I know that IronDad has sons who are triathletes. Any other parent/kid Slowtwitcher combinations out there? Do you train and/or race together? Who wins?
My son (Jarhead) and I are triathletes. We did Ralph’s together this year, but we live too far (1,000 miles) apart to train together. Either because he is a better athlete, or 24 years younger, he finishes ahead of me. But, it is really fun to compete together and I am very proud of him. I occasionally catch him bragging about me, too.
My 15 yr old will be arriving for the summer in about a week. He lives with his mom in a different part of the country but comes here for X-mas, spring break and summer. Says he wants to try a triathlon. I’ve built up a nice road bike for him as a surprise for when he gets here.
My Dad is a big influence in my interest in triathlon. I watched him at IMC, IMH, World’s Toughest (Lake Tahoe) and many other races growing up. My heroes were Dave SCott, Mark Allen, Tinley, etc… growing up as opposed to Mark McGwire, Michael Jordan, etc… We were training every weekend together, but he had achilles tendon surgery in January and is just returning to running now. He has been in the water and on the bike and is excited to race again.
We usually ride once a week together and stretch and do core work afterwards. He has been extremely supportive and was there for my finish at WTH this April and will be there to cheer me on at my IM debut next season. Now I just need to decide between IM Arizona, IMC or IMCDA.
My oldest son is only 10, but shows a distinct talent for running and BMX. I’m hoping. . .
In the event he or the others don’t follow my lead. . .playing catch on a recent trip he and I took was priceless.
My Little Guy is not quite three years old.
He just started riding his Blue Specialized 12" (with ‘real’ training wheels) and he loves it. He also loves the pool, although he still sinks when he doesn’t hang onto me. Running comes naturally to any toddler.
I’ll give him a couple of years before he’s competing with me.
Martin
My 13 yo daughter does tri’s. She does the kid distances or shorter sprints. She’s a faster swimmer and is closing the gap on the run. So far, I can stay ahead on the bike. She ages up this year so we’ll be doing some sprints together. We have a lot of fun going to races. We don’t get to train together much until school is out. I really like the time we spend together. I’m jones’en to buy her a new bike.
I have two sons, 10 and 11, who are starting to look towards competing. My oldest son is a pretty good runner for his age but we really can’t train together for running yet as it actually hurts my legs to run as slow as his “training” pace. My youngest son will be a better swimmer it seems.
I’ve actually went slow with them as they have always wanted to compete, first running and now tri’s. However, as someone who has competed and coached for sometime, I can remember all the young prodigies that never were able to materialize into the athletes people expected as they matured. I tell my oldest son that I am more worried about him running a 4:15 mile when he is 17 or 18 instead of training his ass off to run a 2:40 800 when he is 11. They actually run in a summer track program and to emphasize my point to them at the state meet last year, I showed them a list of all the age group record holders. There were only one or two age group record holders in the 7-8 yr old group that had any records in the senior division. Beyond that, they do a swimming program and ride mt. bikes now also, probably will get a road bike for the older son this fall. I am starting to get excited thinking about doing tri’s with them in the future though and find myself thinking about it quite often.
On a seperate note. I have issued a standing challenge to both my sons. The offer is valid forever (as long as I’m not too injured to run normal) and I expect I will have to pay up one day. If they can beat me running in any distance from 800 on up I’ll pay them 300.00. Yes, I’m sad but hopefully it can present a fun challenge at they continue to run and mature. I’ve also offered similar incentives for swimming and biking among other sporting activities as well.