Saturday was AMAZING

The day started early and continued to be a whirlwind but every minute of it was well worth the lack of my normal sleeping in on Saturday morning! Paul and I left the house at 6:10am to get him to his first official organized bike ride.  He has been training for a 300 mile ride for the Make-a-Wish foundation that takes place in two weeks so this was a great precursor to all those miles.  He rode in the Holland 100, but because Jamahl had an important swim meet in the afternoon, he choose to ride the 67 mile course. 

He didn’t really need me to tag along at the start but I wanted to be along for the photo opportunity and to document his first ride.  As you can see, the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon. 

Not only was this Paul’s first ride, but it was also his first time to ride with other people!  He couldn’t have a better group to ride with…our friends The George’s!  This is the founding family of Team Craig (the team that has adopted Paul into their MAW team!) What AMAZING people…we are so honored to have them in our lives.  They lend us tremendous support as well as lots of good times, laughs, and memories! 

I have to laugh a little at this picture because I have a very irrational fear of Paul being hurt while riding his bike.  I know he will be alright, but it is just something that haunts me!  The George’s all promised they would take good care of him, and even before they took off, they inadvertently were surrounding him!  What a cool thing!

Some last minute details, and they were off.  I didn’t hear from Paul until around 12:30 to know that he had finished the ride, felt great, had an incredible time, and LOVED riding with friends!  I would have loved to be at the end of the route to congratulate him, but I needed to get Jamahl to his swim meet.

Jamahl has been working toward getting a State Time so that he could swim at the state meet.  Saturday was his last chance.  He needed to swim his 50 meter freestyle in 37.49 seconds and at the last meet, he swam it is 37.98…just .5 away!  So, this weekend was his final chance.  As it turned out, he was unable to get into that event at the meet and he was devastated.  After speaking with the coach, we found out that we had a chance to do a time trial Saturday morning before the meet. The coach called me that morning to confirm that yes indeed, they would be offering a time trial and he was signed up!  This was his last and final chance.  We had really talked to him about whether or not he wanted to try for it.  We let him know that by no means did he need to feel pressure from us. If he wanted to be done for the season, we could do that.  He has had a great summer season in that he has consistently taken time off of his events and he has expanded his repertoire of what he swims to include all four strokes, longer races, and even an IM race. He had tons to be proud of!  However, he decided that he wanted to give it one last shot, so away we went!

For the first time, I could see that he was nervous.  On our way into the pool, he was walking slower and slower.  I put my arm around him and told him that this time trial really didn’t matter at all.  His first job, was to make sure he was having fun, and his second job was to remember that no one cared at all if he made the time.  “Just go out there, use your nerves to pull your strength up from your toes, and swim your heart out!”  He had a chance to warm up, and then when the morning session had finished, they announced time trials would begin.  It was a very eerie feeling to watch the pool and stands empty and see your nine year old and one other boy standing waiting for the officials to to blow the whistle.  I literally thought that I was going to throw up, I was so nervous for him. Doing a time trial is a new experience for him and he was pacing around his starting block.  Before I knew what was happening, the whistle blew, he took his mark, and the starting sound sounded.  Away he went.  It felt like the longest 30 some seconds!  He was nearing the flags and I ventured a peak at the clock…30 seconds.  I knew he would either make it, or just miss it.  I didn’t look again until his hands touched the pad.  I took a quick breath and let my eyes go to the clock…36.83!  HE DID IT!!!!  I was screaming, crying, and still trying not to get sick to my stomach.  He was ecstatic as the reality of what had happened sunk in.  It was the coolest thing to watch.  We are so proud of him and the hard work he has put in to make it this far.  He couldn’t wait to hug Grammy and Poppy and call Daddy. He told us later that for the rest of the afternoon meet, he went around giving random people high fives!  His enthusiasm was contagious!  So, for now, we have two more weeks of practice before the state meet at Eastern Michigan University.  And yes, if you didn’t catch that, both  of my favorite boys have huge events in two weekends.  The State meet is the same weekend as Paul’s Make-A-Wish bike ride.  UNBELIEVABLE!!!!   Just another example of our crazy life!