Nothing says you are almost ready for a marathon than that first successful long run. Well, except maybe for that second successful long run. But we aren’t quite there yet. So I’ll stick with the former.

I ran 16.69 miles on Saturday. This is where you might expect to hear “It wasn’t easy…but I got it done.”

The fact of the matter is, it was easy.

No, it wasn’t at marathon pace. But, I did practice nasal breathing throughout and I did not have to gasp for air once. I focused on form, and envisioned my core doing the work rather than my legs. I kept my heart rate below 180 throughout the entire run. I stopped at my car twice, about every 7 miles, to refuel on Energybits and Sports Legs, plus to grab a few swigs of hydration. And, I ran with my iPhone 6+ in the back pocket of my Fittie. (This has been an experiment in the making, since it is such a clunker.)

Saturday’s Long Run Data

Everything went off without a hitch.

Yeah, I’ve come a long way.

It is hard to believe that just 4 months ago, I was floundering in so many ways. First, the re-occurring leg injury. Then the unexplained weight gain. Then the depression. Then the exhaustion. It hurt to get out of bed. And just getting ready to run exhausted me to the point that I didn’t want to run. It was a scary time. And I was so close to throwing in the towel.

In general, my health was suffering. I could tell because my nails were weak and thin. My hair was falling out and graying rapidly. The weight gain was interfering with just about anything I wanted to do. It wasn’t a fun time.

What do I think went wrong? In general, I was overtrained. I tried to do too much in April on top of an injury that was forcing me to run with the incorrect form for my body. I wasn’t eating properly. I had gotten off the low carb wagon on the trip to California and I was having a hard time getting back on. I was hungry all the time with the overtraining and lack of sleep, so I compensated with more protein. And that clearly doesn’t work for me.

How do you know you are overtrained? Here are some signs, as published by Muscle for Life.

1. You simply can’t finish a proper workout.
2. You’re gaining weight despite training hard.
3. You don’t take any days off.
4. You’re restless at night and are having trouble sleeping.
5. You feel overly fatigued and sluggish.
6. You have odd aches and pains in your joints, bones, or limbs.
7. You’re getting sick more often than usual.
8. You feel drained and crappy after what normally would be a good workout.

I can relate to most of them. Feeling crappy, not being able to move my legs, poor sleep, tired all the time, significant mood swings, and not looking forward to my P90X workouts, which is what I live for! My physical body retaliated. And in turn, everything else suffered.

Getting back on the horse wasn’t an easy thing to do. I’m thankful to my physical therapist who got me back out there first, by healing the injury. Being in pain all the time sucks, in general. And it wears you down. But once that started to fade, everything else kind of fell into place. 4 months total. 4 whole months. That is a third of the year.

At this time last year, I was struggling with the thought of running the Twin Cities Marathon. Could I really run 26 miles on such little training? Would it even be worth my time? Could I pull it off?

And, quite honestly, I’m dealing with the same question this year in reference to Chicago. It is a week later than Twin Cities, and I feel I am about two weeks behind where I was last year at this time. I know I can finish the marathon. But will I have enough to qualify for Boston for 2017? Or even NYC?

I could sit here and question it all day. Or, I could trust in my training. I don’t have another choice, to be honest. It is what it is, and it will be what it will be.

Wednesday, just two days after I sent in my application for the Boston Marathon, I learned my application was accepted. Yup. I’m going back to Boston. I’m thrilled! I’m even more thrilled that my husband is wanting to come along. The prospect of training through the winter is scary. Twice now, winter training has almost destroyed me. It will take everything I have to do it right this time, even if it means more treadmill and less outdoor running. I’d love to give Boston what it’s given me, minus the stress fracture.

Yeah, I’ve come a long way.

So what happens next? A 20-miler, which right now should happen Saturday morning, God willing. Then, taper time. I plan to follow the same path I did last year right before Twin Cities. There will be travel involved this year for Chicago, but hopefully it won’t interfere that much. I’ve got a marathon to run after all.

26.2 miles.

Piece of cake.

Have you recently overcome a struggle of overwhelming sorts? How did you do it?