Air Force graduate and four-time All-American Jaci Smith, who ran the fastest 10,000-meter time by an American female athlete this year in a women's-only competition with her 32:10.31 performance Oct. 23 at the Big City Invitational at Icahn Stadium in New York, joins DyeStat editor Erik Boal to discuss recovering from an Achilles' injury over the summer and achieving the Olympic Trials standard following only five track workouts for preparation. Smith reflects on competing in her first track race in more than a year, having only run the Aramco Houston Half Marathon in January, followed by a 19th-place finish Feb. 29 at the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon in Atlanta. She expresses gratitude for even having an opportunity to compete, since the recovery from her injury occurred during most of the summer schedule, leaving Smith with few options in preparation for competing in early December at "The Track Meet" sponsored by Sound Running in Southern California. She reveals the decision to race the 10,000 instead of the 5,000, and the benefit of having fellow American Allie Kieffer in the race to chase during the second half of the race. Smith revisits being able to produce a significant negative split of 15:49 in the second half of the race after coming through the midway point at 16:21. She shares her next goal of running under 32 minutes, with the ultimate target of achieving the Olympic standard of 31:25. Smith also examines the projected women's 10,000 field at the Olympic Trials in June and her potential to compete against a veteran field with plenty of international experience. She also speaks about her opportunity to represent the U.S. in July 2019 at the NACAC U-23 Championships in Queretaro, Mexico, where she won gold in the women's 5,000. Smith talks about continuing to be coached by Ryan Cole in the Air Force World Class Athlete program and the opportunity to train during the fall with fellow graduate Hannah Everson. She also explains her new role as volunteer assistant coach and what it meant to watch the Air Force women's team place eighth at last year's NCAA Division 1 cross country finals, in addition to training with the student-athletes in preparation for their Veteran's Day showdown with Army and Navy. Smith concludes by discussing the details of her new family book club.