Tri My Best Triathlon
Written by Jennifer Miros, MPT
Supervisor, Cerebral Palsy Center and The Carol and Paul Hatfield Cerebral Palsy Sports Program. St. Louis Children's Hospital
When and how did Tri My Best get started?
The Tri My Best started in 2015 after I attended a Physical Therapy presentation in 2014 about this type of activity happening in Augusta, GA. I run an adaptive sports program and camp in the summers, called “Camp Independence”. This camp introduces adaptive sports to kids who have cerebral palsy (CP). In 2014 the CP Sports staff did an activity monitoring study and found that kids’ activity goes up during camp and then falls back off after camp is over. We wanted to develop something to give the kids a reason to “train” and stay active throughout the year. The Tri My Best St. Louis was the answer to this need! We opened the Tri My Best to school-age kids with motor disorders so that more than just kids with CP could participate. This year will be the 6th year and we are doing an “At home” Tri My Best activity on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020, due to having to cancel large in-person community events with the Covid pandemic. The athletes will make their own “course” and either does all 3 of the events or do 1 or 2 of the 3. They are going to get an at-home packet in the mail next week with a t-shirt, bag, race number, medal, and other fun items.
Tri-My-Best
Why was it important to offer this program?
The importance of the Tri My Best program is to help health care professionals and parents with children with motor disorders overcome barriers to participate in community events, specifically, an adaptive triathlon. The athletes are able to swim, cycle and run/walk/push their wheelchair/stand in their mobile stander in a supportive environment. This activity gives people with motor disorders an opportunity to become an athlete and train for an endurance event. As a physical therapist, this event allows me and the people I work with to promote physical fitness and endurance outside of our hospital and therapy walls.
To date, how many people have participated in Tri My Best events?
In 2019 we had 70 athletes with 294 volunteers and 500+ cheerleaders. We have grown from 40 athletes and 100 volunteers in 2015, the inaugural year.
Kellan at Tri-My-Best 2019
What are you most proud of regarding Tri My Best?
1) The collaboration-this activity started with me from St. Louis Children’s Hospital and our Cerebral Palsy Sports program working together with Washington University’s Triathlon Club and using Washington University’s athletic facilities. The event is held on their campus. Also, we collaborated with many members of our St. Louis community to plan and develop this adaptive triathlon model.
2) Having an event for kids with motor disorders to allow them to “compete” in a triathlon and see where it leads for each kid. Our hope is some will go onto to competitive triathlons or other activities. For others who are not competitive, it is a day that they look forward to each year and is circled on their calendars months ahead. It’s a day where their family and friends get to cheer for them instead of them being on the sideline cheering for their siblings and friends. Here is a quote from a dad of one of the athletes:
Having a chance to see kids engaging in the triathlon events from those that swim on their own to those who are moved along in the water by buddies is an awesome sight. This is a great chance for kids to "compete" or "complete" a triathlon. My son completed his triathlon today. He had three great buddies that encouraged, clapped, gave high fives, and shared a bunch of laughs. His swimming helpers did the work of helping him complete the swim. He spent more time walking around after the triathlon than he spent walking in the triathlon because he wanted to see all the people that were there supporting and cheering on the athletes. But, he completed everything that was put in front of him today! He was in front of scores of kids and adults that may have never engaged with or taken the opportunity to cheer on or encourage someone with a disability. Part of what makes today a fun day for us is thinking how many of them could go away with a different perspective, a better understanding, or even a desire to understand that they didn't have before today.”
Transcript
Marsh Naidoo (00:25):
Hi guys, my name is Marsh Naidoo and I am your host of the Raising Kellan Podcast. This podcast is geared towards special needs parenting and also discussions on current relevant topics of interest in our community of Dyersburg, Tennessee and in the world at large. What a crazy way to start off the new year. This episode 39 that you are about to hear was actually recorded with Jennifer, Miros of St. Louis Children's Hospital in November, early November of last year. However, as we all know, life happens and at the beginning of this year, our family was personally touched with COVID-19. We hope to bring you a discussion soon with experts in this field. So sit back, relax, and get that cup of hot coffee or hot chocolate to enjoy this discussion with Jennifer. Jennifer Miros is a pediatric physical therapist at St. Louis Children's Hospital and supervisor at the Carol and Paul Hatfield CP program in St. Louis, Missouri. She directs two phenomenal programs, Camp Independence as well as try my best triathlon. Jennifer, welcome to the show.
Jennifer Miros (02:02):
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Marsh Naidoo (02:05):
I'm just really curious, Jennifer, you have such a diverse background growing up you lived in multiple cities. What puts you on the trajectory of becoming a physical therapist?
