Nationals is a triathlon where everybody in the US comes to one triathlon and competes, and I was one of those people! The day before the race we did practice swims and a practice bike. We were in Ohio so it was kind of cold. Before practice we watched the older kids, the elites. They were so fast and a lot of fun to watch. That night we went upstairs and just had little snacks while watching TV, next it was time to go to bed so we can get some rest for the upcoming race. We were all so nervous that morning stressing out. We all talked and warmed up so we could be ready for the race! The 11-12 year old boys went first and than the girls. Noah which was in the younger group went after us. 11-12 year olds went at 7:00 Noah went at 8:15.

Keila

Keila and Addie were very nervous before the race, Keila jumped in the lake and her time started, it was a open water swim (lake swim) so no stopping. Climbing up the stairs to get out of the water she finished with a time of 4:58. It was now time for transition one. She accidentally went past her bike all the way to were the juniors bikes were and had to run back. With that problem she finished transition one with a time of 2:39. Now it was time for the 6 mile bike, the water there was cold so when we were on the bike we got really cold with the cold air. We had to do 3 laps. The last lap was the one were we would go to the back and get off our bike. Because Keila has clip in’s she takes our feet out so it really hurt when your feet are numb on the cold rocky ground. It was now time for transition two which was what led on to the last part of the sport. Transition two took Keila 1:17 so now it was time for the run, the run was hard because it was cold and we were all super tired, but than Keila finally finished she finished the 1 mile run in 11:17 and finished the whole race in 42:38

Noah

Noah had watched the older kids before the race so he had a nice idea of what the race was like. He started the race at 8:20, he jumped into the water with a epic jump. His time started he had a fast swim and exited onto the stair case with a time of 2:39 and now it was time for transition one he was pretty fast with a quick time of 2:48 and now it’s was time for the bike. The bike for him was one less lap than the seniors so he was finished in a breeze, which was 12:53. Now it’s time for transition two which leads into the last sport. He got off his bike but it on the rack, took off his helmet, and put on his racing belt. He did all of that in 1:09 now it’s time for the last sport to finish the race. The run is half a mile which was no problem to Noah so he finished the run in 5:17 and finished the whole race in 24:46.

After the race all the slappers went to a restaurant and we celebrated with food, ice cream, and a spitball fight. It was so much fun and we hope we could go again next year. But now we get to go to Georgia.