Triathlete

A little over a month ago, Eli and I saw a sign for a kids' triathlon at the end of August. Eli asked about the event and decided he wanted to participate. For the first week he did great with his training, but, as expected, his passion for training went away quickly. But once a week he would go to the gym with me and do a solid hour training with brick workouts or transition practice. And when the triathlon happened in the Olympics, he watched every second. (1 1/2 hours!)

Yesterday was the event, and it was an early day. We had to be at the aquatic center at 6:!5AM, which meant us pulling out of the driveway at 5 (gasp) 30 in the morning. (When I woke her up, Maddux said, "But it's still dark outside!!") We got to the staging area right away and Eli set up his transition. Parents were not allowed in that area at all, so Eli had to set it up by himself. Then we waited. And waited. Finally they lined the kids up just after 8AM and marched the first group into the pool area. Lehr, Maddux and I waited near the entrance to give him a final send off. Maddux high-fived him and Eli blew a kiss at her. MELT!

The race was aged 6-17years old, so Eli was on the young side. Out of 880 racers, he was number 62. Because I wanted to be outside for the transition and to see some of his bike and run, we did not go inside for the swim. We watched him run through the transition area perfectly, very focused, and get on his bike right after the 'mount line'. He did need a little help steadying himself because he was in such a rush :)

Eli came in from the bike telling me that his shoe was untied. Thankfully one of the coaches he knew was right there and helped him tie it. Then he took off running. I ran along side his course as long as I could before the out and back intersected and I was forced to stop. I caught him again as he came back (he told me he and Drew saw each other over that line as well and high-fived), and he sprinted to the finish.

100m swim, 3mile bike, 1/2 mile run...all in a day's work for Eli. He loved every second of it and already asked if he can do another.