The Trial of Miles

What exactly is "the trial of miles?" It's something that runners who have learned for themselves over the course of their running. For example, the difference between a jogger and a runner is that a runner will keep running even after their body hurts so bad, every nerve is screaming to the runner to stop. A jogger will stop. There is nothing wrong with that. If the jogger's goal is to lose weight and be trim, that is a worthy goal and nothing to be ashamed of.

But, runners who want to find out how fast they can go, have to suffer through the trial of miles. When every fiber of your being screams at you to stop and your mind forces you to keep going, the runner builds a mental callous that allows the runner to find out what their limits are and then to keep going beyond those limits. Marathoners speak of the "wall" which is both a physiological and a mental barrier. The physical is the result of the depletion of the fatty reserves in the body and the build up of lactic acid. Staving off this wall is done by ingesting liquids, food or even jelly beans to keep up the glucose and other chemicals in the body. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, whatever, it is still difficult to break through the "wall" to the finish of a marathon or long distance race. The mental barriers for a runner can be as varied as the runners themselves. Mental barriers caused by undeserved expectations, lack of confidence, being unable to push through the pain etc. can cause a runner who may be physically able to perform well to slow down or drop out of the race all together.

There is no runner/racer who has not been tempted to quit during the middle of a race or a difficult training run. From beginner to elite, it happens to us all. Even after 40 something years of racing, I know in some part of a race, my body will be telling me to quit and I will have to force myself to not give in to that temptation. Fighting through this is one of the ties that bind all runners and joggers together. We've all wanted to quit at one time or another, but by fighting through a difficult training run or a race, there is a triumph that can only be shared by runners. Non-runners just won't get it. "Doesn't it hurt?" They will ask you. "Why don't you just stop if it hurts, that doesn't make sense." They are right, it does not make sense to them, but describing what you've experience during a race when "things got grim" will bring nods of undertanding from other runners.

If you haven't gone through the trial of miles yet, this will make sense after a tough race or grim run. If you already have gone through it, then................................

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers (& sisters) For he (she) that sheds his (her)blood with me shall be my brother (sister)