Race Report: Panther’s Homecoming 5K

Well, yesterday was the day for me and Britney. I had signed her up a mere 3 weeks ago when she gave me the green flag and she claimed she’d be ready despite the long day she would be having (she’s in the marching band and they did have a long day). I was looking forward to running with her and really working on getting her involved with racing and training with me.

I dragged her butt out of bed and had some breakfast before heading to the race site (conveniently located down the street!). We strategically arrived just shortly before start time so we were able to stay relatively warm (because it was freezing out!)

 
(Britney before the race: nervous and cold)

(Gotta do the up close and personal pre race shot!)

The gun sounded and we were off.

Britney was dying to pick up the pace right off the bat, a rookie mistake, which would cost her in the end. Since we were running this thing together, I put my foot down and held her back at a pace I knew I could hold on this difficult course (I was the veteran after all…).

We cruised along relatively quiet, it was hard to breathe due to the temperature and it really was a difficult course (not the most difficult I’ve been on), it’s a ‘true’ cross country course, all on grass with tight curves and rolling hills. Not to mention fairly muddy due to the number of runners and slightly warming temps later on. We did manage to snap some shots during the run:

(the better half chugging through)

(me and my oddball running form)

The finish was anti-climatic, we were glad to be done, and I was really excited about running with Britney and how well she did. She’s able to absorb running really well and can go a few weeks without training and still do well. She wants to keep this up, which makes me happy since I hate running alone.

A mere hour later we were showered and heading to campus to get her long band related day started. We ended up walking since traffic was going to be bad, and BB got her pay back:

I got to be her Band Sherpa for the day, carrying around her stuff and making sure didn’t lose anything (a full time job).

All in all, our homecoming was a nice but busy one. I felt great all day after the morning run. I’m hoping to sign the two of us up for a few more 5Ks in the next few months. I’ll be back later with my schedule for next season as I get the kinks worked out!