Disappointed Butterflies

A couple of months ago Ava caught wind of the Hy-Vee kids triathlon and asked to sign up.  She's been talking about it ever since.  We practiced the swim, the bike, the run...  We talked about transitions.  She bragged to her friends.  

Today was the big event!  We woke up early, had breakfast and drove to West Des Moines to get her things into transition before it closed at 7:45am.  There were three divisions of kids - Senior (age 12, 13 and 14 - maybe 15 too?), Intermediate (9, 10 and 11) and Junior (6, 7 and 8).  The Junior division, Ava's division, was last and scheduled to begin at 10:00am. 

After setting up her transition area we walked the route - swim to T1, Bike, T2, Run entrance and exits making sure she could find her bike and her spot. They (wisely) don't let parents into the transition area after it closes so she was going to be on her own.  Then Ava headed down to the water to check out the swim.

Down at the water some Senior girls were practicing.  These were competitive girls, girls with uniforms with their names on them and nicer equipment than I own.  Proud of themselves and their expertise, they were chatting Ava up, who soaked up their attention like a little sponge.  She practiced running into the water, paddling around, exiting the water under their tutelage. 

When the Senior division started we watched the swimmers, the bikers, the runners.  We saw the male winner cross the finish line.  We saw the first female across the finish line, who promptly threw up.  (Oh my!)  Ava spotted the medals - real ones - gold ones with a thick ribbon and talked about how it would feel to cross the finish line and get one.  She talked about where she would hang it in her room.

Then the sky started to cloud and the race director announced they were moving up the start time for the Intermediate kids to try to get in front of the weather.  The wind picked up, the sky got cloudier and they pulled most of the Intermediate division back from the starting line.  They truncated the bike course for the kids who were already out on the bike, and waved the runners in... The event was cancelled before Ava's division got in the water.  She was crushed.

On the way up to the event Ava said, "I am a combination of scared and excited.  And that is all mixing up to give me butterflies in my tummy."  I told her I was so proud of her for doing something that required her to summon courage, bravery. 

When the race was cancelled Ava burst into tears. "Why can't we do it later? Why can't we do it tomorrow?" We found her Papa, her dad, her baby sister and she just cried and cried. Typically Ava, with her tender heart and sunny disposition, she's rallied a bit now, still disappointed, but not just crushed.  

I would have gladly taken every bit of disappointment she felt, put it in my own pack and carried it for as long as she needed me to...  I want my girls to do things that scare them, that excite them, that challenge them.  I suppose that means there will be times of great disappointment to balance the thrill of doing something that gives them butterflies. I wish so much Ava wouldn't have had that lesson today, that there was something I could have done.  I am really proud of my triathlete-wanna-be and hope she'll want to try again next year.

Ava, posing before the bike start in transition last night at packet pick up....

And in front of the run start.....

This morning, all marked, capped and ready to go, warming up in the lake....

 

Her yellow capped head, peaking out, following one of the Senior girls in warm up....