Ran 20 miles yesterday — about 1.4 more than my previous best (which was a competitive 30K). Sprinted the last quarter-mile or so to the finish, and felt good doing so.
Jenn asked if I could’ve run the last 6.2 if I had to then and there. And I think the answer is “if it were a competitive race, yes.” Races are a lot different than running by yourself (and it is by yourself, even with a bunch of other people at North Park).
My biggest problem expanding my distance has been wrapping my head around the idea that to run farther, you have to run slower. Doing the 5-mile loop in about 57 minutes is hard when I know I can do two of them at just under 50 minutes each. But when you’re doing 4 loops, slowing down is the difference between finishing back at the car, or blacking out and waking up down the road at UPMC Passavant.