Story of a first-time triathlete

I woke up around 6:30 a.m., pulled my hair back into a tight ponytail, ate Zoom for breakfast, put a little air in the front tire of my bike, and gathered my minimal equipment (goggles and a towel for the swim; running shoes,socks, shorts, and a shirt; and a bike and helmet for biking).  We loaded up around seven a.m., rolled our bikes to the transition area, got our numbers and digital ankle timer-thingies, and gathered around the pool.

Everyone lined up according to swim time for the 400 meter, and I kept moving up through the line until I reached about tenth from the front.  I should have tried this pool, though--it was outdoor, for one thing, and a 50-meter length rather than the 25-meter length I practice in.  Long story short, I had a bit of trouble slipping into my effortless freestyle mindset, and needed to do a few moments of sidestroke when I got too nervous.  I still managed the swim all right--the main thing, for me, was making certain I could finish, so when I finished the swim I walked over to the bike rack, changed, and jogged off with my yellow-flower Trek bike.

The nine-mile bike ride started on a mile-long hill, and since I started toward the front of the swim, I got passed by lots of good athletes.  Many waved while they passed, or said encouraging things like "Keep going!" and "You can do it!"  I wasn't too concerned about time at this point, and I'd wave back.  I saw my husband and two sons on the way up my second loop of Fun Mile Hill, and that made me happy.  My goal on the biking section was to stay on the bike the entire time.  I did, so yay.

My transition for the run was apparently super fast, ninth overall in the triathlon.  I guess being quick at changing clothes translates into good transition times--who knew?  Anyway, I started the run at a jog, then walked when I got out of the parking lot.  I didn't push myself too hard here: I'm not a runner, and anyway, there was this steep Death Hill (worse than the bike hill) that even gazelle-fast runners walked (well, the ones in the middle with me), so I didn't feel too bad.  I did run down the hill, and the second lap of the run I managed to jog most of it, because I didn't have to conserve much more energy.  I crossed the finish line to the cheers of my husband and my son, 1 hour and 36 minutes after I'd started.  I got a medal, and bagel piece, and orange, and Gatorade.  I'm not even that sore!  And I'll probably do it again.  Heaven help me, it hurt, and it was hard, and I think I liked it.

Hmm.  Kind of like writing novels, except I'm better at writing.

But if I do it again, I must remember three things: practice the swim course at the actual pool, put water in a bottle at the transition area, and mount water on your bike.

Water is necessary for life.  And for crazy mom-writer-teachers who try out triathlons.

This is some of the course, heading back to the transition area.  I would've got you a picture of The Hill, but there's not one readily available, and I'm too lazy to look.  Even though I'm not all that sore.  But I am thirsty, so I shall go seek out some of that delicious water I mentioned a few sentences ago...

Triathlon tomorrow

Well, the triathlon starts bright and early tomorrow.  It's the first organized race I've done since high school swim team, and although I'm not concerned about much more than finishing (and having as much fun as there is to be had when running up steep hills is involved), I am a little nervous.  So I'm going to travel back to last weekend, where all I had to do was sit back and listen to stories!  At least on this blog.

Kevin Kling's younger here than he was when I saw him, but he is still a wonderful and hilarious storyteller.  I wanted to find the story about marathons he told at the festival--but I can settle for thunder and lightning instead.

Enjoy!

I sort of want to write fiction right now, so...

...here is a song from Death Cab for Cutie's new album, which I just bought and I haven't finished listening to yet.  So I don't have all my opinions sorted out--right now it just seems...happier, and more electronic.  But I know I like this single.  Plus, shiny lights!

Mini Meals

I took baby to the dietician yesterday.  She gave us lots of the advice we heard with three-year-old--put butter on everything! or cheese! find high fat foods! power pack the formula with three scoops to five ounces!--but she also gave us a super-useful sheet on mealtimes.  Basically she said all meals and snacks should be at the table, and there should be three meals and two snacks a day.

We eat meals at the table, but not snacks, so we went to the store this morning.  We bought pudding and Nilla Wafers, spreadable cheese and Ritz and bologna, baby yogurt and cantaloupe.  Today our eating looked something like this: cold cereal for breakfast, Ritz and cheese and bologna for snack, oatmeal and grapes and raisins for lunch, pudding and Nilla Wafers for snack, and cantaloupe and chicken pot pie for dinner.  Lots of wiping the table.  Lots of tasty food.  Very happy boys.

And now I'm off to practice my triathlon, which is this Saturday.  I'd better watch the intake of these delicious fatty snacks, though.  I don't need to grow--and I want to finish!

Look!  Oatmeal! With raisins!  And it's not decorating a baby's face...and hair...and hands and feet and armpits...

A good day

Today I read what I wrote yesterday, and it was creepy and intriguing.

Today a student said "I didn't know vampires were a metaphor for sex!"

Today I hugged a baby.

Today a three-year-old kissed my cheek and whispered, "I'm the real Harry Potter."

Today I reorganized my query and made it MUCH stronger based off the advice of my brilliant romance-writing critique partner.

Today I posted a video of fireworks made out of candy.

I don't know what will happen tomorrow.

But I like today.

Storytelling

I spent as much time at the storytelling festival as I could--from 1:30 to 10ish on Friday, and from 4:30 to 11ish on Saturday.

I loved every minute.

I took notes, because I am nerdy that way, and I learned there aren't a lot of differences between oral storytellers and writers--although oral storytellers can make magic with their voices (Susan Klein's smooth, rich words, Mitch Capel's masterful dialects) and gestures (Antonio Rocha's miming!) and music (Willy Claflin and his guitar, and singing, and kazoo...).  But storytellers, like writers, use alliteration, timing, repetition, rhyme, carefully-crafted tension, humor, characterization...I don't feel left out of the storytelling, even if I'd probably quiver myself off any given stage, because storytellers like what I like.  The most memorable stories--well, there were so many excellent stories, but the taxidermy story by Kevin Kling had me laughing so hard my sides hurt, and I loved the poetry of Susan Klein's Beauty and the Beast folktale, and Charlie Chin's work with a fan made his stories on marriage even more hilarious.  Donald Davis's tale about cookies and sweets and Mitch Capel's Bear and the Weasel and "The Ghost With the One Black Eye" were favorites with my three-year-old, who acted them out all weekend.  I loved the atmosphere, the people, and the beautiful canyon location.  Bringing two children was a mistake--there was the moment when the three-year-old knelt by the microphone box eying the buttons, and the space of time when the baby wanted to eat delicious sticks and got a bit angry when I had the effrontery to stop him--but as they get older, they'll get longer attention spans, and then all will be perfect.

And the stories I'm writing fit the storytelling pattern.  I wouldn't want to read them in front of an audience--not yet, anyway--but I will use my notes to preform them at home and perfect their rhythms.

Right.  We'll see how that goes.

This is Donald Davis.  He is funny.  And if I could do this in a story (have bowties and clawed hands and that awesome facial expressiveness), my books would be automatically brilliant-er and filled with life and joy!

Storytelling Festival

So I'll spend tomorrow and Saturday at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, listening to wonderful tales and taking notes on the differences between written and oral stories.  I've never gone before, even though I should have, so I'm super excited!  Also, it will be useful for my drafting purposes.  Here's a video from last year advocating the festival...I couldn't find any good videos of a storyteller in action, although I must admit I didn't try very hard.  To sum up: yay, weekend!  Yay storytelling!  Yay reading!