Notes
My plan was to just get the 20 miles in at a relaxed comfortable pace and not put too much stress on the Achilles. I thought i would be running 8:30's. I felt sluggish and tied first mile. It felt like it was about a 9;20, so when I heard the beep and saw 9:36 I wasn't surprised. But I looked again and realized it was 8:36 and not 9:36. I was shocked as I felt I was going way slower. I think I was just more warmed up at the start because I did core/strength before I ran, something I usually do after a run.
By mile 3, I settled in 8:00-8:10 pace which I kept the rest of the run. I ran easy, relaxed, no effort at all. I took no gels, no water and didn't really deplete until the last 1.5 miles. I felt if I had taken food/water I could have run a marathon at this pace. I did pick up the pace a little bit the last 3 miles without even realizing it. I had off and on issues with Achilles, but surprisingly they were fine the last 5 miles.
So I have to put this down as an awesome run! So now it's just recover from this and get ready for the Olliie 5 miler on Saturday.