Training - July 31

Today I was supposed to do a brick but it rained all day so I didn't get to do the swimming or the bike. When Dad got home at 9:00 we did a half mile run. Our goal was 3:30 sec. but I did it in 3:21 sec. that was very exiting for me because our initial goal was 4:10 seconds! We also just got back from our vacation so we hadn't run in a while so I didn't know about 3:30 sec. being our first goal back. The best run we had done before that was a 3:52 sec. run.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a rest day but I'm going to bike and swim to make up for what I didn't do today.

My new bike should be in tomorrow so we will get it fitted so I can ride it tomorrow.

There are only seven more days until the Kiwanis race!!!!

I'm Back

The last two days I was in Phoenix. It was 116 degrees outside. Ive never been in weather that hot before!

Me and dad hiked up a mile in the Phoenix mountains in 114 degrees. That was crazy. I did that instead of run. The last two days I did a lot of swimming in the pool. It was about 35 meters long and I swam 6x 35 with no breaks the first day and 4x70 with small breaks and then did 70 meters normal speed and then 70 meters sprinting the second day. My time for the 70 sprint was 1:14.

We had a lot of fun at the ballparks. I have 8 days to finish my training for the Kiwanis. My bike still isn't here but dad is going to call tomorrow and find out where it is.

Tomorrow is a big brick where I am doing 25x 6 sprint with 15 second breaks,then a 2 mile bike, then a .75 mile run, walk .25 and run .5.

Training July 23, 24, 25, 26

Sorry for no posts for the past three days. We're traveling because Dad and I are seeing ever baseball park in the MLB before I'm eighteen. This year were going to go see the Dodgers, Angles and Diamondbacks!!! Last night we went to Dodgers Stadium. I thought that it was really old and one of the best stadiums we've been to! Tommorow we are seeing the Angles and Tuesday we leave for Phoenix.

Three days ago was a rest day. Right no I'm at Aunt Christins' house (in LA) posting. Yesterday we went to Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Rodeo drive!!!

Two days ago it rained so I just did push-ups and situps. Yesterday we were traveling so I had a rest day. Aunt Christin has a pool so I'm going to swim and run every day I'm here unless it rains.

When we get back to TX we are expecting my new road bike. We are going to ride it every day so I can get used to it.

Training - July 22

Today was a swim day and I did 25mx8 with a 30 second break, 100m kick board and then 450m swim! I also ran .34 miles and biked 1.36. That wasn't on the schedule but I did it anyway just for fun. I did the run really fast. I sprinted the whole thing! The bike was real easy because I've biked 25 miles before. The 25mx8 was kind of easy. The 100m kick board was easy and I think I should start doing 200m kick board. The 450m swim was hard because my highest before that was only 150m. I was going for 500m and I could have done 50 more but the lifeguard blew the whistle for adult break. I wish that if youre a kid and youre swimming laps you could stay in the pool and swim laps during adult swim. Youre not playing or anything, youre just swimming laps. That's all the grown ups do during adult break if they are in there and besides there aren't many kids that will want to swim laps so there we'll be only like one kid in the pool during adult break. That's what I think should happen in adult break because if that was what happened I would have swam 500m!

Training - July 19-20th

July 19: Sorry about no post yesterday, but Dad wasnt here for the training or to proof read my post.

Swim: Yesterday was a swimming day. I did 25mx8 with one minute breaks in between the first 4 and 30 seconds between the last four. Then I did kickboard for 100m. And then finished with 50mx2 with a 5 seconds break. That went pretty good. Dad is going to try and get me a swimming instructor to help me with my stroke.

July 20: We had a brick today. Bike 5 miles and run 1 mile. We averaged 12 mph on the bike ride. I'm still on my mountain bike.

Right after we got off the bikes we started running. There is a big difference in running right after I bike. My calf muscles were hurting when I first started running. I had cramps again today for the first time in a long time. They started right around half way. But they weren't too bad. The time for the mile was 8:40. We weren't really trying to run fast, we just wanted to keep a steady pace.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a rest day but I'll probably go to the pool anyway.

