Dear Future Megan,
Next summer when you inevitably return from a long run dehydrated and defeated, remember Sunday’s 20-miler. It was epic, it was ahh-MAZ-ing, it was confidence-boosting, you name it. That single run made up for a summer’s worth of slow, sluggish death marches. Yes, it’s hard to see now with stinging sweat in your eyes that the cooler weather will bring with it faster, easier running. But remember that this run proved that it does.
More than once that day, I caught myself experiencing the “runner’s high.” Around mile 12 or 13, we dropped the pace to 7:35. And it felt easy, like we had only 10 steps, not 10 miles, under our belt. I felt smooth and in control, my breathing was relaxed, and I shifted into cruise-control so I could fully take in the gorgeous, sun-soaked scenery around me. (Mind you, I’d been struggling to hold my pace within 8:15-30 range on my long runs so far, so stop feeling discouraged about your long-run splits so far this summer. It’s not worth your time or energy!) Then with four miles to go, I still felt strong, so I decided to try to dip down into the 7s again. I genuinely couldn’t believe it when my splits were all 7:30 or faster. I was giddy for the rest of the day (and week for that matter).
Remember how this run completely changed your mentality going into Marine Corps and how it revealed that yes, you really do love this sport even when you’ve sweat buckets at the butt-crack of dawn Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. Remember to feel grateful and thankful for the ability to feel that runner’s high and rush of endorphins that sometimes get dampened by the summer haze. It’s all worth it, I swear. This is your mantra: Summer marathon training IS worth it!
So go take a cold shower, cozy up in bed, cue up Netflix, and get excited. Fall will be here before you know it!
(One-Month-Out-From-MCM) Megan
QUOTE OF THE POST: “Running is a big question mark that’s there each and every day. It asks you, ‘Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?” – Peter Maher
megrunnergirl 
Yes!! Awesome!!! Love when LRs go well (and even better when they haven’t been going so well!!) 🙂
Nice Job!!! Awesome time! I do my 20 miler this weekend!!
Thank you! Good luck with your 20-miler! =)
I tried so hard to remind myself of this on all those miserable summer runs. That is one solid 20 miler!
That’s why I wrote it, so I could reread next summer when I’m feeling yucky on those runs. haha But thank you! =)
Congrats on a solid 20 miler, absolutely amazing. I love looking back at past runs- both good and bad and use them for fuel for future training and races. It’s easy to use other runners and people as inspiration and motivation but when you find the ability to use yourself and your own experiences as motivation- that’s when you know you have grown.
Exactly! Thank you! =)
Love this! I’m running the MCM too and my August running was atrocious. I was afraid I was going to completely have to rethink my pacing strategy. Then cool weather showed up and voila, magically back on track.
Congrats! It’ll be a huge confidence booster for you! Keep it up 🙂
Thank you Lynn! =)