Hooray! It’s good to be back racing. First race post injury/surgery of August 2011. The things we take for granted. I remember after my meniscus tear/repair thinking how hard it was just to walk 1/2 mile, let alone 1 mile. This injury/incident happened about three weeks post Ironman Lake Placid. From surgery, therapy to end of 2011 I did quite a bit of reflecting on how much I have accomplished in training/racing and how I need to approach the milestones of my racing career with huge appreciation.

Light jogging started in December of 2011 with my therapy’s approval and progressed to full out running at the end of January into February 2012. I have so much to be thankful for. First for my health and full recovery. I am able to run and enjoy the outdoors again.

At first I was aiming for a February race season start with the NY Road Runners Al Gordon race (this race was my first competitive race when I started back in 2009). However I opted out of it and went for a later season start when I gained more running miles and endurance on my recovered knee for the year.

Anh P. and I signed up for the NY Road Runners Colon Cancer 15K challenge. I very much looked forward to this distance as it would serve as a great barometer for my current fitness level.

I have been training two swims, three bikes and three – four run workouts per week. This week I only went with running as I wanted to be at the start line as fresh as possible today.

The first six miles of the race I was running conservatively just maintaining pace and not taking any risk early on. At mile 6 into the 15K (9.3 miles) I took the one power gel I brought with me and pushed the envelop. I began pushing the pace and gear into full blown race mode. I made a body check on all my “parts”, right knee (where injury took place), calf, achilles, etc and all felt great. Continued pushing for the next 3.3 miles into the finish.

Very grateful to all who’ve supported me especially Anh P. ,folks on @dailymile , @twitter , friends, family. Looking forward to the 2012 race season.

Our Finish Photo

Official Time: 1:07:54 (7:18)