Running for Your Life: Eighteen Miler Ahead

It is mind over matter.

Well, compression socks, patella bands, worn-in shoes, and a stride honed so that it is the mind that is being served, the body more or less taking care of itself.

On Wednesday (March 6) I’m planning the eighteen miler, my longest run so far in this 100-day training regime I’ve committed myself to before the Sunday, May 5, running of the Pittsburgh Marathon.

I’ve been doing hills – well, slopes in Park Slope, Brooklyn – and simulating short races to boost endurance. What cross training I’m doing is focused on core. I find – and each person is different – that the exercises I do that emphasize core and heel and calf help me to sustain my gait on long runs without undue muscle strain.

How did I get here? Trial and error. And, man, that road is paved with pain and injury.

So on Wednesday, it will be up and over the Brooklyn Bridge and off to, well, maybe West 72nd Street before I return home to Park Slope, Brooklyn.

I can’t wait to see what seeps into my mind that day. And be grateful that that is what will matter as I make my way along, more than two-thirds toward by 26.2 mile goal, a three-hour run, at minimum.

Next: Running for Your Life: Jamaican Mood