Yoga Christmas Party

My friend, Angela (the one I ran Dallas Marathon with), and I hosted a Christmas party for some others that we often run with.  Most of the people in the group complete a full marathon or a half-marathon in 2012 and we wanted to celebrate.  There were several people who could not make it but the few that did seemed to enjoy the experience.  For many in our group, yoga was something they had not tried in the past.  Angela and I have both taken classes at Orange Sky Yoga and the instructor/owner Jessa Voos (standing next to me in picture below) is amazing.  

I prefer the type of Christmas party where workout attire is preferred :) I get tired of dressing up for holiday events so this was the perfect party for me.

A Winning Weekend

I would definitely classify last weekend as a winning weekend.  Keenan took first place at his wrestling tournament in Junction City.  Kira's basketball team, 5th Grade Lady Cats, took first place at their basketball tournament in Riley where they beat Clay Center in overtime.  On Sunday, we did the Santa Brunch at our Country Club where the kids were able to visit with Santa and eat so, for Keenan, it doesn't get better than that.  

I do not love my iPhone camera. Sorry for the blurry sports pictures. 

Back from Dallas

As my few followers know, the NYC Marathon was cancelled so I scheduled a make-up marathon in Dallas.  The problem with the Dallas Marathon was that it was more than a month after the NYC marathon which meant more long runs on the weekends. The good thing about the Dallas Marathon is that it happened.  Angela traveled to NYC with me and also to Dallas.  My friend, Tanna, traveled to NYC to run but opted out of the Dallas Marathon.  Angela and I had a very fast and very fun trip to Dallas.  We left on Saturday around 11:00 a.m. flying directly out of Manhattan.  Approximately one hour later we had landed in Dallas and we were at our hotel by 2:00 p.m.  We picked up our race packets, ate dinner with a couple other friends running the race, watched the disappointing Heisman show, then ran on Sunday morning and flew back home after the race on Sunday evening.  

Angela and I on our way to the airport

At the Expo

Very cool decorations in front of the Omni Hotel

There were two others, Bob Stamey and Krista Caffey, that we knew from Manhattan that were also running so we met up with them for dinner and in the lobby of the hotel before the race. 

Pretty lights and holiday decor that we saw on our way to the race start

Angela and I post-race.  

Angela has been such a great training partner.  She is very disciplined and keeps me on track.  We have logged many miles together and I couldn't ask for a better running partner and friend. Thanks Ang!!

I know it sounds silly but I am so glad to have this marathon behind me.  The cancellation of NYC was so disappointing but Angela and I both had a great race in Dallas and we both achieved our best race times yet. It was 26.2 long miles but I completed the race and my goal with a time of 3:50:29 and Angela finished 3:51:42.