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