They start with swimming, then biking, then running. For the young kids it's all very short and over within 15 minutes. Ella's friend was also doing it but he wouldn't be in her heat because of his age. (3-4 were in a heat and 5-6 boys were in heat even if she was with 5-6 year old girls she wouldn't be with the boys.) Not having a friend at the same time as her really was her downfall.
So pre-race everything is going fine. She's so excited.
Then it's time to line up and pick a lane. She picked a lane and sat with her feet in as the other kids were. They kept making announcements about how many more minutes. She was happy and ready to go. Then it was time to go and she backed out of the pool and started crying. That was the end of her race. I felt so sad for her. I read all the pre-race info provided but didn't do any extra googling for other people's blogs or anything. I guess I should have. Apparently when I read that if kids needed it, someone could be in the pool with them that meant that every person but Ella would have a parent in the pool with them swimming with them. Almost all the kids had on puddle jumpers but then even the kids with puddle jumpers were also using paddle boards to help them get to the other side. They try to make it easy for the kids. Since she didn't swim, she didn't bike or run. She was crying so bad. She also wanted to watch Gio run but he was 15 min - 30 min later than this time and Dave was not staying. He said we had to go. He even said he was leaving us all there if we didn't go. So that was fun too.
Since the race, I keep getting super sad about it. I should have known to go into the pool. I only learned while we were there that parents can run along side their kids when they run too. I thought parents were only allowed to help with transitions and the info made a big deal about how the younger kids got that luxury.
Ella is fine now playing and not sad like I am. But she keeps asking if I'm going to have another birthday so we can have another swim, bike, race. On the drive home, we didn't have the radio on so Miles was telling stories/talking up a storm. He was talking about the race and how Ella got sad and then "cried like this" and then he'd fake cry. When he got home I asked him if he had fun and he exclaimed "yea" and I asked what was fun and he said he liked watching the pool.
Then it's time to line up and pick a lane. She picked a lane and sat with her feet in as the other kids were. They kept making announcements about how many more minutes. She was happy and ready to go. Then it was time to go and she backed out of the pool and started crying. That was the end of her race. I felt so sad for her. I read all the pre-race info provided but didn't do any extra googling for other people's blogs or anything. I guess I should have. Apparently when I read that if kids needed it, someone could be in the pool with them that meant that every person but Ella would have a parent in the pool with them swimming with them. Almost all the kids had on puddle jumpers but then even the kids with puddle jumpers were also using paddle boards to help them get to the other side. They try to make it easy for the kids. Since she didn't swim, she didn't bike or run. She was crying so bad. She also wanted to watch Gio run but he was 15 min - 30 min later than this time and Dave was not staying. He said we had to go. He even said he was leaving us all there if we didn't go. So that was fun too.
Ella is fine now playing and not sad like I am. But she keeps asking if I'm going to have another birthday so we can have another swim, bike, race. On the drive home, we didn't have the radio on so Miles was telling stories/talking up a storm. He was talking about the race and how Ella got sad and then "cried like this" and then he'd fake cry. When he got home I asked him if he had fun and he exclaimed "yea" and I asked what was fun and he said he liked watching the pool.
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| I gave her a board. She got in almost ready to go but then didn't. |
Oh no! Maybe next time she will be okay. I'm sure years from now this will be a funny story.
ReplyDeleteNext time I'll also plan to swim with her. :( :( Next year Miles will be 3 so he can do it too!
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