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It is April, and Triathlon season is officially here! Today I decided to test my legs at Bonelli tri which declares it is the oldest triathlon series, now in its 27th year! With the same family still running it! (The only other triathlon I know in the states to be running this long is Wildflower).  They give the triathlete 2 races to choose from the second race being the longer is part of a series and do all 3 of the longer courses you can try to win the overall championship with the best time collectively! I decided to cycle to the venue as it is local for me! Nice, get to sleep in my own home! Brrr it was chilly, only 5 miles but was in the 40s! I arrived at 6.15am, plenty of time to rack my bike which I put right in front of the swim exit! And then sign in with my USAT number, get my timing chip and relax.  There did not seem to be that many athletes as there normally is partly due to the fact that Possibilities tri in Loma Linda was the same day! But still a healthy turn out. I put on my Profile Design/Aquaman wetsuit, and made my way down to the swim area, felt great to put my feet into the sand and the sun was finally making an appearance, yippy! I looked out across Bonelli Lake the water did not look inviting, there was a layer of fog but that would soon disperse. As I put on my cap, I noticed two young children both with timing chips and small wetsuits! My curiosity got the better of me and I went to introduce my self, oh my here I was in a new age group at 45 years old and I was talking to siblings, 7 & 9 years old! Cassidy Hylton is 9 years old and it is her very first triathlon, her brother Cameron is 7 years old! And already a veteran at triathlons this being his second tri! I had the chance to ask a few questions to these inspiring young triathletes and soon discovered they are both straight A students in Temecula, and they both belong on TMEC swim team. There previous races include Victorville tri for kids, 5000 junior Carlsbad, Xterra kids race to name but a few!! They both love to run and were wearing adidas shoes, cycling on small specialized bikes, and had Hammer gel with them! I asked them why they wanted to do tris and they both said their dad did ironman, and he inspired them! But their dad (Matt) was crazy because he did Ironman! We all laughed as when you see the photos of these children that sprint race must have seemed like an ironman to them both!! They had a lot of positive feedback with the other athletes shouting “Good Job” “you go Girl” “Wow how old are you?” or “Are you doing the tri!!!?” They certainly drew a lot of attention, and both are really competitive wanting to get faster, so far they are injury free, and both play a lot of other sports such as ice skating, baseball, to name but a few! I am guessing we will be seeing a lot more of the Hylton kids in the future! Oh and they both won there age groups and beat quite a few of the other older athletes! Infact Cameron posted the 2nd fastest swim at 7years old in the 300 m swim, they both biked a respectable 7 miles and both ran 5km!Very Impressive! As for my race I swear it was longer than 500m, and my time was 13:58!! Yikes! But then everyone had slightly longer times….I ran up the sand to the transition mat found my bike (Not difficult) and ran with it to the bike start, the bike was 15miles, 2 loops of Bonelli Park, I had opted for Hammer Heed as my primary fuel to get me through the bike, I looked at my Polar CS600 I just wanted to keep my heart rate from exploding! My left leg hurt and I could not figure out why (Later I would discover the seat was not straight!) Couple of nice rollers I finished the bike with negative splits for both loops. I was test riding a pair of new serfas tires and was very pleased with them! I dismounted the bike and walked through the transition area to my spot, I racked my bike, took a hammer gel, put my Fuelbelt number on, Brooks running shoes and Rudy Project glasses and left transition for a wee 5km run! I soon worked out my leg pain and after a km the kool n fit in my Brooks began to work its magic on my feet! I began over taking women that had passed me on the bike! until the finish line was in sight, I ran through the finish chute and gave in my timing chip, and my bib number bit, I felt great! In short I finished 1st female 45-49!! Out of 12, and 13th female overall out of 90! Not too bad for a fun day! It is a shame I will not be able to compete in all three of the races! Post race was awards and a really well stocked raffle which was the athletes bib number! My husband AL and the girls came down to see the finish, I would like to thank AVON of Puerto Rico as they pledge money towards Breast Cancer Crusade for every mile I compete! Also Hammer Nutrition, Polar Monitors, Brooks running shoes, Serfas Tires, Profile –Design Wetsuits/Aquaman, Rudy Project Glasses and Helmets, Kool n Fit, Fuelbelt, and my husband.
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