Why I felt great here!

I have been following this guy Jason's blog for the last couple months because, well, he is amazing. He has lost 130 LBS and now runs ultra marathon's and yet he still battles daily with food. He is an inspiration of what is possible for me if I stick to what I say I want! So he is having a fun little contest on his blog that is all about finding a photo that you think you look great in, regardless of size or looks and then telling him(you, my readers) why I felt great in that photo.

Well I have a couple photos.

One is of me, coming out of the water after swimming 500 meters in the Triathlon Relay I did last Labor Day. While in general, I do not like bathing suit photos, I love this one because I am doing something athletic, despite my size, with my friends and having a blast. (That is my friend Todd who came to cheer me out of the water after his swim.)I set out to do something that seemed impossible, I learned how to swim, and trained to be able to go the distance and I finished! In 2009, I will be swimming 1000 meters and perhaps in 2010, I will either do the whole thing or do 2 legs of it!

This one is me and my brother when I was about 4 1/2 years old. I have found a few old photos of me as a kid and I love this one for 2 reasons. 1. It is me and my brother appearing to be getting along. Growing up I don't recall many times of getting along with him so it is neat to see us looking like we liked each other back then:-) Secondly, this photo was most likely taken, pre-abuse, and therefore pre-weight gain.

The last one is me running with Coach. I know, I posted this photo a few blog posts back and yes, it is a posed picture taken to show a friend, but regardless of whether this particular moment is posed or not, I can run. I am running. Another thing I never thought I would be able to do, let alone enjoy doing, on some level.