Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

This morning, during my commute to work, I came across three trees covered in scarlet leaves. I've ridden by these trees every single morning and afternoon since August, but it wasn't until this morning, when the sun just started to rise, pushing away the gray of dawn, that I truly noticed the three trees. I slowed, telling myself to take a picture, but then that other voice, the one that tells me I have to hurry, I have to get to work, I have to finish up student work, yeah, that voice, took hold of my feet and made them pedal on. As soon as I was past, a sadness came over me. I'd let that voice win again. I've been working hard to silence that voice, so I'm not sure why it won out this morning.  This afternoon, as I was sitting in my office, I heard the tell-tale sound of rain against the building roof. I stepped out to see just how hard the rain was falling. Torrents of water rushed off the roof, spilling out into the drive where students were arriving for th...

This week marked the first week of a ten-week training schedule for the mini-tri. I've been running since June and biking since December, but when I went to our first group run on Thursday, I felt like I hadn't been working out at all. The reason--I've been allowing myself to workout at a level that caused no pain, or heavy breathing for that matter. I got so used to running a 12-minute mile and biking an easy 10mph that anything above these put me to the test. I had hoped to complete the training listed for the intermediate level, but I barely finished the easy level. On top of this failure was my having to watch a woman around my age run faster than I could though she took these teeny-tiny steps. I really concentrate on my stride, on keeping my upper body relaxed, and still she easily out-paced me with her teeny-tiny steps. I set my steps to mimic hers, and I was stunned at how much more ground I covered in less time with less effort. I was under the impression that longe...