Swim meet up day 1 went well. It is so fun to feel the vibe of the championship. Brazilian takes swim competition seriously. Each team dresses up for the walk in. Music, cheering, hundreds of enthusiastic parents!
Lizzy did well in her first event of the morning: 50 meters butterfly, she was less than 1 sec away to medal.
We finished the morning session early and went for early lunch 11am. Kids all had this
the rest of parents ordered lunch, I didn’t as I wasn’t hungry. They all joked that they were not hungry either but they could eat. Isn’t that interesting? I could probably eat too but if I can, I prefer to eat when I am a bit hungry. Since I didn’t run nor did any workout, my appetite was low. I could have felt peer pressure to eat too, but I didn’t.
I finally got a bit hungry around 1pm (which was 2pm Brasilia time) and found a vegan place 2 min away from the hotel. How wonderful.
afternoon session went by fast. Lizzy did 50 meters free, third in her heat, but 10th overall. She was not happy about it, although she was faster than her team mates who are older than her. I was surprised by her reaction as she never took it seriously. Maybe this is the beginning of feeling competitive about the sport? I hope so.
Dinner was spagueti with bolognese sauce. I ordered another salad as the hotel restaurant had zero vegan/vegetarian option.
Funny incident. Our room was not clean when we got back from lunch so I asked front desk to clean it when we left for the afternoon session. When we got back, past 6pm, it was still not clean. So I went to complain. Waited for 10 min, nobody came. I went down again, asking Lizzy if she wanted to see me complain. She did. So I made a fuss at the lobby, showing clearly my discontent. Then a lady came asking what’s going on, and said she would go to my floor wait for the person to come to ask what happened. Then we chatted. It turned out she’s an ultra runner, 62 years old, did major ultrarunning races. And she’s the owner of the hotel. She even gave me some tips about knee issues.
It was a pleasant surprise in many ways. I am sure our room will be the first one to be cleaned tomorrow 🙂
Our New Journey 
Not having the room cleaned until after six is definitely strange!
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Yes, that’s interesting Lizzy is suddenly feeling competitive! Maybe the feel of the event is contagious.
I also HATE eating when I’m not hungry! I would also have skipped the meal and eaten later. Overall it sounds like a fun trip.
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Ha, I’m one that will eat when there is food (but I have celiac so I usually just bring my food or prepare in advance), because I fear that I won’t find good options later.
I’m glad she did well in her swim meet. There is nothing like the competitive drive.
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Alas, I am one of those people who can always eat. It’s not great. I am drooling over your lunch of beans and rice. That looks delicious!
Congrats to Lizzy on such a competitive day!
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I’ve never been to swim meet but it sounds like a big production! I am glad Lizzy did so well. Always fun to meet a runner – haha. That must have been a nice twist at the end of the day.
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