Well, we survived. Not without the help of ibuprofen for me...but it was a great experience and I'm learning to try things even when I know I'm not going to be good at it. I think that's my biggest fault when it comes to competing. If I don't think I can do well, then I don't try. Well, yesterday I tried. The results weren't what I wanted, but the fact that I dove in and finished both my races were a big stepping stone for me. I don't think I could have done it alone, I really needed Kirsten there to talk me through it. And I thank her for putting up with all my whining (and providing the drugs!!) regarding my shoulder.

I only had one major glitch of the day...I thought I was swimming 50 free which was scheduled for the afternoon, but I was down for the 100 free instead which was one of the first events!!! I didn't miss my swim, but I had some of my teammates in a panic over it.

The surprise of the day was my 200 Medley relay race. I was put on a team with 3 other swimmers who are all ex-compets -I was quite intimidated, especially since I was swimming BUTTERFLY!! It was my last race of the day, my shoulder was throbbing at this point, but Kirsten convinced me I'd be ok, and when we were waiting behind the blocks my teammates encouraged me with "MY PACE" -which basically means "go at your own pace". It made me feel a lot better and I even got a little bit excited about my first 50 fly!

We came in first!! We were all pretty excited about it and were giving high fives when they announced that we had broken the meet record!! It was a total suprise, especially for me! I don't think anyone got our splits unfortunately -most of the team missed our swim because they were in the marshalling area or they thought we were swimming in the other pool...haha. Oh well, I got to take home a gold medal nonetheless!


The day ended with a drinking party -of course...but Kirsten and I were so exhausted that we just stayed long enough to fill our bellies and collect our medals. It was a fun and fulfilling day. I had a great time, despite the shoulder and the exhaustion.
The next meet's in October...I guess if I'm staying in Japan another year, I should really try to improve my times.

100Free: 1:21.67 -blah!!!
25Back: 21.17 -I swear I was doing under 20 in practice -haha.