Team Hamada

Scarlett turned three on the 6th Jan and had the pleasure of many different celebrations over the week of festivities – a party with her Australian friends and family; a party with her immediate family and then a day of cake with her school class and then lunch friends (yes, she lunches with her friends every Tuesday!) and also with her special friend Olwen and family the following weekend.  Lots of cake (well icing and lollies) to be enjoyed as well as fun with gifts and toys.  Thank you to all who came and enjoyed the moments with us – and a special thanks to Granny and Grandpa for hosting the special birthday – it was fun!

Enjoying her birthday party

(Scarlett 2nd from the LHS in front of her brother, Oscar)

Tags: Australia, birthday, Scarlett

We had a wonderful few weeks in Australia over the Christmas/New Year spending most of our time in the surf at Merry Beach enjoying the delights of the clear blue water and white sand.  We wanted to thank everyone for their very generous and thoughtful gifts – highlights from the kids were additions to Ophelia’s rock collection, a new pink video camera (!) and books.  Oscar wouldn’t put down his new books and was very excited to learn more about Australian animals and Scarlett’s new platypus stole the show.

Ophelia and her new Video Camera!

Christmas morning

Oscar’s new books….

Scarlett enjoys her new PJ’s

A visit with Great Granny

(Ophelia, Scarlett, Great Granny, cousin Saige, Oscar)

A thank you video from Team Hamada to all who were kind enough to share in gifts or time with us – we loved seeing you all and look forward to seeing you soon.

Tags: Australia, Christmas, Santa, Thank You

Scarlett just turned three and for her birthday, Ophelia kindly gave her the Balance bike that she has recently graduated from.  Scarlett sat on the bike for the first time on Sunday and declared she was ready to ride.  We scoffed a little under knowing smiles – Oscar didn’t really get anywhere on it until he was about four and Ophelia refused to have a turn until well after her third birthday – however she would not be deterred so we decided to “ride” to the park together (with Mel taking the stroller for that moment when she found things too hard or other).  But to her credit, Scarlett showed us all up.  She rode her balance bike to the park, around the park and back again without even a small hiccup.  She then promptly rode to UNIS school (1Km) and back yesterday (and out and back again in the afternoon to pick up her siblings) and has just left to ride yet again to UNIS!  She was ready with shoes, socks and helmet a good 45 minutes before she was supposed to actually leave, so spent that time riding around the apartment – brushing her teeth on the bike; brush her hair on the bike; try to colour her drawings…. you get the picture.  We are very proud! 

Tags: balance bike, Determination, first, perseverence, proud, UNIS

Last Sunday we enjoyed a magnificent Hanoi morning to join in with 249 other runners and run in the Song Hong 2012 races.  It was a very enjoyable morning with the Hanoi running community and we all participated in some way or another.

I have been the ‘brain’ of the Red River Runners for this particular event, but baring in mind that this was the last big event for me before we move on to Japan next year; I did a better job of delegating bigger tasks off of my tray and onto others, and this proved to be a wise decision.  It was wonderful seeing other people step up to the plate and I am very confident that long after I have gone, the Song Hong events will continue to draw in a big community crowd and raise money for worthy charities.

After an intense week planning and a full Saturday of Race kit pick ups and course marking; it was great to run with the crowd in the morning sun through a very familiar course with our friends.  I decided to run the 10K this weekend and give my hip a chance to heal, but more importantly a chance for me to have a mentally strong race to make up for the Siem Reap event the weekend before.  I needed to have a good run and know that all the training wasn’t for nothing.  Having posted a recent PB a month back in the 10K (but the course was alittle short…) I was keen for a repeat performance.  I sussed out the closest ally in terms of a time finish, and Brian was happy to work together to try and beat our suggested times.  The run always feels good to begin, and I decided to really watch my first few Km’s as I tend to rush out too hard/fast and expect that I will just hang on in there for the rest of the race (it never happens).  The slowness factor played a good part in my 3/4 mark and then subsequent finish as I held the time per Km and then ran a faster last 1.5K which was a good test of strength for me.  I managed to average about 4.10min/K’s and then came home faster in the end.  It was a very tough race mentally, but fueled in with friends and a home course advantage, I won my division and came 3rd overall out of all men/women for our event.  The results can be found along with the other bits and pieces on our website: www.redriverrunners.com

Oscar, Ophelia and Scarlett all took part in the Children’s 1.5K and did a wonderful job in their run. Oscar ran the whole way around with great determination that has subsequently fueled a renewed interest in competitive swimming and running and an entry in our Aquathlon for next Feb.  Ophelia also did a good job completing the course with a very fast dash around the last 150m.  Scarlett did 750m and was delighted with a chocolate as a reward!  Clint did a wonderful job using RaceSplitter to control the timing of the runs.  We had a few hiccups with many competitors accidentally having the same bib number which caused some issues but it was wonderful to see the app work and for us to think about how we could adapt it if we want to in the future.

A successful day all around with lots of good reviews from racers/fans and money raised for our favourite Hanoi-based charity.

Tags: 10K, fun, RaceSplitter, Red River Runners, running, Song Hong, success

Angkor Wat Half Marathon #2

June 1^st was a big day for Team Hamada, Clint and I made the decision that not only would we pay all our money to the travel agent for tix to the USA but why not also thrown in a weekend trip to Siem Reap so that I could return to race the Angkor Wat Half and make up for the disastrous start to last year’s race (see post on this!).  However, after a 1.35.30 San Francisco Race and a 1.33.57 Angkor Wat last year race, I was quite determined to aim for something bigger and so I not only put on a sub 1.30.00 goal (in hindsight this was more than a tad optimistic but you have to try right?) but after self-coaching for many years, I thought I would engage in a coach (online) to assist me with this race plan.

