Teacher

One persons life touches thousands of other lives in the time span of one day, and each person usually remains unaware. But once in a great while a person will walk into your life and change everything you know about yourself. They'll change who you are, what you want, and how you think. They'll teach you about important things, like hope, faith, endurance, and love. They will make you want to be better, and they will give you the opportunity to just that. And you'll always know that every goal you set thereafter, every mile marker, every achievement, started with them.
I used to think that I could make my own path, and I still firmly believe this to be true. You fight for what you want, work for it, and you'll receive it. But when given the opportunity to learn and be taught, grab that opportunity and hold onto it.
Without this person, life would be empty; because, when it's all said and done, they have taught us everything we know.
~A.

The Line

I am a runner. I run not only because I love to and want to, but because I need to and have to. Running keeps me sane. There is nothing that can calm my nerves like a heart-pounding, breath-taking, muscle-burning run. My run is something  I control completely. I am in charge of how quickly my feet bounce off the pavement and the depth of my breathe as my lungs scream for air. I decide how long I will run and how fast I will run. The intensity, speed, pace, time, power; those are all my choices. Running is an art. Abstract and beautiful, it is open to interpretation. My interpretation is my run itself. It is the excitement I feel when I start a run. It is the endurance I feel as I push myself to be better. It is the onset of fatigue that starts in my legs and creeps it's way up my body, demanding rest and refuel. Then its the dare to keep going, not to fight through the pain but to accept it, to use it. I let it lay on me and push me. And only when the line between pain and pleasure has been blurred, do I stop.