June 27, 2006 | Mama Smith

the olympic triathlete!

The Great Santini – or GranTini, as Brighton knows him – in all his glory after completing the Philadelphia Olympic Triathlon.

After the craziness of our race the day before, we weren’t sure what to expect for the next one. We had gone into the city Saturday evening for some Buca di Beppo pasta to carbo-load Dad and John before their big race. On the way, we drove down Kelly Drive and saw that they’d already laid out the buoys for the Olympic Triathlon the next day. It was a little daunting, to say the least. We kept driving and driving down the stretch, thinking ”_Surely_the exit beach is coming up soon?!” Finally, it appeared after what seemed like 10 miles, not 1 mile.

But Dad would not be daunted…or at least he didn’t show it :) Even when the next blow hit. Brother John suddenly remembered he had forgotten to pick up his registration packet, and now the booth was closed. With one simple action, he was out of the race and so dissappointed. So Dad was on now on his own.

The rain poured all night and ended up trashing the Schuylkill River. It was a muddy mess the next morning with full logs and all kinds of debri from the Wissahickon woods floating downstream. So the swim part of the tri was cancel, to every’s annoyance, and turned into a 5k run instead. Which, in my opinion, is a lot harder on your body, to not have the break of a swim, but instead pound your legs in a 5k, then again as you bike for 24 miles, then run a 10k at the end. We got to see Dad race by on his bike and during the run, looking unusually chipper for finishing up such a long physical endeavor! We were all waiting about 300 yards ahead of the finish line ready to cheer him on, and ran down to the finish line as he went by to watch him complete this huge goal he’s been working towards. We were all so proud! It was such a sweet moment for our family.

And Dad couldn’t do the race without his beloved Mac’s Drive-In hat. His beloved home-away-from-home in Clemson, SC, where we used to live. When we saw him run by at one point, he yelled out “Mmm, I wish I had a cheeseburger”. So yes, even though he’s looking mighty buff for a 50 year old man now and competing in triathlons…he’s still the same ol’ Dad :0)

Way to go, Dad! We are so proud of you!!

As Dad remarked at the end of his race, “Amy, you swam further than I did in the triathlon!”. We thought that was funny, and the fact that only ONE out of all four of us actually did a full triathlon, Callie! Also, Callie and I were laughing later about how we might have a new X-men power or something from swimming in the Schuylkill. We both ended up having weeds wrapped around us at one point during our swim – Callie had them across her face and I had them wrapped around my neck. It was an interesting endeavor, this weekend, for sure.

And just a few random shots…

Our new child-carryin’ backpack (without the hood yet) we just got that Matthew has fallen in love with. He never thought he could still be a gear geek after kiddos, but in this “Sherpani”: http://sherpani.us/ProductDetail.cfm?Catalog=131&ID=127, he’s found hope. If you’re in the market, these really are an incredible line. Much smaller, much lighter, much more backpacker-intuative than most out there.

And duuuuude, it’s little B – our nano – showing off his Father’s Day gift to his dad. Nothing could make him prouder.