No doubt, this is going to cost us a bundle

To have a family with one triathlete is pricey, which makes a family with two athletes costly, but a family with five triathletes, my goodness; please note tip jar to the right, your generosity is appreciated. (ah, just kidding-for now) The tri addiction has infected the entire Tribe, down to it's littlest member, so on with the report.

The alarm clock blared in my ear at 4 am. My parents are weird so they get up early every day to train or work. We are playing musical beds in our house since every one is trying to find the coolest place to sleep since it is so hot out, even at night. I was sleeping with my mom so I heard her mumbling something about there is no freakin way she was going to go run this morning, she shut off the alarm and we both fell back to sleep. A few hours later my mom woke me up to say it was time to get ready to go to the kids triathlon. I was so nervous I didn't want to eat. It took forever to get to the race and we watched lightening come down as we got closer. But the storm had passed by the time we got to the race. There were a billion kids and parents walking towards the race and there were lot's of people telling us where to go and what to do. I was glad my mom races because she knew what to do. First we registered, then we had our arms marked with our race number. My sister got a smiley face with hers. My brother was so nervous he put his helmet on backward. but my mom helped him out. She showed us where to set up our bikes.
My sister got to wear my mom's uniform because it fit her, but I got to wear her race belt. I looked around at the other bikes and noticed that not too many of them had gears. Hot Rock has 21 gears. I am so going to be fast on my bike.

(a parental note: what have we done?)

I was getting so scared that I started to cry. My mom reminded me that we were really here just to have fun and meet some new friends. So, my sister and I talked to the girls waiting for the swim.

The race was supposed to start at 9:00, but the guy started it five minutes early. A lot of kids that were supposed to be swimming didn't know it, including my big sister. She was upset at first, but then she decided to just swim with me. I'm glad she was with me, it made me feel better. There was one mom whose kids didn't go in time and she yelled and screamed at him. I think she missed the part about this is supposed to be fun. Finally it was time for us to swim. I started in the back of the group and my sister started up front. My mom said we both went off like torpedos. I like to swim and I swam by some girls, but then someone kicked me so I walked a few steps. Then the water got too deep and I swam around the floating thing and back to shore. The kids walked and swam as much as they could. My sister tried to swim through some kids, but she didn't want to hurt any of the younger kids, so she slowed down a little and just tried to swim around them. We both came out of the water near the front, and then we had to run up to our bikes. That was a long hill to run up. I hated that hill. My dad stayed down by the water to take pictures of my brother, and my mom ran up the hill to cheer for us on our way out biking. I love to bike! Out of the park, down the street, around the cone, that 2 miles went by really quick. I passed as many kids as I could. My mom was waiting when I came back and cheered some more. She yelled at me to drop my bike and helmet and run! Run! She was cheering and clapping. I ran as fast as I could, and I'm glad it was only a quarter mile. I was breathing hard the whole time, and I ran by my dad cheering and taking pictures, when I saw the finish line I just sprinted as fast as I could. They tore off my number and hung a medal around my neck. My mom was waiting for my sister to finish her bike part. My sister had to ride farther and run farther. At the end of the race she was kind of disaapointed because she didn't get to race against any of the kids her age. She had to go all alone since the other kids had swam earlier than her. She didn't really get to race. And she drank one of my mom's sports drinks that morning and didn't eat anything and it was warm, so she pretty much just wanted to throw up at the end. I'm glad she didn't barf, that would be gross. I met up with my mom and she gave me a big hug.

I am a triathlete!


My mom and I went to watch my sister and brother come in from the run, and we cheered for them. It was fun to see them get their medals. We all did it!



Even my little brother had a good time, and he got to eat snacks at the end.



The rain was starting again so we gathered our things and left to go home. Because the race didn't start right my parents didn't even think about there being an awards ceremony at the end. We headed home, stopping at McDonalds for breakfast, yea pancakes! My dad's friend called to let us know that I had won! I got second in my age group. That's the first trophy I've ever won! I hope our friends were able to pick the trophy up for us.

We all want to do another race now. My mom said there is one in August called The Miracle Kids triathlon. It is where you get to race for a kid who is sick with cancer. I hope we can do that one.

Good bye.