Well, the day is almost over, but I wanted to participate anyway. I’ve missed quite a few ‘Take it and Run’ Thursdays!

This week’s theme is … Slaying The Long Run Dragon. What are your best tips for getting through the long, hard, hot, hilly, sweaty, torturous but enjoyable runs?

I haven’t run more than 16 miles since marathon training in the spring of 2007. But I sure remember those long runs!

It was no accident that we selected a spring marathon. No long runs in the heat and humidity. Though, we did have to run through the rain and snow.

We spend a good amount of time on local trails. As distances got longer, MapMyRun.com became our friend as we charted out 18-mile routes through town. And to keep things interesting, we planned field trips.

We’d pile into a couple cars and drive an hour or so to try some new destinations. We ran on trails that would be too far to travel to for a shorter run … but if you’re going to be out running for four or five hours, why not? (Uh, yeah, we were running for over five hours. We trained up to 24 miles, and we took it slow!)

And, of course, having friends to chat with make those long runs a lot more bearable!