Father/daughter 5K! (Page 2)

Good question. She's 10 years old and currently 4'11"; when we bought the bike she was an inch or two shorter than that. 

The bike is a Giant Avail women's XS-size. Aluminum frame w/ Shimano 105 components. It's a pretty nice road bike, and more than we had been planning to get for her when she outgrew her kids' bike. But after researching a lot, we found that given the resale values of decent small adult bikes, it was no more expensive to buy a nice used bike that we could resell again in 2-3 years when she's too tall for it, than to buy a crappy bike that wouldn't last so long. We found it for $800 on craigslist (the corresponding model would be ~$1300 new; it was a couple of years old), and guess that we could probably still get $500 for it when she outgrows it. My daughter *loves* the bike, and takes good care of it. 

One alteration that we made: we had our LBS add brake levers on the handlebar tops, which she can reach much more easily.

How great to run with your daughter!!  Mine 10 yr old wants to run races, but doesn't want to run with me.  We did her first 5k together, her second she wanted to run "her own race".  And now wants to do the same at a 4 mile Turkey Trot next week.   The time out "training" is another story.  That is special daddy/daughter time with just her that often involves so much more than just running. 

Enjoy the time together and good luck with the bike hunt!

The bike hunt is a laborious effort, to say the least. 

The goal is to find something that we won't be looking to sell in just a few months while keeping her happy with the bike itself.  Also, we'd like to keep the price down... a single income family with 2 autistic kids and a father/daughter triathlon duo is not a low budget family.  lol

That's awesome, now you just have to get her set up with an account here so we can hear from her directly. My 7 yr old daughter Mattie (who does have a BT account) runs atleast one 5K with me each year, as well as several shorter, 1 mile Kid's races, and she loves it. She has actually pulled a few AG medals in a couple of our local 5K's, which makes her want to do them even more.

As this is her 1st race, I suggest you remember you are running it for her, not yourself, and run her pace regardless of what it may be. When I do longer races with Mattie, we run them at her pace and have a lot more fun than if we tried to run them at a pace I dictate. Make it an experience she will remember and make racing as fun for her as possible.

Absolutely.  She asked during our training run last night if I would be running with her.  I said, "I'll either be right behind you or right beside you.  You'll set our pace."  Her response?  "Run beside me, so I can talk to you and not have to yell so people won't think I'm crazy."  LOL

Trek also makes all their women's road bikes in a 43 cm frame size. (I'm 4'10" so know all about small frames.)

Also - You had trouble getting the canoe where you wanted it to go because of your form. Opposite hand goes on TOP of the handle, use your core to pull through the water. (You're doing it right if your top hand is making a circle with every stroke.)  

Ha! Thanks for the tips. I think my canoeing form is the one thing that's even worse than my swim form. Our canoeing speed was probably held back by one or two other things, such as never having practiced, and having the far-heavier person sit in the front of the boat, and barely knowing how to steer. If we try this event next year we might want to think a little about our stroke development ahead of time.

LOL...whereas as a former marathon canoe racer, I would do MUCH better in a tri that had canoeing instead of swimming, which usually has me spending the next to legs playing catch-up to everyone. And yes, you'll want to sit in the back and steer from there. The person in front basically just adds engine power unless you're trying to make a sharp turn.