Me, my Brain, and I

There's something I've learned in running that has been verified by other runners within my social circle.  Each time I set a new distance PR (personal record) -- I think, "That's IT!!  I can't go any farther!"  But then the next time I do indeed, set another PR, again with the same desperate thought at the end.  Each time seems like the limit of my endurance.  And each time I'm able to push that limit farther.

My discovery is that much of it is in my mind.  If I set out to run 8 miles, then 8 miles is the extent I can manage before Sudden Death.  If I plan to run 12 miles, then my brain seems to adjust to the new challenge and the rest of my body somehow struggles through with the plan.  Of course one can't just decide to run an exorbitant distance without building up to it, so yes, muscles and lungs are important too.   Regardless of what my brain agrees upon at the onset, there are no negotiations halfway into the game.  It's a rare day when I can talk myself into additional miles mid-run.  When my brain is DONE, the rest had better follow or else there is misery to be had by all.

This would explain, in a way, how experienced MARATHONERS describe their last three to five miles.  "It's a mental thing," they say.  Your body is done, but your mind pushes onward.

(Side thought:  This might also have something to do with the bothersome need to find a bathroom during a run.  We fondly call this the "runner's trots".  I can manage to "hold it" quite well until I get within about a half of a block from my house and then, somehow, the portion of my brain that's directly wired to my intestines, kicks into full gear because it KNOWS a bathroom is nearby.  By the time I hit my doorstep, I'm in a full gallup.  I fully believe that if my house had been yet another half mile away, I would have been fine until, again, I hit the doorstep.)

I find this lesson on brain power encouraging.   Although 3, 5, or 10 miles may be the limit of my endurance today, I don't need to fear my goal for tomorrow.  As long as I add miles gradually, I won't die on that last one.  And after successfully completing an 18 miler last week, for the first time 26.2 seems within sight.  This is why TRAINING, in addition to the obvious physical benefits, builds the confidence needed to convince my brain that together, WE can do this.