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.  

The Cat is out of the bag...

I have not been purposefully keeping it a secret.  But, telling people that I am doing an Ironman doesn’t exactly pop up in normal everyday conversations. There are several people that I wanted to share my Ironman news with right away, but there never really seems to be a perfect moment to blurt out the news that  I signed up for an Ironman. During my long run this past Sunday I ran with Ted, and he asked me at about the thirty minute mark if I wanted to push it to Bloomington Street and call it a day. I was hesitant and told him that I might hold our current pace because I was going to be adding on some additional time. Ted prodded a little bit, curious to why I was adding an extra forty minutes to our usual thirty minute jog, but I somehow skirted the topic. I didn’t tell him about the Ironman.   

On Super Bowl Sunday I was hanging out with the alumni crew and stuffing my face with all kinds of finger food deliciousness. I was literally popping open a beer when the President of our University walked in to join the party.  The whole group was having a great time poking fun at the commercials and binge eating on Jon’s homemade guacamole. But, quickly my focus moved away from balancing guacamole on my tortilla chip, to trying to remove myself from the conversation that changed from commercials to triathlons. President Casey asked Doogan and Jon what triathlon’s they were going to do this upcoming spring/summer.  Doogan was the only one at the party who knew I had signed up for the Ironman and when triathlons came up she looked directly at me and smiled.

“Yeah…. I am planning on doing a few races this summer…..”

 “No, I don’t have them all nailed down quite yet, but I do have a few in mind…..”

“Yeah…..  I am kinda training for one big one this summer….”

“No, it is a little longer than an Olympic distance….”

“Actually, I signed up for an Ironman.”

The cat finally came out of the bag. (At least to my main Greencastle crew).

I am nervous to tell people about the Ironman. I am not sure why. Maybe because the more people I tell, the more finalized the race becomes. Maybe I am nervous because I am still working on convincing myself that I actually signed up for an Ironman.  Or maybe, I just want to make sure that the adventure stays personal and doesn’t become some big hoopla.  I just want to try. I want to toe the start line and give it my best effort. Nothing heroic- just make an attempt.

 As nervous as I am to tell people about my goal, I was relieved on Sunday when my Greencastle buds found out I signed up for an Ironman. The Ironman will without a doubt be a personal journey, but my success also depends on the friends and family who surround me.  I am going to need my friends for those long swims, long rides, and long runs.  But, more importantly, I need those friends when I am not swimming, biking, or running and just want to go quacking at the Duck on a Thursday night. I am in a perfect place to train for an Ironman. I have a gym within walking distance. I have country roads out my front door for long bike rides and a nature park in my backyard outfitted with miles of running trails. But, I know the key to my training will be taking advantage of the support that my friends and family are kindly willing to offer me as I try and chase this goal.

Forever a RUNNER.

I started running in the 7^th grade.  At my middle school we had these “fitness miles” where once a month we had to run a mile as fast as we could during our P.E. hour. Now, if I was a normal 7^th grade girl, I would not run. I would speed walk.  I would get the mile done and not sweat a drop, even in the Arizona heat. However, if you know anything about me, you know that I don’t take any athletic challenge lightly. Let’s just say I took those “fitness miles” a little more seriously than the normal 7^th grade girl. The goal was to not only beat all the speed walkers out on the dirt track, but more importantly, beat the boys!

 I was hunched over after one of those miles, spitting and most definitely sweating, when my P.E teacher came up to me and handed me an orange piece of paper. It was a registration sheet. I don’t remember struggling with the decision to sign up for my first ever running race like I struggled with my IRONMAN sign-up. Maybe it’s because I had never run a race before, so my nerves couldn’t talk me out of it. Or, maybe I just signed up because I beat the boys that day at the mile challenge, so I was feeling confident. I don’t remember, but for whatever reason, my running career officially started in the 7^th grade.

After that first race, came middle school cross country and track, and then high school cross country and track, and finally collegiate cross country and track at DePauw University.  Throughout all of these life phases and changes, cross country and track were constant. Running was stable. I was a four-sport varsity athlete in high school and I took all of those sports seriously, but as I look back, there is no denying that I identified myself firstly, as a runner.  And apparently, I still do.

