Running-More than Heel-Toe Heel-Toe

Pull them taught, get in the mode. Make the loops and tie the knot. Stretch the muscles think about the day.  The initial strain starts the melt-away.  Feeling limber, climb into the saloon, the track will be under my feet soon.  Fire up the engine and hear it hum. As I near the drum of my heart takes over.  Jump up and down to loosen up because this body will not stop until it has enough.  Fueled with food and vitamins, but the stress, now that is the stuff!  I feed off the negative "concerns" and that is plenty to get me past the burn.  Press play and night turns into day.  I am a rocket ready to ignite, but good luck seeing me in the shadows of the night.  As a round a corner the music hounds on, but I really do not bother to change the song.  Push, push, push I haven't even begun, before I know it I hear I have completed my run.  I hear congratulations this is the farthest you have gone, but I know tomorrow brings a new dawn.   

When I hear that my journey is complete reality sets in as I begin to feel the heat.  My body aches and the pain is frightening. Who the heck filled my legs with lighting?  As I walk the pain switch has been set from off to on, and the strain of my madness is far from gone.  My shins burn with a fire-like rage, can I really be getting up there in age? I feel like I am trapped and cannot leave the track, but my mind is free from the toils, which make me want to crack.  Two more steps forward and no steps back, onward toward my car and call it a night.  Tomorrow brings another fight.  A fight to deal with all of the turmoil of the new day, but the next run is not that far away.

I have come to learn that every little aspect of life is a gift. I do not enjoy the pain I feel after a run, but I enjoy the energy and other health benefits of the task. No one is out there to judge when your running in circles to your favorite tune.  A comfortable pace is completely up to you.  If I find myself running low on motivation to continue, I think of something I have bottled up inside.  Soon after, an explosion of energy hits my extremities and I begin to glide.  All the nagging and negativity that I hear throughout the day is simply motivation to burn it away.  Some people explode at the drop of a dime; I happen to keep it inside and release it in stride at another juncture in time.  When I come home aching like an old man I am asked if insane and to refrain from pushing myself as hard the next time.  Well, we never know when and if there is going to be a next time; so I give it my all and without this stress relief I would go insane.  I used to deal with stress by coming home and falling asleep, but no longer will I watch optimum health sleep from reach.  We all make choices on how we can live and I choose to take from my body in order to give.  Forgive me for my moments of trying to save face, for now I am trying to make it through life with grace.