The story of Saturday's long run actually starts on Friday afternoon when I had a mini panic attack about running a marathon. It was the same old stuff that usually crops up:

• Don't want to spend so much time running
• Want to be able to have fun at friends' birthday party the night before
• Realizing just how far 17 miles is

When I was out super late on Friday night for the birthday party, I figured there was no way the 17 miles was going to happen in the morning and that I'd have to push it to Sunday.

But, I set my alarm anyway.

And when it went off, I dragged myself out of bed and went through the motions of getting ready for a run.

It was pretty comfortable temperature-wise when I started, but as the morning wore on it was getting warmer. I made some changes to my planned route and ran the whole 17 miles on a lakefront path that has lots of shade, lots of people and a water fountain to refill my water bottle, which really came in handy.

For the most part, I felt pretty strong during the run. Miles 15 and 16 were a struggle, both mentally and physically. My legs were getting tired and I just wanted to be done, but I kept pushing through. When Garmin beeped at mile 17 I was in a park about 1.5 miles away from home.

I toyed with the idea of walking back, but my legs were having none of it. Instead I stretched out in the park and called the BF to come pick me up. What a life-saver!

After stopping at the grocery store for some necessities (chocolate milk and a huge pasta salad for lunch), I came home, stretched out and enjoyed a nice Epsom salt bath. My legs were tired, but OK. I had a massive blister on the bottom of my foot, but other than that, I wasn't in such bad shape.

And I was really proud of myself for getting the run done. Nothing tops the sense of accomplishment I feel after running longer than I have in almost four years and feeling pretty good the entire time.

I spent the rest of the day curled up on the sofa. It was wonderful.

In total: 17 miles with an average of 10:05 per mile.

I only have two more long, long runs before the marathon. I'm hoping they go just as well as this 17 did.