On May 3rd, Sophie and Reese completed their first triathlon. It was so exciting to watch the determination on their faces as they raced through the four parts of the event: swimming, biking, running and transitions. Because Reese turns 13 this year, he had to compete in the Senior Division. The swim was 400 meters, the bike route was 6 miles and the run, 1 mile. Sophie, in the junior division, completed half those distances in each category. If you aren't familiar with a triathlon, the transition is the time between swimming and biking and then again between the biking and running. It is crucial that the time spent in transition be as short as possible as that contributes to your final time. For example, when they came out of the pool they had to run to the transition area, dry off, get some shoes on, a bike helmet etc. and run their bikes to the starting line of the bike portion. There was a timing chip attached to their ankle which recorded times as they started and finished each portion of the race. The chip worked in conjunction with mats that they crossed over at each entry and exit point and at the final finish line.
Both children had many friends also competing and my favorite part of the whole day was watching them all support and encourage one another. Reese's friend, Zach, finished before Reese but decided to go back and run alongside Reese in the final stretch to encourage him to put forth that extra effort. Sophie and her friends also gathered at the finish line to cheer Reese on. (The younger children had finished their races earlier in the day as they were grouped by age.)
Reese is excited to find another kid's triathlon to start training for soon.
Sophie said she would like to do the running and biking but not the swimming. Guess we better work on that.
