But then two years of inactivity ensued as I recovered from an achilles strain that put me in The Boot for all of the summer of 2017 and in the summer of 2018 the horror of a detached retina and four eyes surgeries transpired. Returning finally to running in May, I started from scratch and have been running twelve-minute mies, basically, as I slowly pushed my weekly mileage up to 12 miles and my long run up to 5 miles in 61 minutes. (It was the first chilly morning of the fall so conditions for racing were perfect.)
Today I ran the Home Run For The Homeless 5K in Bluemont Park in Arlington, sponsored by a non-profit charitable foundation that spends millions in Arlington getting homeless families back on their feet and into a self-sustaining life situation, wherein the proceeds of the race go to this cause. The day was chilly at race time, perfect conditions to run in. (Corporal Johnson of the Arlington SO provided security, and friendly encouragement, wearing her pink embroidered breast cancer awareness badge that is standard issue for this month in the department.)
Just yesterday I ran 5K as a training run in 36 minutes (34 minutes if you don't count the time I spent in the local library returning books that were due that I had carried there in a multitasking run), even before I knew that I would race a 5K today in a last second decision at the urging of a couple of friends I encountered unexpectedly late yesterday afternoon. I finished the race in 32:39, a 10:32 pace, far back in the pack (43/46 men by the time I drove away) but I was happy with the results because it felt good to be out there pushing myself as I continue to return to running. (Happy that it went well.)
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