What a year! Once I get into something, I really get into it! This is definitely one of my more healthy obsessions. This year I completed: 26 races, including 1 Spartan race, 1 vertical marathon, 2 team tri's, 1 tri sprint, and 21 running races. I ended up with 5 trophies, 4 third place and 1 second. in 2026 30 races is the goal, and one full triathlon.
It is a weird set up, two hours, like 8 different events. Lots of different tag games, obstacle courses and some other games I did not know and a whole lot of parents watching. I can tell you was by far one of the most competitive in his class. Every one else was playing tag for fun, not Sebastian he was playing for the win. I wonder where he gets that from?
This academic year we committed too Wednesday Salsa (continued from last academic year) and added date night. I was not sure we would be able to keep the date night up, life gets busy, we get tired. But we did, we did not even miss one Wednesday. Every Wednesday Nin stays late and we sneak out once Sebastian is a sleep. He thinks he has not had a babysitter for the entire school year! I love our Wednesdays out. Here are some pictures of the last couple weeks. We try new places around the neighbourhood (we do not want to be too far in case he wakes up!).
It was a year ago that I really got into competition. This was really the event that kicked it all off. In 2024 I climbed these same 62 flights of staris in 12:45 seconds and this year it was 10:37. I was so so happy as I had not climbed any stairs to practice and also had been sick all weekend. I came 6th female. And I am so competitive that I was not overly thrilled. Last year I would have been over the moon, now I just want to be on a podium! Next year!
Saturday I managed to pull myself together and get a little rest before hosting a dinner for Lucinda and Brian. Lucinda is a great friend from my time in Basel. Not a teacher, but I met her in a few other ladies that I became quite close to during my time here. She came to our wedding and I had seen her in Phuket when Sebastian was a baby. Since our last catch up she has gotten married and I was super excited to see her and meet Brian. Nadia and her family also joined as I just knew they would all get on super well. It was a great evening, as Lucinda is super funny and the whole night we just laughed with old stories and catching up on new ones.
The last few weeks of the term are so busy here. I need about three hours extra a day to feel like I am not sinking. At least. Now I have a small window of 20 minutes to catch up on my blog posts. Friday I was not feeling my best but also did not want to miss the first Christmas Party of the year for us (not that there are many more for us!). I rallied and went for a couple hours. I was happy we did, Luis had a great time and I did feel better while I was there.
I am still very upset about this race. And I am trying hard to get over it. It was an amazing morning, 18 000 racers at Ankor Wat. The queue of people for each race went back at least a kilometer back. There was a 3km, 5km, 10km and 21km race. In mine there was 8000 people and 2554 women finished it. It was so crowded, it took ages to get past the people that were just interested in taking photos of the beautiful scenery. But that was not me. I was running to do well. And I did. My watch said I did it in 56 minutes, and although I knew that my timing chip might say a slightly different time, I still knew I did well. But my timing chip did not work, and therefore I do not have an official time. However, they acknowledged that I was 14th or 15th. But could not make it official. My best time ever, 14 or 15th from 2554 and they cannot make it official. It is like I did not even race. And it was not cheap to fly over etc etc. It really dampened my entire weekend. It was meant to be the race of a lifetime. I have wanted to do it since coming to Asia. Luckily, Jocelyn and Dan arranged a brunch at a lovely hotel and spending time with friends helped improve my mood.
