I'm five months post-ACL/meniscus surgery.  I ran the BAA 10K today with MtnBikerChk (wife), Oski, Mr Oski, and my friend Mike (not MothAudio).  This was the first race in Boston since the marathon, so it had a real great vibe to it today.  I've been back running for two months now, and about five weeks into getting some mileage back.  I have not done much of any speedwork.  My focus has been on getting my endurance back up, as prescribed by my doc.  My PR was 47:48 and was very soft, having been set back in Nov 2011 which was my first year of running.  I had only run one 10K since and that was on tired legs.  10K's seem to be a rare beast around here.

I didn't really have a goal for this other than running strong and pain free.  I ran a 5K a couple of weeks ago in 23:39, so I had a pretty good idea of what I could do today if I didn't fall apart.  Sub-50 seemed realistic.  We got to Boston, got parked, used the portapotties, and got to the starting line with 10 minutes to spare.  Not enough time for a warmup with the swarms of people.  Bummer.

The temp was 73 and humid at the start and warmed up a bit during the race.  It got real warm in the sun.

The race went off in four waves based on your estimated finish time.  I got into the back of wave one (7:59 pace).  The horn sounded right at 8:00.  I really just had to go out and see what my legs and knee gave me.  I felt good running at 7:30 pace so I stuck to that.  I was passing a whole lot of people and did a fair bit of weaving that first 1K.

Mile 1:  7:29.  No time for a warm-up meant the first mile sucked.  My legs felt good enough but I was sucking wind.

Mile 2:  7:26  Feeling good now.  No knee pain.  Happy legs.  It realized PR pace was 7:42 and decided to see how far I could last at this pace since I was feeling good.  If I blow up, so what.  It was getting hot and didn't know how much that would affect me later in the race.  If I had to slow it down a bunch, I was ready to do that.  I was just happy to be here.  

Mile 3:  7:46.  Not a lot of uphill on this flat course, but it all came in this mile and I felt it.  The leaders went flying by on the other side.  It was really cool seeing them, as this was my first race with such an elite field.  My 5K split was 23:42, three second off my 5K from two weeks ago.  I was starting to hurt (the legs, not the knee).  I was getting hot and my legs were getting tired.

Mile 4:  7:34.  At exactly mile 4.55, I was ready for this to end.  "Crap, ~two more miles!"  My pace wasn't dropping but I was really starting to tire.  My knee didn't hurt one bit though, so I held my pace as best I could.  I realized I had built up a little cushion on my PR and wasn't ready to give it back yet.

Mile 5:  7:41.  Getting even hotter and more tired here.  Passing a whole lot of people, too.  I was starting to think mile 6 was going to be a slow one.  I spotted my friend John watching on the side of the road as I came under the bridge and up the incline.  I called his name and he snapped some pics.  Sweet!

Mile 6:  7:42.  Holding my pace, holding my pace, holding my pace.  How am I doing this!?  I expected to fade this last mile because of how much my legs hurt, but I was managing to hang on here.

Mile 6.2:  7:42 pace.  Finally seeing the finish line, that last .2 miles seemed a lot further away.  No final kick here...I was spent.  I crossed in an official 47:36 (7:37 pace) for a new PR by 12 seconds!  I was a happy Baboon!!

Overall:  756 / 5436

AG:  90/330

I couldn't be much happier about this.  Three months ago I would have been happy to know I could cover the distance at this point.  Doing so and setting a PR is more than I could have reasonably hoped for or expected.  Doing so on a warm and humid day is just a bonus.  Top 15% overall?  You kidding me?  I am thrilled.  I can't wait to see what a summer of more miles and speedwork will do for my fall races.  I see my doc one last time (I hope!) on Tuesday.  Hopefully he'll clear me to start hammering.

Now all that said, seeing the wife run her first 10K was even better.     She's come a long way and I am very proud of her.  <3

All in all, this was a great day with some good friends.  

Awesome!!  Congrats! 

Great comeback performance!

And that did not look exactly like traditional Jewish deli fare, but looks delicious anyway.

Congrats!  LOL at the Mike (not Moth Audio) comment.

Great comeback race!  Hope it continues that way for you!

Was it the first time you've raced in compression sleeves?  I always feel faster when I used my compression socks during races.

Well done Phil, congratulations!  Good things on the horizon for you too I'd bet.  Any race plans for between now & Hartford?  Great rr as well.

What a great comeback.  That's awesome.  I know the feeling of seeing your wife make progress as well.  It's really fun.  We also like to have a great breakfast type post-race meal.  It's never something that we would usually eat, but for some reason it's really tasty after a race.  I'm glad you're healthy again, and can't wait to see how you progress.

Thanks for the comments.  

Docket:  This is my first race in the compression sleeves.  To be perfectly honest though, I only wore them because they are blue and blue/yellow attire was encouraged.    I figured "Why not."  I liked wearing them though and will wear them again in races.

Runwell:  I've got a handful of races on the schedule before Hartford, starting with an Olympic distance duathlon in three weeks.  I can only do the Hartford Half this year and have already registered.  I won't have the time nor do I want the pressure of having to ramp up this summer for a full marathon.  I'll shoot for a spring 2014 marathon.

Congrats and great race report. How was parking for it?

No problem at all.  Easy in, plenty of spots in the garage, easy out.