The Year in Bad Self-Portraits

Dedicated to Marjon, who takes the best self-portraits in the world.  I still have a long ways to go. But lots of good memories in these shots, as scary as many of them are.  I was going to post a 2011 recap, with "normal" shots, but am feeling particularly lazy, so I leave you with these, instead. 

Snowshoeing with Meissner near Sisters, OR.  The finest in performance sunglasses.  

Reflecting on a lawn after a fun run in the Marin Headlands.  Beautiful run, beautiful day. The next day I would seriously tweak my calf, which would put a damper on the first half of 2011.

Bocce ball fun on the 4th of July. Good times with good friends (and none of us got the least bit competitive....).

Fun in the beer garden at a bike crit in downtown Portland. It took several shots after several beers, to actually get the bikes and me all in the same frame.

A visit to the rose garden with Ma and Pa.  Potentially one of the better self portraits of the year.

Canal touring with Meghan in Amsterdam. Pierre was blocked out by my giant head.  Sorry Pierre!  Wow--just look at how much more area my head takes up than Meghan's.  No wonder self portraits are such a challenge. 

More sightseeing in the Netherlands, this time with Annette. This was the day after the 100K and we were both feeling it. We did manage to get out and see a bit of this cute little town.

Crewing fun at Pine to Palm.  There wasn't much crewing to be done, sadly enough for our runner, but it left us some time to entertain ourselves.  

My sister's first marathon, and my attempt to photo-journal the event.  Luckily Lisa did a better job running, than I did at capturing it.  For a relatively skinny girl, I sure do seem to have a lot of chins. 

Vegas, baby! 

I was so excited to be at the Grand Canyon I couldn't control my expression.

Photographing while running is harder than it looks.   

The GC group leaving Las Vegas. 

Lots to work on in 2012, the least of which are my photography skills.  A lot to look forward to on the running front, as well.  Hopefully another run at the World 100K Championships in April in Italy, another go at Comrades in South Africa, this time going my favorite direction--downhill, Western States, and I hope, UTMB in France in August.  There will be many local races and adventures to round out the calendar, as well, starting off with Orcas Island on Feb 4.  Here's to a healthy and happy 2012.