Cross country and hoco & almost seeing family

Alyssa had a cross country meet in Milford, attended her school's homecoming football game on Friday and attended her school's homecoming dance on Saturday evening. Our weekend was supposed to have been busier and would have been had the Air Force Marathon not been canceled. The marathon was supposed to have been this weekend and my aunt and I were going to walk the 10K while my cousin was going to run the half marathon. When the marathon was canceled (technically gone "virtual" not canceled 😆), I had mixed emotions. I was looking forward to spending time with my aunt and cousin, neither of whom I see often. On the other hand, all of the time consuming events necessitated by participating in a marathon event- picking up the t-shirt and bib at the event expo the day before, getting up super early the day of the event, driving forty minutes to get to Wright Patt Air Force, walking about a mile from the parked car to the start line, waiting at least 1/2 hour at the starting line waiting for the event to start, walking the actual 10K, then driving home and really all you have accomplished is... walking a 10K and owning a t-shirt which states that. Not belittling walking 10K but rather questioning the time commitment of the endeavor and not being super sad that I *couldn’t* invest all that time into the 10k. 

Anyway, hopefully I will get to see my aunt and cousin near Thanksgiving. Not having guests for the weekend and not walking the 10k probably worked out for the best. For one thing, I was able to watch Alyssa's cross country meet Saturday morning. It was in Milford which is about a forty five minute drive from our house. The weather forecast portended a warm run even early when Alyssa was scheduled to run (9:30 AM). Indeed, the sun shone with nary a cloud in the sky- the runners got a little bit of relief with a portion of the course being in a wooded area. Despite the heat, Alyssa did really well. I mean, her time was good. She said she felt like she couldn't walk after she finished so I guess saying she did well is relative. But she finished the course thirty seconds faster than she ran last week and finished 4th among the Springboro runners (and her legs ended up being completely fine :)). Her team came in 4th place out of 21 teams so overall a good, if warner than ideal run for the girls. Alyssa had to stay and watch the JV race and then we were free to go (Alyssa opted out of riding the bus to and from the meet). An uneventful ride home, save a quick stop at Subway for lunch, and we were home before 12:30 pm.

That gave Alyssa plenty of time to shower and get ready for the homecoming dance. Of course that was preceded by pictures and a dinner with her group of girlfriends. Alyssa then spent the night with a friend. She had a great time; the dance was held OUTSIDE on account of the deadly pandemic. The warm weather that day that made her 5k run earlier a little (or a lottle) uncomfortable rendered the evening air pleasant even for the young ladies in dresses with spaghetti straps and short hemlines. The evening could have been really uncomfortable for them. 

Sunday morning I picked up Alyssa from her friend's house. She was still tired so she went back to bed and I woke her up in time for us to go to the second church service. She had a good weekend and I’m glad that Donnie and I were not super busy and were able to be present for her big events. 

Saturday morning in Milford, Ohio:

The race gets ready to start…

…and they are off

Here come the girls…

 

I found a spot (in the shade!) to watch for when the runners came out of the woods. I enjoyed cheering for all the girls on Alyssa’s team as they emerged from the woods.  Her school’s fastest runner came in first place (out of almost 200 runners). 

I had a much better quality (non blurry photo) of Alyssa and a teammate but they both had funny expressions on their faces so I decided to use this one instead.  

Here comes my girl…

The race was almost done here. Alyssa had probably only 100 yards to go. That meant…

…it was time to sprint

 

All smiles after the race (and after Alyssa’s legs felt like they could support her weight)

Hoco

Alyssa and two of her best friends from school

Alyssa and her hoco group