Well, yes, the trail legs aspect is the hardest part of section hiking. That, logistics, and efficiency. I always marveled at how quickly thrus would set up and take down their tents and hammocks, prepare a meal, etc., while I was fumbling in my pack for items I needed, especially for the first few days.

My longest section, Damascus to Amicalola, took me about two months, and I did develop a semblance of trail legs, which meant endurance, not speed. I could just keep going at my (some would say glacial) pace of roughly three miles in two hours.