I remember from last year that I didn't feel too bad after my 20 mile run - it was the 18 miler (and the penultimate really long run) that had me almost limping around that day. Today, I don't feel that bad. Yes, I'm sore - but I'm not gimpy.
My legs actually started to feel a bit sore after mile 9. At mile 18 I the back pain that I got earlier in the week came back (luckily, this pain disappeared when I stopped running). Even with this, I ran strong to the end - my last two mile splits were 10:14 and 10:28. Compare this to my first two splits of 11:04 and 11:17...how nice to get faster at the end of such a long run!
And while we're on the subject of comparisons, since I ran the same route in preparing for the Frederick Marathon, I actually have a good gauge as to how I am doing compared to last year. Today, I ran the route in 3:35:05 (avg pace of 10:33 with avg HR of 152). Last year I ran the same route in 3:46:42 (avg pace of 11:19 with avg HR of 157).
I was thinking perhaps the weather may be more favorable this year - this morning was 60 degrees and overcast. However, last year was 57 degrees and also cloudy. No...I can't attribute the improvement to the weather.
Here's the route:
Rest day tomorrow. Then Yom Kippor on Monday, so I'll need to squeeze my weekly runs in on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
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