The Run

Breathing heavily, with my body aching, I made my way to the foot of the hill. I had been running for some time now, a long time, but aside from a few slight aches and pains, I was feeling confident and making my way along the trails at a brisk pace. The rhythm of my feet meeting with the gravel had put me in a trance, keeping me focused, with the small forest on each side to keep me from straying off course.

Once I made it to the hill though, this comfortable feeling had all but diminished. The ascent was relentless, I had just started and I was already in distress. My knees were quickly diminishing, but I fought on, pushing harder than I ever thought I would have to. What my eyes saw as only a couple hundred feet, my body and mind perceived as a never-ending climb, continuing up into the darkness and out of visibility.

I keep running though, trying to fend off the pain, not to curtail my lifelong journey, not wanting it come to an end at this damn place. Pressing forward, I could see the top, the end of it all, and a smile lit up my face which was previously grimacing in pain. Struggling, I finally stood atop the seemingly undefeatable, and feeling proud of myself for the great accomplishment, I quickly and effortlessly went down the other side.

The pain in my legs, especially in my knees, had subsided, and what was once exhaustion was now euphoria in a feeling of success. I figured that the end was soon, and I was right, for what I saw had nearly stopped me in my tracks. It was another hill, this one about double the size and just as steep, if not even more so. Never being one to give up so easily, especially at something like this, something that I had devoted a great deal of my life to over the past year, I told myself to keep going forward, to deal with all the torment that was to come my way.

I was going to take it step by step, inch by inch and make it up. I was used to dealing with the pain associated with the sport, and with all the others I’ve done before it, but this agonizing sensation seemed to go further than I could bear. Sluggishly hauling my way up, my legs felt as if they were about to fall off. I kept trying to pull myself together, keeping my mind totally concentrated and exerting every single muscle in my body to keep pressing forward.

I took my final few strides and upon reaching the top, I collapsed onto my hands and knees. The pain had overwhelmed me, and my knees had deteriorated. I felt the burn travel throughout my entire body, and I felt on the verge of death, but also relieved for it to be over. Finally mustering up enough strength, I leaned back a little and looked up only to see the rolling hills go on and on and on and on, continuing beyond visibility. I saw that this was only the beginning of what seemed to be a journey that continued on into eternity. I put my head back down, and began staring directly at a pool made up of my own sweat and tears, looking into who and what I used to be, and then I looked up towards the hills, and saw the person that I’d never be.

I couldn’t keep running no matter how hard I tried, for the pain in my knees went beyond that of strained and pulled muscles, and I couldn’t stay in this spot waiting forever. So, I had no choice but to get up and leave all that behind, letting the pool of sweat and tears evaporate and allowing all of my young dreams and aspirations to go with it.