Hello Hell, I'm here!

Icey wind blows hard into my bare face making my lips too numb to speak. The head wind is so strong that when it eases up slightly, I almost fall. The incline of the road is steep enough to give drivers hesitation and my thighs burn in agreement. Another car whips past throwing road salt at my body, I cover my face with my arm. Menstrual cramps throb through to my back and hips while stomach cramps scream "why did you have 2 cups of coffee?". This is not Hell, but it feels like it. No this is my 11 mile run.

I finally earned the statement "she has some grit" from a beaming Jesse once back at the warm house stretching. It is amazing how happy my pain seems to have made him. Oddly enough, I feel a little better about running 26.2 miles in Napa after this run!

Needless to say, we didn't run on Christmas day. Something about waking up at 5:30am to screams of "Santa came!" followed my mimosas at 8:30am keeps you from strapping on the pavement pounders (that would be code for my running shoes, my feet hurt so much all the time these days).

This week Jesse has amazingly gotten up to run at 6am to repeat the "Hell Run" several times, perhaps inspired by his new running watch. This magic Christmas gift is a computer you strap to your arm and can do just about anything, except give you mouth to mouth if you have a heart attack! Jess has been so excited about it, he even forgot his ipod for one of the runs; this is love so strong, I might have to get jealous.

The increase in weekly mileage isn't missed, the fatigue and self doubt is strong. I have to remember why I am doing this. Wait...why AM I doing this?!

-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!

www.VivacWinery.com