‘Every day in every way, I am getting better and better.’
This is Kymaia’s morning mantra before she sets out for her training.
Back in May, in consultation with her coach, the target for the 13th of November 2022 3km race was set at 15 minutes. Unfortunately, since then, Kymaia’s training has been interrupted by rains, vacations, festivals, illnesses, partying & late nights/sleepovers, the horseriding camp, and other commitments. Anyone who knows our parenting style will know that we prioritise living a healthy, balanced, and joyful life over any set goals. So, all this missed training was not seen as a big deal. Except, apparently, by the ward herself.
About 10 days ago, she told me that she would like to focus on her timing for the upcoming race. And we cleared her schedule to make this a priority.
Her personal best was a pace of slightly over 6 minutes per km, set in January (or was it February?) 2022 over 5km. But since then, she’s grown in height (and so, leg length), age, strength, and confidence. Her form has also improved vastly.
Today, she had her time trial just to see where she is in relation to the target pace. And she showed tremendous improvement, even though it is obvious that she was operating at the very edge of her envelope to get there.
Let us hope that by the next weekend, she will be able to reach and hold a 5-minute-per-km pace.
I have promised her entire team a party if she can hit 15 minutes or less for the 3km race she is entered in on Sunday, the 13th of November 2022.
Fingers crossed.
![Mr Baba: 'Would you like to take off the backpack now that you've been downstairs for like 30 minutes?'
Ms Kym-Kym: 'I like it like this. You should try it. It's very comfortable.'
Mr Baba: [Pulling on his backpack] 'Hmmm, you're right. That's rather snug.'
Ms Kym-Kym: 'Twinning! Yay!'
#LuckiestManAlive #BearFamily](https://scontent-lax3-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.29350-15/416920031_3373151642830342_6696851954454537274_n.webp?stp=dst-jpg&_nc_cat=105&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=18de74&_nc_ohc=ZMLmjPdSAEUAX8nnJex&_nc_ht=scontent-lax3-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&oh=00_AfB0olvUVmnenPKd2wCllMDehg5gzDgAbc4BDsGLqIm6pA&oe=65BA4561)
![Kym: 'Mr Baba, can I tell you something wierd? You can actually get tired from doing nothing!!'
Me: 'It is called boredom.'
Kym: 'Noooo. I mean, like physically tired.'
Me: 'One can get tired and sleepy due to boredom. I remember reading about it somewhere. Let's find out.'
[Some Googling later]
Me: 'It says here that "A new paper published in the journal Nature Communications finds that a part of the brain that is associated with motivation and pleasure - the nucleus accumbens - also can produce sleep. The new findings may explain why we have the tendency to fall asleep in the absence of motivating stimuli, i.e., when bored." Isnt it interesting?'
Kym: 'I already knew that. Why do you need to research things we already know?'
Me: [Finding a subject worth talking about now]: ' Ah well, that's what we'll talk of tomorrow on your morning run. It's very interesting the way science is done and our understanding of the universe is expanded.'
Kym: 'Can we talk of unicorns instead?'
Me: 'Sure. How do you know they exist? That's an interesting question too that you can use the scientific method to answer.'
Kym: 'Do they have to exist for us to talk about them? We can just pretend they do for an hour and have fun.'
Me: [Laughing] 'Yes, sure. We can do that too.'
#BabaBabyConversations #BearFamily #KymAndI](https://scontent-lax3-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.29350-15/416410840_383105434396466_2267910263456009774_n.webp?stp=dst-jpg&_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=18de74&_nc_ohc=LIozs445JFcAX_48wGC&_nc_ht=scontent-lax3-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&oh=00_AfDQ2qbb0yO_wUmLj_L0ZxF61eDdwlIN-vyrd8GZe_pBMQ&oe=65BAFA57)
