Long Run Boredom

As my first marathon nears, my long runs have become progressively longer. This past Saturday, I conquered 18 miles in the rain along a 1.8 mile walking trail loop. Doing the math, that makes 10 laps around that trail. I recalled just one year ago, I was on the same trail trying to build up the long runs for my first half-marathon. I remember how difficult it was for me to work up to 9, then 10, then a final 12 mile long run before tapering.

Now, fast forward a year, and I am again finding it difficult to creep the miles up to 16, then 18, then a final 20 mile run (or hopefully two). It is interesting that today, a 10 or 12 mile run seems quite simple to me. I don't mind grinding through the uncharted waters as I move up in the miles. My question that can be answered by those that have been there is this: Do the 16 - 20 mile runs become simpler "mentally" once you have done them a few times? Since my 10 -12 mile runs are a piece of cake after doing so many of them this past year, is it likely that the 16 - 20 mile runs will be the same once I get a few in the bag?

I run my long runs solo since there are no other runners to share the monatany. Right now, I don't really "enjoy" the 16-18 mile long runs. I don't have any real physical problem running them at my nice slow pace, but the mental boredom is definitely there. I do listen to running podcasts for the entire run. They are definitely my long run lifesaver. If I am to have a desire to continue running marathons after this first one, I feel like the long runs will have to become something much more accommodating mentally just like was the case after many 10-12 mile runs. That's going to be the key to me making it to a second marathon.