Kids, tris, and motivation

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2009-06-22 1:49 PM


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Subject: Kids, tris, and motivation
My 11 year old daughter finished her first triathlon a few weeks ago.  She loved it and wants to do more.

However, as most 11 year olds, she's pretty much in the whirlwind of middle school, social upheaval, puberty, boys, you name it.

So....   She's an awesome competitive swimmer, a great hiker, and a pretty good triathlete (finished a sprint in 1:38, 180th or so out of 280.)  How do I keep her motivated without being the overbearing dad?  I'd love to have her focus on long-term goals (she's talking about doing an Ironman by college) but I know at that age it's all subject to change.

There's very few resources out there for kids.  Any guidance?  Anyone been through kids and tris?

One other tidbit: while I'm a cyclist, I am not a swimmer and I'm a terrible runner, so I'm definitely not a triathlete.  I completed one duathlon in my life and I puked on the second run, so the "life experience" part of motivating her is sort of out.... :-)

2009-06-22 2:38 PM
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Subject: RE: Kids, tris, and motivation
CptDondo - 2009-06-22 2:49 PM My 11 year old daughter finished her first triathlon a few weeks ago.  She loved it and wants to do more.

However, as most 11 year olds, she's pretty much in the whirlwind of middle school, social upheaval, puberty, boys, you name it.

So....   She's an awesome competitive swimmer, a great hiker, and a pretty good triathlete (finished a sprint in 1:38, 180th or so out of 280.)  How do I keep her motivated without being the overbearing dad?  I'd love to have her focus on long-term goals (she's talking about doing an Ironman by college) but I know at that age it's all subject to change.

There's very few resources out there for kids.  Any guidance?  Anyone been through kids and tris?

One other tidbit: while I'm a cyclist, I am not a swimmer and I'm a terrible runner, so I'm definitely not a triathlete.  I completed one duathlon in my life and I puked on the second run, so the "life experience" part of motivating her is sort of out.... :-)


I don't have kids, but I was one once

I would just let her do her own thing and see if she's still interested in tris in another ten years.

Ironman BY college?  As in , before or during college?  I think you have to be 18 to compete, so she'd probably be out of high school at least before her first IM.  And I really think most kids should enjoy college and all that comes with it -- gaining independence, making life long friends, learning, focusing on a professional future, etc.

By all means support and encourage her, but I don't think you need to worry about keeping her motivated.  This year may be tris, next year may be basketball, and then field hockey, and then drama, and then painting, and then lacrosse.  I think you should let her - at 11 - figure out what she enjoys and just encourage her to do it and ENJOY it !


2009-06-22 2:38 PM
in reply to: #2234508

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Subject: RE: Kids, tris, and motivation
Maybe you could make it fun and a bonding experience by signing up for a couple of team events.

She could swim, you bike and her run.  It would at least give you guys a goal to work towards together.  Just a thought.
2009-06-22 2:45 PM
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Subject: RE: Kids, tris, and motivation
I have one budding triathlete, age 11 also. He is very type A, so my main job is to keep him " a kid". Basically he does not train, although he insists on running every other day. If I won't go with him, he'll hop on rtreadmill. He bike rides w/ friends and we do a long family ride on trails once a week. We swim as a family 3x a week. I think he's too young for goals and he has wayyyy too many other things to focus on tris.

That said, iron kids has a website, not sure how in depth it is, and there are tri clubs for kids in our area. Maybe you could look into that. Since she swims competitively, and cycling is kind of a no brainer at this age, maybe she could run track or cross country through her middle school. That would round her out, and just let enter a couple sprints a year and see how it goes.
2009-06-22 2:51 PM
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Subject: RE: Kids, tris, and motivation
Triathlon Canada has a document:

http://triathloncanada.com/rtecontent/document/kos_intro_8_wk_prgm_jun_02_vs.pdf?uid=KOS8WeekTrainingPlan

In general, I would encourage her to have fun and enjoy participating in the sport.

If you can, I would find some youth specific events (and avoid even the sprint distance for now) that are designed to let youth get exposed to the sport while keeping distances very manageable.

The path I would take (if she is interested in continuing with the sport) is youth specific distances up to about 15.  At 16 I would start to transition to the sprint distance over the next few years (and if they get fast over the distance - doing some junior elite racing).  Then, in the 19-20 timeframe, stepping it up to OD racing (again, if they are fast, some U23 elite).

Shane
2009-06-22 2:58 PM
in reply to: #2234737


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Subject: RE: Kids, tris, and motivation
That's kind of been the plan.  She ran track and loved it so she went for the sprint.  Had a lot of fun and made it to the districts.

We commute-ride pretty much everywhere, so the bike part is a no-brainer. 

The swimming part for her is also a no-brainer; she has a really, really good group of friends and coaches and loves it.

Thanks for the reality check.  Smile

2009-06-22 3:13 PM
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Subject: RE: Kids, tris, and motivation

I'm kind of in the same boat.  I have an 12 year old daughter who does triathlons, and I try my best not to be overbearing (I've gotten better the last year or two).  My experience is that you can't expect them to go out for training runs or training rides (it's not fun!).  They'll get through a triathlon on their current fitness without much issue.   

My daughter practices three times a week in the summer with a local triathlon "team".  At my daughter's age it's all fairly low key, though it gets more serious as the kids get older.   Most of the kids swim summer league or year round, so the triathlon practices are only run and bike.  The emphasis is by no means on high miles or lots of high intensity.  They try to make it challenging physically but also fun and educational, including sessions on bike skills, bike safety, nutrition, transitions, etc.  They're not expected to workout on their own, though I encourage my daughter to ride her bike rather than ask us for rides.

Check out www.teamgecko.org.  I believe they have a distance program for kids who aren't local.  The head coach specializes in youth and junior triathletes.  Her elite crew is competitive nationally, including a national champion who was coached from distance. 

I understand that the IronKids triathlon series is on again.  Also, USAT has a Youth National Championships in Colorado Springs in August (AG 9-10 and 11-12); I don't think it is quite as competitive as it sounds but a good opportunity for kids to get some racing experience against other kids.

Brian

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