Mental Challenge of Long Runs

Training for an endurance event means logging in multiple log runs. I'm sure there are definitions galore out there for what constitutes a "long run." For me, the long run is generally any distance longer than a half marathon's distance. Lately, all of my long runs have been knocked out by myself as the family just can't understand why anyone would want to run for 3+ hours. Yesterday's run was probably my breaking point mentally. I didn't enjoy being alone. Not really sure I've would have been good company anyway. I was quite the whiner. I finished 3 miles and that's when I knew I was in trouble. I started whining that I still had 19 more miles to go. At mile 7, I whined I still had 15 more miles! Quite honestly, when you're knocking out a 20+ miler, all of your math will result in a "long run." Yuck! Even as I write this, I'm still amazed I finished. I'll be glad that in 4 more weeks, my runs can go back to 10 miles or less per run. Now that's something I can wrap my head around!