Twenty-two

Two weeks ago my little brother, the youngest of our herd turned 22. As happy as I was to celebrate, I was sad it was not me turning 22. I loved the age of 22 for several reasons..

1) There is an awesome Taylor Swift song about being 22!

2) It is divisible by 11 and at age 22 I learned the awesome 11 divisibility rule. Aren't you curious to know what it is? (YES!) Hopefully everybody remembers the easier divisibility rules. For 2, if the last number is even, it is divisible by 2. For 3, if the numbers add up to be divisible by 3, it is divisible by 3. For 4, if the last two numbers are divisible by 4, the whole number is divisible by 4. But 11???

Watch this cool trick: If you flip flop subtracting and adding all the digits from left to right, and the final sum/difference is divisible by 11, then the entire number is divisible by 11.

3) It's a year past 21 where you've tried/drank almost everything out there and have successfully figured out how much you can handle without falling asleep or throwing up on the metro.

4)  It's the age I completed my first triathlon (Dog Days of Summer Tri in Ashburn) which changed the rest of my life. No, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I swam in a Costco bathing suit and proceeded to throw on shorts and a t-shirt for the bike and run. I walked up a not-so-steep hill during the ride not even sure if it was legal. Nobody came with me and I don't even have pictures to prove that I actually did it. I walked almost half of the run. I can't find the results but I'm pretty sure I came in the bottom 10.

I'm not sure what "inspired" me to keep going after sucking so much. Maybe it was because I had already spent $250 on Nation's Tri a month later. But if you put it all in perspective, the lower you start, the more you can improve. 

Nation's Tri 2009. It was actually more like 3:59:49 (promise)

For someone who never swam*, biked, or ran more than maybe once a year (each!) prior to age 22, I think I did a pretty darn good job the following years; which leads me to believe that it truly is never too late to start something new. For those younger, I hope you love and appreciate the sheer awesomeness and opportunities heading your way. For those older and my future self, I hope you never forget what it feels like to be 22 (or the 11 divisibility rule).


"It seems like one one of those nights, we ditched the whole scene and end up dreaming, instead of sleeping..."


*Okay I actually swam for one summer swim season when I was 10. I stopped because I burned easily in the sun and would swim for one day and spend 3 days recovering from my sunburn. The more I burned, the more I lathered on sunscreen. It wasn't until I was 18 I realized I was allergic to sunscreen :(