Bex at midnight after hosting a Christmas dinner party. Tired but happy.

Here are some random photos I've been meaning to post before they got too old. The first is self-explanatory. The second and third are from our casual Christmas dinner party; I thought the house looked especially festive.

Tired legs: My friend, A, and I ran 12 miles today, from the outskirts of Old Town Alexandria to the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Georgetown and back. That's a stinking long way, and the furthest I've ever run. It was a cold day; we both wore skully caps, gloves and fleece jumpers.

Boneheads: And we did it without water. We didn't feel like carrying a big bottle of H20 with us and forgot to stash one on the trail beforehand. At miles 7 and 10, we stopped briefly to stretch our hamstrings and quads, which were starting to rig up - probably because we were getting dehydrated.

We ran at 9:30 a mile, then on mile 11, I tried to finish strong and kicked it hard to the end. A good run.