Angela Naeth Elite Triathlete: Lifetime Fitness Kids Triathlon Clinic

Last Thursday I did a Kids Triathlon Clinic at Lifetime Fitness in Las Vegas, NV. With over 50 kids and adults present, we went over everything from nutrition, recovery, and mindset to transition setup and training. I had a great time with the kids; it brought back great memories of working as a pediatric physiotherapist. I made sure they were up on their feet, had their brains firing and their bodies moving. :)

We had a great group of young triathletes!

It was a great chance to encourage others, young and old, to take up this wonderful sport and pursue their dreams. My message to all of them was to have fun and to find the passion that lies within you - whether it be triathlon or something else entirely. Never give up and don't worry about the outcome, but rather how hard you pushed yourself individually.

I was very excited about whatever I was talking about...probably recovery (sleep)!

I hope this clinic is just one of the first of many for me. Inspiring these kids and answering their questions was a big highlight. One of the funniest questions asked was, "do you run fast when you race...or really fast?" They also wanted to know what the reasons are to do a triathlon; there are many answers to this questions, but the most important reasons are to have fun, be healthy, and challenge yourself.

Ryan and Justin lending me a hand.

We chatted about what it takes to do your best in triathlon. I spoke about the four pieces of the pie: nutrition, training, recovery and mindset. While we talked about nutrition, the kids got to eat their tasty Beanitos, Core Power drinks and Gu gels. Ryan and Justin helped go over some key pointers for setting up a transition area. For recovery I explained a little about how to prevent injury by doing other exercise and gave ideas for strengthening their bodies. We also covered the best recovery of all...SLEEP, watching movies and hanging out with their friends. The kids had a lot of great ideas for this one!

Overall we had a great time and I couldn't be more happy with the turnout. I'm pretty sure I saw a few upcoming triathlon stars in the mix! :) A big thanks to Renee, Eddie, Justin and Ryan Carroll for their amazing help for the clinic! Ryan and Justin were my two right-hand boys and helped with the presentation. Heck, they could have done it themselves! They answered questions, chatted about their new Pearl Izumi tri kits, and explained how to set up a transition. They are future triathlon stars!

A huge thank you also goes out to all the sponsors that helped out for this event. The kids were ecstatic with all the goodies they received, and everyone left with a big bag of new schwag.