Weekend sport and food

We had an amazing weekend!!! I totally forgot “the disappointment” at work, rather fully embrace and live fully my life now, here.

Saturday morning the whole family went to girls swimming time trials, my favorite parent moment at school. Lizzy is definitely getting better at swimming. She PRed in all 4 styles, 25 meters swims, which gave her confidence and motivation to keep working hard.

Sofia did fantastic too, the most outstanding performance was her IM fly segment. She was paired with all boys, most of them older than her, and she beat all the boys on fly. I love love love seeing how powerful she can be in sport. Truly an inspiration to me. She also did 200 meters freestyle relay which was their first experience and they won second place, after the middle schooler team.

We had quick lunch before girls afternoon piano lessons. Then I spent 3 hours in the kitchen, prepared crepe and berries compote, banana coconut cake, and lasagna per Sofia’s request. It was probably not the way to spend the evening before my 20 miler, but well… I was really happy how all the food turned out.

It was my first time making lasagna in a long time. Here’s the assembly line shot

and right after the oven. Lizzy, as per her usual silliness.

It was a chinese festival and the tradition is to eat glutinous rice balls. So I made the filing and the wrapper, the girls learned to make the balls with grandma.

the final product, 10 out of 10!!!

Sunday: I started the day with 20 miler long run workout. It is supposed to be a slight negative split, second half somewhat faster than first half. The odds were not in my favor: it was the week before my period, I didn’t sleep well, I over-exerted myself the day before, it was 92% humidity 84F, I was sleepy. So I went out not fully energetic.

The first 10 miles went slow and sweaty. I ignored the watch/pace and just enjoyed this episodes. Probably by mile 9, I was awake, refilled my camel bag with water as I didn’t want to stop the next 11 miles. Then I hit the road and executed the plan! It was not a slight negative split, it was A negative split. The first half took me 1 hr 46 min, the second half took me 1 hr 32 min. Best of all, I felt great! I didn’t have to struggle much, physically and mentally. I only started to feel sore legs by mile 18, then I thought about Sofia’s powerful fly swim, and got additional energy to keep pushing strong. Unlike my previous 20 milers, with broken form and dragging the last few miles, now I feel my form is good and can carry myself forward with power. I thank to my coach’s training plan, strength training, correction to my posture by my chiropractor, and adding fueling. I used to take a gel every 45-60 min, per conventional standard. Now I take one gel every 3 miles or less. I can notice the different in my energy level, and speedy recovery. It took me a while to get used to it but I’m there now 🙂 After the 20 miles, I jog one more mile, just to prove to my coach that I still had energy left in the tank. hahaha…. as he put in the note to make sure the effort is moderate, not high enough to exhaust myself.

Since Sofia didn’t run with me, she did TM after my post run routine. She did hill repeats, just like I did for the last couple of weeks, and she really enjoyed it! Lizzy also did hill repeats walks, and daddy was lifting. What a great way to spend Sunday morning, all working out! hahahah…

I made chicken nugget per Lizzy’s request and it was a crowd pleaser and so easy to make.

I had lunch later than the family as I had breakfast at 10am. Following my coach’s advise, to refill with protein, I made a seafood porridge and it was soooooo good! I love porridge, savory and sweet. Definitely will make more of this as my post-LR meal. It has a perfect combination of protein, carb, and vegetables.

Lizzy had a friend over for playdate, so I took Sofia for “solo date”. We didn’t go far, just to the mall in our building complex. She got a book with her allowance, and I got her cake for afternoon snack. An hour of solo date brought us so much joy, space to chat, doing girly things, and connecting in a no rushed way. After this, we agreed to do monthly solo dates 🙂

How was your weekend? What are the key elements for a good weekend in your household? Do you do solo date with your kids? What kind of activities do you do?

ps. I also talked to my BFF, spontaneous call, and it was great. She gave me update about her recent electric muscle stimulation workout experience, and I gave her movie/book/podcast recommendation.

Have you heard of electric muscle stimulation workout?