Pewaukee Kids Triathlon

Saturday morning, I took Melissa to the Pewaukee Kids Triathlon. This was her first ever triathlon which seems obvious since she is only 8 years old. She had a lot of fun and said she really liked the swimming and the biking, but didn't like the run too much.

Here is what she was required to do. She had to swim 200 feet along the beach in waist deep water. Since I was volunteering and designated to the transition area, I was unable to see her swim. She told me she only stopped 2 times to rest during the swim. I saw her come out of the water into the transition area in the middle of the pack of 8 year olds. She got on her bike and off she went for a 1 mile ride. After than, she did a 1/4 mile run to finish it off. She ended up in 6th place out of 19 in the 8 year old girls division. She was given a ribbon upon finishing. She seemed quite proud of what she did and kept her marked number on her arm and leg on for the rest of the day as her own badge of honor.

Like I said, I was volunteering in the transition area so I got to see a lot of interesting things. First of all, the Kids Triathlon was open to as young as 3 years old. This seemed quite young for me but it was kind of cute to see the kids off on the "bike" portion of their tri on their big wheels and tricycles. What disturbed me about the 4, 5, and 6 year olds were some of their parents. 6 and under were allowed to have their parents in the transition area with them. I saw way to many kids crying their eyes out while their parents were "pushing" them to continue and hurry up. This is no way to get your child to like triathlons or any other events you would like them in.

The other thing I found odd was so many kids decked out in full triathlon gear. Wet suits for a super short swim and way too expensive bikes (at least in my opinion). Well, if the parents want to spend that kind of money, of well.

In any case, I had fun volunteering and helping the kids on their triathlons, whether it was their first tri or 100th tri. Some parents just need to let their kids be just that, kids, and not live their lives through them.

That afternoon was my daughter Megan's birthday party. She and her friends had fun and went to a gymnastics gym for some fun. The gym is M&M Gymnastics & Dance which is not too far from home. The gym is the home of 2008 Olympian and 2005 Women's All Around World Gymnastics Champion Chellsie Memmel. The cool thing was that Chellsie was actually at the gym toward the end of the party so the girls all got to meet her. The problem is that the girls were all too young to know anything about her and were far more impressed meeting her cute little dog instead of her. Maybe someday they will think differently. I was able to ask her if she would be willing to donate some autographed pictures for the Kids Marathon which she was extremely happy to do.

All in all a busy day but a good day. And thanks to all of you who read my blog regularly and who were cheering Melissa on in her first Triathlon. She thought it was totally cool that people all over the country were rooting her on.

Megan and her friends and sisters at her birthday party.

Melissa finishing the bike portion of her triathlon.

Melissa starting her run coming out of the transition area.

Melissa finishing her first triathlon. I have no idea who the guy is with the funny look on his face.

Melissa proud of her finish with her well deserved ribbon.