Hey All!
With this final weekend, the regular season is now over. Although I missed racing, it was really great to watch the culture that I enjoy being a part of so much. It made me extremely proud to be one of you all. One thing I love so much about runners is how supportive you all are for everyone. Everyone goes through the same race. Everyone that crosses the line gets cheered on. It really reminded me how tight the Maine running community is and how glad that I am to be a part of it.
It was also great to see lots of you all last weekend! I was cleared to race last week, but my coaches decided to start me on a more low-key meet. I was disappointed I would have to miss my last festival, but I think it was the right call. Festival was a great race on both the girls and the guys side, with Luke opening up the field to run a killer time and that super close race with the pack of girls. Congrats to Luke and Tia on the wins, and congrats to all of you who made it the largest high school sporting event in Maine! It was also awesome to catch up to the all the Southern Maine guys and those who have moved on to college! I also want to thank Milesplit for asking me to film the races. It was tons of fun, even if I didn't get to run.
This weekend was extremely special for me, because I am finally back racing. I decided to go into the race with no expectations, just feeling it out, and I was pleasantly surprised. The hours in the pool finally paid off! I was expecting to be in pretty rough shape, so running a 16:36 as my first race back is a pretty good place to start. I am not quite at 100% yet, but I know that a couple more weeks of solid training will increase my fitness a ton! I can't wait to be back racing with the top dogs at KVACs, regionals, and states!
It felt so good to finally be with my team on the starting line and sweat it out with my guys. It finally felt like I was truly a part of the team again. Racing and running are such a huge part of my life that without it I kind of felt out of place. When the gun went off, I felt like me again. I just couldn't help but smile.
It's so good to be back!
Paul's Practical Pointer for Perpetual Progress #3: If you're injured, putting in the time to cross train pays off big time.
May the course be with you,
Paul
