It's that time of year again. Fall will soon be here (hard as that is to imagine when it's 100 degrees outside) and training programs for the AT&T Marathon and Half Marathon in Austin will be starting. There will be hordes of runners on Town Lake on the weekends. From the perspective of "health", it's great to see people out exercising. Unfortunately, this time of year also brings with it a plethora of running injuries.

Since that's the case, this is the first of a three part series on running injuries.

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Here I am … standing on the side of the road less traveled. I am a little weathered and there might even be some rust around the edges. There have been a lot of miles on this trip. Suffice it to say, the odometer has rolled over a number of times - or so it feels at times. The message on the sign says to go forward and explore, to live each day to the fullest, to exist in full color. It’s just a sign … one step on a journey of a thousand miles …

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It seems like everyone is talking about "it" - performance enhancement - these days. Whether it's Barry Bonds breaking the 755 home run record - or the multiple positive doping tests in this year's Tour de France - or even going back to Ben Johnson's 100m performance in the 1988 Summer Olympics - the topic of "performance enhancement" swirls about our culture.

When sport performance equates to dollars and cents, then there are always the questions of "how to do it - and if it's not legal, how to do it without getting caught". It is pervasive in our culture - and it's not just the athletes and coaches in whom this exists.

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Living in Austin, we are very fortunate to have an extensive network of trails and greenbelts that traverse the city and surrounding area. This allows us to be in the city - but not.

I decided to run on the Greenbelt this morning. It was an overcast and humid start to the day, and traffic, as always, was a tad ridiculous. But within minutes, I was stepping foot onto the Greenbelt - and it was like walking away from the world as I know it.

The Gaines entry point starts out at the roadway, but within a few feet, you’re on a narrow path leading you into - tranquility. The only sound is my breathing, my footstrikes, the occasional bird, a rustle here and there … and little more than that. As springtime is upon us, everything is slowly becoming “green” again. The trail is alive - and yet oh so quiet. Tranquility is upon me as I run hard through the trees, feeling the exhilaration of effort - and solitude - and peace of mind.

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