I've only run 1 marathon so far, and I started signing to myself "I'm running a marathon, a marathon, a marathon, I'm running a marathon cause I'm an f*ing Bada**". During training I often find myself saying "you've done this before, you know you can do it again" (I use this one for long runs as well as tough speed intervals.)

Should the caveat be that you have to be mental to run a marathon?

For me (so far) each marathon has gotten a little easier. The distance doesn't intimidate me though I have worried about how well the training has prepared me if I've not followed my training plan well. When my wife was recovering from knee replacement surgery and I couldn't get out for as many runs and longer runs as I had planned, I did worry about how that marathon would go. But it went fine. It was cold and rainy and not necessarily "fun" but it was the challenge of running a marathon in miserable conditions that had me determined to complete it.

I tend to think of the marathon distance in segments and what I wish to accomplish in each segment. That may include a time goal but it is more than just that. During my runs I tend to focus on what I am doing...how are my steps landing? Where am I making contact on my feet? How is my heart rate doing? My breathing? Are there any tweaks or adjustments to make to keep the running smooth and efficient? Which muscles are getting tired and are they outside of "normal" experiences.

I might let my thoughts drift off to other things not associated directly with running (something I'm working on at the office or at home). Or I might set myself up in a game of pursuit towards the end of the race (can I overtake them by a certain point in the course or by the finish line). But more often than not it is a mindful "system check" on myself that I find myself conducting.

And there is also the knowing that I am doing something that a relatively small fraction of the population can actually do.

Outside of the idea of one being genetically predisposed to either being a shorter distance runner vs. a longer distance runner based on ratio of muscle fiber types, I think one's preferred distance and attitude/ability to go further distances can be purely individual. I think one's speed is a really significant factor in that as well, one often overlooked. Allow me to explain.

For me making my first 3 full marathons was basically just proving that I could do it no matter how tired I felt. Most people feel pretty trashed after their first full and I was no exception. Since I was a 6+ hour runner that fatigue was particularly acute. The distance is not the same for all, a 3 or 4 hour marathoner probably does not feel as fatigued after their first, third or even 100't marathon as a 5+ hour marathoner. Since paces are mostly defined by effort and HR it becomes a matter of time at that effort. That is what being prepared to avoid hitting the wall is all about, and what really distinguishes the preparation and execution both physically and mentally of a 3 hour marathon from a 5+ hour marathoner. For my 6 hour marathons, I was essentially running a 50k to 50mile race for the average person in terms of effort over time. The mantra I used to make it to the finish was "medal, injury or body bag". I wasn't going home without one of those. That can't work for many people though because their reason for running that event may not be compatible with such an extreme desire to finish at even the cost of one's health or even life.

My favorite endurance distance in the half marathon. For me I can do this in 2:15 to 2:30 fairly comfortably and if I train properly and enter an ideal race fully peaked it is quite reasonable that I could do a 2:00 HM, but thus far I have not trained and entered at peak since reaching that capability. I think it is only natural that this is a favorite endurance distance because the timing of it is right in there for pushing your physical endurance at that effort level to basically go as far and long as reasonable without overly exerting yourself and having to really deal with the wall and fatigue that could take you out of commission for a long time.

Elite and top marathoners can crank out fulls in a roughly 2:00 to 3:00 timeframe which is somewhat similar to my half marathon effort over time. After running and racing a number of half marathons this spring I can run them at a steady state effort on a once per week basis, or flat out race one and require a couple weeks recovery before being back to normal but in that time losing a little bit of oomph, but back to being able to race again in about a month or so. Elite marathoners can do that too, race for 3 hours and expect to be competitive again about a month later at minimum. It kind of makes sense when looking at it as effort over time. Once you exceed that typical timeframe though, say going 4+ hours for a full, then the time to recover starts going up. The ability to run that long at the same effort is also diminished and these runners may start at their marathon pace effort but slow down after a while (maybe mile 16, maybe 20, maybe 22). Once you start looking at 5+ hours it does not make much sense to run any portion of it at what is typically referred to as "marathon pace effort" because you are sure to crash. So you run slower and longer, putting in a sort of time and effort similar to where some can run ultras. This is why some people can really only race one full each season, or year. Since it is clearly taking a larger toll, it is clearly a tougher battle to endure. Ultra runners usually take quite a while to recover, especially at longer distances (really determined more by time at effort than distance).

OK, that may have been a hair off on a tangent, but pretty much on topic I think.

Given all that, if you are into endurance events and have something in you pushing you to do them, it is only natural that after you finish one that really pushes your abilities that you think you'll never do it again but sign up for another soon after. Without that drive you would not have signed up for one, trained and executed it to begin with. For people who just do it as a "bucket list" thing, well, in some cases they may never run another one again. The key is what drove them to make it through training and the event to begin with. It may have started as a "bucket list" desire but due to the difficulties presented they found other motivation to push them through only to uncover their long hidden inner endurance athlete.

Good gawd, I'll stop typing now.