The Houston Kids Triathlon

After weeks of training the big day is finally here.The YMCA did a great job helping the kids work on their triathlon training. We did our own training outside of the once a weekend gathering but when you ask my son, he will tell you it wasn't enough. This is the 1st year of the Kids Triathlon at University of Houston central campus. The event was sold out! There were thousands of people there. Considering it was the very first year with that many kids it went pretty well.
For the registration pick up our friends offered to pick up our son's packet but they wanted a parent signature. Interesting thing about that was they only asked my son's date of birth. They never asked for my husband's id to prove he was the parent. We also could have brought his bike instead of scrambling this morning trying to make it there by 7:30am when they were scheduled to close the transition spot.
His race wasn't scheduled to start until 9:45am in the senior division level so we had plenty of time to wait around. The seniors had to swim 200m, bike 6 miles and run 1 mile.

Here is his coach from the YMCA. He has completed an Iron Man before so who better to coach the kids than someone with all that experience! We had difficulty locating his goggles this morning. Lucky for us there was a tent there that was selling them and they had an extra swim cap. It was a crazy morning! We woke up late and had to go in two separate cars. My husband and son trying to get the bike there and then me and the little ones trying to gather everything that was left behind. The line to check in was long. We had plenty of time to get everything sorted out.

We even had time to make posters to cheer him on. His brother and sister had a great time making their posters. His other coach from the YMCA was there to run the poster table. Which was great because he was in need of a band-aid and they had a first aid kit on had.

We waiting a long time to start. They had a bloody nose to clean up and a bike accident and then they had to reroute the signs and such for the older kids. Finally it was time to take off!

This is where they begin their walk to the pool where they will wait their turn in order of their number to begin their 200m swim.

He said this part was really difficult because at the YMCA where they practice the water is not this deep. They could at least take a little break where they could touch or stand up. There were no rest breaks here it was the real deal, 8 laps.

He's finished the swim leg of the race and is off to the transition portion of the race to prepare for the 6 mile ride. He was a bit worried about running on the concrete but he seemed to manage pretty well. We were amazed at all the kids that were there with their professional bikes with the shoes on the peddles. It was like they had done this a million times. One girl just picked up her bike and carried it all the way to the transition spot!

He did great during the transition. There was a lot for him to do! Get the race belt on and make sure the number is on your backside. Get socks and shoes on along with his rec specs and his bike helmet. And then he was off! It was hilarious watching all the parents running along the sides with their kids cheering them on taking photos.

He said there was a lot of wind during the bike ride. There were a few kids that were out on the side lines with leg cramps or feeling sick. He and I thought the bike ride would be easiest for him but it turned out to be the hardest. He said that he wished he would have trained more with the transitions so he would be familiar with how hard it would be for his legs to switch gears.

Here he comes down the finish line! We couldn't be more proud. We are all giving him a high five as he goes by. He said the worst part for him is that he should have trained for more cardio. He should have swam more than the 8 laps and biked more than the 6 miles. He's already talking about next year!

Special thanks to the Rigby family who helped us out all along the way. It's always helpful when you have friends at these events. Their son completed the junior division. They both did a great job.Then we hunted down the ice cream. I don't know what his race time is yet. He thinks it was 1.5 hours but we will find out when they post the results online. There was a long wait to find out and our little ones were expiring. I told him, if you never do another one in your life at least you know you completed this one.