So having come from Half Marathons and transitioning over to full marathons my longest run ever to date had been 15 miles and only 3 times in the last 4 years. Frequently 12 and 13 milers but nothing as potentially daunting as 1n 18 miler on a Sunday morning, simply for training purposes.
That being sad I fueled and hydrated Saturday night and set my alarm for 5:30 am Sunday morning. I was in bed before 10, which helps. Alarm went off, small pot of coffee and begin the fueling and hydrating process. Half a large bottle of G2 (and some more water), toast with peanut butter and a piece of fruit. 2 small cups of coffee over an hour and a half. Come around 6:45 start prepping, Camel Back filled, Sport jelly beans , cash, subway card all packed. A few too many bathroom stops, but anyway.
Under Armour on, the compression gear is amazing to prevent against chafing, body glide applied (hey, you can never be to careful against chafing), shorts, shirt, injini performance socks, shoes, bandanna on. Camel back on, Nike Plus enabled, Oakley Thumps charged and on. Out the door I go about 7:05 am. It's sunny, and about 55 degrees, perfect.
My goal is to run over the Brooklyn Bridge, down Broadway to Battery Park, around to the Hudson river and hug the river up until I hit the 10 or 11 mile mark, then turn around back along the river to Battery Park where I should be at my 18 miles and then take the train home (I'm not a fan of heights so the bridge once is enough for me).
I get on to the bridge and crap I've not stretched. Make my way down the bridge to the other side and in to Manhattan where I stop for a couple minutes to stretch, then continue on to Broadway and down to the park. That is about the 3 mile mark, hydrate (camel back is good for that I tell you, no stopping just sip on the run, though it's not a literal camel back http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000N0WBIQ/ref=oss_product ) Run over to the river path and start the long haul up the island. About mile 4 I realize I need to go to the bathroom again, I know the West Side well enough to know where bathrooms are and such on this run, so I hit some porta potties at about mile 6, quick bathroom break and off we continue, hydrate.
Mile 8 I start the re-fueling process, 1 pack of Jelly Belly Sport jelly beans, eat 5, 1 at a time, then some water, repeat until done (15 beans in a pack). Mile 10.25 has me hit the street at 95th and Riverside, so that is where I turn around to make my long way back to Battery Park. This is also where you need to start to be mentally strong. For this first aspect of the run, I felt great, was keeping my pace of under 8:19 per mile, everything felt good and was working right.
So at this point things start to change and mental focus now becomes the challenge. Body felt fine, that was not the issue. So I start to make short achievable goals. I had to pee and new where the bathroom I wanted to use was. So that was goal number 1. I will list my short goals (my first goal was to hit 9 miles, I can do 9, and then I'm half way there):
1) Bathroom stop , should be about mile 11 - Hydrate
2) Exit out of Riverside park, should be about mile 12 (was)
3) 29th street - should be mile 14 (was), means only 4 miles to go, and break that down and it's achievable - Hydrate
4) Don't look at miles on Nike Plus until the high school where I turn to hug the river at River Terrace Park in Battery Park City, should be mile 16 (was 16.25) - Hydrate
5) Don't look at miles on Nike Plus until my old building (use to live in BPC) which should be 17.5 miles or so (was)
So those small, achievable goals, gave my brain something smaller and simpler to focus on. I picked up my pace for the last half mile, had to do some extra in Battery Park itself to finish out the 18 miles. Time was 2 hours 27 minutes with an average pace of 8:12 (was scheduled for 8:19).
Some key items of note. Sleep, eat, hydrate. Do those things right the night before and the morning of and your body should feel decent. The right gear, makes your life easier, I mention the things I used above. Those both help your mental, if your body is OK, it's one less thing to be used as an excuse to cut the miles down. Make small, achievable goals once you need to, trust, they help big time.
