My ranking in 2007 was 78. In 2008, it was 81. This marks some real improvement, though of course I can look through the list and see several of my competitors at races who have ranks of 95 and above. And yes, they are in my age group.

What does this mean? Why does it matter for the rest of the world, who do not care about triathlon?

I think that writing novels, or really any pursuit in life, is about making small steps. Sometimes we see what we want to be and it is so far beyond where we are now that it seems impossible to reach that goal. And we give up. But when we set ourselves small, reasonable goals, week by week, month by month, we can do those things that seemed beyond us.

Sometimes people tell me that they can never be athletic like I am. It makes me laugh. I never thought of myself as athletic. I was a nerd. I swam because I hated PE classes and being on the swim team got me out of them. I never was much of a swimmer, even so. I showed up. I did what I was told to do. I never ranked high on my team, let alone state.

But twenty years later, I was still swimming. I didn't give up. I kept making small improvements, and I got better.

I was never a runner. I had bad knees. Until a sports doctor told me a little running would help my knee pain. I thought he was an idiot. To prove him wrong, I ran .1 mile on the treadmill the first day (he said to start out slowly). The next day, I ran .2 mile. I intended all along to go back to the doctor and tell him he was wrong, that I would never be a runner. I ran .3 mile the next day. And .4, waiting for the time when the knee pain would return. I kept at it until I could run 6 miles at a stretch. This was only in 2003, 6 years ago.

Baby steps, people. And not even every day. Just some days.