Nothing like the thought of cold wintery winds to get you out of bed on a Friday, right?

Thank goodness I had a group of friends to keep me from pulling the sheets over my head and calling it quits. We ran a gossip-filled five miles around the National Mall — so much security and construction going on before the inauguration!

No, Miriam did not turn into a ghost, that’s just too much movement and excitement for my camera to handle at once

(Miriam, Leah, and Mercedes: I just realized that we have not got froyo together in too long, and linking to that post from the summer just broke my heart. We need to go to FrozenYo ASAP.)

Anyways,  back on track: A volleyball VICTORY last night!

I’m really loving this league and the friendly-but-competitive vibe of the matches. We play late at night (8-11 p.m.) every Thursday, but it’s so fun I don’t notice how tired I am? Until the next morning of course; i.e., RIGHT NOW.

Back to running again, of course — I came across this Washington Post article about one woman’s discovery of of running as a tool to overcome depression today and found it inspiring. I hope you do, too!

And because it’s Friday, here’s a picture of a donut.

• What motivates you to get out of bed for a run?
• Favorite donut?
• Has running helped you overcome any obstacles?