Competitions: swim and run

We had a packed weekend with athleticism and camaraderies. It was very special.

Saturday we left home 6:40am for girls’ first swim competition, meet up among clubs. Our club is probably the second largest one with over 30 kids (teens). I was really happy to see that they welcomed the girls, especially Lizzy, including her for the between swims play

Lizzy competed against kids of her age, or similar age, and won medals in all 4 strokes. We were very surprised, although she did very well. We can see her improvements. She was definitely a happy proud girl.

Sofia also did pretty good but didn’t medal because she was the youngest, grouped with kids 13 years and above, and my god, those girls are BIG and STRONG! It was cold the first 200 medley and she had chattered teeth when she came up. The coach came to her and gave her assurance and tips. They are so nice. They set up a coffee/snack table for the kids and parents. I wish I knew so I could contribute next time.

I love seeing Sofia determined for her race. She’s #3.

these are the two girls that are similar age to Lizzy, both super sweet. In one of the swims, Lizzy missed the competition as she was playing with other kids. Later, the coach managed to ask the organizers to let Lizzy swim alone, and these girls comforted Lizzy who was crying for her mistake.

I can’t believe how much Lizzy has grown and improved her swimming technique. I recall she started to take private lessons to learn all strokes before qualifying to join swim team in Jakarta less than 3 years ago. I am so proud of her.

We arrived home 7pm, exhausted, full of red dust as it’s dry season. I also got allergic reaction to either the dust or sun and felt terrible from 3pm onward. But I wanted to be there for the girls.

I wasn’t hopeful for my race the next day as I was tired the whole week, but it was about to have fun with my colleagues and enjoy the racing experience in Brasilia.

Sunday: I met with my colleagues 20 min before the start. I was doing 18km with G, while the others did 5km.

G insisted that we stick together for this race which made me a bit nervous as he is 1:20 half marathon runner, was placed among elite group but stayed with me.

I am so glad we stayed together because it was quite a challenging run, a big hill around midway, and rolling hills on the way back. We chatted the first half and silent the second half as it was getting challenging. The sun was furious in the second half. I slowed down a bit but mostly sticked with him. We had fun posing to the photographers.

and crossed the finish line together with a big smile as we agreed! We didn’t stop for 18km which was a big accomplishment given the struggled.

We both averaged HR of 163 with a maximum of 182 (185 for him). It was definitely challenging and I joked that I have the cardio fitness of a fit 35 years old elite male runner! hahaha…..

My heart rate took hours to come down due to the exertion which caused some headache too. But mentally I was thrilled for the adrenaline of the race and the experience. I also had a birthday party to attend to, so after shower and second breakfast, I went to the birthday party for 2.5 hrs before coming home for some rest.

It was a busy weekend and lots of fun. Now, I need to use Monday to catch up with household duties. 🙂