Dear Jimmy

Well, after a year and 4 months, I've come to the conclusion that ice cream and cookies aren't a very good substitute for your phone calls. All I've gotten out of the deal is 15 extra pounds on my 5'2" frame. I'm beginning to resemble my Italian heritage!

I read a really funny book called "The Nonrunner's Marathon Guide for Women: Get Off Your Butt and On with Your Training" by Dawn Dais. It was hysterical and motivated me to, well, get off my butt and get on with my training! I've tried to get other people to run a marathon with me, including your wife, but they all sort of politely blow me off. So I guess it's just you and me bro. Strap on those running shoes, because we're going to do the Rochester half-marathon this September and then we're going to try and get a spot in the Disney marathon. That's 26.2 miles - I certainly hope you're up to it. Lord knows, I'm going to need your support as my natural state is lazy-ass. You'll remember that my "sport" of choice in high school was cheerleading. And that was when the word was literal - leading cheers. None of this back flip, jump from the top of a ten-person pyramid shit.

I picked the Disney marathon for us because the metal is totally cool - it's of Mickey Mouse. Doesn't that just seem like a metal we'd want? I can see us now: "Yeah, we're bad asses. We ran a MARATHON! Here's our Mickey Mouse metal to prove it!" as we laugh about how funny the Mickey metal is. Plus that's the one I was trying to talk you into training for before you got sick. You had what I thought was an excuse about being too tired. I'm sorry that I didn't realize it was more than just having a brand new baby. Kirsten is going to design me a T-shirt with your MyFaceBig on it to run in.

Mom bought me a new MP3 player for Christmas for us to listen to as we run an insane amount of miles. I put some Pearl Jam, Linkin' Park, and Nickelback on it. Probably not your favorites, but Mark says he believes the "angst" music helps me run out my anger. (And I'm still pretty angry.) But don't worry, I've got some pop-y stuff on there for you too - Katy Perry's Hot and Cold, The Racontours' Steady as She Goes, and Fergie's Glamorous. Oh and the Dixie Chicks! "Jude - who the hell is this???" :-)

I'm already up to 5.5 miles and can run/jog 72 minutes without my lungs or legs exploding, so if you need to hang back a bit to catch up to me it's okay. Just float along side and keep me company. You can chat at me - I don't mind. My thoughts are usually filled with you when I run anyways. It'd be nice to hear your voice.

I miss you lots and lots.
Love - Jude