Saturday, August 6, 2011

My Kid of Steel... open water edition...

Today was pretty neat!! Today someone in our family did an open water triathlon... no, it wasn't me... no it wasn't Jeremy who is busy training for ironman... then who might it have been you may be wondering? Why, our five year old!! Yes, the first person in our family to complete an open water triathlon was in fact, Sebastian. He is definitely a kid of steel!!

We arrived early, got Sebastian all set up in transition, he was body marked, got his chip, had some prerace fuel (Crispers) and away we went to the pre-race meeting. We got the low down, and soon they began, first with the oldest kids, and continued each wave, getting younger and younger, until finally, it was time for the seven and under group to go. They waited until all the 8&9 year olds were finished their bike before the little ones got to start. Before that, Sebastian and Sully were playing in the water,
playing in the sand, and just having the best time. Had to stop a couple times so Sebastian could warm up (the kid has no body fat, and so gets cold rather quickly.

Sebastian decided he wanted his mom to swim with him. I had been campaigning for dad, as I had NO desire to be in the freezing cold icky lake water. However, despite all my efforts (ask Jeremy, there were a lot!!), in the end, it was me going into the water with Sebastian, brrrrrrrrrrrrr. Believe me when I say, it took every fibre of my being to get into that water and did not really appreciate it when it got too deep to stand and suddenly my whole body was thrust into the freezing cold. However, knowing Sebastian was that much colder, I tried to at least not hate it too much!! He did good. He was cold. But he kicked and doggie paddled and slowly made his way across the lake. Soon enough we were getting out, not without a hand from the volunteers though, that boat launch was slippery!! We ran into transition, and my poor little guy was just shivering. We helped him change his shirt, got his socks and shoes on, glasses, helmet, bike gloves, jersey, number belt, and away we went to the mount/dismount line.

Sebastian got on his bike and was motoring (he calls it his police motorcycle). He did great. I basically had to run to keep up with him the whole time on the bike. And before we knew it, we were back at transition again (I don't think he actually biked 1.5km... it seemed way too short, but he did exactly what every other kid in his age group did.

Back to transition, dropped the bike, helmet and gloves, flipped the number to the front, and away we went. Again, he was just trucking. It was fantastic. He didn't stop for one second, and the look on his face as he crossed the finish line was one of pure joy!! And let's not forget the very cool medal he earned!!

All in all, it was a fantastic race. He did great. He was excited. He said he was the ogopogo (because his swim cap was green). And he just had fun!! It is so cool to see him so excited and happy about something that is so good and healthy for him!! And he is so happy to do these races. I know how important it is to be active, and seeing him be active like this, from a young age, will hopefully keep him going long into the future. I hope he continues to be active. Knowing how he can be quite challenged to learn some things, it's pretty special to watch him accomplish something like a triathlon. Not sure what's next on his agenda, but I do know his brother won't be far behind him (and since he's part fish, I see triathlon in his future too!!). But for now, I will celebrate Sebastian as the amazing little Kid of Steel that he is!! Great job little man, you make us proud!!

No comments: