getting through the hard times

I'm sure everyone has dreaded waking up early to do a run? Or worse, had trouble sleeping the night before their longest run to date. There is no doubt it sucks and there are probably a million different things you'd rather do instead (especially the morning runs before work).

On the bright side, you feel 10x better afterwards.

I like to think of the long run progression and any milestone for that matter as a metaphor for accomplishing things in life and how important it is to follow through with goals. Just by choosing to do the marathon and ignoring doubt and fear we're getting one step ahead of those who stay timid and this will only multiply in the future as we learn to take on more challenges and choose to put more on our plate. So while there is often very little to be proud of during the training process, it definitely helps to believe it has a greater long term effect on our mental toughness!