Today I engaged in what is known as the long slow distance run or LSD for short. I think people call it this because they assume you would have to be on LSD to actually do this kind of thing. But for runners the long run is the the keystone of the training process, and while the physical nature of the long training run is important, the mental training is far more so. Let me explain with some examples from my own history as a runner.
When I began running some twenty years ago I was in awe of the people who could regularly log five to six miles per day. I just didn't understand how their bodies held up, how they found the time or the energy, and how they could do this kind of mileage day in and day out. Now, I'm one of this people. It doesn't even occur to me that what I'm doing is anything out of the ordinary. What I look at instead are people that I know who have run 365 straight days without a single day off. I look at ultra marathoners who log 18 miles on a weekday and think nothing of it. I look at people who regularly wake up at 4:30 a.m. Just so they can get their run in for the day. I'm in awe. Yet today I ran eight miles. It wasn't so long ago that I would have doubted my ability to do that. Who knows? In a few years, I may be looking at the mileage I'm doing today as child's play. All I can say is I'm grateful for the chance to see what I'm capable of.
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