Happy New Year!  A new year is always a chance to reflect upon the past year and dream up goodness for the one to come.  A good friend of mine found sadness at the end of their year.  This surprised me.  I gave them my perception of their year.  I wrote down all the highs and lows that I could remember and presented it to them- as you can imagine, the ups significantly out weighed the downs.  We are always and forever our own harshest critic.

I too had a roller year, but at the end of it I look back as someone other than myself.  In other words, someone not so critical and snarky.  By GOLLY!  I had a great year!  It all depends on how you look at it.  If we try to keep it to running, I ran my largest mileage year- 3,810 miles.  I completed two marathons, went to Nationals XC, performed well in two 5Ks, two half marathons, two 10Ks, and tied my PR in the mile.  I was a LuLu ambassador for the third time and got featured in The Wall Street Journal.  Sure, I suffered set backs through iron issues, but I have learned better how to prevent them and I made training adjustments to keep myself healthy otherwise.

Did I get what I wanted in 2012?  Of course not!  What if anything is a satisfied runner?  But I got what I needed.  For me it was a year of personal growth- not just in running, but yes like so many things in my life- through running.

When I was a teenager, my father encouraged me, “You can be anything you want in life if you would just put as much energy into it as you do running.”

Ahhhhhh, the rub.  I just spent another year doing exactly what I love.

“What do you really want to do this next year Drea?”

“Me?” I ask with some confusion like the sound of a Duh, “I just want to run.”

Instead of looking back at a year that hovered around personal bests, but not betters and weeks of frustrating performances- I see a year that truly built upon my perspective.  It’s been growing in there for a while, but like all changes, the ones that take the longest to transpire are the ones that are usually more permanent.  Can you smell the maturity?  No not that smell, that’s the garlic.  It’s been a nice Christmas.  OK you can’t smell it.  Can you see it?  NO!?

Well, I’m still a work in progress.  Aren’t we all darling!  It takes a lifetime to become your person.  We can’t all start out way ahead like that sweet mouse over there!  SNIFF!  Forgive me, I’m feeling overly emotional these past few days.

Les Miserables has crept into our house- and TAKEN OVER!  How many times do I have to cry?  I haven’t even seen the movie yet!  That’s later today.  I saw the production live three times (Houston, New York, London).  The story has been pumping through song in our house for three days now.

New Years’ Eve, the kids starred with concern as they watched their parents cry over steak and mushrooms while Fantine belted about broken dreams.  Happy New Year my darlings!  Whahhhaaaaa!

Naturally we had to rent the live concert that celebrated 25 years of miserable beauty and passionate song with all the performers who ever walked the main stage.  Breath taking!  More tears.  My eyes look like I’m eating salted cheerios in pickle juice- two puffy bags with wandering globes that blink, I think.  It must stop.

But before it does- check this out.  A young man named Ramin Karimloo who will now play the role of Jean Valjean in London’s West End, started mentoring the production at the young age of 14.  Talented and dreaming, he told his parents perhaps not in these words, but play along….

“Mom, Dad, I’m dropping out of high school to go sing on cruise ships because one day I’m going to be the phantom in The Phantom of the Oprah.”

GULP.  Ramin, you are going to do what?

But then he did.  He did not just dream- he chased.  At the age of 29, he became the youngest performer ever to play the role of the Phantom.  Ramin performed in that 25th anniversary live concert that has now been played TWICE in my house and yes….SNIFF!

So keep dreaming!  And of course CHASE ON!

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