Just a blurrrrr. Maureen zips around Lost Lake in her new "skinny clothes."

My dear friend Maureen amazes me.

This New Englander with the wicked-thick crazy accent decided Day One that she was going to use her Iraq time to get in shape. Always a goddess, she just wanted to drop some pounds and feel healthier. With a massive commute, two active kids, and a wicked-good-cook of a husband at home, she just didn't have the time at home in Mass. to dedicate to fitness...we all know how that is. (By the way, her incredible husband is Dave, and she met him on Match.com...the same place where I met my darling Dave. And my girlfriend, Lori, met her "Dave", whose actual name is Joe, on Match, too. So...I recommend giving it a shot. I can slip you some pointers on how to weed out the whackos. haha)

But I digress.

Anyway, Maureen started walking every evening while the rest of her team went to chow, and the weight just started melting off. She has been absolutely religious about her daily walks. A few weeks ago, I decided to join her, and she was talking about how she might start jogging, and suddenly we were trotting around the back side of Lost Lake. That night, she ran a whole mile.

She continued through the soreness, and she is now up to more than two miles of jogging at a moderate clip. Last night, I brought my camera, and I don't know if she was showing off, or what, but that crazy beeyotch broke into a furious sprint at the end of our two-mile route that about blew me away.

You see, as we approach the end of each run, I usually switch things up and pick a new ending point. The finish line is always a "not before" point, meaning she is allowed to run beyond the finish, but she's not allowed to stop before it. If she wants to run further, she is allowed to, in other words. Well, last night, she was like, "OK, Goddess of Pain, where's the finish?" I answered with "The wall or beyond." The wall is what marks the entrance/exit from/to Lost Lake. So, she cursed me under her breath before breaking into a full-bore, 150 yd dash to the wall. It was at that point that I realized, in a very in-your-face way, that Maureen was a sprinter in high school.

Each day, I get to look forward to new feats of athleticism from my friend Maureen, Goddess of Speed and Agility. I have to admit, I am loving it.