20 miles is long. 

Running for three hours is long.

Running for 20 miles in 3 hours in the rain and wind is long.

Running for 20 miles in 3 hours in the wind and rain when you feel like you can’t keep up with your running buddies makes things extra long.

Some of the bright spots from the run:

  • damn, holy shit, I ran 20 miles!!
  • body glide came through again – no chafing or bleeding
  • no shoulder pain
  • no hip or knee pain either
  • my breathing felt relaxed

Some of the not so bright spots

  • not a whole lot of turnover in my legs
  • On the last 4 miles I felt like I was getting slower with each step
  • I was useless for the rest of the day

I have 3 more runs of 20 (or more) miles planned.  I can’t think of any major changes I’d make in preparation for those runs.  I might take the day before off  (I ran 4 miles on Saturday)  or I might take it a little easier on Friday (I ran nearly 10 this past Friday.  But other than that, I was happy w/ my clothes, the 2 GUs in my pocket (no more Cliff Shots – too hard to open, I’m all GU now) and the socks.  Even with all the rain and deep puddles my feet were fine the entire time.