Oh yeah! I got my triathlon shirt today! Its like an under armour tank top with a zipper in the front.

I can put it on in 3 seconds!

Training - July 18th

Run 1 mile:

first .5 mile was 3:48

Second .5 mile was 4:16

Total 8:04

Best half mile ever.

And we've never run a full mile without walking so it was a challenge to finish but I felt like I could have keep on going.  I think its because all the training.

I'm not supposed to swim today, but if we get to go to the pool I'm going to swim 100m as fast as I can. 

Mock Race Day! - July 17

I just finished my mock race.  I feel tired.  I knew I could finish after all the training I've done but I want to be competitive.   Here are my times:

Swim - 3:02  My goal was 2:30.   I need to work on being able to sprint the whole 100m not just the first 30 and then run out of gas.

Transition one - 1:29  My goal was 30 seconds.  I need to do transitions a lot more so I can fix this.  I think because I've never done a competitive transition before I wasn't ready for it.  Putting my shirt on took almost 20 seconds (it was inside out when I picked it up).  My socks took 10 seconds.  Running to the transition area took over 15 seconds.   I think I should have been practicing more on transitions because it added a minute to my time!  

Bike - 9:25  My goal was 10:30.  I'm really excited about this!   The reason I was going so fast was because of the first transition and I knew I had to make up for that time.  I think I can go a lot faster when I get my road bike.

Transition two - 00:9  The goal was 10 seconds so I'm very happy with this.  Transition two is just running your bike to the station and taking off your helmet and starting the run.

Run - 4:07  My goal was 4:00.  I'm ok with this time.   I really pushed myself on the bike so I'm ok with being over by 7 seconds.

Total time - 18:12  Goal was 17:30  

So I really need to keep working on my swimming.  My best 100m is 2:44, so I know I can do better than what I did today.

Tomorrow is a running day.  But I know I'm going to work on my swimming everytime I go to the pool  

July 16th- Rest day

Tomorrow is my first mock race day!  There is one more mock race day before Kiwanis.

Our goals for the first mock race day are Swim 2:30, Bike 10:30, and run 4:00.  The goal for the transitions is 40 seconds.  That equals 17:40 which should put me right in the middle of the pack.  For right now, 17:40 is really good because we are half way through the training and we still are using the mountain bike.  For the second mock race day I should have my new bike and my goals will be Swim 2:15, Bike 8:00, and Run 3:45 and 30 seconds transitions which is 14:30.  That would make me top 5 in all the Kiwanis races that have been posted this year.   The new bike should really help!

Now onto Baseball!  Baseball is my favorite sport.  I play center field mostly and back-up at second base.  For almost this whole last season I hit lead-off.   I really like to play center field.  There are a lot of pop-flies in Center field.  When the batters are up I always want them to hit really far to my left or right or front or back so I have to dive and make an outstanding play.  When I'm on the bases I love it when there are two outs because you get to run when its hit no matter what.  But my favorite thing to do when I'm on the bases is steal!  In 19 games this past season I had 31 stolen bases and I only got picked off once when I was at third.  The catcher made a really good move and I thought he was throwing to second so I took off to score, but he threw it to the pitcher and they got me.  Im pretty mad about that.   I had 57 plate appearances and my batting average was .395 and my on base percentage was .544.  I got hit by the pitch 4 times and was walked 10 times.  

We should be starting the fall season in a couple weeks.  Im really excited to start playing again.  Here are some pictures my dad takes at the game.

The first one is my favorite.  I had a full count with two outs and the bases loaded and I hit a triple to right center field.

My favorite player is Michael Bourn the center fielder for the Astros

Training July 15th

When I woke up today I knew this was going to be a hard running day.  I had to run .75 mile then walk .1 mile then run another .75 mile.   

