Triathlon

I know what you're thinking....Heather ran in a Triathlon!?! No way! And you're right, it wasn't me. It was my kids. They participated in a Youth Triathlon in Rexburg on September 6th. It was a really cool event. We watched friends in it last year and my kids really wanted to try it out. Mason had some scout commitments, or he was too old, or too cool...I don't remember. But my other 3 kids were excited to be a part of it.

Now lets start off by saying that this is the FIRST time my kids have done ANYTHING even remotely like this. They have never run in any races or swam in any races or biked in any races. This was all new territory. Happily this Triathlon is very "first timer friendly" and of course "kid friendly."

Back story -- This is Sadie THE DAY BEFORE THE RACE learning how to ride a bike. Yes, I am ashamed to say that my 7 1/2 year old did not know how to ride a 2 wheeler. We had tried many times over the past few summers...but we never had good results. She just couldn't get it down and after one or two attempts, she would quit and didn't want to try again. All summer I had been begging her to try again. No amount of bribery from us and shaming from the neighborhood kids could convince her to try again. She was convinced that she would never learn to ride a bike.

Yet, she wanted to be in the triathlon because her best friend was in it. They let you ride bikes with training wheels or scooters if you want, so that was what she had planned to do. Then her best friend's mom (who was one of the race organizers) came up with the perfect incentive. She said she would bake Sadie her own batch of cookies if she would just TRY to ride her bike. She didn't have to be successful, just give it a good honest try. Sadie agreed and we were off to the church parking lot. Remember this is THE DAY BEFORE the race. It was amazing. It only took one round of me running along behind her and she was off. She was in heaven. She loved every minute of it. What freedom!!! She didn't want to quit when it was time to go home for dinner.

Okay, back to the Triathlon.

The 3 kiddos before the race 

So the race began with swimming across this pond in the background. I don't' remember what the lengths were, but each age group had a different distance. They were allowed to use flotation devices and had helpers in the water to assist if they needed it.

 The girls loved the swim caps that they could decorate

 Sadie and her bestie -- Charlotte -- swam together. Good times

Colby and Renae both had a pretty tough time during the swim. It was SO cold and a really long distance for them. We honestly don't do much swimming in Rexburg so this was the most challenging part for all 3 of my kids.

A view of the course so you can see what they were taking on...oh, and it is about 30 feet deep so no touching the bottom.

Colby in the "Transition Area" -- this was so foreign to all of us...changing from swimming to riding in seconds. It wasn't fast and polished, but exciting none the less.

Renae was riding Eric's bike. It is huge. Unfortunately, as we were getting bikes tuned up for the race she realized hers was WAY too small. This was the only thing bigger we had, but it was not really a good fit for her. She was in tears and ready to quit by the end of the bike laps, but we encouraged and cheered her on and I am proud to say that she didn't quit!!

 Colby tearing off on his bike. He is our most experienced bike rider. This part was easy for him.

Sadie was still a little shaky on her bike. She had never been out of a parking lot so this was tough. But she did it and still had a smile on her face. Mason hopped on the track and rode with her just to keep her company.

 The only pictures I got of the kids running was Colby starting out and Sadie coming down the home stretch as she ran around the lake. It was challenging as a mom, to be everywhere at once. They ran the races in a staggered start time...but they were only a few minutes a part so at any given time I could have one kid in the water, one on bikes, and another running. It was tricky to keep track of it all and be there to cheer them on in the right places at the right time.




It was a long hard race for my kids. We didn't train at all (like we should have). But they all crossed the finish line. More than that, they all RAN across the finish line! And even though they looked about ready to faint, they had smiles on their faces within minutes (once they caught their breath and had some water).

I'm really proud of my little racers!!!

When asked if they plan to do it again next year....they all said YES!