Cougar Run

Sometime this summer, Brian and I got this crazy idea that we wanted to start running. Even though we heartily agree with the following quote from Parks and Recreation:

Ann: I was jogging, I hate jogging.
Chris: Jogging is amazing!
Ann: Jogging is the WORST, Chris, I mean, I know it keeps you healthy but...at what cost?

Maybe it's living in this neighborhood where it seems like half of the people were running RAGNARs, triathlons, and marathons. Maybe there's something in the water. Whatever it was, we decided to start running. Brian had always been a sprinter--until he hurt his knee in high school, and I hadn't run long distance since cross-country my senior year of high school. But, we decided to do it, so I signed us up for the Cougar Run during BYU's homecoming.

Brian actually did pretty good with his training. And I started to, but in between two kids waking up all night for several months, trying to finish the basement, and other logistics issues, my training didn't go as well as I would have liked. But whatever. On October 12, we showed up at BYU's track, got our shirts, our numbers, and my mind raced back to track meets and cross-country meets from high school, and I was so happy to be back, getting ready for a race. Pinning the bibs on my boys' shirts, and mine as well. Feeling the nerves and postponing the restroom stop to the last possible moment (girls on my team in high school often wet their pants during a race. It never happened to me, and I wasn't about to break that streak). And I was secretly hoping that my dad would find a way to be on the sidelines, cheering me on like he did at my track meets.

Michael's race was first--a 200 meter run. He was so proud of his running shirt.

 Flexing his muscles

 So this race was for ages 1-4. Michael had just turned four, and I must say, I was expecting him to be closer to the front. He was just enjoying the experience. That's all.

 I think he beat that kid in the end.

 And with a time of 1:41.2, Michael crossed the finish line in 18th place. Not too shabby, right? He ended up joining in for a lot of the other races, becoming a bandit, as one of BYU's track members called him.

 After all the kids races, it was time for our 5K. Our friends Christian and Natalie were kind enough to come down and watch our kids for us during the race since Ethan had to work last minute.

 Michael was sad that he couldn't run with us. Another year, perhaps, son.

The race started across the street from the Stadium on University Parkway. We ran up the hill to 900 east, made our way to 800 north, and then headed back towards the track right just below where the Maeser Building and the Brick Oven are (for those familiar with BYU.) This was also the route for the parade, so we had lots of people cheering us on. Lots of kids held out their hands to give me high fives as I ran by. It was almost as motivational as that time during a race in high school when a guy shouted out, "Hey, girl in the yellow shorts, you're hot" and I realized I was the only girl in the pack wearing yellow shorts. Almost. Seriously though, it was pretty awesome.

There were so many people at the start line that I didn't even see the guy up there with the gun to start us out. All of a sudden, we heard the shot and Brian said, "Hey, I think we're starting." And just like that, we were off!

 Brian and I started the race together, but like I said, he trained better and left me before we even made it to 900 East. I was fine with that.

 He finished 11th in his division with a time of 36:28.8. 

Throughout the race, I had a few constant companions, and one was this girl who was always just ahead of me. She seemed to be really losing her momentum as we were passing the RB and the Tanner Building, and I thought, "I'm going to catch that girl and beat her to the finish!" I knew I could do it; we were almost done. I caught up to her in the tunnel that goes from the Tanner Building parking lot into Helaman Halls. She had taken off her bib, and she told me that she was giving up. I was astonished. "No, you're not!" I said. "We're almost there! The finish is just past these buildings. You can't quit now. Put your bib back on. We're finishing this together!" We walked/ran through Helaman, and I found out that we had both been up practically all night with out kids, and neither one of us had trained very well for this. The last part of the race was 300 meters around the track. I told her that once we got to the track, we were going to run all the way to the end. And at the last 100 meters, we were going to kick it to the end. 

 Well, as you can see, she had a little bit more to kick it with in the end, and she ended up beating me. Oh well, I still felt good that I helped her finish the race.

 I finished 22nd in my division with a time of 45:47.1, my worst time EVER, but a lot has happened since then, specifically two children. I just tried to give myself credit for just getting out there and running, even if I did walk for the first time ever in a race. It can only go up from here, right?

We had a blast. We are definitely doing it again next year.