Cougar Run

This week was our last Homecoming Week at BYU. Usually, I don't do much to participate in the festivities other than watch the game and stare at the beautiful Y when its lit. While I was searching for homecoming activities, I found that there's a 5k every year called the Cougar Run. I was thrilled.

The 5k was on Saturday morning. I got there early and watched the little kids run their races. It was so cute and so much fun. Mechaella met up with me and we anticipated the start. We heard that they were running late and decided to quickly meet Blaine in the parking lot and give him our phones and sweaters (it was pretty chilly but then it got warmer). Blaine surprised me with a nice, long-sleeve, Nike dri-fit shirt that would keep me warm. I was so happy! But it didn't fit (he always thinks I'm a teeny tiny size!). So we took longer than expected and ended up being 2 minutes late for the start of the race. We heard the gun indicating that the race had begun and booked it as fast as we could. It was SO frustrating. The race began with an incline up University Parkway towards 900 East. So we were sprinting, trying to catch up with the group of runners, before we even reached the starting point. What a waste of energy!

Even though that was frustrating, this was by far my favorite 5k. It was so much fun. The course was the route of the homecoming parade that would occur shortly after the race. There were tons of people lined up and sitting on their chairs, waiting for the parade. Everybody was cheering us on. It was so cool. My favorite part was high-fiving all the little kids on the side. They were so cute and would say things like "You can do it! You're so good! Keep going!". I had a smile on my face most of the race. I wish I had a camera strapped on to me to catch it all on video.

Another reason why this 5k was so fun was because it took me by some of the places that I will remember the most as part of my BYU experience. Going up University Parkway, we passed by the Marriott Center and I was reminded of all the wonderful firesides and devotionals I've attended there. That was the place where Blaine decided that he wanted to marry me. On that one occasion, we were lucky enough to be in the front row listening to President Utchdorf speak on marriage. It was a very special day for us - one that we will never forget. When we turned on 900 East, I caught a glimpse of the temple. I also passed by the Creamery and the unknown-to-BYU-students-other-than-ComD-majors-Taylor building, where I've had so many of my classes at. On 820 North, I passed by J-Dawgs - the first restaurant I ever went to in Provo. On 800 North, I passed by so many houses and apartments that I've done inspections at for my job. I also passed by Southridge (where we lived before we got married) and the duck pond. We then took a right onto 150 East. We passed by BYU's iconic Brick Oven Pizza and by our first apartment that we lived in when we got married. The last stretch was through Helaman Halls. Even though I didn't live on campus as a freshman, all the stories from Blaine's freshmen year came to my mind. This is the place where he made lasting friendships that influenced him to make the decision to go on a mission (and eventually meet me!). It was a miracle that I wasn't crying while thinking of all these things. BYU has been such a special place for both of us and it made me feel so grateful for our time here! The last part of the race was one lap around the Robison Track Field. I was so glad to be done! We ran it in 35:40. Again, not what I wanted but we started late and I really enjoyed the run anyway!

I look exhausted, but I felt great!

After we finished, we had some blue pancakes that were surprisingly delicious. It was such a fun and organized event. I wish I would've started running earlier to participate in this every year!

True blue pancakes!

I have to start setting some goals to pace myself better and decrease my time. But overall, I was satisfied. I walked a lot less than I usually do and didn't feel like dying at the end of the race (that's always a good thing). It was a little bit harder to run in the chilly weather. My lungs definitely weren't used to it. But now that I have my awesome dri-fit shirt that will keep me warm, I'm going to start running outside more. At first, I liked the treadmill better than running outside. But now, I get so distracted by the little numbers on the screen telling me how much I've ran and how long I've ran, that it really keeps me from focusing and doing my best. I'm hoping to run one more 5k before the weather gets ridiculously cold, but I'll still be running and training (for 10ks and half-marathons) all winter long!