Our Triathletes

On March 1, Jake and the three boys competed in a local triathlon! I wanted to post pictures and brag on them right away, but it took two weeks to get their placings as the different clubs disputed results.

To train, the boys got a third month of swimming lessons, ran a kilometer every few days with Jake or me (well, I timed them!) during school breaks, and biked to and from swimming.

Here are our brave competitors!

Jake and Joel, Samuel, Michael at the transition zone

While we waited to watch Dad race, the boys got all their gear ready with their assigned race numbers

Jake raced first! Here he's about to come out of the pool, well ahead of most of his group.

Jake coming in for his finish! He clocked in 20 minutes faster than last year!!

Jake swam 400 meters, rode his bike 10 km, and ran 3 km.

The boys swam 200 meters, rode 3 km, and ran 1 km.

In the second lane from the top, you can see the three boys in a row (heading to the right)

Even though our kids were really slow in the pool, they had beautiful technique. Some even commented on how nice Samuel swam! Next time, I'd make sure they are practicing quick turns in their lessons, as they seemed to lose time pausing at the wall. 

Michael coming back on his bike. 

He loved being in the limelight, oh my. I'm surprised he didn't crash because he was looking at everyone looking at him, instead of the road!! 

Samuel in the transition zone, between biking and running

Joel racing out!

Michael running back

Samuel finishing RUNNING!!

I was so proud of Samuel, because in our practice runs, he would usually walk the last block or two, just totally out of motivation when he was tired and would see that his brothers had already beat him. We talked to him again and again about the importance of FINISHING, and of course finishing strong would be nice. He was the dead last of all the 11-12 year olds, but he hasn't actually turned 11 yet (the groups were modified the day of the race).

Overall, when people ask how they did, we say THEY FINISHED A TRIATHLON! They gave their all!!! And even though they were bushed afterwards and Samuel wanted to throw up, there really wasn’t any complaining. They agreed with Jake that these races are awful and hard, but all three want to do it again!

As for the placements...

This year there were more competitors in every group than last year. 

Jake was 4th in his age group even with his much improved time (54 minutes). 

Joel finished in around 24 minutes, which was good enough to put him in 2nd place for ages 11-12!

Michael finished a couple minutes later, only 9 seconds behind the 3rd place finisher, snagging 4th place.

Samuel finished in 31 minutes, getting 6th place. That was a very long 31 minutes, walking his bike up the hills, walking instead of running, getting some help from the paramedics re-tying his shoelaces, etc., but he didn't give up!!

Joel, who looked strong the whole race, was still a little rough afterwards. He said that when he wanted to quit, he could hear Jake's voice saying "Never give up, never give up..." (Only when he said it, it sounded like "never get up, never get up..." Jake and I tried not to grin as Joel talked, as he was talking very seriously.)

This weekend, the top 3 placements of the Cochabamba race are representing our department at the national race in Tarija. We went last year and had quite the adventure, so Jake was excited about going back this year, if the dates worked out. Joel qualified and Jake was bumped to third place, due to a racer who can't go, but with baby due any day, it didn't seem the right time for them to leave me!

I'm so proud of all my triathletes! I look forward to cheering them on in many more races.