Looking Back At Cleveland Marathon's Past....

I participated in my third Cleveland Marathon event on May 15, 2011 in as many years.  Recently I have received a lot of compliments on my running stride, running form, and overall weight loss transformation.  I need to be proud of my accomplishments and realize that I have been very successful and I have great things to show for it.  I need to look in the mirror and be happy with what I see.  It took a lot of hard work and dedication to get to where I am today.

2009 Cleveland 1/2 Marathon

2009 Finish

Welcome back to the world of running

2010 Cleveland Marathon

Embarking on my first 26.2 mile journey

Just shy of the finish line but still smiling

2011 Cleveland Marathon

Ready for redemption

Finishing what I started

Looking back on the past three years I have come to realize that we create our own success.  We lean on our friends for a helping hand but most of all...

In order to grow, we must get comfortable doing uncomfortable things...

To all of my friends that have challenged me to look in the mirror recently....THANK YOU!!!

Keep running, you're simply the best, and you inspire me!!

Christmas 2010

Christmas 2010 was very successful. It has been a great few days for us! The festivities started at our house on Christmas Eve. We had 23 friends and family over for dinner! Over a dozen of the people in attendance were children. Nothing like experiencing the Christmas Magic through the eyes of a child!

Looks like Santa came back after the kids were fast asleep and worked his magic!

Kaelynn and Grant were very excited and were up at 5:30 letting us know that Santa had in fact made it to our house!

Kaelynn was so excited to find a digital camera in her stocking. She loves taking pictures so she asked Santa for a camera of her own!

Grant was very excited about his Mario pajamas that he had asked Santa for!

After all the presents were opened and breakfast was served it was time to pack for PA! The original plan was to be on the road by 10:00 AM. We were out the door just before 10:30 AM. Not too bad in my book! Yesterday was the first time in over 8 years that we have been home on Christmas Day. I am pretty sure it was the best Christmas present my mom has ever received. Although she was very excited about the Zumba for the Wii we purchased for her as well!

The grandkids were spoiled as usual. Here they are with the stockings their Pop Pop made for them! Doesn't he do amazing work?

The afternoon was spent visiting with aunts and uncles and eating way too much food. I am pretty sure my mom and stepdad thought they were cooking for an army but the food was fantastic as usual! Later in the evening one of my best friends and her family came over and the kids continued to eat more. Oh the fun you can have with a mint chocolate chip drumstick. Grant was not real happy with the camera by last night which is quite evident in this picture!

We finally headed to bed sometime after 10:30 last night. The good news is the kids slept in which enabled the parents/grandparents to get a little extra shut eye as well. So what does one do the day after Christmas? Well a little bit of this:

and if you have committed to a Daily Challenge...a little bit of this!

Yes, I am in fact jumping rope with no shoes on. My hubby decided it would be funny to take my picture during my 26 minute rope skipping session. I would have looked at the camera but my mom insisted on talking to me the entire time. The good news is talking with mom made the time go pretty fast!

Aside from my workout, I have spent the entire day in my pajamas as have the kids and we have loved every minute of it!

On a completely different note, marathon training starts in 15 days and I am seriously looking forward to it. It will be nice to have a structured workout schedule again. It has been nice winging it these past two months but I have to admit I love routine! It's just my style!

Keep running, you're simply the best, and you inspire me!!