California Kids Triathlon

If you’ve read my blog post on PEKT, you could almost skip this blog, because this race was near identical. Similar results from the kids, similar (or the same) course, and a good time had by… most. Once again, the race was great, the organization was fantastic, and as a family, it was a great experience. Going out to a race sure beats plopping ourselves in front of the TV, or iPad, and I hope we get to do it many, many more times.

If you don’t train, can you expect to get better?

Most of the kids have been gone since a few days after the last triathlon, and came back just two days before this one, so did they have a chance to train, and improve?
Not really. So expectations coming into this triathlon were about the same as last time: just go out, have fun, and finish the race. And for most of us, that’s exactly what happened.

Race morning arrives, and hits JT and Jordan the hardest, by far. They’ve been used to staying up well past midnight in Utah, and now it’s 5am and they have to be up and ready to go. Add in some post travel issues for JT, and he’s definitely not in the best shape to race.

No breakfast (though I had made a late night run for bananas, bagels, and oranges… he just chose not to eat), an aching stomach… I don’t envy him a bit. He says he’s fine, but I know what exercising on an entirely fuel-deprived body is like… not fun.

For the rest of the kids, the race was a much more positive experience. Jordan has since expressed that, not only does she like triathlons, but that is her sport of choice for the upcoming year.

Damon and Tripp both had a great time, and both improved their times and their comfort with doing the triathlon. It also helped immensely having the Bardinis there with lunch on hand, in order to keep the flow of the day much more fluid.

So what’s next for the world of family triathlons? Who knows. If we can get the kids out to practice, I’d love to do more, but I don’t want to go from race to race without anything in between. JT and Jordan still haven’t gotten a chance to decompress from Oklahoma and Utah (they went straight to band camp after the race), and the other two are a bit young for any real training regiments, so time will tell what the next race will be like.

But I do know one thing, this won’t be our last triathlon.

Oh, and one more thing, the results:

	Swim+T1	Bike	T2+Run	Overall	Place
Jordan	8:56.40	19:44.24	10:55.69	39:36.33	22/23
Damon	4:43.95	12:40.89	5:21.50	22:46.34	47/84
Tripp	6:32.43	30:18.81	4:15.64	41:06.88	84/84

June 3, 2012April 21, 2023

Positive Energy Kids Triathlon

Introduction to Tris for the whole fam

Though I ended up with a bib (the best I’ve ever gotten) and medal (also the best), I can’t say that this was really my race. Given the name, the Positive Energy Kids Triathlon, it was obviously a race geared towards kids. However, with Parent/Child divisions, Diane and I participated with Damon and Tripp, while Jordan and JT went out on their own.

So let me start by saying, this race lives up to its name. It’s about having a good time, teaching kids about racing, and making everything fun for all the athletes. There are a lot of upsides to the race, the only downside being the wave start times (JT – 8am, Jordan – 8:55am, Tripp and Damon – 11:30am), a large split and a long day.

JT’s Race

I think JT came in with the highest hopes, the most enthusiasm, and left with the most disappointment. More on that in a moment, but let’s start with pre-race preparation. JT has been forced to bike on Mark’s old mountain bike for the past year, so coming up to the race, it was time to get him a newer bike. Our goal was to find a nice road hybrid, but with how small he is, that wasn’t a financially feasible option, so we went for second best: a really light, small framed mountain bike by Trek. The bike is great, and he rode it for tens of miles leading up to the race, preparing himself to kick butt on the bike segment.

I think for both of the older two, the biggest anxiety came from the swim, so JT also spent a lot of time at Grandma’s swimming laps, getting himself sure that he could complete the whole swim competitively. And a mile run? Cake. So coming in, he was ready to be a competitor, and enjoy himself.

So it’s race day, and swim time, and he’s ready to go! JT did a couple warm-up laps, and then a couple times across the pool as they figured out where the start was from. Alas, with a hundred yards already complete, when it came time to swim, JT started

out too strong, got fifty yards in, and had already depleted his swim ability. He’d completed the whole distance (150 yards), just not during the race. This is where the “Positive Energy” comes in in PEKT. He wasn’t DQ’d, he was just asked to come out with the final swimmer, and went to compete in the rest of the race.

The rest of the race went great, and JT was pretty positive coming out. But over the next few weeks, its obvious that the DNF in the swim has hit him emotionally, and he seems less excited about doing another race. Guess we just need to make sure he competes again and gets over it!

