Two Weeks. Ready....set... FLY.

Last post was in July. I'm a slacker. Clearly my schedule has picked up and left no time for blogging. But, the good news is that less blogging equals more training and more recruiting! The adventure started nine months ago and today I am two weeks and one day away from race day. Whew! And the admission cycle for the DePauw class of 2012 is already in full motion. Oh, how I wish I had a magic pause button sometimes.

On a run a few days ago I admitted to Coffin that my life feels fake. I can't believe that I'm actually attempting an Ironman and I can't believe I'm starting my second year of employment at DePauw. Didn't all this just start yesterday.........?  Time is going by so quickly that my life feels fabricated. Not only am I fortunate enough to travel to Wales, but in the last months of 2011 I will also get to travel to: (the list is long enough to use a colon.)

India (yes! the country)
Colorado
Arizona
Texas
Portugal
and hopefully GERMANY!**

Fake-life. Hopefully, reality will sink in as I board the first plane of many on September 6th direction: Tenby, Wales!!

 I also wanted to share the most recent itinerary for race week: Race Day Itinerary

Finally, a few people have asked whether they will be broadcasting the race. I don't think they will be broadcasting this race in the States or even online. But, I am pretty sure that you will be able to follow me by my bib number. When I get my bib number and more information about how to follow I'll make sure to send out a quick post with details.

Two Months

I thought after June time might slow down. July is speeding away!

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind.

New Jersey Strong.

Rain.

Puzzles.

Movies.

Family Bonding.

Training.

Rogue runner for one long run, which was phenomenal!!

West Point.

Beautiful.

Awesome. Inspiring. Emotional

Saying goodbye to Bookie. Didn’t sink in. Still hasn’t sunk in.

Proud

Jealous. I want to join the Army.

Home.

Sunk in.

Miss Bookie

Miss family and puzzles.

Suite A, empty.

Emails with detailed itineraries

Living for the weekend.

Lake Lemon.

Best Friends.

Missed them.

Laughs.

Lots of laughs.

Sun. Boat. Fireworks.

Suite A, empty.

Rain.

Bike. Speed. Hill. CRASH! Yikes Coffin takes his first bike fall, speedy recovery.

Race week.

Days turn into seconds.

Tears.

Nervous? Stress? Homesick? Money? Work? Brother?Who knows?

½ Ironman.

2 months.

Whirlwind.

Happy Graduation Bro

Sometimes thinking about your life and sorting out what you have learned is just as important as tackling a new venture. This past weekend was DePauw’s commencement for the class of 2011. Campus was in full DePauw glory, but the graduation weekend also provoked some life reflection. Year one post college is officially over.  As I sat at the graduation ceremony last Sunday I thought about how much my life has changed in a single year, but most of my internal thinking was spent trying to wrap my head around how quickly the last five years came, went, and are now memories.  I sat nostalgic, but also quickly thought of one person who is just getting ready to begin his own college experience. Baby brother will be graduating high school this week. As cliché as it seems I feel some pressure as a big sister to pass onto him some wise words or advice for the next phase of his life.

So, bro ….here are a few things that won’t make your next 4 to 6 years go any slower, but are a few tidbits  I might tell my younger self if I could go back in time:

All too often in college I think I judged people on too little of information. Instead of judging someone for what they do or where they are in their life, figure out why they do what they do and how they got to where they are.  No one gets through life unscathed. Remember that every person you encounter can teach you something about yourself.

Embrace change. As uncomfortable as it is sometimes, change will allow you to stretch and grow. New things feel awkward and scary at first, but those feelings will go away and you are left with something bigger and bolder in your life.

Give back .I always thought the saying “it is better to give, than to receive” was a little stale, but I have learned that “giving” to others makes me very happy. One thing I have always loved about you is how big your heart is. No matter what I asked you to do when we were younger you would always do it for me. Don’t lose that. People will ALWAYS remember you based on how you made them feel.

Surround yourself with good people. You are a social butterfly. You have a lot of friends, but you also value close friendships. I challenge you to continue to build those close friendships in the next few years. I have seen people in college who know everybody, but no one really seems to know them back.  Put in the work to make best friends because those are the friendships that will last you a lifetime. 

Party smart. Now, West Point is obviously going to be a different college experience than mine was at DePauw, but I also know that there will be times when the rigidness of the Academy is lifted and you will party like a college kid! Just be smart. It is extremely easy to get caught up in the fun of drinking and feeling invincible. You are not invincible, so take it slow and be the responsible one when it comes to alcohol.

Jake, life is unbelievably brief. When we’re young we might feel like there’s a huge mass of time ahead of us. But trust me, it passes much faster than you think. So, above all other advices, make sure every once in awhile you stop long enough to appreciate it all. Happy Graduation Bookie. Go Army, Beat Navy.

High on Running

Wow. Where did April go? Non-existent. Vanishing month. Flew by!

I am pretty sure in my last blog entry I was complaining about the March weather and how it made training a little difficult, but I am afraid I blogged a little too soon.  Indiana has decided there will be no spring for the year 2011. April was a historic month for wild weather across the country, but especially in Indiana - an odd mix of downpours, tornadoes, and wildfires. Indiana also set a record for having one of the wettest April’s since 1895. So, let’s just say I should not have been complaining about the weather in March and I am currently lacking crucial Vitamin D.  But, the April showers appear to be over and in fact today, Indiana might challenge averages once again because Greencastle is expecting record heat and humidity. Joy.  I refuse to turn on my air conditioning (even though I was sweating as I got ready for work this morning) because I want a few days of open windows before summer arrives and the A.C has to be turned on.

