New Year's Day 5k

Hello Dear Reader,

This morning I had an energizing 5 mile run! Talk about a great way to start the day! But enough of that, I wanted to share some exciting news! As I was skimming through various running websites, on a search for inspiration, I ran (no pun intended) across the blog of a woman who recently completed a Jingle Bells race in NYC that qualified her for the ING NY Marathon. The theme of her race got me to thinking about how special this festive season will be. I'll be home for Christmas...and I'm bringing along my handsome Ethiopian running partner! The blog post also gave me pause to reflect on all of the growth and achievements made during 2011 with respect to my running. I strongly believe that the commitment I made to bring in the New Year with running, specifically by participating in the "11km for 2011" race on New Year's Day, set the tone for the months to follow.

With minimal searching, I found the New Year's Day 5km 2012 race in Chicago! Awesome! Even better, the race starts at 11 am (SCORE!!!!), because I do plan on taking part in all of the New Year's Eve festivities! I must say, however, that the best part of it is that I've managed to convince my lovely Habesha man and my mother to participate with me. My guy says he'll be breaking records. We'll see! My father, well he's another story. He said he'll make sure to let me know if he'll join in. The jury is not so convinced with that response! As I told him this morning, at least we'll have great pictures of the race...with me crashing through the finish line at top speed, and my mom and my guy on a site seeing tour somewhere at the back!
I am over the moon excited about being home for the holidays with my family, and to have them join me in starting (what I hope will be) a New Year's Day tradition for me! How do you plan on bringing in the New Year? How will you act on your commitment to live a healthy lifestyle in 2012? I look forward to hearing all about it!

So until next time...put one foot in front of the other (Dani)...and keep it movin'!

Yours in (motivation) training,

Dani