But I did more than just that.  When Mom, Tyler, and I went to the pool I swam 3x25m with big breaks in between.  Swimming wasn't on the schedule, but I just did it for fun.

My dad told me he would be home around 530pm.  So I needed to hydrate around 4pm.  I drank half a water bottle full of water and then played with Tyler and the Thomas the Train set.  Tyler really likes playing with the trains.

When dad got home and right before we left to run, the news weatherman said it was 96 degrees.  But when we got outside it felt like it was 103!  We started running from the driveway and ran around the block.  Its .34 miles around the block.  We run with a GPS so we can see our average speed and how far we run.  

Our goal was to run .75 mile in 6 minutes.  At .5 mile we were at 3:52 seconds and finished the .75 mile in 5:52!  Thats exciting because in the first week we ran the half mile in 4:30 and I don't think I could have gone any further.  

Then we walked .1 mile and ran another .75.  The second .75 was 6:46 but I ran the whole way.

Im really excited because I've seen a lot of progress since when we first started.

Tomorrow is a rest day so I'm going to post about what I do when I'm not training for the triathlon. BASEBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And then Friday is a mock race day!  I am going to do the same race as the Kiwanis with the transitions.  

Training- July 14th

Today was a swimming day.  I started with two 50m sprints with a 15 second break.  Dad timed me and I did the last 50 meters in 1:08.  I think I could have gone a little faster.  Then I was supposed to do 100m, but at the end of 100, Dad told me to keep going and I ended up going 150!

The Ironkids distance is about 135m and when I first started swimming I thought there was no way I could do it.  But today I did it!  I was really happy.

The rest of the time at the pool we worked on me breathing on both sides instead of always my right side.  It felt very different!  But if I can breath on both sides it should really help me.  Dad says I need to take a breath every three strokes.

I didnt get to ride my bike today because Mom had to go to a meeting as soon as Dad got home and we had Tyler.  But Dad said that will be ok.

Training- July 13th

Sorry there was no post yesterday, but it was a rest day!  And I needed it!

Today was a running day.  When I ran on July 10th I had really bad cramps.  Today we had the same distance run as July 10th ....so your thinking that I had those cramps again.  Well I didn't!  I ran a .75 mile distance at a much faster pace and I didn't have to walk!  So I did really good on that.  We also had to run .5 miles after a 2 minute walk.  The .5 mile was my fastest yet! Our old fastest was 4:30 but today I did it in 4:05!

Tomorrow is a big swimming day with a 5 mile bike ride too!

 

Training- July 11

Thanks Aunt Christin for the great comment about begin 100% behind me!  

Today was the day of the 4th Kiwanis triathlon. The one I'm training for is the 5th Kiwanis triathlon. We watched the 7-8 year old girls. Then the 7-8 year old boys. Then we watched the 9 year old girls then boys. Then it was my age group the 10 year old girls then boys. So even though I'm 9, I'm in the 10 year old group for boys is because the age is determined by my age on Dec. something.   I learned some things by watching the transitions and swimming.  For the swimming they go around buoys so no one is in a lane.  

Today's workout was a 25m warm-up then  50mx4 with the break increasing by 15 sec. break (starting from 15 sec.)  Then 100m KB and 50m warm-down.  KB stands for kickboard.  I finished the 25m warm-up fast but the 50mx4 increasing by 15 sec. break starting from 15 was hard.  The first one because it ad only a 15 sec. break in between.  My best time for 50m was 1:10 seconds.  The 100m KB was kind of hard because I could only use my legs.  The 50m warm-down was pretty easy. 

I'm learning to do the back crawl as a back-up stroke just in case I need a little breather because my head will always be above water when I do the back crawl. The only problem is that I'm using my same muscles in my legs that I am in the front crawl.  The arms are close to the same but when I switch I haven't had a problem. The legs I've had I think one problem with and that was today.

