Short Race Day

Woke up this morning and headed to the Washington Duke Trail for the Immaculata Catholic School 5k fundraiser. Great morning for a run with much better temperatures than I anticipated. Was great to see 100+ people show up and run and support a great school that I am proud to have attended. As for the run itself, I knew I was coming in out of cardio shape, so I knew it would be a struggle. Sad BD hurt himself this week although very happy he showed up today to support the entire Activedge team. So today it was Rachel, Morven, and me that ran.

At the start I went out very fast with Rachel (who is in great form right now) and we led the race for the first mile, hitting the first mile split at 6:11...much faster than I anticipated. So we backed off the tempo a bit and had one other high school cross country runner join us...clearly I was out of my league for where I am running-wise. Oh well, had to keep plugging....hit mile 2 and told Rachel to let it rip, I backed off my pace and had to run solo the rest of the way over a series of climbs that are just killer when the legs are sore. I was passed by two more cross country runner freaks but kept my head down and ran my race. Came in at 22:20 ish, not bad for not having run more than 3 miles at one time since pre-season training in August. I rounded off the top 5 for the race....so I'll take it for now. Different goals for next year though. Headed back to the gym to change and recover. Did a quick body fat test with Brian...I'm at 16%...again not bad for where I am now...will be at 10% or lower by the end of May.

Overall this was a great week to visit with Brian, Meredith, and Morven. Their dedication and intensity inspires me. I will miss them lots over the next few weeks at school. Also was very excited to hear Rachel and Bill are engaged now too. Now our paths temporarily diverge...