Notes
So the race I wasn't expecting to run turned out to be pretty good! My original goal was sub-60. I went out at a comfortable pace and focused on catching my teammate Tom who started 10 seconds ahead of me. Tom slowly got farther away from me, but after 4, maybe 5 miles I started reeling him in. I think I caught him at mile 6.
Tom was running well too, better than he expected to, so I ended up running faster as well. I didn't think I was going as fast as I was. After I passed him and got to 7 miles I started feeling a little tired. I told Tom to pass me back and he did, but not long after that I got a second wind. I still felt good and had something left. I was able to increase my speed, and once we hit the dirt trail with a mile to go I started to fly. I had a strong finish and felt good.
Thinking back I think I definitely could have gone a bit faster. At least, I definitely could have gone out more aggressively and pushed myself harder in the 3-4 and 7-9 mile sections. Not 100% in racing mode yet. But man am I happy with the result. I'm kinda fast again! Well faster than I expected. Hopefully I can do a 5k or 5 miler soon, I'm curious how I'd do. If I could run a 16:30 or better that'd be pretty awesome. Fun day.