Regardless of the weather, April was an awesome month which is probably why it went by so quickly!  I went to Texas for a quick recruiting trip, I celebrated my birthday and I got my new bike!  I have also been able to keep training pretty consistent even through the torrent weather. Some soggy long runs, but nothing that newspaper in the running shoes and a drying rack in Suite A can’t restore.

Last weekend I ran in the Indianapolis Mini Marathon which was an absolute blast! Honestly, I wasn’t dreading the race, but I also wasn’t super excited for whatever reason for the 13.1 miles. I think with work being so crazy in April and just trying to survive until May 1^st I put the race on the back burner. I knew I would be treating the run as a training run, but I completely surprised myself. My time was decent, but more importantly I just had a ton of fun!! It is the biggest ½ marathon in the country, so for the entire race the road was just a horde of people. Curb to curb the street was crammed. When you share the running experience with 40 + thousand people you can’t help but feel the runner high. Gotta love runner endorphins. 13.1 miles put me in a celebrating mood for the whole weekend.  

The Mini Marathon was not just a fun race/great training run it also marked the start of my race plan for the summer.  Finishing the Mini Marathon means I am one race and one month closer to the big Ironman event. I finished the Mini with a big smile on my face and as I crossed the finish line I thought immediately about the Ironman.  Of course I thought about the fact that the Mini was only ½ of the run that I will be doing come September 11th (daunting), but I also thought about how elevated I felt after finishing the run. I am optimistic and hopeful that the endorphins resulting from an Ironman finish will last longer than a weekend.

The New Baby

It took a while... but it finally arrived! My new bike!

I can hardly contain my excitement!! The cab is all empty ready for the new bike to come back to Suite A.....

The new bike might go in the back, only if it is not raining..... room for two!

United! It looks even better in person!! The picture does not do it justice.

All smiles. Thank you mom and pops! Thank you, thank you!!

Loaded and ready to go home to Suite A!

My Birthday …. a month early!

I know I’m not the most frequent blogger, but I feel like I’ve been especially negligent in the month of March. I have found that I am finding time to train for my Ironman, but struggling to find the time for laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning my house and writing some meaningful blogs.  Now, this doesn’t mean March has been a dull month; in fact it has been quite the opposite. Lately, there just aren’t enough hours in the day.

Some big family news (big news that I should have blogged about much earlier) spread throughout family, friends, and Facebook this past month.  Mr. Jake Watts made his college decision. DePauw University was in the hunt, but I am very proud to say my brother will be attending the one and only, West Point Military Academy next fall. And in case that isn’t impressive enough, he also signed a D1 commit card to play football. He already knows it, but what a stud!  I know I don’t tell him enough, but I am one proud sister. Congrats bookey- Go Army, Beat Navy!

Lately, Indiana has been such a tease. I feel like March has almost been more arduous for training because one day it’s a gorgeous 65 degrees with sunshine and literally the next day it is 30 degrees with snow flurries.  Frustrating.  But, this last Saturday was one of the sunny days in March, sunny in more ways than one.  After a great training session and then blueberry pancakes at Keith’s house, I leaned against Sug and watched the gallons roll from 6… to 7… to 8 through the purple fade of my sunglasses as I got ready to head to Indy. My zoning out session was interrupted by a phone call from mom Watts. I knew my mom was expecting an earlier phone call from me, so I answered with an apologetic “hello.” Mom accepted my apology for not calling and said… “Well, I guess I should say Happy Birthday.” I got excited because I knew my dad was shopping for his birthday gift (a new road bike) and he was going to go pick it out. I said something along the lines of “Oh, dad got his bike!!! Exciting! What kind??” This is where the conversation got a little confusing. My mom was trying to get through to me that they had actually gotten me an early birthday present. The light bulb finally clicked and I thought to myself that I might have scored a new bike jersey and honestly I thought I might get those compression socks I had talked about. “Well, you will need to go to Performance Bike to pick up your new bike next week.”

Speechless. Absolutely, speechless. I actually started crying and may have done a little dance in the Kroger parking lot. Finally, I was able muster out a “thank-you.”

I actually felt guilty saying “thank-you” because those two words seemed so incredibly unworthy for the gift I just received. I couldn’t express my emotions or my level of gratitude through my cell phone like I wanted, so I felt bad for saying “thank-you” because those two words didn’t even come close to communicating what I felt.  But, no words will be able to appropriately carry my appreciation and gratefulness, so I will stick with those two little words.  I am counting on two little words to convey a whole lot of feeling. Thank you mom and dad, thank you.

I want my mommy.....

It is crazy what being sick can do to an individual. Over the past several months I have been doing my best to adjust into the whole “adult” lifestyle. I bought my first car, bought my first place, started my first job and just recently paid taxes for the first time- but let me tell you one of the worst things about growing up…… is getting sick! When we are younger moms and dads are there to pick up the pieces when one is not feeling well. But, when you turn into an adult there is no mom to make soup, do the laundry, or run to the store to get Kleenex when you run out.  I thought paying bills was the worst part of becoming an adult. False.  Being sick at 22….sucks.

Last week put me in a mood. I was just plain grouchy. Part of my grouchiness stemmed from being diagnosed with bronchitis and part of my grouchiness was because I could not train. But, I think that I was mostly frustrated that my routine was disrupted.  The good news is … the meds are kicking in and the routine is coming back. I am still not feeling 100% better, but well enough to get back to the office, get back to my habitual schedule, and continue to try my hand at this whole adult thing.  J

Also, check out the countdown to the left! Under 200 days until IRONMAN Wales. Exciting.