bronze boy

On Sunday, the girls and I got to see Tim race for the first time this year. Maia and I love cheering on Daddy in this sport he enjoys so much. I think, like many endurance athletes, he's drawn to push his body and mind to the limit and to strive for personal excellence in something that can be measured. It's not the most important thing in his life, but it's one of his passions and I love supporting him in it. He spends most of his day sitting in his work. And he's not a tv-watching, reading-and-currently-unavailable, going-out-with-my-guy-friends-again kind of guy. He's very present with us when he's home. So it's easy to genuinely support him and make space in our life for his training.

The Goderich Triathlon is particularly special for our family because Maia was only 8 days old when he carried her over the finish line. We had hopes of Maia running across the finish line with her dad this year but only if there wasn't someone running close behind him. This time there was, so we'll have to save that family moment for another race.

Right before the race start, Maia met up with daddy on the beach. She wasn't at all sure she wanted a kiss from someone so wet... not to mention so strange-looking in his wetsuit and cap.



Although the swim portion is the most challenging for a lot of triathletes, especially in open water, it's the strongest of the three sports for Tim, which always makes the race start exciting to watch since it allows us to spot him among the front pack of swimmers. Actually, this year, he had the fastest swim time (1 km in 14:29) of all the athletes, and won a pair of running shoes for coming out of the water first -- nice! (Below, Tim is the one diving into the water with a blue and black wetsuit.)

So this race was close to an Olympic distance race -- 1 km swim, 45 km bike and a 10 km run. (By the way, if you didn't watch the amazing race that won Simon Whitfield a silver medal at the Olympics this week, you can still catch it at cbc online: click sports, then triathlon, then Day 11 Triathlon Men's Highlights. Completely inspiring.)

Here's a wee clip of Tim flying into the transition zone at the end of the bike:

I didn't really get any decent race photos (which could have something to do with the fact that I had a baby strapped to my front and a toddler in hand). But I do love this post-race photo of Tim.

Tim has had a foot injury (plantar fasciitis) since February, so without a lot of running under his belt this year, the 10k run was a little unpredictable. Well, he had a great race, and was surprised to be awarded a bronze medal for finishing his age category. Here he is with our friends Baird, Ken and Rick, who also had a great day and were the first all-men's team to finish.

Maia was happy to take care of daddy's medal for him for a while. (This is mid-song and dance.)

By the way, Maia adores our friend Ken. He's Tim's swim-training partner (which Tim loves!), a doctor, and a complete goof when he chooses to be. Gotta love someone with a tonne of education who still manages to be a kid at heart.

So, congrats to our bronze boy! All the medals in the world wouldn't make us love you any more than we already do.