Jennifer Miros (02:19):
Actually, so my mom was a physical therapy assistant in Cleveland. She just recently retired. So when I was growing up, I knew I liked working with people and I taught swim lessons and babysat and things like that. So she had a colleague of hers who had gone to St. Louis University for physical therapy school. So I figured that I would go that route and have really enjoyed it very much. I definitely am glad that I'm in pediatrics. That's where I know that I was meant to be and I really like sports too, but I knew that I didn't necessarily wanna go the athletic training route or really competitive sports. I really like getting just people involved and enjoying sports. So doing adaptive sports has been amazing for me because it gets everybody involved and that's what I really have wanted to do. And so I've been really lucky to be here in St. Louis where we have funding and a great program and lots of great people around me to help make these adaptive sports programs what they are.
Marsh Naidoo (03:48):
Jennifer, tell me a little bit about Camp independence and what that is about.
Jennifer Miros (03:54):
So Camp Independence is an adaptive sports day camp that started way back in 2003 and it, it's at a community rec center, but really for the physical therapists out there, it really is an intensive physical therapy treatment disguised as a sport, an adaptive sports program. So we're really working on endurance balance, strengthening coordination through sports and doing it in a day camp. So the kids are there from nine to four and they can come from one week up until three to four weeks and we run it for six weeks in the summer at the Webster Groves recreation complex. And it, it's been really a great adventure and of just watching and helping kids grow up and being able to play sports and to figure out which sports they really like. So I kind of call that camp independence is kind of like the minor leagues that we are just introducing sports to kids with cerebral palsy that some of them never thought that they could play sports. They always thought that they'd have to be on the sidelines kind of cheering and watching their siblings or friends and this is a way to have them see what sports they like to play and then how can they excel at that too and how can we make it adaptive that they're able to successfully play. And then we have some participants then that have gone on to do competitive, like paralympic style sports that they may have never thought was possible. So that makes it really, really exciting and each day is a fun day
Marsh Naidoo (05:51):
Now that adaptive sports is becoming more mainstream. What resources, like if parents weren't living in St. Louis, what resources are possibly out there, Jennifer, that they could learn more about adaptive sports
Jennifer Miros (06:07):
There, that's where we're really lucky that there are lots of resources out there now. It's definitely becoming more in the mainstream for sure. I mean, I've done Google searches of just adaptive whatever sport you wanna play and then you know, can find things that of how to adapt that sport. A lot of times adaptive physical education teachers are a good resource that they can help kids in the school setting along with their physical therapist. And a lot of different recreational groups now are doing different things of making it adaptive of different activities for kids with disabilities.
Marsh Naidoo (06:59):
All of us are aware of the benefits of exercise period, no matter what your background is, just so that we hear it from you as a physical therapist, why, why would you encourage parents to have the mindset that your child with cerebral palsy needs activity?
Jennifer Miros (07:20):
Activity is so important and when I was first starting the Camp Independence program, I thought it was all about physical activity and it is a very important piece to two kids growing up. The other piece that comes into that is just raising their self-esteem too, and that when you're active you feel better about yourself and you're able to interact with people in your community and you meet people that you may have never have met before. And I think that's part of when you have a child with a disability of it's getting to that point of acceptance too. And of you may have had this dream of your child playing a sport and you think because they have a disability that they're not gonna be able to do that. But then of getting to the point of well they can do that, it may just look different, the type of sport they're playing or how they play it, it's gonna probably look different.
(08:24):
And just I think the benefits to the parents of just having that hope again and of having dreams and they may just be different dreams of how you're doing it. And I think with any kids, you know, have a dream of them playing a certain sport or playing a musical instrument or whatever and they may completely spin it on you of wanting to do something that you would've never have thought that they how to do or want to do. And then it's of a meeting the different people within whatever that activity is really important. But physical activity is greatly important. And I think especially now when we're in the middle of a pandemic of just getting out and walking or riding your bike or finding someone who has a pool that you can use or something like that is really important.
Marsh Naidoo (09:18):
Tri-my-best triathlon is such an awesome resource. And you guys have one in St. Louis, but there's also one through Vanderbilt Hospital here in Nashville. <affirmative>. Tell us a little bit about the China best adaptive triathlon. Jennifer.
Jennifer Miros (09:38):
Yes. So the triathlon started, it started back in 2014 and really it came out of the Camp Independence program. So I'm glad we were able to talk about that first because what we saw was that kids were coming to the Camp Independence program and they were being really active. So I actually had some therapists who were doing, who did a study of, and it was before activity monitoring was as popular as it is now, but they had kids wear activity monitors two weeks prior to camp and during the camp time and then at least two weeks after. And they found that during the camp time we had some kids that could do the 10,000 steps a day and then it went down. So really then at the same time, the American Physical Therapy Association's pediatric meeting was in St. Louis and there was a group there from Augusta, Georgia that were presenting on Try My Best that they did in Augusta, Georgia.
(10:48):
And they were teaching, they wanted it to spread and to have other people here about it. And really the timing couldn't have been more perfect for us because also I had a Washington University student contact me who was president of the triathlon club and he wanted their club to be to be able to volunteer more. And so at the time we had the Camp Independence program, we had classes during the school year, but nothing like a triathlon. So then I saw that this presentation was happening in St. Louis and this student actually went to the presentation with me. And from there, from the two hours of that presentation, that's when the try my best St. Louis was launched. We knew that we had everything in place to be able to do it, we just needed to then get the organizational pieces in place. And the great thing about it was that he had the Washington University facilities, so we are able to do it on their undergraduate campus, which has a beautiful rec center with a swimming pool and then they have a sidewalk area to be able to do the cycling and the running, walking in their wheelchair, the last portion.
