I got injured at the start of last year and had to take about three months totally off running. I hadn't been in the best shape but I after the break I was totally out of shape. Once I was cleared to run again, I hopped in a couple races for fun during the summer and struggled my way to a 5:40 mile and a low 20 5k. Both of these were at all-comers races on a track. I was honestly pretty pleased and thought I'd get back into regular running and be pretty much right back where I left off soon.
Well now it's been a full year since those races and I'm still feeling out of shape. I ran a mile time trial not too long ago and managed about 5:20 and on 4th of July I ran a road 5k and was a bit slower than my track 5k last summer. So what gives? I've got a full year of pretty healthy running under my belt and I'm 10 lbs lighter than I was last year but I'm still running the same-ish 5k time. I'm not even that old (late 20s)!