Yesterday I read a really great post/essay on the message board that Sasha wrote during the summer about the mental aspects of training. If you have not read it yet, you should. It's a great article.
Today's run featured a very signficant conversation with Marsha as we ran along in the moonlight and early dawn. I pushed and devil's advocated her into a conversation regarding faith & religon from whence wisdom flowed from her as if she was in a theological debate. It was one of the most authentic and passionate discussions I've had in a long time. It was nourishing and refreshing. But many things feel significant to me this time of year (when yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang--Sonnet 73, my favorite). My birthday was my father's birthday, a fact I can never overlook. I have to live with both the amazing blessings and ill fate of being his daughter. Even though he has been gone nearly 4 years, I am just beginning to make some sense his life and death, and the impact of both upon me. So getting closer to my birthday, and the quiet dying of the world in November, I am filled with reflection and reminders of his place and presence in my life. His dying left an open road from where his life ended and mine began. Didn't I say I'd start quoting Shakspeare any day now? Don't worry, this only lasts about a week. | 