(12:17):
So it really was all kind of serendipitous of how it all came together in 2014 to have this adaptive triathlon and really to give kids a reason to continue being active after the Camp Independence program was over. So once June and July happened, then in August to still have something to train for. And then our hope was and still is that then once you do one triathlon that then you wanna train for that next one, a year ahead, a year from now, and to keep that training, which is what athletes do. And a lot of kids just, they wanna be like their favorite athlete and do training.
Marsh Naidoo (13:03):
I think you hit on such an important point there because it's all about mindset, isn't it? You
Jennifer Miros (13:09):
Need to it
Marsh Naidoo (13:10):
To think of your child with cerebral palsy training as an Athlete. And this is not for recognition of excellence as such. It's actually something for more important, it is for the ability to function or to carry out just your daily activities because it does take that kinda dedication and mindset.
Jennifer Miros (13:37):
Mindset. I think that's a really important thing. What gets us up in the morning gets us out the door of just having an active mindset of that we're going to go out and maybe walk or ride your bike and it may not look like what you thought it really should look like, but that's okay that it's okay to be active in the way that you're able to be active.
Marsh Naidoo (14:07):
Jennifer, I just wanna quickly tell you about this young man. His name is Todd Williams. He's actually a physical therapist with Cerebral palsy and he ran the New York Marathon. That was such a awesome podcast interview because he actually runs a blog called PT with CP and okay, have a chance, take a look at it because he explains it so well to why it is important having that mindset. So it's Todd Williams, it's PT with cp and the podcast we did was episode 23 of the Raising Killen podcast. And my favorite thing that he always says is be curious about movements. Don't get into habits, be curious about the way your body moves. And I mean that goes across the board for any one of us, for any one of us. Jennifer, thank you so much for telling us about try My Best as well as Camp independence.
(15:19):
I know parents really out there really are looking for this kind of information and I would encourage them to look at, try my best adaptive triathlon because it just doesn't happen in St. Louis there actually it happens on a national level as well. So see if there is a triathlon close to you. And Achilles Kids is also another virtual program that parents can check out. I know Jennifer and them did a virtual program recently as well because we weren't able to get to St. Louis this summer. Jennifer, is there any way parents could look at your, is Facebook page for the Triathlonstill up?
Jennifer Miros (16:08):
It should be still up, yes. And then there's still on the St. Louis Children's Hospital website. They have a triathlon, an adaptive triathlon page also, and I can get that the exact link for you, but if they search for try my best O T R I, then M Y B E S T on the St. Louis Children's Hospital website. There's videos from this past year of the pictures that people have sent in from what of how they adapted the adaptive triathlon. So it really was great to see that a lot of families were able to get their kids out there to either do one of the parts of a triathlon or all three of them. It was a beautiful day. So we were lucky to have that. And a lot of families, I think it pushed them to do things maybe that they wouldn't have done, which again, it goes back to that mindset of just getting out and being active. We had one family tell me that they had only ridden, their child had only ridden his adaptive cycle in a parking lot and for the ADA for the Try My Best Sunday, they decided to go on a trail and to try a trail and he did it.
(17:39):
So those are the things of just these little pushes and nudges to get us to do a little bit more and to be active. And again of, I think it helps our self-esteem so much of just overall how you're feeling. And then for parents that have children that are pretty involved and have a lot of care needs, it also helps just with figuring out how best to transfer kids and to work on transfers, how best to get them into their standard of doing standing, of seeing can I believe that all children are able to ride some sort of adaptive cycle, that there's an adaptive cycle out there for every child and of trying to find that and working with therapists to figure out what's the best cycle. And then swimming in water is a great equalizer. So of being, of just trying to get kids in the water of, even if it's just playing in the water, it's something that brings joy to people. And I think that's a really important piece of being active is too, of just what it does to us mentally and of bringing joy to each person and to, again, going back to that dream thing of people just having different dreams and aspirations for their kids. And it may look a little bit different, but of just doing it and then each day it hopefully getting a little bit better.
Marsh Naidoo (19:16):
Jennifer, thank you so much. I think those are pearls of wisdom and I really enjoyed talking with you today and I know our parents will enjoy this podcast as well. Guys, please go ahead and listen and if you are on Apple or Spotify, we would appreciate a rate and review. And again, Jennifer, thank you so much.
Jennifer Miros (19:39):
You're welcome
Marsh Naidoo (19:41):
Guys. Thank you for listening to episode 39 and if you would like to reach out to us, you can contact us raisingkellan@gmail.com and Jennifer did a write-up for us and you can find that on our website, which is raisingkellan.org. Well guys, until next time, get to the chop of your mountain and this is Marsh Naidoo signing off.
