Speed to Read Race Report

Sunday morning following the Turtleman found us not sleeping in (as we would have liked) but pumping up tires, putting a bike on the rack, gathering gear for transition and heading back to Shoreview.

Zman was entering the Speed to Read kids triathlon. I was looking forward to it because it had a pool swim as opposed to the usual kiddie swim (like my last triathlon!). Z was second into the water. He broke 2:00/min for 100m. Take that NS Rob!

Look at that high elbow! He's smooth and relaxed in the water.
He could work on his head angle when breathing and he turns his head further than necessary - but he's 11. He's got years to work on that.

Unfortunately I missed the pic on the first loop - Zman following the lead escort. How cool would that have been! At the end of the second loop he and Sven (the boy in red) came in together. The escort had dropped back for 2 reasons: 1) she was having trouble staying in front of the boys and 2) they had opened up such a gap that the escort had to drop back to guide the others.

Both Zman and Sven suffered on the run. Zman opened up a lead but then was walking with a side stitch. Eventually he started running again.
As they finished their 2nd loop they turned the corner to the finish straight. Sven slowly edged past Zman. The look that came across Zman's face was priceless. He maintained this expression for the final 100 yards, giving it everything he had. It was really fun to watch his internal competitiveness come out. It was all from him, we hadn't talked about any of it. I didn't ride the course with him or point out kids to try and pass (as some parents did).

Here is a closeup of the determination on his face.
Here is Zman almost taking out a little girl as he crossed the line. Easy big fella!
He's looking forward to entering a real triathlon some day soon. This is my 100th post in this blog. Crazy huh - most of you are probably saying "What a waste of time!"