Last Day of School First Day of Summer

Today I celebrated becoming a senior with fellow friend Nicole. We rode my moped to Tutta Bella's for happy hour...which was amazing as ever, and putted around town for a bit. We found this cool store called Clover House, which had super cute gifties and fun kitchen and bathroom items. It was nice to get out and just relax after a hard year's work.

That's all I have right now. Lack of sleep from one night is dragging on, and the bed is calling my name.

With relief,

Kayla

Hormonal Seattle Weather and End of Year

Lately, the sun is wanting to come out and shine fully, but when it does the rain decides to take over. It's been wild weather here lately, with some winds too. I hope it's not going to last for much longer; it's almost June!! I'm ready for the summertime!!

So I've landed a job at Ivar's Acres of Clams on the Seattle Waterfront on the pier. I begin work tomorrow at 3pm! I'll be starting out as a hostess, which I don't mind because I love greeting people. I am praying that it all goes smoothly. I'm a little nervous about my schedule, and so I'm hoping that I can figure it out tomorrow. My wish for once classes are finished is that I will be able to work as much as I can with a few small breaks throughout the summer.

School, well school is not as exciting as getting a job unfortunately. I have two weeks left of classes and then finals to finish. It's not that my classes are difficult, it's just that I'm not a fan of them. It just seems like I've been doing busy work this entire time. I just registered for my classes for this fall, and it's looking very good. I'll be taking a first time 12 credits for my "senior" year!! It's also nice because I'll have more time for focusing on XC and work hopefully. At least I get to look forward to next year being my last year of classes!!

Well, I have nothing more for now.

In wildness,
Kayla

Prep's for GNAC Championship

It is Monday, but not just any Monday. This is the Monday before our final track competition of the year for most of us, (those who are competing at Nationals will continue on). My nerves are kicking in, and I'm excited to see the outcome of the race. I compete on Friday at 4:45, we are the first event. Steeplechase is most often the first event, which is quite nice considering I have the rest of the day to cheer on my teammates, and EAT!

I look back at my very first race in steeple in March and compare it the race this past weekend, I'm not even the same runner, even Doris Heritage agrees. It's very fulfilling for me to take compliments from such a great runner and coach. My favorite comment on Saturday was when she said that I "have such a strong backside", it was pretty funny but she was serious. My body is adjusting to this new running and my workouts are finally paying off in my races; I've become a stronger runner and begun to start understanding the race and how to push it. I started with a 13:15 and now I am at 12:01 for the 3k steeple, knowing that I can race under 12minutes this coming Friday at champs. I am currently ranked 8th, and there are some women close in my range I can and will take!

In the meantime, I will be preparing with my teammates and coaching for an awesome weekend. We finally get to race outdoor champs (last year it was canceled because of swine flu!). We leave on Thursday and begin racing on Friday at Monmouth, OR at Western Oregon University.

With excitement,
Kayla

May Day

May Day, May Day...over.

Five months into this new year, and I forget to realize the end is near, the end of another college year. I'm drowning in the possibilities of summertime, but still am ecstatic about the events to occur in the meantime.

Besides school that is, I have only two more weeks left of my track season; two weeks full of hard-pressing workouts and preparation. Time has been a fool to me, for I have been waiting patiently for it all to come together. Finally, today I dropped 15 seconds in my steeplechase....a sign that truly my practices are showing off. I have consistently been having great practices, yet there was a struggle during the races. I am excited about my next two races of the year and stoked about competing at our conference championships this year in Monmouth Or. (Last year it was canceled...after we arrived, due to the swine flu!!). After our championship meet, our distance team is volunteering for the Heroes Half Marathon on May 22nd. I'm very excited to help out for this race, proceeds go to St. Jude's Children Hospital. Since we are volunteering at two different stations in the race, we thought it would be fun to do a "heroes" theme and also compete against the guys on our team (of course, us women would have a much better station).

After track is finished, I will take about a week off with active rest (swimming, biking, etc) and then begin my training for cross country. I've been applying for jobs all around Seattle for the summer, but nothing so far. Hopefully I will be able to find a job that will supply enough for the upcoming year.


In patiently waiting,
Kayla

Spring Break 2010

Who would have thought that we'd have two whole weeks of Spring Break this year?! Well, luckily it came with wonderful weather and fun times. For the first part of break, I went back to Vancouver (WA!!) for a few days. It was nice seeing my family and also my brother Kevin and his family; they just came back from living in North Dakota. It was their youngest son's first birthday, so we captured many faces smothered in cake and cupcakes full of laughs.