Coach was interviewed and chosen, and I have not been disappointed by the training (variety and appropriateness and also attention to detail) and the running was great.  I have less Km’s this time around to try and keep my RHS hip from returning to its injury form and with core workouts and some leg work each week, I was flying.

Fast forward to Nov 3^rd, I had a 10K race time trial in Hanoi just to see how things were going – a 15min race pace training during that week made me see that I was running fast – much faster than last year!  Yippee eh?  And the 10K ended up at 41.24 which was something to really relish and celebrate.  Sunday Nov 4^th and a 28K training run saw my optimistic stretch end with fatigue and on the Monday a cold which I hung onto for almost 2 weeks which seriously left me feeling terrible and suddenly after an amazing race and a PB first 5K and then 10K I couldn’t run more than 8K without feeling awful.  I crumbled mentally and fast – and that hasn’t been such an issue before.

I felt very uneasy about racing, I was very nervous (always have nerve issues) in a different way, was I good enough?  Did I spend too much time on this?  Had I spent too much money?  Why was I pushing this so hard when I felt so bad?  It was hard to shake and with 2 weeks to go, my 20K training run saw my RHS hip flare up resulting in lots of anti-inflammatory gels, ice and painful running.  I saw all the work crumble around me and I was scared.

Race day: Angkor Wat is gorgeous, buzzing with energy.  I didn’t drink as much as I didn’t want to be stuck in the toilet line, and so I got ready to run, but didn’t have it today.  My first 7K was super good with average of 4.11min/Kms’ but after that everything rapidly deteriorated and I had a lot of issues keeping everything together.  I walked; jogged; tried different songs; counted and ran to trees; took gels; more water; went to the toilet and just couldn’t find a mental state where I was in any way in control of my run.  I felt tired at 6.00min/K pace, a pace that is never on my radar in any training I have done in the last 2 years.  I can’t tell you what happened, but I can tell you that I was frightened, angry and just not happy on my race.  My sub 1.30.00 rapidly moved out of reach at the 7K mark when my 8^th Km was over 5.30/km pace – again so super slow for me.  And sadly the worst part is that my hip is very sore and I am not sure if I will be able to race next weekend or whether I should.

So, a few hours of wallowing later (and copious tummy issues – is this the reason I feel so awful?) I am back at the airport waiting for my flight to Hanoi.  I was here last year too, but with a different mindset, optimism and excitement – all long ago and completely the opposite to now.  I should be happy with my time, it is a good time 1.42.00 but I am not – I lost it on my race and I am not sure what to do next.  A sad end to a goal set in June – next up a little time to reflect and see how I feel – no pressure and no new goals – just some down time and rest and focus on re-strengthening up my core/leg to allow me to have options of running in 2013.

Update: Final result – I came 20/840 for the Women’s race and my split time at the 5K had me in the top 10.

Tags: Angkor Wat, disappointed, Goal setting, Half Marathon, running, Siem Reap

UNIS have a traditional morning in the Early Childhood Centre (ECC) where the children spend an hour or so guiding their parents through their learning. As our new ES Principal said it really gives each parent an opportunity to see life from the perspective of their 4 or 5 year old, and it was a super morning!  Team Hamada were super proud of Ophelia and all the amazing things that she is doing at school each day.  We made a shortish film of our experience of Ophelia’s learning journey.  A big thanks to all the ECC teachers and the ES for such a wonderful adventure.

Tags: adventure, ECC, fun, learning, Learning Journey, UNIS Hanoi

December is always a very busy  month and this year is no exception.  The Song Hong 2012 will take place on Dec 9th and we are hoping once again for a bumper crowd of enthusiastic participants to enter our events.  With New Balance joining the list of sponsors, the event has moved up another rung on the journey to a more professional event, and although it takes up more time and brain space then I would like, it is a great community event and raises more money for Blue Dragon.  I have decided to enter the 10K this year as I am back to Angkor Wat, Cambodia to race the half marathon the Sunday before, so this seems like a realistic plan for where I am up to this year.  I have enlisted the assistance of a paid coach this year so I am hoping all the hard work will pay off with some faster times!  (sadly and almost predictably I have been ill the last 2 weeks… typical!)

You can catch the action on our Red River Runners blog!  Wish me luck!

Tags: Blue Dragon, Red River Runners, Song Hong 2012

So last Friday night Team Hamada had the pleasure of being invited to the Blue Dragon open evening of the new drop in centre.  We were greeted at the door and given a guided tour of the facility meeting the some of the teachers, tech aides, activity coordinators, gym and soccer coaches, legal experts and lawyers, counselors and psychologists and Michael (founder of BD) and his dedicated staff.  It was so good to show our children where their hard earned money goes and for all of us to see what is happening at BD and how things have developed in their 10 year history.  Well done and congratulations to BD on their new ‘home’.  We look forward to hearing and being a part of the next 10 years.

Touring the new BD centre

Team Hamada with Michael B (founder of BD)

Tags: Blue Dragon, Hanoi

Oscar and I are on the bus, coming back home from an adventure in town…

I’m enjoying this “blog from your phone” thing…

15 laps!