It has been quite some time since we’ve lead our normal life…nearly a year now. We used fill our weekends with time on the river or working our way through an adventure or orienteering race, but since traveling that lifestyle has largely been forfeited. This weekend, we got it all in.
Friday was our first time on the river, in whitewater, since Chile. Ecuador was before that which was awful for my confidence as I swam and swam and swam down the river. In Chile we were looking for an easy day to practice some of our skills and instead we got flood stage class IV waves that left us scared and wide-eyed. Friday though we got a nice opportunity to practice at our own pace, get some surfing in, and just enjoy ourselves without worrying about brown spots in our pants….a very nice birthday present indeed.
And of course there was dessert for breakfast on Friday morning as well.
Yesterday though was the rough day. While we were in the Drakensburg mountains a few weeks ago with our CS Johannesburg hosts they suggested that we circle back to JoBurg for the Midmar Dam swim, one mile in open water. Jill was a competitive swimmer in high school but for me it was a big undertaking and it wasn’t until I was enticed with tickets to my first professional rugby game (that was Saturday night, more on that later this week) that I reluctantly agreed.
Today we all attacked that water. Jill swam in the third group of the day, with me following behind in the fourth group. She was finished in 33 minutes, before I ever hit the water. Wading in the distance didn’t look so far but then I started swimming and quickly remembered how slow I am. That first buoy was at a quarter mile and by the time I got there I knew one thing: that I would finish but that it wouldn’t be for a long time. I came in at about an hour and 2 minutes. Since I wasn’t the last one out of the water I had my medal engraved with my name and the words, ‘Not Last!’
Recent Comments