My Dad invited me to go ice climbing a few weeks ago, and without really thinking about it, I said I would go. I had no idea what ice climbing was, what equipment is used, how far away the place would be, or what adventure awaited.

Let me tell you about my ice climbing observations. It is rock climbing and dodgeball and exhausting all at the same time. You have spikes on ski boot like shoes, two ice axes and a daunting cliff of ice you are told just to go climb. Yesterday, I thought it was the hardest sport I had ever tried. I made it half way (sometimes not that far) up the route before I was so exhausted and afraid that I asked to be let down. Although I was recovering from a knee and shin injury that I sustained as I saw an ice ax that was dropped, coming fast straight toward my head, I panicked and dodged, but a huge waist high rock impeded my quick escape and took me out, I tumbled, fell and flipped over the offending boulder painfully landing on my back. A couple people came over to help me up and I told them I would just like to lay in the cold snow for a few minutes. The oncoming ice ax stopped and stuck in the snow 10 ft in front of where I was standing, so there was no need for me to even move. Also, 60 and 70 year old men scaled the mountains with ease, and I just sat at the bottom discouraged and dodging large ice chunks.

That was yesterday.

Today was different. I made it to the top 3 times, had them take a lot of pictures. A stark contrast from yesterday.

I am amazed at how much a little confidence influences performance. I guess that is why we need to start small and get little victories under our belts. Especially when we have big goals

If at first you don’t succeed, try starting small and remember “baby steps”. By the way, Liam learned to crawl last week, and it is awesome to see how on Wednesday he couldn’t crawl and then on Thursday he could and a week later he is moving all over. It is cool to learn from your own children- they don’t seem to get discouraged, they fall and then try, try again.

Also- any of the cool looking climbers pictured here- not me.

I couple of years ago I decided to run an Olympic triathlon, and so in preparation I signed up to run a few sprint triathlons. My training early on consisted of thinking about how unprepared I was for 6 days out of the week and actually running or swimming one or two days each week. I didn’t tell anybody that I would be running the TELOS Tri (sprint) and when I arrived by myself with my brother’s bike, I didn’t know what to expect. It was such a cold day that they decided to reverse the normal order (Swim, Bike, Run) to be Run, Bike, Swim. It changed from going from my weakest to strongest events to be the opposite (my strongest to weakest). If I was wiser, I would have given up. I ran 3.1 miles, I biked 12, and then the (300 or 400 M ) swim and pain began. After the first lap, I quickly realized why the swim is supposed to be first- there are fewer deaths of people drowning because of exhaustion. I thought I was going to die. My energy was all spent on the less hazardous events of biking and running and I couldn’t get it out of my mind that “if you get tired running or biking, you can stop or pass out and still live, not so easy to do when you are in the middle of a long square pool with people splashing water on you as they painlessly pass your patheticness. I don’t remember most of the thoughts that went through my mind, but I remember finally reaching the edge of the pool after my last lap and it taking me an extra minute or two to muster the strength to climb out of the pool and as I hobbled toward my towel, I couldn’t contain my stomach and the little food and a lot of pool water that was in there came spewing out. After the second time, I was so embarrassed and discouraged, I grabbed my towel and went straight to my car, head hanging low, body beaten, stomach still struggling, and so so sad. It was at that time that I realized how important it was to me to have received the steady and frequent support supplied by my parents throughout my life (seriously, they never missed an event/race/performance/concert). I called my mom after that to tell her that I could barely finish the sprint tri- and I tried to convince her that if I did an Olympic tri, I would surely die. She then gave me some words of encouragement and told me that I could do it and that I would not die. I believed her and it was her words of encouragement that stopped me from giving up on accomplishing my first (and maybe last) Olympic Triathlon.

Mike Linton- testing out wet suit in preparation for first open water swim.

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For the second time church basketball has sent me to the hospital to mend my face with needle and thread. This time it was only four stitches and a black eye.

More details and picture to come

Ultimate Frisbee

GMAT studying

Michelle’s Birthday

Bought Food Storage

Dinner at Francks

FHE Latin Dancing

Play Basketball at the Energy Solutions Arena

Fireside about Joseph Smith

Ward Amazing Race (stopped to try and Win wicked tickets)

Strawberry Burnt Down Trees

Played Compatibility

Went up to Strawberry

First Golf of the Season

Ward Temple Night

FHE Ultimate Frisbee

Sang at a Fireside

Went on a spontaneous trip to Zion National Park

Hiked Angels Landing

Went Skiing for the last time this season

Dinner with old friends (Andy and Heidi)

D &C Institute Class

Ward Ministry Night

Taxes

Sang at General Conference

Calderwood/Horn Wedding Reception

About 6 months ago my brother told me how you can ski for free at Alta ski resort. He told me that the sunnyside lift is free everyday after 3pm. Michelle had a goal to learn how to ski this season and so I was excited to take advantage of the free 1.5 hours of skiing which is the perfect amount of time for a beginner to learn without getting discouraged, cold and/or hurt and more importantly the teacher doesn't have time to express intense frustration or impatience. We ended up going about 5 times this season (for free) and Michelle has become a good skiier. To illustrate, yesterday we went up and in blizzard conditions Michelle decided to tackle a blue (medium) run. All I have to say right now (until I get her permission to publicly describe what really happened) is she did really well even when she couldn't see due to the fog and snow. Great ending to a good season

Well it is that time of the month again. I go through my calendar and expenses and ask myself what I did or didn’t accomplish in the last month and then I try to figure out how to make the next month better. This usually consists of a commitment to spend less, train for the upcoming race (this time the ragnar relay), work smarter at my job, be kinder to my best friends, go to bed earlier and get up earlier, home teach every single person (even those that don’t return my phone calls), read more, and eat healthier.

So where did March go? I’ll sum it up in a few words. Choir Practice, Volunteering at Draper Temple, skiing, new business ideas, church basketball, U of U gymnastics tournament, National Dancesport Championship, blogging, starting to study for the GMAT , painting, planting peas, and of course a lot of Valcom work both day and night.

I have learned that I feel a lot more productive in the car when I listen to a book on CD. This month I listened to “Presidential Courage” which went through all the presidents of the United States from the beginning and described situations where they had to go against the popular opinion to do what was right for the nation. I recommend it but just know that although the content was interesting, the reader was a little dry and hard to listen to.

Some random things I learned; people react very differently to abstract art, when I am stressed I clean my room and car, it is possible to study for one month and get over a 700 on the GMAT, I like V8 fusion, Kyoto’s is still the best Japanese restaurant in town, www.condron.us is an interesting way to blog surf (but beware lest ye waste time), how to prune a pear tree, how to sell your art, that I can throw the cup, that you use to pour laundry detergent, into the washer with the clothes and it comes out perfectly leaving no residue around to worry about, I have a lot to be thankful for, memorizing gets easier the more you do it.

That’s all for March