Yesterday Maria competed in the YMCA's kids triathlon. This was her second year of competition. Last year she took home 2nd place for girls in her age division, so she was looking to medal this year as well.
Unfortunately, she came in 4th place, and only 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places receive medals.
They start with a two mile bike race. Maria came in 2nd overall, and the first girl. And she won by a pretty good margin. So she felt really good going into the run.
Last year, Maria won the 1-mile run. She paced herself, while most of the other kids ran fast in the beginning and ended up having to walk during quite a bit of the race. This year, she has even more experience running as she completed her first 5K last month. So she set off at a good pace, and finished her first lap in 5 minutes (the race took two laps). But she was still in the middle of the pack - some of these kids looked like the were experienced athletes. And it was pretty hot out - 85 degrees in the hot afternoon sun. She went faster and did her 2nd half mile in 4 minutes - total 1-mile time was 9'07" - but still finished at least a minute behind the leaders.
So that left it up to the swim. Kids her age had to swim 400 meters - four laps end to end of the pool. And several of the girls her age have swam competitively before- you can tell by the somersault turn they do when they reach the end of the pool. Maria did well, but apparently not well enough to beat the top three girls in her age group. She was disappointed, but got over it quickly.
She still accomplished a lot - ran her best mile ever, and won for girls in the bike race. And to even attempt a triathlon is certainly admirable - we're very proud of her.
And I should mention that Sam scored the first goal in his soccer game yesterday - his team tied 3-3 yesterday.
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