I'm getting closer

Last night was a pretty good run for me. I was supposed to do a warmup mile a cooldown mile and 4 miles in between at a 9:50 pace. I ran with James. We started out a little fast and James started to slow down. Usually I would slow down with him but I pushed harder when he slowed down. So the first faster mile that I ran with James was 9:33. The second mile when I left him was 9:25. The third mile was 9:16. The fourth mile there was a big hill that killed me and I did it in 9:30. I felt pretty good. I cramped up a couple of times last night in bed but I'm getting faster. Now if only I can get through the fall without an injury. I could be doing decent come October. Man it still seems so slow compared to real athletes.