I haven't blogged in a long time....why...not much non-depressing things to blog about. But here is something exciting. Cole completed his 1st triathlon this morning!
This is a huge feet considering that at the beginning of the summer he couldn't even ride a bike. He has become addicted and we've enjoyed going on bike rides together, making more confident riders out of the both of us. He also LOVES to swim and wants to join the swim team at our gym, but right now his/my busy schedule just don't allow that.
Last month, vetmommy let us know about a kids tri coming up. Cole was so excited and we signed him up. I knew the bike distance for the race wouldn't be that big of a deal for him (2.4 miles) because we've been routinely doing 9 miles. The swim for his age group was 200 meters (4 lengths of the pool) and the run was .6 miles which I figured he could walk if needed.
We had to get up VERY early this morning to head up the the race site. Cole wasn't nervous at all. He had a great time setting up his gear, getting his body marked, etc. He was in the last wave of the morning and from arrival to start time we had about 2 hours and 45 minutes of wait time. Luckily I brought chairs and a blanket. It was so COLD. We sat in our chairs and he played his DS without a care in the world. There were two Olympic gold medalist (Ian Crocker and Garrett Webber-Gale) and he got to get autographs and hold their medals, which was very cool.
Finally it was race time. I was cried as he walked in with the other athletes and then again when he jumped into the water. He did so GREAT! After the swim he headed to the transition area. His age group had to go alone, luckily since we were one of the 1st to arrive he had a great location and I could stand right next to the fence to cheer him on, while he got ready to head out for the bike ride. I wasn't sure how comfortable he'd feel on his bike with so many other kiddos around. But once he was passed the line to get on, he hoped on and took off, yelling "On your left", several times breezing by kids. After he turned the corner, we couldn't see him anymore. That's when I was the most anxious..hoping he was okay and wouldn't fall. He had to do the bike loop twice and was grinning ear to ear as he came around again, styling in his bike helmet and sunglasses. Once he completed the bike leg he jumped off, ran into transition threw off his helmet and took off running. I was so impressed with him.
Mostly I was worried that if people passed him, he'd panic or want to give up. Especially while swimming. Luckily, the started his age group 15 seconds apart and no one passed him during the swimming leg. He did great and seemed thrilled with himself which was the most important thing and he never gave up. It was such a great feeling to finally see him feel good about himself.