The pictures above are of me in my speedo (the swim suit I'll where on race day), me swimming on the 50m warm-down and Tyler watching me and enjoying a capri sun.  You'll also notice I got a haircut today!

Training- July 10

Today was a tough day!  I woke up at 730 this morning.  I wasnt planning to go to the pool today, but mom was going to swim laps so I asked if I could come.  I swam 25 m x 4 with big breaks in between.  It wasnt very hard.  I wanted to try a different stroke, so I chose the breast stroke and swam 25 meters.  That was hard because I never have done the breast stroke before.

We had a scheduled workout with a 2 mile bike and .75 mile run.  We started at 445pm and the temperature was 98!!  The picture is right before we got started biking.   This is a mountain bike and its hard to get over 13mph sitting down.  I should get the new bike the last week in July.  Here is a link to the 2009.  (mine will be the 2010 model)  

New Felt Bike

Running was really hard.  I had a really bad cramp in my right side.  I had to walk a little but I kept pushing myself to finish.  My cramps were probably because I didnt hydrate before my run today and because I'm not used to taking deep breaths yet.  Im hoping it gets better before I race.

Thanks everyone for the donations!  I really appreciate those donations!

Tomorrow morning we are going to a Kiwanis triathlon to see how they do the transitions and how how triathlons run.  I'm very excited and it should help me with my transitions by watching how they do it.

July 9th

Hey Pawpaw, thanks for the donation! Today my training was swim 25mx6 15 sec. break in between the 25m. I also had to swim 100m nonstop. I did both plus I did an extra three 25m but they weren't close to each other. Thanks for the support and I'll keep pushing until the end!!!!

Training - July 8th

Hey Uncle Andy, Aunt Lisa, Pawpaw and Aunt Christin. Thanks for the comments to help me keep pushing myself and keep going for the ironkids! I've decided to donate ten percent of the money I get from sponsors to a charity! The charity I'm donating to is to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International.

Today Dad and I rode six miles but our average speed was only 11 mph. With the road bike we're hoping to get up to 17.5 mph. That bike should get here the last week of July just in time for the Kawanis race. Just in time to get used to it. I think it'll be okay but it might be a little harder than the ironkids will be because I'll be used to the bike by then.

Thanks for everyone's support! Check out the Donate button on the upper right!

Introduction

I'm training for a triathlon and wanted to create this blog so I can update everyone on my progress. Each night I'm going to tell you what I did that day to prepare for the triathlon. I'll try and get my dad to get some pictures of my training and I'll post them on my blog.

I'm planning to compete in the ironkids triathlon on Sep. 13 in Apharetta, GA. http://www.ironkids.com/Locations/IronKids_Alpharetta.htm
I'm competing in the intermediate divison (9-11 y/o). The distances are 150 yard swim, 4 mile bike and 1 mile run.

On August 8th I'm going to compete in the Kiwanas Kids Triathlon in Houston. The distances are shorter than the ironkids (100m swim, 2 mile bike, and .5 mi run) but since this is my first triathlon it should be a good challenge to tackle.

I started training 2 weeks ago. When I started I had a hard time swimming 25 meters. Biking was pretty easy. I am used to sprinting for baseball but had a hard time running .5 miles.

Ive come a long way. Monday was a brick where I swam 50 meters, biked 3 miles, and ran .5 miles. Tuesday I swam 25m x 6 with a 15 second break in between each 25m. Then 50m, then 100m then 25m. Then I ran .5 miles, walked .25 miles and ran anther .5 miles. Today I have a 6 mile bike.

My best time for 25m swim is 30.44 seconds. My best .5 mile time is 4:30. I'm averaging 12.5 mph biking. Dad says once I get a road bike I'll be able to average 17.5mph.

My goals for Kawanis are 2:30 for the 100m swim, 7:00 minutes for the 2 mile bike, and 4:10 for the .5 mile run.

If you would like to sponsor me (to help with training, equipment, and travel costs) please check back soon for more information!