We had a wonderful Sunday at the Sea Turtle Youth Triathlon in Pensacola Beach FL watching my 13 yr old compete in his first triathlon...
A couple months ago Peyton and I had talked about him doing a triathlon and training together. I found the Sea Turtle Youth Triathlon and registered him. Because of him deciding to play football, we barely had time for any training.
Saturday after Willies game we got his bike out and got it ready. He has not been riding his bike in a while because hes been playing football. However besides a little air in the tires it was good to go. So we packed it on the back of the car and got to bed for an early morning drive.
Pensacola Beach is about an hour and 20 minutes from my house. We needed to be there early for packet pickup, so we left the house around 5:30am. We stopped at my BFF Melanie's house to pick her up and to get a pair of tri shorts from her husband that Peyton was going to borrow. Then we headed to Pensacola Beach. The venue was located about 6 miles from Casino Beach down by Portifino Towers. They had everything set up and ready to go when we arrived around 7am. We picked up his packet and headed to transition.
This was Peytons first triathlon ever, he has actually never even seen one. So of course being mom, I was trying to explain to him how transition works and how to set things up. What was great is when we arrived at transition they had amazing volunteers that walked the kids to their transition spot, showed them exactly how to rack and unrack their bikes, how to lay out all of their stuff, the quickest way to transition from swim to bike and bike to run, and where to run and bike in and out. The man that showed Peyton was very patient with him and had everything laid out for him. It was amazing. I was so impressed that they set it up just like an elite tri competition. The athletes were the only ones allowed in the transition area, sorry no parents, lol! After setting up we went out to the beach to swim start...
The 11 to 15 yr olds boys were in the first wave, so we checked out the swim bouys and where he had to swim. The swim was 150 yds so they swam out to the first bouy and then swam to the 3rd bouy and back to the shore. I had forgotten my goggles for him to wear, so I had asked a really nice man if he had an extra pair. He had a pair that were torn a little so Peyton wanted to get in the water and try them out, unfortunately they leaked, so he decided not to wear any. MOM FAIL! Luckily they had some time to get in the water and warm up...
The race was starting at 8am, so we headed to the start line...
Peyton was getting nervous and having second thoughts. So he and I took a little walk. I was telling him that he was going to do it and that we didn't come this far for him to let nerves get to him. I was telling him how nervous I was at the start of Ironman Augusta last week and that he just needed to relax.
He turned to me and said "Mom, Ive got this" so I smiled at him and got in position to take some pictures of the start. Right before they started he pointed at me and said "Don't worry mom, you taught me to take chances, see ya at the finish" my heart melted!
They lined up...
Then the horn blew and they were off...
After a few minutes in the water, the kids started running out towards the bike transition area. Peyton was the 10th kid out of the water. I was super excited to see him come out so strong...
Swim 4:13 150 yards OW
Transition 2:07
Peyton spent a little more time in transition because he had a hard time putting his shirt on cause he was wet. MOM FAIL! Also he had to tie both shoe laces. I should have had him pre tie them but oh well! MOM FAIL! LOL Then he was off on the 3 mile bike course...
This was Peyton coming in from the bike route. If you look on the left on the blue bike is Oscar the youth paratriathlete. I didn't catch his age, but I am thinking 10 or 11. He was amazing to watch compete and finished with a smile.
Bike: 13:17 3 miles 13.6 average mph
He crashed at one point on the sand. Welcome to triathlon right? LOL Luckily he fell into the sand and laughed it off.
Transition: .31
After racking his bike, he was off on the familiar part of the race, the 1 mile run...
Run: 8:10
Final Finish: 28:16 5th in his age group (13-15) 16th overall (11-15) (I thought he was 4th but after looking at it again he was 5th) ROCKSTAR!
I was so proud of him for finishing strong with no training and no coaching. What was so amazing is even though we had some problems like no goggles, wet shirt, shoelace, and a crash, he still stepped up did an amazing job and finished strong. This kid is my hero...
After the older kids race was over they had the kids ages 7-10 compete. They were swimming 75yds, biking 1.5 miles, and running 1/2 mile. It was so much fun watching these little kids race...
One of my favorite parts of the whole day besides watching my son compete was looking at all the super cute bikes...
Great job Peyton, Oscar and all of the kids who competed this past weekend. You all did an amazing job! Now to see when the next one is. Looks like we will have the whole winter to train. Watch out pro triathlete world, you may some competition on your hands, lol...
Thanks to Subway for providing sandwiches to the athletes and hanging out with the kids...
Overall I was thoroughly impressed with Running Wild, TriGulfCoast, Race Director Jim, and all of the volunteers that helped make the Sea Turtle Triathlon such an amazing and fun day for all of these kids. We will def be back next year and cant wait to come back to Pensacola beach and race.
Our Saturdays are spent with this little football player that eats, breathes, and sleeps for football...
His team won their game 48-0. They are the #1 team in the 7 yr old division of the MYFC. They are the only undefeated team with one more game going into the championships this weekend. So say a little prayer for them this Saturday as they take on a pretty tough team. GO BUCS!
Oh and he drinks a smoothie before every game. Saturday we tested out a Vegan Protein Powder by Good-n-Natural that we received for a SweatPink Campaign with Puritan's Pride. I also added a scoop of Superior Greens by Food Science of Vermont, frozen blueberries and spinach. He loved it. #kidapproved. His games are not till lunch time usually and he has to be there an hour and a half early, so having him drink a healthy filling shake before we go helps him perform the way he should without starving and having no energy. Plus what kid doesn't love a chocolate shake? ;)
Willie is one of those kids that takes a football with him wherever he goes, as you can tell in this picture from his brothers first triathlon this past weekend...
And last but not least my little competitive swimmer. She is in winter swim right now which is for technique training. She has been getting faster and faster. I love watching this little girl become such an amazing swimmer...
What did you do this weekend?
Have you ever attended a kids triathlon? Race?
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