Hasting Half Marathon

I have done it! My very first Half-Marathon!

2hrs05'

It was a cold sunday morning. I came to the carpark to join the rest of the Lower6 partnership troops going run their Half Marathon. I was introduced as "the crazy girl who choose to do this for fun!"

Lol, to be honest, I did have the intention to raise money for my Madagascar trip and I raised £100 from this but also I wanted to challenge myself. I felt I needed to do something more to push myself harder and see where I could go.

The problem is that I have stopped training 2 weeks ago since I did my 6 miles run with Siena. I was rather unprepared… We got on the bus and it was a 2 hours drive to Hasting. I slept!

We arrived their in a streamline of traffic of which we could not get pass. Finally when we got out, everyone had to rush to the starting line because we were running late. haha running late!

I started running,  more like jogging very slowly to try and maintain my slow pace. The first 5 miles were just constant hills! No jokes but it was just hill and it seems endless. Lots of people were all out of their house, cheering and kids were my best motivation because every time they raise their hands out for me to run pass them. I feel the energy being pass on to me!

I ran and ran and ran as my legs are burning up. I tried to catch up every chance I get of just throwing myself downhill. As we approach 10 miles, we were running along the coast. Yes the beach is nice and the sun is shinning but I have gotta tell ya it was the most painful 3 miles I have ever run. It seems endless and I constantly having to close my eyes to forget about where I was and just RUN!

I dragged myself towards the finish line. The group of women in front of me were trying to pass together so I shut my eyes and SPRINT to the end. All I could do then was collapsing onto the woman who was handing out medals…

It hailed. I was absolutely freezing with a thin shirt and a short. We walked back to the car pack with pain as the adrenaline starting to wear off.

Mill Hill 5 mile cup

Honestly, what a day! After all the handwork and training, it was time to perform at our very best. I have been training for weeks with Siena and yes I have broke PB at 7minutes24s for that 1 mile. Above is my Collinson girl 5 miles relay team.

And now you can see how funny my face looks when I run!

A memorabilia that we have finished our race! My awesome tutor has been training with me. Siena is my best supporting running partner as she helped me train for my coming half marathon. I doubt I can do this without these two awesome people!

Of course, later on that day, I went swimming and out to see Michael Palin. The very best explorer of the world!

At Olympic 2014

When I heard the news that I selected to swim at the Olympic QE pool. I was absolutely ecstatic. 

On that Friday morning, we headed off early taking the tube to Straford. The excitement in me was just beginning to grow. I constantly find myself searching for distraction - reminding myself that I have packed everything 3 times the night before, listening to music, talking to the team about food (obviously!)…

Just stepping out to Westfield, I could feel my heart racing up. I could not stop smiling as we walk to the enormous Olympic park. I scanned my eyes around 360* like a paranoma camera in slow motion trying to absorb the absolutely everything.

It was so crowded. So many other boys and girls were there. We estimated some 30 schools must have been there. We entered as a small school because we did not have enough swimmers. We all went straight on to the balcony to take picture. It was the first time I have ever seen the Olympic pool. I watch amazing swimmers swam here 2 years ago on TV but somehow being here was just surreal. Michael Phelps, Allyson Smith, Rebecca Soni, -

My list can go on forever.

Once we got out neck passes, the team dived straight downstair to get change and get ready for our heats. Not gonna lie but even the changing room look amazing! We met outside, wait for our coach to take photos of our team at the pool and do some stretches, waiting for our warm up. I stood right by the pool, still stunned of how beautiful the building was.

As usual, warms up are always like crazy. I finally get to dived in the pool and found myself having to “race” with other swimmers because they were all so fast! We only had 3 lanes for warm up so it was very difficult to warm up all together and they were all so so fast! 4 or 5 of them passed me every 50m. I just did the most I can to keep myself warm until our heat.

Mill Hill swim team with 4 boys and 5 girls - 

The girl team was in for heat 2. I swam 3rd, standing next to Kimberly who is a very good swimmer. I raced the best I knew how and even though we did not get through the final, I am glad I had a chance to do this. Stepping on those block where Olympians stood on them. Gosh! It was a moment to remember.

Here is me diving in!

Our boys team did splendidly well. We had two boys who were competitive swimmers and I say that because they properly train with a private club 6 days a week. Very impressive! One of the boy was the first to touch in his race too.

Here is our boys team. Celebrating their awesome moment.

My last memory at this amazing place.

Lan at Warwick Viet night

I asked for great permission to go see my sister perform her beautiful dancing skills at Warwick Vietnight. I know she is an excellent dancer but she still manage to make me squeal in amazement. How proud I am of her. She danced so beautifully and gracefully. How proud I am of my sister!

The rest of the night, well, let just say we had fun!