Andrea’s friend Karla is visiting us this weekend. Karla lives in Denver, Colorado where the temperature is near absolute zero right now. So, today she HAD to go running on our warm California beach. Andrea, being pregnant, obviously could not run with her. So, I was recruited to run with her and I willingly agreed. That was before I saw that it was raining icicles at our “warm” California beach.

As we got out of the car, raindrops began to fall. We ran through the dry sand towards firmer sand along the water line. Snowgirl didn’t seem bothered by the deluge of subzero rain that was cascading on the beach as we trudged along through wet sand. About 3 minutes into the run, it began to pour. Hair product began dripping into my eyes and my clothes began to stick to my body. My legs began to tighten up as I tried to keep up with Mountain Girl. As she reveled in more oxygen than she’s had in years, I tried to calculate a way to get out of this Arctic wind. I appealed to whatever good sense Karla has in her by asking if we could cut down our 30 minute run to 20 minutes.

She agreed, and in a few minutes it was time to turn back. We headed back towards the car and I started to play mind games to distract me from the numbing pain and cold that had taken over my body. The Snow Queen started running zig zags back and forth in front of me so I could keep up with her. Finally, I spotted the point where we had started. She decided to keep going and I left the Winter Woman to finish her run alone.

I made it back to the warmth of my car to find Andrea all warm and toasty sitting in the car waiting for us. She laughed as she saw me looking like a wet dog. As I got into the car, I told her:

“You Colorado women are crazy.”