Another kids triathlon in the books. So much fun!! This year Kaden was old enough to participate! A few weeks before the race I was signing them up (Dylan chose to camp out at the Father-Son campout instead of racing, but it was a hard choice ;)) I talked to Kaden about it, trying to make sure he would be up for it. He was SO EXCITED!! He talked about it nonstop, but kept forgetting the word "triathlon" so he would ask me "what was that thing where we swim and then run and ride our bike?" And he would say, "but where are we going to swim?" I guess he thought we would be running and biking by our house so he was confused. But he was very excited about racing!
Can you find all three kids in this pic? Sadie is easy to spot, and I had her staying with Kaden. Kylee is harder.
Kylee's group started first because hers is the longest. She swam 200 yards (4 full laps), biked 4 miles and ran 1 mile. There were only a handful of people doing that distance, and I think only one other girl. Kylee did really well! She was only beat by two older boys (there's a 9 year old on the results sheet that has her by a minute, but I'm positive he didn't do all the laps he was supposed to do so I'm not counting that. She says she passed him on the bike, after she already beat him in the water. It's a lot of laps for a 9-year-old to keep track of so we will forgive him.) But she took four minutes off her time from last year, which is what really matters.
After Kylee's group got out of the pool, it was Kaden's turn! (While Kylee was biking and running, he finished his race and got his medal.)
Kaden has been swimming in his life jacket a little bit with Sadie and I, so I knew he was capable of swimming across the pool in it. But I'd never really asked him to swim all 25 yards. Especially without me or one of his siblings there to encourage him. I was a bit nervous as to how he would do. I thought I might have to wear my swimsuit and get in with him, but I was told there would be life guards in the water for anyone who needed a helping hand.
I was across the pool where he would get out, and Grandma Cheryl was with him on the other side at the start. I couldn't hear them, or see his face even because he was facing Grandma. So I had no idea if he was saying, "I don't want to go, I want to get out" Or if he was just fine. I was honestly nervous. He could've gone either way. But they blew the whistle and he just took off swinging his arms and kicking his legs with a big smile on his face! It was so cute! He was splashing his hands in the water, not doing any good but imitating what he had seen the older kids do I guess.
We helped him with his shoes and shirt and helmet and then we were ready to ride! (I don't know why he looks anxious in this picture, he was excited the whole time.) I ran along side him and had a hard time keeping up at times! (Also, as a side note, my phone camera was freezing up and being weird so I had to power it down and turn it back on, the whole time stressing that I wasn't going to get anymore pictures.) We got about halfway around the block, we could see the finish line for the runners just ahead. Kaden came to a complete stop and told me to say, "mark set go" while he revved his engine (the buttons on his bike). He wanted another start line I guess. So I did, and he pedaled really hard just around the next corner. Then he stopped again and said he wanted to run now as he tried to climb off his bike, lol. I told him we had to get back and park his bike first, so he did and he did great.
Then he took off running! He's so funny. He got tired halfway through and started walking. I gave him another "mark set go" and he took off in front of me again.
He finished strong with a big smile on his face! And he LOVES his medal! He talked about it for days and showed us all the guy running and biking and swimming.
Sadie patiently waited around for all the minis to finish. This is the first year Sadie is not a mini. She swam down and back, then did two laps of both the bike and run paths. She did great! She's a competitive little thing and really pushed herself! She likes backstroke because she can breathe so she did that for some of the swim.
Sadie really did push hard. On the run she got a bit tired and walked a little. Grandma ran some of her second lap with her and when the finish line was in sight, she took off!
There's nothing like having someone to pass to really push you in those last few hundred yards.
Kaden took second place out of the 3-year-old boys. He took 8th overall against boys up to age 6! Sadie took first for 7-year-old girls, and 3rd overall for girls in her Super group- pretty impressive since the girls that beat her were 8 and 11 (the 11 year old really should've been in the longer races, but we will forgive her too since it was her first race). Kylee took 1st for her age, 1st for overall girls, and 3rd for boys and girls. Not a bad showing for my cute kiddos! I wish Dylan had been there, but there's always next year. Kylee and I are seriously thinking about having her do a full Sprint triathlon with me next Spring if we can just figure out the bike situation. A rode bike really is best, but not sure how much it would be to rent one for the day, or if she would even be comfortable on it. We will see.
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