I broke the 14 mile barrier!!!!! Hell, I didn’t just break it, I blew it out of the friggin’ water!
For my last 3 long runs, I have set out with the goal of getting 14 miles in. Somehow, for various reasons, this hasn’t happened. I forgot to turn left. I had to change my route to go pee. I decided mid run to change things up for a change of scenery. You’d think that the variations would (at some point) pay off by being longer than I intended. NOPE! Every time I change my route once out there, it ends up shaving miles.
This happens routinely, and is as much mental as physical. Last year my tough distances were 16, 18, and 20. For some reason, it took several attempts before I was able to accomplish those distances. I remember setting out for a 20 miler on a really tough course, and coming in at 19.65 or something. 
When I say that it’s mental as well, it’s because there are some distances that seem so. freakin. long. that there is always doubt that I can finish them. And I seem to place far too much importance on certain distances. “If I can’t even do 14 miles, how can I do 26.2?” It becomes a mental game of confidence and fear, and fear often wins.
But Saturday? Confidence won. I felt good, and strong, and knew that I needed the boost of those 14 miles if I was going to keep myself motivated. I was meticulous in my planning and mapping of the run, and memorized it totally before leaving the house. And, what’d'ya know, but I had to pee before an hour was up. Which meant changing my route. Of course I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to tack on the distance I had lost. It’s hard to add it to the end of the run, and take a left away from home when you’ve already run 13 miles and you know that a right means 5 more minutes until you can stretch and rest and eat. Honestly? THAT is willpower. 
But I did it on Saturday. When I could have turned left at the corner and headed for home, I turned left earlier and circled back on the path away from the house. It added nearly two miles to my run, and TADA! Now I have no fear of that 14 mile barrier. Although, 18 is already looming in my vision and is enough to scare the crap out of me.
Final stats for Saturday’s run:
2 hr 21 min 32 sec (15.64 miles at 6.6 mph)
9:03/mile
Next week I am going to try 17 miles, before taking it back down to 10 for a recovery week the last week of June. But, after this last long run, I can say that the marathon finish line doesn’t seem so impossible. Qualifying for Boston? Still seems out of my reach. But at least I am beginning to feel like the first finish wasn’t a fluke.
