31 People, Countless Smiles

Saturday was my first Triathlon Festival at the NTC. I was blown away by the response to this one-day event...I had 31 people pre-registered, 3 signed up on the morning-of, (and 3 didn't show up)!!

The event ran smooth as silk...thanks to the volunteer time from my brother and father. At 9am, everyone rolled out on their bikes for a 60-80 minute ride down the West-Orange-Trail. Dustin rode on a mountain bike and stayed with the novice-group. My Dad stayed with the intermediate group and I rode with the advanced group.

We all got back to the NTC within a few minutes of each other and I directed everyone down to our makeshift transition area. We only had one rack...which limited us to 6 people at a time...but allowed everyone some personal attention and more space to practice.

The troops headed back up to the NTC where they met Mary Beth in the stretching room for 30 minutes of light yoga. I realized how perfect I had timed the schedule when I was able to set up the lunch spread while the campers were with Mary Beth. By noon, I think everyone was famished and looking forward to a few minutes of 'down time'. I directed them to the multi-sport store, the locker rooms, and went over the next half of the schedule.

With lunch in our bellies, we headed down to the track for the running session. I let everyone warm up a few laps, then we did some running drills, a few 200s, an easy lap, and then I mapped out the course for the 'biathlon'.

The 'A' group ran twice around the bowl (the track is located in a big sunken bowl in the ground), the 'B' group did one lap, and the 'C' group just headed straight up the hill to the pool. I raced up the hill just in time to set up the cones marking the lanes for the "snake" in the pool.

As people started streaming onto the pool deck, the did a quick strip out of their running attire, grabbed their cap/goggles, and jumped in the first of eight lanes. One length on the first lane, duck under the lane ropes, one length in the second lane, repeat, repeat, for a 200 yard swim.

After the conclusion of the biathlon, we settled into five or six lanes and did a fun little swim practice. I started by giving them some 50s swim and then 25s working on head-up to sight the buoys. Dustin demonstrated how to quickly turn around a buoy and then the campers gave it a try. We imagined the lane ropes were waves and practiced swimming under the water. Finally, we finished with RELAYS! Three teams of seven (some people were just watching at this point of the day) for a couple of freestyle relays.

And, when everyone was completely worn out and ready for a nap...we took one big group photo on the pool deck, I thanked everyone for coming, answered a few questions, and then rushed home in time for the UF-FSU game at 3:30pm