Cailey's first Triathlon

transition area

Cailey was 2nd to last in the water and had waited
almost 2 hours at this point....she was READY for her 50!!

swimming was the hardest part for her, but
she hung in and was ready to climb out

moving on to the transition area to change


trying to get socks on wet feet...and we couldn't help her


now she was ready for her 2 mile bike ride...which started
on a steep hill that lasted forever! when she was training she
had to get off and 'walk' her bike everytime, but the day
of the race she was able to make it up EVERY hill without
stopping!! we were SO proud of her!!!


coming back


these kids were so trained to stop at the intersections, and a lot
of them would slow down on the hill even though there was a police
officer to stop traffic:)


the running begins (this is her strongest area)


everyone fell over laughing when she dumped
the water on her head!


she ran past the girl who was way ahead of her
and had a strong finish...up the hill. we were SO proud of her!


finish line in sight!


NOT loving that this was blurry, but it was
probably caused by my screaming and cheering:)


her medal


superstar!


posing with her biggest cheerleader!


posing with her coach:)

A few weeks ago I saw a sign at the YMCA for a kids triathlon and mentioned it in passing to Cailey. As soon as the words came out of my mouth she was BEGGING to participate. At first I wasn't sure because she missed the training for it that they held at the Y, but after days of her asking, I decided to sign her up. Brian took her to the course a couple times for bike practice, and once for the running practice. Both times that she biked were very discouraging for her because there were so many hills, but we just told her to walk when she needed to. She always did great with the running...and even ran 1 1/2 miles one day! She practiced the swimming once (because of VBS, and trips there wasn't opportunities to swim) and wasn't worried about it.

The night before the race the YMCA had a catered lasagna dinner for the racers and their families so they could 'carb up'.

The day of the big race she had to wake up at 5:30am, arrive at 6:00 to set up her transition area, and the race started at 7:00....for the big kids. Her turn finally came at 7:55 and she was psyched! So psyched that there was a little trouble in the pool after the first lap (because she swam her hardest so quickly)....but she got it done! Then she went on to biking where she NEVER got off of it to walk! I couldn't believe my baby biked up all of the HUGE hills! Last up was the run...her best, and favorite of the three. She was SO proud of her medal and that she finished the race. As soon as she got her medal she said, "this means I'm a winner!!" We were so proud that both of us teared up. She finished!! What an accomplishment! She's already asking to sign up for the next one...
to be continued!