I’ve always known running is 90% mental. You’re mind is always the first to give. In fact, I’m sure most triathletes would agree, swimming, cycling, & running are all mental… Training your mind is much harder than training your body. It reminds me of something Jillian Michaels said “Your legs aren’t giving out, your head is giving out. Keep going.” But it’s so true. I’m convinced that training doesn’t matter until you are out of your comfort zone. You find out what you’re made of when you absolutely have hit that wall, and your still find a way over it. Today was that day for me. I’ve run two half distance marathons. That’s the farthest I’ve pushed myself. And that was only on race day. It’s really easy to push on race day. It’s a new course, adrenaline will carry you a long way. Training runs is where it’s just you and the road.
I set out this morning telling myself if I could just run 13.1, I would be happy with that. Thankfully, fellow Rock Runner, Laurie, was also running the long distance. So we set out together for 16 miles. I really did pretty good most of the run. Only a minor side stitch around mile 3, but nothing bad. I was able to down 2 GU’s (a huge accomplishment for me) and had to detour to find some electrolytes. My feet really started hurting around mile 12. But overall, a great run. We actually ran 16 miles and walked 1.5 to cool down. We finished in 2:39, not bad at all. Did I really just run for 2 hours and 39 minutes? Craziness! This was the first time that I could really see myself running 26.2. I’m not quite there mentally, but I have a few more long runs to help prepare myself. I hit that wall several times today but kept running and didn’t give up. And that’s gotta count for a lot!
“You’ve got what it takes, but it will take everything you got.” <—— Words to train by.
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Run For Your Life 
I absolutely agree 10,000%. There are many times when I'm working out that I want to quit – because I can't breathe right, my feet hurt, it's already been an hour and a half, etc. But mentally, I KNOW I've never been at the point where I'll keel over if I kept it up. It's totally my mind telling me I should quit, definitely not my body. Your body won't allow you to push it too far over the edge. I love your enthusiasm. I wish I had more of what you do. Lol.
Exactly, I haven't hit that place either. You're body does a pretty good job at telling you when enough is enough. I mean, if there is pain, that is one thing. But you have to know setting out that your body will grow tired and so does the mind. It's just learning to push through it. I think it's a never-ending learning process..lol.