Tri Something New

Last Saturday our stake put on a "Tri Something New" sprint triathlon and invited all the Young Women and Women to participate. It was held in Auburn, with the swim being at the Auburn YMCA pool and the bike and run on the interurban trail. It was a 300 meter swim, a 12.2 mile bike ride, and a 3.1 mile run. Only 25 people from the stake were there participating, but Tabatha and I were two of them.

Tabatha, of course, rocked the swim. I had her go toward the front of the line so she could go at her own pace, and I was the second to the last person to get in the pool, due to how we lined up, so she had to wait for me for a while before we got on our bikes. I am really proud of Tabatha. She said she does not remember biking more than a mile before, her back was bothering her, and it wasn't until we were over halfway through the bike ride that I realized she was in the wrong gear, and working a lot harder than she needed to, but she pushed through. She did not give up.

We finished the bike ride, and she did great on the run. She also said she doesn't remember running more than a mile, but she ran the 5K (we did a 4 minute run/30 second walk ratio since her legs felt like jelly after the bike ride) and even had extra energy at the end for an extra push. After a swim, and a lengthy bike ride, we still ran at a 12:30 pace; which is not bad at all for a 12 year old competing in her first triathlon. I was impressed! She was the youngest person there competing, too.

We had a good time, got to talk quite a bit, and I realized I need to learn more jokes because she likes to hear jokes when she exercises; to take her mind off of it. I also learned that she thought spending time with me was more important than the compliments people were giving us as they cheered us on. And, she had a good time and wants to do it again next year.

Overall, we finished in 2 hours and 30 minutes. It was fun, a huge accomplishment, and an amazing first for Tabatha. I didn't do my first triathlon until I was 28, and she did her first at 12! I didn't take pictures, but hopefully will get some from one of the moms that was there, and then I'll post those.  I needed to post on here just how great she did though. Good job Tabatha!