Due to the insanity of his parents, who became involved with triathlon in 2005, he got dragged around to various events, until he finally asked when he could do one. Now, when we show him a flyer and ask "wanna do this one?" he aks, thoughtfully, about the course, "is it flat?" and other questions. Because none of the other kiddos in his division (19 and under) have done enough to qualify, it's likely he'll win in the Southwest Challenge Series in his division.
At first, in typical teenage fashion, he tried to use them as leverage, but we refused to be drawn into it. "We're proud of you if you do them, and we're proud of you if you don't. " Eventually, he figured out that there were so few kids doing them, he'll almost always bring home some hardware.
Who doesn't love a medal?
Sweet Baboo made sure he had the necessary equipment, so he owns running shoes, race belt, a skin suit, and a wetsuit. He didn't work out during the summer, at all, but after I passed him in an Olympic triathlon, he woke up. (The Olympic, I always like to emphasize, was tough for him, but he never quit. He finished it, and was even running at the finish)
He's even join
ed Cross Country to help improve his triathlon time.I like the people he's exposed to. He's learning good sportsmanship not just from our lecturing, or a coach yelling about it, but he sees it in action, modeled by adults, over and over again. He sees people who have finished and picked up their hardware going out to cheer in the late runners instead of just leaving. As triathlon is not always a cheap sport, of course all the men he meets work full time, go out for group rides, and then excuse themselves to go home and be with their families.
He saw his Dad miss out on two triathlons because of an injury, and handle it with grace and good cheer, showing up to cheer on Mini-me and myself and take pictures.
This is good stuff.
His teachers tell me that he's calm and well-behaved in class, and we've noticed that he's calmer at home, too. Of course, it's possible that some of that is due to age and maturity, but honestly, if you're running 15+ miles a week, you don't have a lot of energy left to raise hell. I've gt a couple of students that I'D like to take out and run around the track.
Today was his first cross country meet in Clovis, and in honor of this event I've decided he's outgrown the name Mini-me. As well, at 170 pounds and 5'10", he's hardly "Mini" anything. I'm going to start calling him by his earlier childhood nickname: the Jonster.
He's been wanting to do Rock-n-roll Arizona, ever since he found out about all the cheerleaders lining the course. However, he's too young and it's not allowed. Perhaps next year.
go, Jonster, go!
