In it for the long haul

There was a time when breaking the "longest ever" run record was a personal achievement, and one that was followed by a day of lounging around, doing nothing, because you had already accomplished all you could ever imagine for the day.

The more I get into marathon training (and we are now half-way through the training schedule), the more I realize the longer the runs get, the less of a big deal they are to me. Today Ted and I ran 15 miles. Up to this point, my longest ever run had been 13 miles, so I was expecting to feel the difference and have it be a bigger deal.

As I sit here, I realize when getting into distances like that, a mile or two increase or decrease isn't going to matter. In some way, I wish I felt I could make a bigger deal out of the two extra miles we ran today. On the other hand, there is a sense of relief to realize I have reached a point in my training where a mile or two is just a mile or two, and not the commitment it is when the training first begins.

As a side note, the halfway point of training has also meant my running partners are feeling the stress. Dave spent all week on crutches because of an undetermined injury...he is much better than he was this time last week, but an MRI on Tuesday will hopefully determine the culprit, something with the X-Rays could not do. And Ted is on the couch, getting ready for an afternoon of football, with the Eagles decked out in their vintage blue and gold uniforms, with ice underneath his knee. The pain for him, he says, is behind his knee, and I'm not quite sure if he should treat it as a knee injury, or as an IT band issue...thoughts?

But we're tough, we'll manage, and all things considered, we feel good. There has never been talk of not running, and we've learned that motivation to finish can include two Advils and a bag of ice as well as it can include a cup of coffee and waffles, and all is well.