Embarrassing.
Mile 8: I’m so close to being done! I can’t believe how slow I’m running. I bet I could walk faster than this. Pretty sure I make running look really hard.
Mile 9: Okay, once this is done, I have 2 miles left. That’s shorter than my short runs. I can do this! I may be getting a bit fussy, but I can totally finish this run.
Mile 10: Nobody talk to me. I’m so cranky it’s not even funny.
Mile 11: Last. Mile. Legs. Hurt. Tired. Worst is behind me. Can’t wait to chug some water. I should probably run a little faster. I don’t know if I care enough to.
DONE! That was difficult. Can’t believe I finished it.
10 Minutes Later: That was the best run ever! I’m so happy and feel great now!
An Hour Later: Zzzzzz.
As you can see, I’m a different kind of runner. I’ll admit I’m definitely a bit too negative at times, but I can usually find my happy place…though it may take finishing the run to get there.
What about you…
What thoughts go through your head when you go on long runs?
Are you an angry runner like I often am? Or are you more positive and happy?
Are you signed up for a race now? How’s training?
100% me. I’m not doing runs longer than 5 or 6 miles right now, and I will say, there is something I miss about settling in a comfortable jog for 10+ miles. But. I get quite irritable in the middle of most long runs, especially because I’m not fast and it goes foooreeevvveeerr. I think it takes me longer than 10 minutes after to feel great about it, too. I have to get home, drink, get some energy in me and start stretching out before I feel good. Take a shower before I feel great. Why do we do this again? 🙂
Haha I’m glad I’m not the only one! We runners are a special kind of strange. Somehow, despite all the discomfort and irritability, we keep going back.
Haha I just wrote a blog post similar to this ! My range of emotions while running is all over the place!! Don’t worry we all do it 🙂 just keep at it and it actually gets easier if you can believe it!
I linked to my post too!
Awesome! I find it so funny to read what other people think during runs.