CRAZY!

My friends call me crazy, and you’re welcome to do the same, but the source of my craziness is actually an addiction I just can’t shake. Running, that is my addiction, and the reason my friends call me crazy.
With no particular destination in mind I find great personal satisfaction in lacing up my dirt-covered, tread-worn Asics and hitting the streets. Maybe this, in and of itself, isn’t that crazy, but the fact that I get up at 5:00 in the morning to do it doesn’t earn me many sanity points.
To enhance the craziness I have visions of running a marathon. Such a task is not merely a casual morning’s jog. Every yard of the 26.2 miles of pavement, requires serious focus and determination. Yes, insanity. It even sounds insane to me and yet I can’t shake the incredible desire to conquer the carnal woman inside of me by accomplishing that which seems unattainable. I’ve heard it said that the first man to ever undertake such a feat died shortly thereafter.
Fortunately for me, I know several people who have battled the distance and come out victorious. Some of them have even spoken great things of their experience. “Is it Human?” I ask. “No” They reply with tight lips, “God did not create man for this purpose, but He did give him determination, which is the drive behind it all.”
Though running a marathon is probably not the first item on many new-years resolutions lists, this year I have added it to mine. The simple fact is, I want to be inhuman. There is something about running that gives me a complete sense of power and excitement. A runner’s high, is what they call it.
So, in order to test my abilities I decided to enter the Provo River 10 mile trail run this last weekend. Sure, I was pretty nervous. After all, if I died on this attempt, my plans to run a marathon would be seriously thwarted, but on the other hand, if I did well, maybe I'd be inspired to push the marathon idea.
The morning of the race came. I was fighting that early morning nausea (due to extreme lack of sleep) combined with an anxious adrenaline that only the crazy can understand. As the bus took us up Provo Canyon, it passed all of the familiar bends and turns that I have memorized through the years of my childhood.
My heart skipped a beat, however, when the bus whizzed past the spot that I had envisioned to be the starting point of the run. Up up up, the bus continued past one familiar park, on to the next and then even past that! The bends didn't look so familiar all of the sudden, as the hole in my stomach deepened.
"I am going to die" I thought as the bus finally eased around the last corner. We all filed out of the crayon yellow box of a bus into the chilly mountainous air. "Yep, this will be the last day of my pathetic life, but I am not going to go without a fight!" The gun fired and I set off toward the finish line 10 miles away.
I was surprised how fast the first 5 miles went. Besides the fact that they were all down hill, they were in the shade too. My stomach finally relaxed as the territory became more familiar and I knew I would be okay. "Just keep on putting' one foot in front of the other" I kept in time to the music blaring on my MP3 player.
The sun came up over the mountain peak and I began to slow down a bit. Heat is what really kills me but I figured that if I could run in the heat of Vegas, this should be nothing right? I kept on, constant and steady.
The trick to distance running is keeping a pace you can stick to the whole time, not letting up when things get too hot or when the path starts ascending or when you accidentally inhale a bug. I rounded the last corner of the canyon and started down toward the River Woods shops. By this time it was really getting hot and my umph was starting to let up, but the finish line was so close!
I stopped to stretch for a second, just to get my wind back for the last bit of the race. I had been going strong and could afford a 30 second pit stop. I didn't want to walk at all.
Back on track I strained the last mile and crossed triumphant in my own glory, pausing under the sprinkler to celebrate. I had made it! I had conquered my inner woman and in better time then I had predicted! I was content.

Next stop, 1/2 marathon, and then well........ to infinity and beyond!!