relentless forward progress

This is the first 5k I've ran since last July and I was fairly unprepared but I needed to have a baseline to move forward with. This was a fun race. Lined up with team mates Matt and Trevor and soon enough we were off. There was a pack of 5 that went out very quick and then I was in the 4 person chase pack that was about 3 meters back at the half mile point. By the 1 mile marker I was about 10 meters behind the lead group of four and all the guys with me had faded back so I was all alone the rest of the race. I saw one of the guys on the lead pack fall off at the 2 mile mark and made it my goal to try and catch him but it didn't quite happen. I faded a bit on the last mile which is about right considering I haven't done much of anything speed wise and that I was solo. I was hoping to be under 17:30 but it just isn't there yet. Trevor won the race with Matt a close second. Good day for the team. Course was a bit long and I ended up 5th in 18:20.

I'm happy to have a starting point now. I know that I have lost some fitness this year but I am in a good place and it will come back quickly as long as I stay patient. Though I did a bunch of Xtraining through my injury it's still not running miles and short races like these reveal everything, I've only ran just over 400 miles this year. Right now it's all about respecting the process and being consistent. As long as I can do these things and continue to be smart with my workouts then the rest will take care of itself. Structurally I feel very strong which is a good sign. Feeling excited.

I had a great time with Matt today. Matt is all class and it definitely made the day so much better to do this with him. Very cool to see so many friends and people from the blog out running and racing. Awesome to see James running today although I didn't get to talk with him. Always good to see Allie as well. One of the additional highlights for me was when I was picking up some post race food at the finish and this voice said "hey quit eating all the oranges." I looked up annoyed and smiled when I saw that it was my wife who had came up to surprise me.

Also of note: it was so cool today to see Kodi kill the half and talk with her after. I get all excited when people from my hometown rock races. I hope I am in shape to race her at a couple local Sanpete County races this summer.