First Triathlete in the Family

As of last weekend, we officially have a triathlete in the family.  Zach decided that he wanted to give it a go at the triathlon because the Cub Scouts were holding a  mini tri at our local Scout camp.  It was a 25 meter pool swim, 1 mile bike ride on dirt/packed gravel trail, and 1 mile trail run.  He was really nervous about the swim despite having practiced a bunch this summer and being fine to handle well over 25 meters in the pool.  He isn't a fast swimmer or a super strong swimmer, but he can get it done.  We got some great transition advice from my friend, Kelli, at Destination Awesome so we practiced our transitions in the driveway so that he felt OK with them.

Hanging out waiting to start

The day of the triathlon arrived, and we got him signed up and marked with his number and got his gear staged.  This was a free event and designed to promote Scouts to try something new and get active so there was a wide range of kids from more serious athlete to complete beginner with no clue about tris. This made for some amusing set ups in the staging area including Camelbaks, huge jugs of Gatorade, and full changes of clothing (all not really needed for a mini tri).

Zach's transition area

Can you tell how nervous he is?

He headed over to the pool and got wet and then lined up for the swim.  It was a mass start, and he was really nervous. 

Getting lined up for the swim

The pool swim was also a little strange because they had to swim diagonal to get out of the water at the beach type exit the organizers wanted them to use. 

Mid Swim

Pool exit

This meant that the kids who lined up on the far side of the pool actually had to swim a little further.  It wasn't a huge deal because the swim was so short, but it was weird.  Zach did fine on the swim.  He made it out with no problems, but he was near the back where we anticipated him to be.  He did great in the first transition.  I completely forgot to hit the lap button on my watch so I have no idea what his swim, T1, bike, and T2 times were.

T1

 Most parents were helping their kids in some manner in transition (not normally allowed in sanctioned tris).  The help varied from completely putting on socks, shoes, etc to just verbal coaching.  We tried to stay back and let him do most of it, but we offered some reminders.  He got out on the bike somewhere in the middle of the pack.  He didn't have a great ride because he wasn't too used to riding on gravel, and he has a basic mountain bike with no gears. Some of the older kids with bikes with gears had an easier time. 

Out on the bike course

T2 from bike to run was a hot mess because the organizers didn't make the kids safely park their bikes and hop off before entering transition.  Kids were flying in and just tossing their bikes and helmets every which way.  It was really rather unsafe, and they are lucky no one got hurt.  We actually grabbed Zach's bike when he hit transition so he could get his helmet off and take off running.  He was near mid to back at this point, but we knew the run was his strong point.  We noticed that a lot of parents had paced their kids on both the bike and went out on the run (again not allowed in sanctioned tris), but we opted to let him handle it on his own.

He really took off on the run.  He made up a ton of spots.  He said that a lot of kids started walking about a 1/4 mile into the run so he just started powering past all of them.  We were shocked as we saw him finishing in the top 10 and out sprinting two other kids to the finish line.  We had no clue how he had done with respect to his age group (top 3 awards for each Scout rank) so we hung around for awards.  He ended up with 2nd place for Webelos which he was really excited about.

Sprint to the finish

Finish line

We are really proud of him for trying something new and doing something that was hard for him.  I timed his run at 6:45 so I'm pretty sure the run was short because even though he ran hard there was no way he ran a sub-7 mile on the trails.  Overall it was an OK event, but it could use some more structure and organization.  We'll give it another try next year.

2nd Place Webelo

Where has JD been???

Well, lets start where the issue began - on April 20th, 2014....coming back from knee aches after running the Reston Marathon on 3/31/2014.  I was showing zach something with his swing and tweaked my hamstring/back.  What I did not realize that this was the beginning of a long and frustrating summer.  I bailed on the Pittsburgh marathon, then the Cayuga 50, then just about every other race I thought I could run.  I tried to run through it which set me back some time until I finally succumbed to PT.  I am finally back after months of PT for both my back/hamstring and finally up to 25 miles a week.  However, my achilles (left) still have some getting used to when running trails.  That said, I am signed up for the YUTC 50k however will be planning a DNF and only running the 25k portion becuase, lets face it, I am not about to get hurt again.  Heather has been solid and is training for the Oil Creek 100k and I will be pacing her on the back 50k.

I paced zach during his first 10k attempt in June and he did great.  I also paced him during a small 5k a few weeks back.  Things are going slow but I am coming back.  I just have to make sure and control the AT that pops up during the beginning cycles of my training. 

If all goes well, I may do the Marine Corps Marathon.  I deferred last year and am signed up for it this year.  That said, I have no time expectations and would be happy to finish

If that goes well, I am thinking about the Seashore 50k this year - however, we will see.

Herndon Festival 10K - Zach's first 10k ever!

On Sunday, June 1, 2014, Zach (age 9) ran his first 10k at the Herndon Festival.  The race course looked to be a tad challenging for a first timer like Zach, but we were out to have fun.  He was a tad nervous, and I was dealing with hamstring/back issue that had prevented me from running the Pittsburgh Marathon a month earlier.  Not to mention Achilles issues which most likely were caused by the change in gait when running with the injury.  Anyhey,  after multiple stops to the bathroom and a couple of national anthems, we line up for the 10k.  I told Zach that this was double the 5k so take it out slower than usual...of course the first mile is a 9:04 which is faster than I thought he would take it but looking back, it was just about right.  The first couple of miles looped us through the Herndon Festival area that was actually not open at the time.  Either way, mile two was about 50 seconds slower, a 9:52....Mile three, he started to have issues with his right foot and felt the top of his foot start hurting so we slowed it down more to the point where we actually stopped.  Mile 3 was a 10:03...The overall goal here was a sub 60 minute 10k...it was ambitious but not out of reach.  Mile 4 we really started to slow down, and I knew these would be his toughest miles (4 and 5)...Mile 4 was a 10:45 and Mile 5 was a 10:54 plus they had some nice rollers...He was talking the whole way and I knew this was not as hard as he could run but didn't really push him since he had not run this distance before..Miles 5 to 6 was a 9:27,  but it was a little to late as he finished with a 1:02:46.  Great job but I think he really wanted to a sub 60 minute run...The first thing he said when we finished was, can we do another one?  Of course, I said yeah!  Looking at the final results - he got 183-271 overall, and 3rd out of 5 in the 1-10 group...Tough first 10k for big Zach and he was happy with his finish....here is a quick pic of me and the boys before the race.

  Meanwhile Nic and Heather ran the 5K portion of the race which started after the 10K.  It was hillier than expected, but Nic was a beast.  He powered up all of the hills and started really passing lots of people in the last mile.  He ended up with a huge PR at 28:44.  I think it was all of the soccer.  He was super happy, and then we waited for Zach to come in.

Nic holding the sign and waiting to cheer Zach in.

1st 10K and 5K PR

Awesome finish for Zach!!!

 We are so proud of Zach for training hard through some crazy weather for the 10K.  He was supposed to debut at the 10K at the Manassas Runway 10K, and his training had peaked perfectly for that.   Unfortunately, he got a concussion the day before the race while playing baseball so we had to find a new race. 

Zach and mom getting some miles in during a March snowstorm!

Zach doing his first Battlefield loop...5.5 mile training run!