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.

Recovery Gadgets

It's no secret that most parents do not get a sufficient amount of sleep. This graph is based on my new Fitbit Ultra Tracker. Fitbit tracks your sleep, your steps, calories burned and a list of other things that you can find on the Fitbit Ultra Tracker web site. The main selling point for me is tracking my sleep or lack of sleep.

There have been some issues that I have had to work through and part of my problem is lack of sleep. We are a family of five and we all seem to have different sleep schedules. I can put my kids to bed but they will wake up in the middle of the night. This particular party in the wee hours of the morning is Silly (our 3 year old) climbing into our bed. We are suppose to walk her back up the stairs and put her in her room. Easier said than done when you can barely function but it needs to happen! 8 times awakened people. It's not just her but our dogs wanted to go outside and my husband is up around 4am to go to work. WOW! A total of 4 hours and 16 minutes of sleep.

Yesterday - I wanted to catch a little nap. I was just so exhausted but look what happened!

No wonder I'm still tired! I got to nap a whole 22 minutes. Our 3 year old got out of school early and she wasn't having nap time. Must get proper rest and I think this new gadget is going to help work it out. I'm not sure how yet but I'm going to get there.

Another cool feature is that it's all wireless. All I have to do is walk up to my desk and my gadget gives all the information to my computer and it will calculate how many calories I've burned and how many more I can eat based on my food log. I can't wait to start working out again so I can get more information on my activity.

 

This is how you bring SEXY back!

I've got two of those sleep supports for my my poor messed up feet. Apparently my lumbar sprain has my body alignment so messed up it's just traveling. My body mechanics are messed up! Not sure how to get that x-ray exported yet but I will so you can share in the fun of my not so straight spine. 

The first night I wore those foot supports and took Ibuprofen I actually woke up without any pain in my feet. That's the last time that happened. Having flat feet that pronate inward is NO fun. I actually ended up buying some heel cushion inserts because the heel pain was so bad. They are actually working! Whoo Hoo!!!

The lumbar back brace is helping out a lot especially when I have to stand for long periods of time. I'm not sure how long this recovery is going to take...58 days and counting. My husband has a ton of warehouse jokes for me. In the meantime, I'm waiting to hear about the results from the MRI I had yesterday. It would be nice if the universe would align and just allow me to go back out and play! I found someone to take my spot in the 1/2 marathon Mardi Gras race in Galveston. I'm a little less sad about it since it went to someone who appreciates it! I know there are more races, I just want to know when I will be back in them?

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Got Wii? EA Sports Active 2 - Personal Trainer #GiveAway

It's time to pull a Dave Ramsey and "Give Like No One Else!" Thanks to EA Sports sponsor from #Mamavation #Fitcation11, I'm able to give away to one luck winner this personal trainer in a box. You must have a Wii for it to be compatible.

This game comes with a Heart Rate Monitor to enhance your workout experience. You will also receive a Wireless Motion Tracking device which straps to your leg and tracks your movement on-screen. Get ready to intensify your workout with a resistance band. There are a number of work outs for you so get ready. Also included is a USB Receiver that shows you the results captured on screen. When your ready to really track progress get set up on the 9 week program. Get variety, have fun and get fit all at the same time! If you would like to read more details of the features please click this link and find out more.

As the owner of EA Sports Active 1 and More Workouts I can tell you this series will have you working up a sweat! You are going to work hard and have a lot of fun. Make sure you have plenty of room too! You are going to get an all over body work out so be prepared to move. Wanna enhance your work out? Great! Here's how to enter!

Mandatory Entry -
Step 1: Visit EA Sports Active 2 and explore the features.
Step 2: Come back to my blog and leave a comment about the feature that excites you the most!
Step 3: Make sure you leave an email address or Twitter handle so I can contact you if you win.

You have until August 18, 2011 at 11:59pm cst to enter. I will use Random.org to pick the comment number and then announce the winner on this post August 19, 2011. The winner will be notified immediately. The winner has 48 hours to claim their prize. If the winner does not claim their prize another winner will be chosen. This give away is open to U.S. residents only. Good Luck and happy fitness!

Extra Entries - 
"Like" EA Sports Active on Facebook.
"Follow" EASActiveGirl on Twitter.

Tweet - "@EASActiveGirl THX 4 letting @PamelaMKramer host an EASportsActive2 #giveaway!"
Post on the EA Sports Active Wall - "THX 4 letting @PamelaMKramer host an EASportsActive2 #giveaway!

Make sure you leave me a comment for EACH EXTRA ENTRY! Thank you very much. 

AND THE WINNER IS..........

Here are your random numbers:

15	

Timestamp: 2011-08-20 02:44:07 UTC

Rachel (@rachhabs) on August 7, 2011 5:15 PM said...

Posted on their facebook wall! :)

CONGRATULATIONS AND THANK YOU ALL FOR ENTERING!!!

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AEROBIE Sprint Ring #Fitcation11 #Mamavation

AEROBIE was another one of our fabulous sponsors! They have a great line of sport toys. We received the Sprint Ring in our bag of goodies. I could not wait to play with my kids and give it a test run. The plan was to take it to Stewart Beach in Galveston. Doesn't that sound like fun? Playing with the flying ring on the sandy beach. What better place, right? WRONG - There is a huge sign when entering the beach that prohibits playing with "frisbees" on the beach.

No worries! We took this party to our front yard. My son here is running full force to catch his little sister's throw.

It's true, the flight distance is amazing! You see that tree across the street? My little 4 year old son was able to send the Sprint Ring flying right into it. Lucky for him it didn't get stuck!

I'm so happy we have a new easy to carry any where toy to play with! We can play in the front yard, back yard or the park. Talk about getting our exercise for the day! Check out the FAQ page to learn how to throw it, tune it and get a listing of games to play.

Thank you AEROBIE for providing fun and fitness for our whole family!

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Qlip Pedometer by Sportline

Today is the day I put this baby to work! This is another #Mamavation #Fitcation11 sponsored item. It's time to find out what a day in my life is really like. Although it might have been better to have started on Monday. This is the Qlip pedometer by Sportline. It's really small, light weight and super easy to program. Thank goodness because some times these gadgets can take hours to figure out how to program.

The only thing I questioned during the programing was the stride length. I'm not really sure about so I left it on 20. It has instructions to walk a certain distance and then divide by other numbers. It's one of those things that's going to take a little more time than I have this morning.

The Qlip doesn't just keep track of steps it also tracks distance, calories burned, speed and total time of your activity. The removable holster clip makes it easy to clip in multiple locations on your body. 

I'm excited to give this a try! Sportline has lots of other cool products. One of the ladies during #Fitcation11 had a HydraCoach. That's what I need to keep up with my water intake. It's next on my list. Sportline did not compensate me for my opinion.

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