I also hung out with Tammy, Cassidy and Chris a lot too. We went to see Alice in Wonderland 3D, which was quite the eye-full and exciting. On one of the days, Tammy and I went to the Woodburn outlets as well as a garden spot to purchase what looked like a huge "sled" that we mounted on her little Subaru; (it was really an arbor for her kiwi tree...it's okay that people were laughing at us on the highway). We also made an enormous pot of turkey chili for her family, neighbors, and me to take to college! I was impressed at how much we really made!

On the first Saturday of break, we had a race at the University of Oregon in Eugene, OR. It was an impressive day full of sunshine and 72 degree weather; perfect for a track meet. I raced the 2K steeplechase (usually it's a 3K), and was very satisfied with my race time: I was shooting for an 8:30 and I ended with an 8:07. It was exciting racing there, the intense atmosphere was full of adrenaline making it hard not to run too fast a first lap. Above are the name bib's for my great friend Natalie and I. At the Stanford meet, my teammates raced super well... I was excited for Lisa Anderberg doing her best time in the 800m, and also Jessica Pixler for racing an unbelievable 5K (which was a time that is currently 5th in the WORLD!!!!); talk about an inspiration. I am excited to see how the rest of the season unfolds for us all.

After I left Vancouver, I went to Boise, ID to see non other than my wonderful love Roger! It was great to see him again, and we had a fun relaxing time together. Riding his new road bike was great too! I didn't realize how much faster and smooth they are compared to regular bikes. This past Friday his roommate Dave road with us back to Seattle for the weekend. It was a long drive, but fun as well. Our weekend in Seattle was probably the best time in Seattle I've had in a long time. Being "tour guide" wiped me out! On Saturday, we walked roughly 13 miles throughout Seattle!! (I tried to measure it through Google maps). We were so exhausted by the end of the day! Saturday we walked around Queen Anne to the Seattle Center and then to Pike's Place Market, Public Library, and down to Pioneer Square and back! It was a lot of fun! On Sunday we rode bikes to Fremont district and walked around the market there, went to Theo's chocolate to taste samples. Then we went to visit the Troll and walk on Aurora Bridge! We also went to the top of the Space Needle (which was extremely windy!) and ate dinner at Peso's Mexican restaurant, which has the best steak tacos I've ever had. We ended the fun trip with a jump into the Puget Sound at Golden Gardens; talk about cold water!

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring Quarter 2010!!!! I'm taking 18 credits full of classes in the exercise science/P.E. department! Overall I have a good class time schedule that suits track practice well. I'll be taking: Methods of Teaching Health, Motor Learning and Development, Exercise Physiology, and Sport Injury Management. Wish me luck!!

In hope and opportunity,

~Kayla

EKG----CUPCAKES

As the end of the quarter is here, with only three days left, we have an anatomy review tomorrow in class. Included in this little "party", we all are bringing treats to celebrate! A great friend, Natalie from track, and I made delicious red velvet cupcakes. But they are not your average cupcakes...they are cupcakes of LIFE!! Well, they are cupcakes with EKG's on them! It is quite funny, for some of them have fibrillation's and upside down smiley faces!! Above is the photo I took. We accidentally bought JUMBO cupcake holders, so there aren't many, and some of them are teeny.

To all my nerdy Anatomy friends,
Good night and it's almost Friday,

Kayla Wilkins

"Dead Week" Finals

As we are approaching the end of Winter quarter 2010, the sun is mocking us; I just want to go out and play in the sun. As this week is coming to an end, it truly means that we only have one more week of classes, famously known as "dead week" among college students. So don't feel bad if it seems like we've dropped off the face of the earth. I find this phrase funny, but it really explains our situation very well. We are "dead" and dying with high stress and coffee levels, all which amount to lack of sleep (although I suggest to get some sleep!) It all comes down to the studying we do during this week to cram in the last bit of information for finals. What is truly maddening is when professors give you new material the week before finals!! The definition at Urbandictionary.com is : "The late night working and hardcore studying for finals gives the students a zombie like atmosphere, and causes an eerie silence and many blank, unseeing expressions." Haha, yes that is quite funny.


I am especially excited for this quarter to end because that means I will have finished two grueling quarters of Anatomy and Physiology!! It was a class that surely "bogged you down". I am also super ecstatic because the end of this quarter means 1: SPRING BREAK!! and 2: the beginning of OUTDOOR TRACK SEASON!
Well....I hope I make it out!

In the dawn of dead week,
Kayla Wilkins