Nadia and I loved supporting the kids at the annual Tashkent International School Cross Country Running meet yesterday. Over 400 students ran in races for elementary students up to grade 12 and there was even an adults/parents race. Both Oliver and Ocean played varsity soccer this year and didn’t participate in the cross-country running teams during their regular season. However, this meet was open to all students and the varsity teams needed more runners.
I am improving my Adobe Premier Pro video editing skills and put together the video below of the Under-19 Race.
We were delighted and surprised when Oliver came in third place. After the first 1-kilometer inside loop, he was in 11th place but steadily he passed runners on the 2 longer outer loops. He does not have a distance runner’s build, but he does have a lot of strength and stamina and ground out a medal.
Ocean was a bit nervous before the race and we had to bribe her with Chinese takeout for her to run. She takes after her mother with her athleticism and is naturally strong and coordinated. Girls are smart and all competitors were pacing themselves. Ocean stayed in second place for about half the race, but then a girl from the French school overtook her with the second of two long loops to go. Ocean easily finished in third place. Both the boys and girls varsity teams won the meet! There were many competitors from other international schools in the city (French School, Diplomat School, Canadian International School, British School, etc.) and it was a lively atmosphere.
I ran the adult 3.3-kilometer race and finished in 6th place overall. My Strava time was 15:30 with a pace of 4:48 per kilometer. My fastest split was probably the first kilometer which I ran in 4:30. There were no age categories and the medalists were much younger than me. I felt good but really exerted myself and needed some time to recover my composure. My lungs were burning and it was probably good for my heart to do this once in a while. I am stronger in the longer races, but am enjoying the shorter runs because it is less damage to my knees. I think the longest I would run is 10 kilometers. I am just happy to be able to run at age 56 and give a decent performance!
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