Tri It Get Fit Triathlon

Although the word triathlon, even mini triathlon may sound a bit intimidating they are, in reality, an extremely fun event. Although training for a triathlon can seem somewhat challenging, the day of the event makes up for all of it. It is so much fun to compete in a triathlon! My favorite part, however, is right after the race is over. I enjoy receiving the finisher medal, relaxing, and enjoying everything provided by the sponsors of the race. You also feel as though you’ve just accomplished something great and will more than likely remember that day for years to come.

Triathlons are so fun! Ever since my first triathlon i have been hooked! It;s something about the nerves that make it so exciting. My favorite part if going over the finish line! In the first triathlon i did, i messed up when it came to the bike racking part, i had finished the bike route and somehow, had forgotten to rack it so i was on my way tot he run & i forgot to put it on the rack....So i was running with my bike in my hands...I was too far to turn around, luckily, my brother was near, and i guess i stopped thinking so i just LET GO of my bike and let it fall, but fortunately my brother was right there and he took it for me and racked it as i went on to the running, it was hilarious! That has been my favorite experience so far.

Hello racers ,novices and trainees.Guess what?! In March I started and finished my third triathlon.And I got 1st place in my age group.And again guess what ?! Im only 11 years old , yup thats right 11 . So now maybe next time you see a race poster or sign up sheet you'll think  " Well since I read that blog about that 11 year old and she got first place in a triathlon maybe I could do this race!"So get training and stay at it , just tri-it!Get Fit!!!

      It is hard to believe that we have been mentoring the Special Olympic athletes for almost two months.  On one hand it seems like time has flown by and on the other hand it seems like we have been training for a long time.  Everyone is getting excited for the triathlon.  We showed the athletes the goody bag and the Girl Scout patch and they loved them.  All of our hard work is going to pay off soon.  We have been able to find relay team members for all the challenged athletes.  This was hard to find kids who could swim in the different age groups.  Many kids were scared to do the swim portion because they did not feel like they were strong swimmers.  Hopefully they will see that they can do it and feel a sense of accomplishment when finished.  I think that we all feel more fit after training for the past two months.  Many of the girls had not been participating in a regular exercise routine.  I hope we helped them do this and have fun at the same time.  Although I don't like to run very much, I am really looking forward to helping my Relay Team do well in the triathlon.  I know that my team mate would not be able to participte without me.  It has been so great becoming friends and team mates.

     Today we met with youth in our area who want to learn how to do a triathlon.  We met at the Temple Terrace Recreation Center which is where the "Tri It Get Fit" triathlon will be.  We showed them  how to stretch and explained how a triathlon works.  We went over how to transition between the run, bike and swim.  It was good that we were at the Rec Center because we could show them exactly where the transitions would be.  We practiced the bike and run portion of the triathlon.  We had girl scouts attend who have never trained for a triathlon before.  We are excited that we are having many more Girl Scouts participate in the triathlon.

      Coach Sheila coordinated a special disabilities workshop for us.  Most of our troop was able to attend.  The first thing we did is write down 30 things that we like to do...this was hard for me.  Then we had to group these according to whether a person with a disability would be able to do this.  Many of us said that a person with a disability would not be able to do the activity.  Coach Sheila really opened our eyes because she helped us see that almost everything that we had written down could be down by someone with a disability but they would just have to do it a little differently.  I felt bad that I did not realize that sometimes we think people with disabilities are not limited.  I should have realized this since my grandmother is disabled but still does so many things! 

    One of the most fun activities that we did was the relay race.  We did a relay race but we were given different disabilities.  Some of us were in a wheelchair, some of us had to use tongs or a pot holder to carry things and some of us were blindfolded.  Even with our limitations we had fun!  Coach Sheila had also arranged a speaker for us.  The young lady who spoke to us was inspirational.  She explained to us that she realized that she was not going to be limited by her disability of being in a wheelchair and that she could do whatever she put her mind to.  It was a message that all of us should listen to...it can help anyone achieve their dreams.  Thank you Coach Sheila for putting this together for us.  We also finally understood the different disabilities that the athletes we were mentoring had.  We realized that Special Olympics is for intellectually challenged athletes and paralympics are for physically challenge athletes. 

      The triathlon mentoring sessions have been going well.  We have a lot of the Special Olympic Athletes and the Girl Scouts interested in participating in the triathlon.  The cost of the triathlon is making it difficult for some of the girls to register so our Girl Scout Troop is offerring scholarships to Girl Scouts to encourage more participation.  This is one of the challenges.  The other challenge is finding individuals to partner with them on a relay team because most of them do not swim or bike.  We have been asking our friends to be on a relay team with them and have had some success.  We will keep working to get everyone teamed up with someone.  Coach Sheila has been great because she has really been encouraging all of her athletes to participate.  It has been rewarding seeing that our troop has been able to help motivate the girls and athletes to get moving and work toward a goal.  We have been talking about our Girl Scout neighborhood camping trip.  It will be fun to see each other at camp.

     Today we had a new adventure with our training.  For the past couple of weeks we have been curious about a trail that goes off the main paved path.  This week we decided to go on the trail with the Special Olympic athletes and explore the trail.  Everyone went together except for our autistic athlete...she did not want to go.  We thought that it might be because she does not like loud noises and the leaves make a lot of noise when we walked through them.  Coach Sheila told us that she did not have a good experience on the trail a couple weeks earlier.  It was interesting to learn about how noise can affect her.  We are learning to communicate with her.  She loves several of our Girl Scouts and they run with her each week.  She grabs your hand and just goooees!! We are also able to help her stretch more easily.  I am really enjoying getting to know the athletes on a personal level.  It is fun to learn about their schools and for some of them their jobs. 

     It was great to come back to visit with Troop #276 since our visit in November when we talked to them about the "Tri It Get Fit" Triathlon and trained with them for our Journey Take Action Project.  We updated them about the triathlon (date, time, distances, etc.).  Some of the girls stayed inside and made cards for thanking Leaders and some of the girls wanted to train for the triathlon.  We led strecthes to warm up to run and walk.  It was fun to see some of the girls that we had been training with during our Special Olympic Athlete Mentoring.  We met new friends...some of the little girls were so full of energy!  We had one girl scout who signed up for the triathlon.  We were very excited.  Because she was in a wheelchair she would have to be in a relay team.  One of the girls in our troop is going to assist her in "running" and then do the bike and swim portion for her.  We hope more of our challenged athletes will be able to participate.

     It was so great to have almost all of our troop be able to attend this mentoring session.  We were excited to introduce everyone to the Special Olympic athletes.  We stretched, walked and ran.  We also talked about the triathlon sport and promoted our "Tri It Get Fit" triathlon.  I assisted one of the athletes in a wheelchair.  I learned that I needed to let her do as much of the "wheeling" as possible to help improve her strength.  We went around the trail at All People's Life Center for a total of 2 miles.  I helped my new friend stay on course and helped her go faster when we were doing "run" portions.  A few of our members did sprints with some of the athletes training to do track and field events with Special Olympics.

     We found out that many of the Special Olympic athletes were also Girl Scouts in Troop 276 which we were also mentoring.  Some of our troop remembered meeting them at camp several years ago and eating lunch together.  We were a lot more at ease with the girls now that we were getting to know them than we were at camp.  After training, we played tag on the accessible playground.  It was neat to see an accessible playground since we donated some of our fundraiser proceeds last year to Clouds of Hope to help purchase a piece of playground equipment for the accessible playgrounds being built at Riverhills Park and on Whiteway in Temple Terrace.  We had a lot of fun playing with the girls and realized that they could have fun just like we could but they had to do it a little differently.