I've Been Working on the Railroad

I found out this past week that a student of mine from last year developed Hodgkin's lymphoma. Why do bad things happen to awesome people? I called him as soon as I found out about his cancer, and I will visit him next week. It's too rotten for words that a fifteen-year-old should have to deal with something like this. Sigh.

On Saturday, there was a little bit of sun in the morning, and our run in Golden Gate Park aligned nicely with this moment of calm. We ran from MacLaren Lodge down past the bison enclosure (I use that as the reference point as it is Nate's favorite sight in the park). I'm practically impossible to pick out in this photo, but you can get a sense of how humongous our team is this season.



This morning, the alumni group biked from the Presido Sports Basement out to Fort Cronkite. Wow! It was my first time biking over the Golden Gate Bridge. I know it's no big deal, but when we first got out over the water, I kept thinking, "Yikes! People jump off this baby to end their lives and here we are willingly putting ourselves in the wind right on the edge!" Of course, that aside, it is breathtakingly beautiful. Speaking of beautiful, the weather was really nice on the way out and when we turned around at Rodeo Beach, it promptly began to sprinkle, then rain, then downpour. Ah, yes, let the season begin. I'm adding one photo from last season to show how sad my bike was with its old Bontrager tires and another to show how happy my bike looked today, even in the rain, with the new Michelin Pros on...I think it likes the baby blue color :0)



Sorry, Lisa, that you are making a weird face in the photo.



I wrote a poem about triathlons at this River of Words workshop I went to this week, but I am feeling too shy to post it. I will try to muster some courage and see what I can do...

Oh yeah, what did I but with my 20% off coupon to the Sports Basement today? Drumroll, please! A hot pink, all-carbon Trek tri bike! Haha, I don't think that even exists. I got some Castelli booties to cut down on the ice cube toes factor and some delicious, nutritious Clif Shotbloks in Cran-Razz flavor, to be precise.