Endurance is….

Sticking it out for the last 3 miles of a 15 mile run when nature is calling. And I’m not talking about the pee kind of nature, either…UGH!

This happened during my LRS (long run stamina) workout today. According to my training plan, I was to run 15 miles, the middle 6 miles of the run should be done at 1/2 marathon goal pace. I did well on this run. I planned the run as a 3 loop course, two 6 mile loops, and a 3 miler. I stashed my water bottle a quarter mile from my house, as I described in my post a couple days ago. When I hit mile 12, I was done with the hard pace, and stopped at my water bottle to refill. It was when I stopped running that my potty issues arose. I considered going home to take care of things, but I know that once I walk in my front door, I won’t go back out to finish. So, I stuck it out. After about 12 minutes, I felt okay and was able to run the rest of the 3 miles. The term, “Junk Miles”, occurred to me several times throughout this, but I chose to keep going. After all, the purpose of a long run is to push yourself past fatigue, past discomfort… and keep going.

Fortunately, on really long races like the Duke 1/2 iron race, they have porta potties along the run course. 🙂