Yesterday, I swam 3,000 yards. For a swimmer, this may seem insignificant, but for a runner I was pretty pumped. I was swimming next to an older gentleman who said: “you look like you know what you’re doing…. can you tell me whether this pool is in meters or yards.” I didn’t even hesitate. I confidently said that the pool was in meters, clearly the mindset of a runner. (Notice above…. I wrote 3,000 yards because the pool is NOT in meters.) Then the man asked me, “So how long have you been a swimmer?” Like word vomit I said, “Actually, I’m not a swimmer. I’m a runner.” 

As I was doing my cool down I thought about the little lane chat I had with the gentleman. I had to laugh at myself.  I visualized myself standing in the pool next to him in my cap, goggles, and Speedo endurance suit and telling him straight faced and slightly offended that I was NOT a swimmer, but a runner. I smiled because I could swim 5,000 meters…. I mean yards… and I would still call myself a runner. 

I may be training for one of the most grueling endurance races there is for swimming, biking, and running, training to achieve the title of: IRONMAN -  but I much prefer a simpler title. One that I picked up way back in 7^th grade…..I’m a runner.

Left Click.

I was enjoying being a bum while at home for the holidays about a month ago.  Lounging on the couch with safari at my fingertips, I clicked around to random websites. I found myself, like many times before, on IRONMAN.com reading articles and watching You Tube videos of this past year’s IRONMAN races in various locations. Then, the news feed on the left-hand- side of the website caught my eye. Under the news-feed I saw: NEW LOCACTIONS FOR IRONMAN 2011.  Immediate left click.

First, I saw New Zealand listed as one of the new locations. I got excited because almost one year ago, I, was in New Zealand studying rocks and volcanoes. I thought ….yeah, New Zealand would be a pretty sweet location to do an IRONMAN. I continued to scroll down and I could not believe the next international location that popped up on the screen: IRONMAN WALES.  Really? Seriously! And there was a video trailer. Immediate left click. 

I watched the trailer (which is conveniently placed at the bottom of my blog, if you want to watch) probably three times in a row. I watched. I listened to the inspirational music. I smiled at the narration because of the accent and stared at the familiar landscape shots which all looked familiar. IRONMAN WALES. 

For those of you who are confused by my fascination with Wales, and are wondering why the hell I needed to watch the trailer three times, need to know that the best six months of my life was spent in Wales. Carmarthen, Wales to be exact. I spent six months climbing mountains, sea kayaking, trying desperately to learn how to navigate a map with rocks as landmarks, and falling in love with Wales and my study abroad experience.  So, when I saw the Welsh dragon under that distinguished, red IRONMAN logo I was not excited – but nervous.

After watching the trailer, I got a deep pit in my stomach- a pit that truly only athletes know and recognize. I got that feeling that comes the night before the big race, the big game, or the big match. I was nervous, because I already knew deep down in my gut, which is where I think all of our emotions reside, that I would do IRONMAN WALES.

First, come the nerves.  Second, come the questions:  Could I really do an IRONMAN? Could I really do an IRONMAN that is nine months away? Did I have time to train? Never mind the time… do I even know how to train for an IRONMAN? What am I thinking? I have never run a marathon. Hell, I have never officially run a half-marathon! What am I thinking?  I have completed three triathlons in my life- and mind you- they were sprint triathlons! How do I even know if I like triathlons?

When I fell onto the IRONMAN WALES trailer I was home alone. If I could have gotten an internet connection, I may have waited in our driveway for my parents to arrive home from wherever they were, to show them the video.  Initially, I thought I was just excited and anxious to show them that Wales had made the map on the triathlon scene.  But, that would be a lie. I wanted my parents to come home and watch the video, so they would do what they do best…… believe in my gut.

So, it is Wednesday January 26^th, 2011. Nothing too terribly special about this particular Wednesday- there is still snow on the ground, I had my egg burrito for breakfast, and  I signed up for IRONMAN WALES. Normal, except I took the leap. I found out about IRONMAN WALES before Christmas, but it has taken me until now, to finally left click on the registration page for IRONMAN WALES.  I had to let it marinate. I had to think about what my answers would be to all those questions. I needed a plan. I needed to soak up all the support from my parents and friends and turn it into action. As much as I wish I was one who could make snap decisions, in reality, I am the type of person who spends literally 20 minutes picking out a deodorant and ends up with the same brand and fragrance that I always purchase. However, even with the few extra weeks of thinking about IRONMAN WALES, I don’t have all the answers to my questions, and I don’t have a professional nine month plan, and I still have that nervous pit.  But, today I left-clicked. I made a decision guided not by rational thinking, but by a force in my gut.