Rio de Janeiro highlights & 10k PB

We just came back from 4D3N trip to Rio de Janeiro. My last trip there was in 2017 for work and this is the family’s first time. We had a super chill trip as we mostly relaxed, especially given the copacabana view we had from our airbnb.

the water was cold but it didn’t prevent the girls to try it out. We walked around the beach the first day after picking up my bib for the race. The beach was busy, especially this week for the 3 days running events.

the trio spent most of the time while at home playing cards with this background. Stunning view!

On second day, Thursday, I took the girls for breakfast after my morning jog, to acclimatize to the sea level air and heat. The girls absolutely loved the croissant in this place and we went back the last day.

We did all the touristic things in one day which is not much, go to visit to Pan de azucar, taking the cable card to the top. The view is really beautiful and we took many pics.

then we went to the Selaron staircase, full of tourists

then we went to a nordest restaurant called Yaya, which’s Sofia’s baby name.

the rest of the family was exhausted by then but Sofia and I continued to explore the best Acai place before going home.

Friday was my 10k race. Daddy took the girls to make me company. I wasn’t feeling my best but ready to give it a try. My last 10km race was May 2023 in the US just few seconds less than 50 min (49 min 44 secs, jet lagged and sore hip at the time). The temperature in Rio was higher than Brasilia (70s when we started), more humid, more sun, and I wasn’t dressed with my usual outfit as I thought it would be cooler. I ended up wearing Lizzy’s skort and Sofia’s t-shirt. Well… at least I had two girls who I can borrow cloth from. ha!

The race went well. Mile by mile I was clocking sub-8 min but wasn’t sure I could hold on the pace. I had to fight mentally not to slowdown. Fortunately the crowd, the scene, the fellow runners, and the idea of my girls waiting me at the finished line kept me going mile after mile, doing my best not to slowdown. Those moments, I wondered how the hell I had the mental fortitude to keep fighting the urge to slowdown during marathons which is 26.2 miles instead of 6.25. I find shorter races more challenging because I don’t get to warm up to it, nor to hold back for half of the race, but to almost running at 7/8 out of 10 the entire race, and concerned about not being able to keep the effort. I finished it sprinting, garmin showed 49 min 5 secs, 6.31 miles so 100 meter longer. I am pretty happy with the performance, 7:47 min/mile is not bad, and my HR averaged 172, which means I was putting the required effort and more. I didn’t check my HR throughout because I knew I would worry to keep at that rate if I knew it. All 6.31 miles were under 8 min, with fast mile 7:31, and last 0.31 at 7:20. The net time turned out to be 48:58! YAY! 583 out of 10078, 6 out 636 of my age group.

The rest of the day was super chill. We spent the afternoon at the beach Ipanema. Girls played with sand, I read my book, mom just soaked up the vibe.

and I had to try the corn which turned out to be great.

The next day, I was exhausted and sleepy despite having slept quite well. I didn’t run, took the girls to breakfast, then nap in bed until 11am when we had to check out. After that, I found a place for massage which turned out to be fantastic given it’s in a touristic area. Then we had lunch, Acai, before heading to airport. When we were about to enter the gate, we realized we were at the wrong airport. Sigh… for some reason I thought we were flying back from the same airport we came in. Well… not the case. Luckily the right airport was 18 min away and we arrived 30 min before boarding. We got home 8pm, very glad to be back to our beloved Brasilia.

Post-mortem a la Sarah

I am glad we went to Rio to join the race. The vibe was fantastic. The entire city was filled by runners as there were 5k and 10k on Friday, half on Saturday, and full on Sunday.

We stayed at a pristine location facing copacabana. The building is old but we had all we needed and more room than expected.

Rio is a touristic city yet many locals live here too so it’s a very lively city.

Yet, when I asked the girls if they think we’d be back to Rio, they said probably not. We agreed the beach is beautiful, yet it’s crowded and I don’t enjoy busy beaches no matter how pretty it is. Food and drink vendors pass by every 5 min. We couldn’t find a spot to sit without having someone 2 meters away. The streets have many homeless people which means some areas I didn’t feel safe and it smells bad. Girls, especially Lizzy, keep getting surprised how little cloth people wear on the street. The way Lizzy describes ladies wearing a string and a tissue paper is hilarious.

We all love nature and beach in particular, but we prefer quieter places, less people, cleaner and less human presence? I know… we are weird. Since day one girls expressed how much they prefer Brasilia now that they’ve seen another popular city in Brazil. I tend to agree.

We are back to Brasilia for one day, and head to Buenos Aires for a week tomorrow. I am super excited for this trip because I get to show my girls where I grew up. It’s a “dream” come to reality. The whole point of moving to Brasilia is for my nuclear family, girls and husband, to experience Buenos Aires. 🙂