Girl Power

After a very late night (Hubby and I were out partying at a brilliant 'Country' fancy dress party - we wore National dress from Oman - so much fun!), I woke this morning not feeling great. The weather forecast was heavy rain and hail. Myself and Olivia had two choices for exercise today:

1. The local Woman's Cancer race this morning with a choice of race distances of 3km, 6km or 9km. My preferred choice as we could jog to the start line from our house and do the 3km loop together, or:

2. Duathlon at Chateau de la Hulpe, which Olivia did last year. I thought about doing the adult duathlon but the effort required to get there for 9am, register and run, cycle, run for 2 hours or so in torrential rain/hail, and then wait for over 2 hours for the kids event, didn't fill me with excitement.

Hubby and I tried to talk Olivia into doing the local women's race with me but she would not be swayed. She was adamant that she wanted to do the duathlon as despite finishing near the back of the field last year, she'd loved it. The appaling weather did not bother her at all. I couldn't argue with her as secretly I loved her determination and drive. 

It was therefore decided that I would go and do the local race and then I'd take Olivia to the duathlon (after I'd watched the London marathon on TV!). I chose to run 9km and after 2km I found myself up with the leader. I started chatting to her and discovered that she was over 20 years younger than me and was only racing 6km. I tried to encourage her to stick with me but she'd set off too fast and was starting to suffer, so I pushed on on my own. As I rounded a corner I was escorted by a police motorbike, as I was the lead runner, much to the amazement of my kids. I ran over to high five them and was met with whoops of delight from the spectators. I felt like a bit of a celeb which was all a bit embarrassing. On the second lap I increased my lead and started overtaking runners and by the time I was on my third lap it became a bit confusing for the kids as there were runners everywhere and they kept checking with Daddy if I was still in the lead, although the police motorbike kept picking me out! Crossing the line was a bit of an anti-climax as runners doing the shorter distances had already finished! I collected yet another drinks bottle and buff, jogged home with Olivia, watched the London marathon and then it was Olivia's turn to compete!

As the weather was so horrible Dex and Daddy stayed at home. Due to the weather there wasn't as big a turn out for this event as there was last year. She looked so tiny on the start line, mainly because she is small for her age and because she was one of the youngest. Some of the kids had their club vests on and all the gear! The 12 year old boys were very fast and serious. So she set off full of happiness, and by some miracle the weather cleared and some sun came out for her race! She started with the run and was near the back when she came into her first transition but the biking is her favourite part! The course was hilly, muddy, wet and tough and she looked tired when she finally came in for her final transition back to running. By the time she crossed the line most of the kids had finished but there were still about five or six behind her. I was delighted with her performance, especially for having the courage to start. She seemed a bit sad as she didn't realise that there were other kids behind her, at the time. She told me that when she was running she was thinking about how different we are as she loves being on stage performing , whereas I get terrible stage fright and wouldn't be able to sing on stage (even if I could actually sing!). She also went on to say that this morning 'we watched you win a race  and here I am coming last; we're so different." This really upset me as the last thing I wanted was her to feel bad about herself, so we had a talk about how everyone has different talents and interests but the most important thing was finding something that you enjoy doing, like her singing and Martial Arts. It really doesn't matter where you come but it's enjoying the fact that you are able to try different things and have fun. She soon had a smile back on her face and was jumping around like a loon on the bouncy castle in the rain with the other kids!
It started pouring down after she finished and she was cold that we legged it back to the car so we could go home for a nice hot bubble bath.

I later discovered, by checking the website, that she had only gone and WON her age group!! She was the first 8-10 year old girl home!! (there were three girls in that category in the race). We missed the medal ceremony but I'm currently making arrangements to collect her medal. Perhaps she's more like me than she realises. After all, I'm not a particularly good runner, but you can only beat who turns up on the day!