#2 Finish a Triathlon

About the middle of April Shad decided he was going to sign up for a sprint triathlon with his friend James. James had completed a few triathlons, but this was Shad's first. They signed up for the triathlon in Muncie, Indiana on June 11th and we added it to the summer bucket list. He had a little less than two months to train for it. He said it was one of the hardest things he has ever done. He really mainly struggled with the swim portion of the race. He isn't a great swimmer and we don't have regular access to a pool, so it made it kind of difficult for him to practice. He really only went to the pool a handful of times for training.

When it came down to the race he struggled with the swim, as anticipated, and came in pretty much last. He had to hold onto the kayak they had available a few times just to catch his breath, but he did finish and didn't get disqualified. He must have made up the time in the run and the bike because he actually ended up with a really great time and got 3rd place in his age category and 48th overall. His friend James got 2nd place and friend Reza got 8th place in their age category too. I think they felt ok about that. One of Shad's YSA members (Jason) did the Olympic triathlon and also did very well.

We didn't end up going to see him finish like we had originally planned because we had a baptism of a friend to go to that afternoon and I knew it would be difficult for us to get back in time for the baptism. Shad just barely made it back in time even without kids.

I'm so proud of him. I'm glad that he is setting such a great example for our kids to follow of making fitness goals and achieving them.