Well, it’s official—I’ve signed up for my first post-op race. Tomorrow morning, Julie and I will be running in the xSIGHTment Run 5K, which is put on by the Colleyville Lions Club.

Being that this is my first race since knee surgery, and that I’ve only just recently started training again, I’m not expecting a whole lot from this race. (Regarding my training, I did go over 100 miles in May, but I’ve not started back to any formal training, and I haven’t really gotten back to doing any speedwork.) Looking at the results from past years, this race attracts some fast runners. So even though it isn’t a big race, I have no delusions of placing in my Age Group. Honestly, I’ll be lucky to get a top 10 AG finish.

With that in mind, I’ve been trying to come up with my goals, because you know you should always have a reason to race, and a plan in place for the race. My reason to race is that I desperately want to get back into it. I haven’t raced at any distance since a 10K last September, and haven’t done a 5K since last June’s Run for Dad. Also, I want to run this year’s Run for Dad, but I don’t want it to be my first race back. Considering it is in two weeks, tomorrow’s xSIGHTment Run seemed like a good choice. So that’s the reason, but I’m having a little more trouble with my specific goals.

Of course the most important (and obvious) goal is to finish the race. Beyond that, I’m not sure. Even under ideal circumstances, I think a PR is unrealistic, but I’m having a tough time deciding how to pace this race. Do I just go run and have fun? Do I shoot for a pace I can maintain all the way through? Do I go out a little conservative, and then ramp it up? Do I go out fast, and see how long I can hold on? I really don’t know. I’m torn between running an evenly pace race and trying to hold on as long as I can. You’ll have to wait for the race report to hear what I decide.