I think I’ll head right to the big news first since this announcement is already overdue!! It’s official, folks!! I’ve been invited to once again participate as an official Race Ambassador for the Cleveland Marathon 2016, which invitation I promptly accepted!! I am very humbled and honored at this invitation and already have my suite booked at the Hyatt downtown!
I am also so excited to once again be a part of this race – a part of my hometown pride – AND to be a part of a group that has some really amazing and incredible runners who have become my friends over the last year. (In case you want to know more about the other Ambassadors, you can check them out HERE.)
Here’s a couple of pictures of the 2015 Race Ambassadors from last year – one at the Marathon Reception – and the other at the start of the 2015 Cleveland Marathon:
The Cleveland Marathon has expanded the race series for 2016 and it will include several different challenges. After looking over the different possibilities, I have decided to commit to running the 8k/Half Marathon series for 2016! This piece of information is a perfect segue into my next sentence:
Training has officially now become my immediate priority. I have been putting it off for reasons unknown to me other than sloth. I’ve been doing some inconsistent running, but I should have started real training last month. The fact is that I’m now a month behind, so it’s time to get myself in gear and jump on the training wagon.
In other news, I made a quick weekend trip to Cleveland on January 8-11, 2016, which turned out to be the perfect weekend to go since the Cleveland Marathon had its Kick Off Run at Fleet Feet Sports in Pepper Pike on Saturday, January 9. I was lucky enough to have a chance to stop by and visit with a few fellow ambassadors and race organizer folks, but I had to dash since I had 2 front row tickets and had to head downtown to the Q and see Disney on Ice’s 100 Years of Magic on a date with my grandson! A grandmother’s dream come true, that’s for sure!
I’ve decided to chalk up the first part of January to my practice month for the new year and I’m going to start 2016 over again now! I saw this posted on Facebook and I have to say to some extent I agree, but I’m not going to wait until February 1, I’m going to get busy and keep on a training schedule officially today. Obviously as my training progresses, I will continue to post and keep everyone up to date (and keep myself accountable)!
While I do have a few more book reviews to do for the group that awarded me a MacBook Pro 15, I will be shifting my posts toward my training so be sure to check back over the next few months to see how it progresses.
You can sign up for the 2016 Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K, 8K, 5K, or if you dare, you can sign up for one of the Race Challenges HERE! There are divisions for walkers too, so if you want, you can sign up to walk the 10K, the Half Marathon or even the full Marathon! Either way, register and make the commitment, and then get started with your training.
In the meantime, I’d love to hear if any of you have a hard time staying focused on your training? What do you do to stay on track?
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