The First of Many

About eight days ago, I headed out with two other classmates to SLO for my first triathlon in about 7 years. The last one I did was a Sprint Tri in hopes of three-peating my victory status. I ended up in the Emergency Room and Jason took the responsibility any other Hall would- won it. Having learned my lesson all so many years ago, I felt that not falling while on a bike would be the better option- smart, right! On another note, I decided to turn up the distance a bit and do an Olympic length instead of sprint. For those unawares, Olympic distance is a 1500 meter swim followed by a nice 40 km (24.8 miles) bike and topped off with a 10 km (6.2 miles) jog.

Having set that stage, whatever my intentions were about dominating the field once again were completely demolished. I get there, and it's a mecca of college kids from UCSD and UCLA to Stanford and Cal. Everybody was part of some campus club that had a coach, regular practices, and set cheers before the horn went off. Needless to say, they were way out of my league. Nevertheless, I squirmed into my wet-suit, donned my cap and goggles, and began my epic journey into the water. First off, that water was so cold! My feet didn't get feeling back until halfway through the run. But we start out and bodies are everywhere; it had been a while since I had felt up that way. I started off well, but at the turn of the first buouy things went down hill really quickly. The combo of really choppy water and a lake that had a clearness level of nothing left me nauseous and dizzy. It took me a while to get my bearing back, and by that time the girls who started 10 minutes after me started passing me; embarrassment was definitely felt.

But out of the water I came and off to the bike portion. This could seriously have been my favorite part. A little side note here, though. So, about three-quarters of the people here have these really nice triathlon bikes made of carbon-fiber with helmets which serisouly makes them look like a mild form of Darth Vader. Don't get me wrong, I've got some sweet wheels; they just took it up a notch or two. Probably one of the greatest feeling I had was knowing that even though they had a gear, I was still passing them as I pumped it out on the bike.

The run was a whole different story. Having tried to run for the majority of my life and helping coach a bit, I thought I could handle the run. That run was awful! From the bike my calves were blown and by the time I started running, the guy who won had just finished. But after my feet finally got their feeling back, I got into my stride and somehow made it through the finish line. I might have never been so happy to finally finish something as when I crossed that line. All that seriously left me when I found out there was no chocolate milk to partake of as part of my after-party ritual. For those who care, the finishing time was 2:41:55.6. I'll get better, I promise.

So back on the road to Prescott we went, stopping by the Hall's residence for some hot water and a generous meal; sustanence had never felt so good! The day after, my body felt like a bulldozer had rolled over me- twice. Mentally, I'm still recovering but should be back at it another one in a few months.

Spring Break, Part 2

The last week spent crashing on a couch in The Treehouse could have just been a serious top five - no, three!- greatest memories since I have moved to Prescott. Let's get the first major victoryout of the way. I came back with two and a half gallons of chocolate milk from the BYU Creamery. Now that we have that out of the way, let's get into what actually went down.

Friends Were Met and Made

I won't deny it, living back at The Treehouse was a most definite plus. Come Tuesday, I told everybody I was going to head out the next day. Ed (who, thanks to Nat, doesn't live there anymore) threw out the hospitable proposal that I simply just stay for the rest of the week. It wasn't a hard choice. I'm pretty sure we celebrated and then carried on eating some delicious chocolate trifle! We'd like to all thank Ed for stepping up to the plate and making sure I stayed to complete my week of happiness.

 Now, for those unacquainted with him, Kirk Katseanes is not just a dear friend that pulls strings for me all the time. We have a delicious tradition of attending Kneaders Bakerywhenever we get together. We talk about life, girls (or lack thereof), our time in the mission together, and our future (again, or lack thereof). But really, we mostly just talk about girls. This last time we enjoyed going over the book series A Song of Fire and Ice.

Some people I also met, but would rather not have. There was an evening where I seriously spent way too much time (about 15 minutes) around the greatest tools I ever seen. Really, if Home Depot ever needs a new mascot, I know a lovely apartment where a shelf of them are. I'm sure they'll grow into something acceptable to society some day, but not anytime soon. Until then, I wish them the best of luck.

Family Most Definitely Happened   

My Grandmother "Grandi" lives up in the good ol' SLC. I surprised my Mum with having still been up in Utah. She asked me what hip kids were doing these days and before I could muster a word about how cool blogs are, my Mum went off on "selfie"ing and how some girl on the flight she just took was doing it the entire time. Grandi couldn't grasp the concept of it, so we thought a personal 3 generation selfie would do the trick. She rather enjoyed it.

Other High Notes     

Several years ago, I took a wild (really, there's no other way to describe it) trip to California with several companions. Mauri Wood happened to be one of them; I'd thought to give her a heads up to see how she was. She's teaching some 1st Graders who seriously have their work cut out for them. Genetics, Advanced Mathematics, and Modern English are just a few to mention. Good luck to her!

A game of pick-up football was played with a kicker for the football team. After a solid hit to Ed's knee and whole load of luck, Ryhop and I came out victors in the end. Power to us.

Something spiritually nice I found:

Service is not something we endure on this earth so we can earn the right to live in the celestial kingdom. Service is the very fiber of which an exalted life in the celestial kingdom is made.

Spring Break, Part 1

So I never really got the point of Spring Break, and I continue to struggle to. You study hard for an entire half of a semester only to completely forget all of it during a week of complete bliss. Don't get me wrong, it has it perks, and it's only just begun!

I started off out outside of Flagstaff where I picked up a hitchhiker who needed a ride for a good half hour through the Navajo Reservation. Over our conversation, I learned there's no alcohol allowed on The Res, the penalty of even being buzzed would get you a trip to jail. As he headed off East to Tuba City, I continued North. Traveling in a 65 MPH area, I got pulled over going 81 and even through a tender story as to why I would even go so fast he still gave me a ticket, but only for going 75.

The scenery was rather nice though...

Upon my arrival, there was a grand reunion with my younger-- not little brother --Jason, the Hopkin bros (Ryan and Blake), Vladi Falk, and Ed Houstman! Needless to say, we quickly got down to Laser Assault for an epic night of pure joy. During one round, some girl saw our comradery and asked if we really were just a group of college guys out for a night of laser tag. After answering to the affirmative, we hailed us with how awesome we are. I started off a little rusty, only medalling in Bronze, but after our second match there was little question as to how much we dominated. Meet the team! Of course there were a few side distractions we found, but nothing we couldn't tame. After our vicorty, shakes at the Malt Shop called us and we answerd.

The next morning, we watched Blake rock his soccer match with two guys down and headed over to the BYU South Field to cheer on the BYU Rugby Team rock ranked number 1 St. Mary's in a solid victory.

By that point we were hungry for some action of our own, so off to the RB for some crazy wiffleball (trust me, I thought the same thing, but it was an incredible load of fun) followed by some 3V3 football.

Knowing that I wouldn't be here more than a few days, I had to choose my choice of food quite carefully. Thank you Slab Pizza for screwing up part of our order and thus feeding our tenacious hunger pains that were sticking like duct tape, we really needed it. We then headed to a celebration for Kate Hansen where she took pics in front of an American flag- we'll wait another 4 years to see her rock it again.

Come the next morning, Kirk Katz and I partied up to the State of Utah Coroner's Office where he works. For the next time I play the game where I tell two truths and one lie about me, I'm competely saying that I assisted in performing an autopsy on a guy shot in the chest.

A closing thought for the day. I read this aricle the other day that really stuck-out to me. It doesn't matter what your religious views are, it's some sound stuff... Enjoy here!