Preparing for the SJV Wildcat 5K

You might remember I mentioned a few months ago that my school is having our first every 5K.  Well the day is almost here - it's this Saturday!  I'm so excited!  I am on the race committee and have been working hard to make sure we have a great race.

Last week I spent a lot of time at the park where the race is being held making sure that the course is great.  We wanted to make sure it was accurate, and we've been looking at it from all angles to make sure it is clearly marked.  I think I've been at the park nearly every day for the last 10 days working out all the details!

On Monday, I went to the park with our race director (who is also a lot younger than me AND a high school and college cross country and track runner) to finalize the course details.  I was really nervous about running with her.  I don't normally run with anyone, since I feel like I am really slow and don't want to hold anyone back.  The course is also really hilly (hard to avoid in Tennesee!) and it just happened to be 80 degrees for the first time since last fall.

We got to the park and walked from the parking lot over to the path and she just started running.  I didn't even have time to turn on my Garmin (she runs without one) so I just went with it.  I felt like I was definitely running faster than I normally would, but the whole time I was worrying that she was thinking I was super slow (and breathing really heavy).  She was great though.  We talked the whole time, and she was super sweet, even telling me I don't run that slow when I apologized for holding her back.  It was definitely a new experience for me, and I'm glad we got to run together, but it was still really out of my comfort zone!  

Yesterday I went back to the course by myself to run it one more time before Saturday.  I used it as my 5 by the 5th race for April.  The sun was blazing and it was between 80-85 degrees, weather I've not run in since last year.  It was hard.  I thought about walking up the hills, but then I refused to let myself. I finished the course in 38 minutes and change, which is a lot slower than my PR from last fall (34:07).  Luckily, the weather on Saturday is supposed to be a lot cooler, so hopefully that will help.

               (My terrible selfie after 3.1 hot, sweaty miles.)

Even though I'm running the race with my family, I'll also be there bright and early to set up and will be taking care of organizing everything like the water stop, course markings, registration, awards, etc.  It's going to be a busy day, but I can't wait!