Dear Yaktrax, When we first met, I was a little bit intimidated you. You have a brusque exterior, and seemed a bit tough to get to know. What I soon realized though, is that toughness is mighty handy in slippery situations. I have to admit that while I had often wondered about you, I really [...]

I arrived at school this morning and the front stairwell (I teach on a stage with three entrances and three sets of stairs) was illuminating a lovely poinsettia plant! The card said: Meredith – Thank you for the holiday cheer you have spread through the school and community this season. — I recognized the handwriting [...]

This morning when the alarm heralded 5:15 (o’ dark early) a.m., rather than just blindly setting the alarm for another 30 minutes, I actually got up out of bed, and located all of my running gear. That was no small feat since the house has been cleaned, and re-messed, and re-cleaned several times since the [...]

Last night was the Holiday Concert for my 6th grade band, my Wind Ensemble (fancy name for the 7th and 8th grade band), and the Community Band that I also direct. It was a great concert, even if it had a rocky start because the bleachers didn’t get pulled out, which meant that my musicians [...]

I just learned from one of my SparkPeople friends about an AMAZING event coming up next week. It is a FREE teleconference put on by the International Association of Women Runners (IAWR), and JEFF GALLOWAY is the keynote speaker. There are so many different speakers/sessions, and most of them are scheduled during lunch breaks (12 [...]

I am so disappointed. I ran yesterday. It was great! It was slow, and I needed to take breaks fairly often, because WOW it hardly takes any time at all to lose your endurance and strength — especially for a newbie runner like me! It felt so great to be running again! BUT—– as soon [...]

A person that over analyzes things to begin with being forced to rest to recover is never a good thing. I find myself worrying about getting re-injured if I try to run again too soon. Then I find myself worrying about how well I will be able to run — or *if* I will be [...]

Oh my word. I had such grand hopes when I started this project! “I will become a daily blogger,” I said to myself. Yeah. Right. That’s worked out well, hasn’t it? Which brings me to things I am thankful for number 13. Humor. I love dry, almost sarcastic, but not quite, humor. I love picking [...]