Jordan’s Race

Of all of the kids, Jordan is the most experienced racer. Though this was her first tri, she’s done enough runs to have race day nerves abated. She was cool, calm, patient, and ready to start long before the race began.

Jordan had several friends competing, and they took top spots in the race. For Jordan, finishing fast has never been the goal, just having fun, and doing great… and that she did. Just under six minutes on the swim (75 yards, plus T1), twelve and a half on the bike (2 miles), and a seven minutes on the run (half mile, plus T2). She came in 14th out of the 19 competitors in her age group, and came out with plenty of energy to keep having fun, and the desire to keep racing more and more!

Tripp and Damon

Diane and I accompanied Tripp and Damon on their races. 25 yards in the pool (once across), a mile on the bike, and a quarter mile on the run. I was, and am, proud of our little guys for doing this race! Tripp, at two years old, was the youngest racer on the field. And Damon biked so fast, Mom couldn’t keep up with him running. Damon had a smile on the whole race, and Tripp hasn’t stopped talked about his “Tri-apple-on” since.

I can’t talk too much about Damon and Diane’s race, other than Damon’s competitive go-go-go spirit through the whole thing, and the smile I see on every picture we have of the race. That, and the fact that he just barely was out of training wheels, but raced hard on the bike… hard enough to blow past Diane’s running capability. But being the one accompanying Tripp, there are plenty of adventures on the race that bring me smiles.

Like JT, Tripp came in without a bike that could get him racing. The race directors are pretty lenient on everything, but tricycles are not an option. So two days before the race, Tripp got a new bike with training wheels. A day before the race, he was practicing non-stop at the park. And by race day, he was wheeling along, mostly on his own.

Tripp and Damon both rocked the swim, with no help needed, and a drive to reach the other side. Damon was out fast on the bike, and Tripp was pretty ready to go by the time we reached the Bike Start. He did pretty good on his own, but about half way through the bike ride (29 minutes is a long time for a 2 year old), every bench was calling his name, and every playground was the place he wanted to be. But finding

the arrows on the ground made for a path he could follow to the end, and other than his inability to make it on the uphills alone, he did great.

Both boys finished up fantastically, and though Tripp and I were the last ones across the finish line (they actually started tearing it down before someone told them we were still out on the course), we actually had two other families with longer times than ours! (41 for us, 47 and 49 for the slowest finishers). And Damon’s 23 minutes was fantastic!

I can’t recommend enough this race for families. We’ll be out again in early August to race it again for the California Kids Triathlon (same course, same group). This time, we’ll do even better!

December 25, 2010April 24, 2023

It’s a Family Affair

Poinsettas to all, and to all a good night!

This year, the family (with encouragement from my lovely wife), decided to return to a place of previous enjoyment for Diane, and participate in a Christmas morning run up in Meadow Vista, CA — the Cool Yule Jingle Jog. Everyone participated, even Tripp (passively).

The run, put together by running legend Gordon Ainsleigh, starts in a large park, makes its first leg up the roads (and uphill with about 200 feet of climb), then follows a canal for the second leg, and traverses back to the park for the third leg. It’s a beautiful route, and a great way to spend a Christmas morn.

JT, Jordan, and I started the run together, and by the first long hill, it was obvious that, though Jordan had spent the most time running recently, she wasn’t ready for altitude nor hills. Six minutes in, and already Jordan had to walk (at her last 5k, she made it all the way without walking once!) JT kept going, even though he was in old vans and jeans, and I sped up to let him know he could keep going, as long as he kept other runners in sight, while I accompanied Jordan through the rest of the run.

I count seventeen times that we slowed to a walk, so when we arrived at the finish line at 43 minutes, JT had beaten us with a 35 minute time! JT came in 11th overall in the run, and I think really enjoyed what he accomplished. Jordan and I finished with 13:20s as an average pace through the 3.35 miles. I took advantage of the long hill at the end to do some faster running, and otherwise enjoyed spending time, encouraging Jordan, and enjoying the cool mountain air.

I left the older two kids at the park with all of the adult participants, and ran back to meet Diane. A mile back, and I found her, just about to hit the big final hill. I was there to offer support in carrying Tripp, but as I expected, Diane wanted the pride of being able to carry Tripp the entire way. Damon seemed to be in a great mood, and Diane was doing great, so I walked with them in, only turning around to run the hill one more time.

In the end, I think we all had a great time, and it definitely was a rewarding and wonderful way to spend a Christmas morning!