Jackson Horner - Coach, Gentleman and Friend.

Ever have one of those moments when a song you h-a-t-e suddenly pops up and you can't get it out of your head? I did a pretty tough... pretty fast paced hill workout today and during the last half (when I was starting to bonk)... I started hearing two voices running thru my mind... much like one of those songs.

The first was my old SCAHS track coach yelling "Work the hills Mengle -- work the hills!". That was one of Jackson Horner's favorites. And to this day I know he was right in pushing us on those hills... because that is where races are won and lost. Remember last year's Tour? (Forget the mechanical... forget Alberto's bad behavior... the race was "won"... and "lost" on a hill!).

The other voice was Penn State and US Olympic Team track coach Harry Groves... "You can't teach guts!"... as he reminded me many times last summer. For anyone who knows Harry this would of course be one of his less "colorful" quotes. In fact there is a whole website dedicated to Harry and his famous (and unedited) quotes and comments on anything from running to politics.

Anyway... like a blast from the past I could hear both of them like they were right there beside me. And I was thankful I couldn't get their voices out of my head because I found myself standing in the pedals and powering up the hills with renewed vigor and determination. Not wanting to let them down... not wanting to let myself down.

As a runner I owe much of my (moderate) success to both these outstanding and dedicated individuals. And it appears that even though I'm not running much now... and have traded running shoes for rubber tires and gears... they still have much to offer in terms of advice, inspiration and motivation. These could be my two favorite quotes of all time and of course cover much more than running, cycling or getting through a tough workout.

Thanks and Rest in Peace Coach Horner.

"Floating Leaf" - Centre County, PA

Floating Leaf - Centre County, PA

This is another one of my favorites from my "Black & White Period".  At the time I was heavily involved in trying to teach myself the "Zone System" (a system of determining exposure and film development) practiced and perfected by Ansel Adams. 

On late-fall a walk through the woods looking for subjects that would lend themselves well to experimenting with these techniques... I saw this leaf floating on the surface of a slow moving stream. 

I was attracted to the various textures and the range of tones... from a few near white grains of sand here and there to the deep blacks along the corners... all forming a frame for the remains of this decaying leaf.

Shot with a Nikon F2 with 55/3.5 Micro-Nikkor on Tri-x film.