Couch to ATHLETE!

I had the pleasure of spending the past ten days with two of my nieces and nephews. Four of those days, the third of the Watts clan was part of the fun. My sister has named this week Camp Auntie Sarah. Because this is my second year hanging out with the kids, she must have decided to formalize the name. What a fantastic ten days!!! I learned a lot during camp because I feel like I got to take a look at my life through a child's eye. It reminded me of some of the most important lessons that I have learned in life so far. Here are the lessons: Treat people how you want to be treated: When I was a kid, I was relentlessly teased by my siblings. I'm certain I annoyed the crap out of them, which is likely why they teased me. They had me stick my tongue to D batteries, vacuumed my back, gave me 'sprite' or some mixture of baking soda and vinegar to drink. While watching my niece and nephew relentlessly tease each other one minute, and play games the next, that actions r...

I dream of the day in which I get all my chores done. I dream of the day when I get home and Piper hasn't put socks in her water bowl, clothes on my living room floor, and toys at the bottom of the basement stairs. I dream of the day when I treat people how THEY need to be treated. I dream of the day when my association fixes my basement, like they should have back in January. I dream of the day when there is no pain felt by me or my friends. I dream of the day when getting out the door for a workout isn't a chore, again. . I think I need to keep living, because one of these days, all those dreams will come true, but at what cost? Dreaming is awesome. I love dreams because they are your mind telling you what you can do, if you put your mind to it. Certain things come at a cost though. For instance, if I want to come home to no socks in my cat's water bowl, that means I have to put all my socks away. See my first dream? That has to happen first. Similarly, I dream of ...

I'm told that I can get fixated on things, and simply not let them go. These fixations come and go, but I typically have a couple of days every four weeks or so in which I'll grab onto something, and latch on. I remember my sister once likened certain people who were dating to a fish hook and a fish. Important background is that there are two types of fish hooks, one with a barb, the other without. Hooks without barbs are easier to remove from the fish; hooks with barbs can get stuck and can sometimes damage the fish when removed. The situation was this... We knew a girl who was dating a guy, guy broke up with the girl, girl latched on and wouldn't let go. This was way back in the days of pagers and home phones, so she would call and page. It was like she was a fish hook with a barb, and the poor guy was stuck, and he didn't even realize it. He would start to shake her off but the barb would reengage the minute it started escaping him. This went on forever!!!! Well, ...

One of my greatest friend always reminds me that the past is the past. I'm so glad she has taught me that, especially since I have recently been going crazy thinking about my physical aptitude from the past. For instance, I had the endurance to run a marathon! That was a six hour feat that was super intense and rewarding. And then there was the half iron man which was an 8 plus hour adventure through the woods of Wisconsin. I NEVER felt so accomplished... So, why is it that today I can't do those things? If I continue to focus on that fact, I would likely never be able to move forward. It would be like an emotional attachment to what I used to be, and guess what? That is my past!!! This doesn't mean that I can't do it again in the future, as a matter of fact, I will... Here's the thing, it will be totally different because I'm different. I refuse to attach myself to one moment in time and expect it to be the same. I'm not going to attach myself to that ...

When I first heard the term burpee, I smiled because it made me think of how I talk to a little baby when they burp. I say in a cute little baby voice, "oh, you just had a burpee" and the baby coos and smiles because they feel such great relief! Hmmm... Or is that my sister in law? (I would totally link a video, but I don't want to embarrass her.) I also imagine, when I hear the word burpee, a beautiful large garden with all the tomatoes, beans, strawberries and blueberries a person can eat! Just thinking about it now makes me want to make a blueberry pie! That lovely seed company can produce food infinitely. Then I was introduced to exercise for fun and learned that a burpee is an exercise that includes pushups, jumping and squatting. I heard of these things and couldn't figure out what was fun about this exercise. Perhaps it was simply created because trainers needed to create some sort of new exercise that would keep people coming back for more. My MS class ...

In my world, with every good plan comes a slump... We'll call this the exercise slump! First it was the rain, but I managed to semi-train for the bike ride through that. Then it was the heat. OH. MY. GOSH. the HEAT!!!!! It took my breath away this weekend. I did everything I could to stay inside, except for when I didn't. For example, my neighbor's weeds were about to make me crazy, so I pulled them!!! (Not before I pulled my own though, for those who are shaking their heads right now.) I also found myself at the Jazz and Ribs Fest, and today at the Franklin County Fair. Really, at both fest/fair outings, I was on the hunt for roasted corn. Would you believe the Fair didn't have any? It was so shocking... I'm not a winter weather complainer. I save it all up for the summer because, well, the heat is icky to me!!! I only wish I could blame my slump on the weather. If I'm being honest, I just haven't had the desire. I could say it is lack of energy, but I k...

Sue and I had another fantastic adventure this past weekend. We took on another MS ride for which we raised over $1700 between the two of us. Thank you to those who have donated. If I haven't sent an email to thank you yet, I'm sorry, but you will get one soon!!! When Sue and I signed up for this ride, I personally thought it would be a rolling hill kinda ride; not a pounding hill after hill, leg cramping, 50 mile up hill vs. 5 mile down hill kinda ride... We got the latter. And you know what? We cranked it out!!! Sue and I headed out around 7:15 to embark on our 50 mile journey. What they don't tell you when you sign up for these rides, is that the mileage is a rough estimate. So, you may have paid for 50 miles, but then the race organizers decide to throw in 5 extra for free. Not something you asked for, but were graciously given... Do you say thank you? Or expletive you? It really depends on the ride. This weekend, had I not been in a very positive mood, I would h...