Run Snail Run

Another Year Older.

Tomorrow I turn 47 and another year seems to have whizzed past. I always got told the older you got the quicker the years seem to pass and this year has really flown by. I’ve had some highs and lows, achieved some goals and fallen short on others.

My greatest achievement in 2007 was running the Vegas Santa (Dressed as Santa) on one day and running the Vegas Marathon on the following day dressed as Elvis. This was one of my slower marathons but it was a true turning point in my life. I fought off my introverted tendencies and did something totally insane just for fun. I ran with 200+ of my Elvi brethren stopping along the way for photos with people I never met. God knows how many blogs and face book pages have my photo. IT WAS GREAT!

I really feel I’ve turned a corner a bit in many areas of my life. Work is going well. My public speaking and skills have gotten better thanks to Toastmasters. Recently, I was elected Vice President of my Toastmasters Club – Not to bad for an introvert.

Birthdays are a time for celebration of course, for me I like to take time for reflection and goal setting. As I reflect on the past year the words thankful and blessed come to mind.

I am thankful and blessed to have:

• Friends like the NCR Trails Snails who literally will go the extra mile for me

• Work for a company that values the contribution I make and offers opportunity for growth and personal development. I work with a group of dedicated professionals that makes it worth going to work every day. Sadly, one of my closest confidents is retiring early next week. I wish her all the best but I will miss her dearly.

• My health, I may be a bit beaten up due to my self inflicted torture but overall I am physically strong and feeling good.

• Another year with my parents. God willing I hope to say the same next year.

I will not be doing much celebrating tomorrow due to my upcoming death march – AKA Running with The Devil. I don’t know what I was thinking when I signed up for this 50 mile run through the desert. I need some serious help. Maybe my mother is right --- I need to me to give up this stuff and settle down.
Who knows, maybe the paramedic that comes to my aid after the race could be the girl of my dream, we will fall in love at first sight and stop at a drive through wedding chapel on our way to the hospital. Maybe Elvis will be there too!

Viva!