Running Home
an excerpt

My feet absorb shock as they land pounding, one step after another. There’s no burn yet, with adrenaline eating up any pain that wants to tattle to my brain. I feel light today, almost as if I am tripping over myself to go forward. I feel fast though. The burn is seeping through my defences. This is what I practice for. This feeling with the pain hitting like a hammer, one strong stroke after another—but continuing right on down as I push through. It hurts to push through. My thighs are burning, my calves want to cramp and my lungs are dry and powdery, despite the liters of water I drank before this meet.