Last week, Matt and Stefan, my usual guides were out of town, so I had to look for someone to run 18 miles with me on Sunday. Thank god, I know a lot of masochists, so I did find two people, Dustin and Thomas, that each agreed to guide me for 9 miles. It was nice to need two guides for this run, it made me feel like a champion!
I took it very seriously, I had a monster breakfast with cereals, coffee, chili, peanut butter sandwiches, bananas etc. I know, it sounds a little gross, I am way too random in the morning. For me, each long run is nothing but an eating contest with a little exercise in the middle. Don’t forget that when an adult runs 18 miles, he burns around 2500 calories.
There are three important things for me during a run:
A: good pacing
I am very impulsive, like many beginners I often go out too hard
B: good fueling
I need to drink and eat a lot during a run. I always carry a handheld bottle, and I have a GU every 5 or 6 miles.
C: good thinking
I need to stay positive, no matter what happens. In a long run, one goes through many emotions, and it can be difficult to remain optimistic. I have a few tricks, I sing “I’ve been everywhere” to myself, I think about my wife’s cleavage, I keep whispering “I think I can”, and if all of this doesn’t work, I slowly count to 30. Usually, bad moments don’t last more than 30 seconds.
Since I like you, here is “I’ve been everywhere” by Johnny Cash:
When we started, Dustin told me: “you know Charles, in this world, there are two kinds of people, those that run 17.9 miles, and those that go around the parking lot to run the extra .1 mile. Today isn’t a .9 kind of day, ok?”
I don’t know why, but these words really pumped me up. When Thomas took over at the half way mark, I told him that today wasn’t a .9 kind of day. We ran 18.2 miles, yes, just to be sure.
