The Hansard's: 2nd Triathlon

Today, our baby completed her 2nd Triathlon. I'm amazed that she is only 7 years old and can do this.

This morning before the race I heard her in her room. She was talking so I stepped in to see who she was talking to. She was in her floor playing with barbies. I thought to myself, she is still a baby. She was about to do a triathlon in a few hours but it didn't seem to faze her. I felt enough nerves for the both of us.

Parents were told we could not enter the pool area for the swim. We were told we could watch from windows above the pool area. As the time approached, I saw other parents down there. Now, I'm not a rule breaker. I try always to follow rules but if other parents were down there that meant this mama would get to go too. Ben remained in the designated area, I went down to the 'restricted' pool area. :)

I saw her start, swim 50 yards, then climb out. She looked tired. I cheered for her and followed her to the transition area where she jumped on her bike. Ben and I then raced to the road to see her. Ben continued out of site while I stayed back close to the transition area so I could cheer her there. When I saw her coming back in sight I dashed back to the transition area where she jumped off her bike and hit the road. I ran along side of her for as a long as I could. This was my favorite part. I ran beside her talking to her the whole time. She stayed really focused and kept her eyes straight forward. I told her to keep a slow and steady pace. Ben had told her not to sprint until the finish line was in site. He knew she would tire quickly if she started sprinting at the beginning. As the road came to an end for me, she had to continue on without me. Unfortunately, parents can't do the entire race with their children. ;) I told her to keep it steady and I would see her at the finish line. Come to find out, Ben found a way to run about a quarter mile with her. He said there were other nutty parents on the trail too.

While I was running along side her, I had the greatest feeling. I kept thinking, this is the girl that God gave us. He plucked her from around the world and gave her to us. He gave her to us so we could encourage her, so we could cheer for her, so we could love her, but most importantly so we could tell her about Him. I just can't believe how blessed we are to have her.

Exiting the pool