cross country

It’s been a lovely fall. It hasn’t rained here in about 6 weeks, which has been terrible for the grass and plants, but with low humidity and the perfect temperature, it’s been amazing to just be outside.

Dave and I competed in the Waterman’s Olympic Distance triathlon in Rock Hall at the end of September. I was still in great condition from training for Nationals and ended up taking 2nd overall in the Masters Category (anyone 45+). I was a little offended to be considered a Master, but what can you do? It was my fasted Olympic Distance so this Master killed it.

Lauren ran on the cross country team again this year and did really well. She ended up in the Top 5 of her team of about 30 5-8th graders. She really enjoys it and is also very much looking forward to joining the track team when she’s in 7th grade (track is only 7th and 8th).

And Sophia had a cool experience with the Philadelphia Girls Choir. She was one of just a few singers invited to sing with The Philadelphia Orchestra in their performance of G. Mahler Symphony No. 3. They performed twice at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia and once at Carnegie Hall in NY! The most exciting part of the NY performance for her was running into Alec Baldwin in the hallway, who then took her phone to take a group selfie (“he touched my phone!!”).

This fall, both girls played a sport for the first time. Sophie tried out and made the volleyball team. She had never played volleyball before and she really loved it. She floated back and forth between the A and B teams, and even though BC didn’t win many games, she played really well and got better throughout the season.

Lauren ran cross country, which is one of the few sports that 5th graders are able to play in middle school. She did really well, placing in the top 5 for her school in most of the races, but I think the amount of work was a wake up call for her. She likes to get out and run, and she’s fast, but I’m not sure she was ready for all the training. She also was part of the stage crew for the school play, and really enjoyed that a lot. She bounced back and forth between practices after school for both.

Dave, Don and I did the Olympic distance triathlon in Rock Hall in October. We all did really well. Don’s PR’d and this was Dave’s first Olympic distance in about 25 years. I placed 3rd in my age group, and since it was also the MD State Championship that means I qualified for the Nationals next year in September in Atlantic City!