This past weekend, Grace and Sam competed in the Hy Vee Iron Kids triatholon. Grace was originally signed up and Sam begged to be included after she came home with her booty bag.
The race started with a trip down the water slide at Sutton Pool. What a cool way to start a triatholon, don't you think?Then they both swam, biked, and ran (Sam did 50 yards swimming, 2 miles biking, and 500 yards running; Grace did 150 yards, 4 miles, and 1 mile).
I was so proud of my little athletes. Both were heavily encouraged by their dad, who has competed in marathons and 5ks for years. I've always been more of an organized sport kind of girl--and running was usually just a means to an end. Still, I love that my kids are interested in this sort of activity. I'm a huge proponent of sports and physical activity for kids. Even when I'm not the world's biggest fan of the sport (guess what I'm referring to here), I still think anything that gets kids away from the tv and the computer and out moving their bodies is a good thing (though perhaps the intrinsic value is a bit muted by the treat factor--but I digress). And this triatholon was certainly not for the faint of heart.
More, with all that you hear these days about body image and anorexia (even in boys!) I love that they are learning the value of a healthy, strong body and how good it can make them feel at a young age. I believe sports had a major impact in my own lack of real body image issues over the years. Don't get me wrong, I am very realistic about the aesthetic and proportional challenges of my own hulking 6 foot frame, but growing up, I was much more wont to mourn my lack of quickness in the 50 yard dash and the lack of height in my vertical jump than the width of my hips or the unfortunate physical similarities between my giant feet and a pair of thick cut pork chops. There is nothing more bittersweet than looking at the perfect,beloved bodies of your babies as they grow, and recognizing that, in spite of all your prayers, they just may have inherited some of your less desireable physical characteristics. But I am grateful that they are showing some aptitude for physical activities (as yet no one seems interested in learning my turn around jump shot, but I haven't given up yet). Not that I have ever run a triatholon--which brings me to the second part of my story.
Shortly after we arrived at the event, I soon started running into people I knew--a former high school basketball teammate, our old daycare provider, and 2 moms of kids in Sammy's class. They are both about my height, but both blonde and about 50 pounds lighter than me. From here on out, they shall be referred to as "the hot moms." I really like the hot moms. They are always doing cool things and they are always saying they are going to invite me along, though, of course, I've been holed up at home gestating, nursing and pumping for the last year or so and they have never actually invited me. 2 weeks ago they did Ragbrai. The month before that they went camping--just the moms and kids. See? Cool. One of them--Hot Mom S., has 4 kids. Her second oldest is a girl in Sam's class. Hot Mom H. has just one kid--a boy in Sammy's class.
Anyway, I got to talking to hot mom S. and she told me that they are doing a mini-triatholon in Galena in May. She said I should join them and I am so, so tempted. I really did used to be pretty fit. I considered missing a work out akin to skipping brushing your teeth. Today, I tried to do yoga after work. I got, literally, 3 minutes into the DVD when my foot cramped unbearably (it just hasn't been the same since I sprained my ankle getting out of my rocking chair on maternity leave. That is a true story). Then the baby started crying, I remembered that Gracie had soccer practice in about 10 minutes (blasted soccer), and Lucy invited me to come see her poopy. The DVD is still on pause in the living room. As if I'll go back to it.
So, now I'm dreaming of becoming a triathlete in my spare time. I have time to think about it, right? May is eons away. Hot mom S also invited us to a pool party at her house that afternoon.
Unfortunately, my bikini was in the wash so we didn't make it. There's always next time.
