I volunteered for the Chicago Kids Triathlon held at Fosters Ave. Beach this morning. I was largely impressed by the organization from my position in the transition area. The key, it seems, is keeping the parents away from the kids. I thought the kids generally did a great job negotiating the challenging business of changing from the swim to bike and bike to run. I see more panic and chaos at most adult events. The most confused children seemed to be those trying to listen to well meaning parents yelling at them from across the fence.
My favorite piece of advice from the bleachers was of “Breathe! Don’t forget to breathe! Take in as much oxygen as you can!!”. Breathing, as I recall from my undergraduate physiology training, is largely automatic and I’m yet to see it slip someone’s mind in an athletic event to take in some air. In fact, hyperventilating probably results more often in these situations. I’m also thinking that it’s pretty impossible to “bank” a surplus of oxygen that you can release a little later when you’re not sitting on your bum changing into your shoes but it’s an interesting theory.
Anyways, it was a fun event and I thought the kids did great. As far as I know, only a few parents were treated for hyperventilation.
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