The Cross Country Banquet was interesting. We ate before going and then sat and people-watched. Ever do this? It's interesting to watch how people eat. And scary.Parents went first, and when they opened up the line, Oh, My, God - it was like --oh hell, it WAS--a feeding frenzy. Adults actually RUSHED the food line. I was embarassed for them. I mean, I make a pig of myself at home from time to time, but in public, I try to at least look like I'm not going to eat the next person in line.
The adults piled the plates high. It was an orgy of processed meats, cheeses, pizza, and everything fried.
Except for my spaghetti.
Which nobody touched.
I am a KILLJOY.
People would have two slices of pizza AND a 6"smeat-and-cheese sub AND two or three other entrees, go back for seconds and just as much food the second time around, and then, of course, deserts.I am fairly certian they weren't fueling any workouts.
The Jonster, formerly known as Mini-me, got his certificate for his season and some cloth numbers and both he and Sweet Baboo had to explain to me the mysterious world of letterman's jackets. The "09" is the year he graduates from high school, the year he leaves, and the year I officially get my house back.Before triathlon, the Jonster dabbled in sports here and there but he really didn't see it through. Neither of my other two children was interested in anything active when they were growing up, mainly because I didn't encourage it.
However, when Sweet Baboo and I became involved in triathlon, we started dragging him around. We said, "Do one, don't do one. We don't care, take pictures or volunteer if you want." Eventually, though, he reasoned that there were few in his age group, and who doesn't love a medal? his competitive nature got the better of him. Nobody yelled at him if he lost. Everyone was supportive and friendly.
During his first season of triathlon, the Jonster joined and finished his first season of Cross Country at his high school, and then then tried out for and made swim team, mainly for--get this--the purpose of improving his triathlon splits. Hah! He also plans to be in track.While in Cross Country, he had to run at least 4 miles every day after school for cross country, did lots of drills, and has knocked 9 minutes off his 5K time. the Jonster, age fifteen, throws around comments about 5K and 10K times and is pretty fluent in swim talk.
He's already swum in his first meet, and did the 100-meter back stroke and 50-meter free style (something ike 32 seconds on the latter) Last night, on the way home, he was explaining to us all the different drills he does in swimming, and we told him he'd need to show us all that he's learning, which I think made him feel pretty good.
Although he's not a running or swimming star, it will improve his triathlon time and he can excel there.
Before he joined the swim team, he thought the object was to swim as far as you can without breathing. Did you read that? SWIM AS FAR AS YOU CAN, WITHOUT BREATHING. For 6 months, this was what he thought.
Oh, Dude! I wish you'd said something! a 1500 meter swim is really long when you're trying not to breathe. Now that he's learned bilateral breathing, his swim time has dramatically improved.
This Saturday, after he does his first triathlon of th 2007 season, he'll accept the Champtionship award for the under-20 group in the Southwest Challenge Series. He was the only one to qualify.
I've always hoped that in some way I would leave the earth a better place than I found it, and would have improved the lives of othes in some small way in the meantime. I really hope that part of my legacy is to create another tri-junkie who in turns influences others to live life where running and being active is normal and eating to fuel your workout is what you think about when you serve up those portions.
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