The Fifth Mile

I had never gone this far before. I started this run with the goal of going as far as I could for as long as I could. My feet, ankles, legs, lungs, and heart were begging for a resprite of the torture I was putting them through. I didn't care. You're going to have the pain sometimes and you just have to get through it the best you can. Athletes say that you have to run through the pain. I don't know what they're talking about. You're always carrying that pain with you as you can't outrun yourself.

Into the fifth mile my body overrode my own stubbornness and stopped me. I don't think there was a place on me or in me that wasn't hurt by this point. I think the pains had melded together. At least at this immobile point I could ponder what I had done.