Andy Smallman

Yesterday, Celeste had something like 10 inches cut from her hair. Apparently, she’s long thought about cutting her hair short, but hadn’t mustered the gumption to do it. When Chloe told her she could donate her hair through the Locks of Love program (and get a free haircut), I think she was pushed over the edge into short haircut bliss. Isn’t she cute?

On a side but very important note, we are all thinking about Paris tonight and sending our warm thoughts to everyone in France.

Laurent Boudeau, seen here in a picture he posted on his Facebook page earlier today, is my inspiration for running. It’s while we were living in France that I started to jog and it’s Laurent who helped me along. Early on, I ran short distances. 15 minutes was a long run. Then I started to stretch it out. 0n 17 April, 2011 Laurent ran the Nantes Marathon. The next day, I went out and ran an hour without stopping for the first time in my life. Seven months later, back in Seattle, I ran my first half marathon, and 12 months after that I ran my first (and only) full marathon.

Meanwhile, Laurent keeps running more full marathons. Last fall, Melinda and I traveled to New York to see him complete the New York Marathon. And today he completed the Marathon des Alpes Maritimes. From what I can tell, this must be one of the most beautiful marathons in the world as you run along the Mediterranean Sea. I had the pleasure of running on what I assume is part of the marathon course when the girls, Melinda and I were in Nice. Here’s a little glimpse of that trip.

Back to running and Laurent being my inspiration… Yesterday, I registered to run the Seattle Half Marathon in three weeks. For well over a year I’ve been dealing with Achilles tendonitis, an injury that’s been preventing me from running more than 5 or 6 miles. But I’ve put together a training plan so if all goes well, I’ll be reporting on my successful 13.1 mile run in 3 weeks.

Thanks, Laurent!