Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

Last year, during one of the final days of the Northern Tier ride, I sat down with Andrea Wilches, one of the cyclists with the Northern Tier group, and talked at length with her about how the ride impacted her life. Andrea joined the group when we reached Minneapolis, which is where we also enjoyed a rest day. During our stay there, we went to the Minneapolis MS Center to meet those who participated in the programs made possible in part because of the donation given by Bike the US for MS. My memories from that day I’ll always treasure; the people I met, both those with MS as well as those who care for them, the beautiful garden, and witnessing Andrea begin her journey to finding a way to accept that she, too, has MS. Each day until the end of the ride last summer, I was constantly amazed by Andrea’s perseverance. She went into the ride with very little experience cycling long distance, and on the first day of cycling, not being completely comfortable with clipping into her pedals...

I tried. I really did. But after much thought, and though I feel like a complete failure, I've gotta do it. I've got to give up the running. I never enjoyed starting out for a run; I never enjoyed running three or four miles; I never felt like I just couldn't wait for my next run. So as of right now, the old tennis shoes, which haven't even been on my feet for the past month or longer, will only be on my feet for leisure purposes. Though it makes me sad to admit this, I have to to clear the path in front of me: my heart just cannot give itself to putting one foot in front of the other, repeat, repeat, repeat. Whew! I feel so much better now. Trying to be something I'm not, and trying to force myself to become something my whole body rebels against just by the very thought of it, ate away at me for a long, long time. I kept at it, thinking I would find the key to happy running. After all, so many people seem to have found the key and are extremely happy runners. I ...