A Journey to Never Never Land: The Run of a Lifetime

Yesterday was the first day in all 8 years of running that I actually remembered enjoying. When I was twelve years old, my mom forced me to run track, and I've been basically running on and off ever since (whether or not I'm good is still up for debate). I remember hating every second of trying on shoes and practicing and collapsing and being dehydrated. But then recently, I was told by the doctor that I would probably never run again due to the fact that my lower back is comparable with some old folks, which was a huge blow to my psyche. I remember bawling my eyes out in the doctor when I heard the news. I mean, I love running, in that "your relationship does your more harm than good," or "your love is my drug" kind of way. I never was that guy who got the runner's high, but it was a great way to detach from my thoughts and just gallop into the sunset...figuratively speaking.

After finishing up a 2 hour torture session of pathophysiology (a class I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy), I decided to lace up my new shoes and run for a bit. Normally what I've been doing is walking 5 minutes, running 10 and walking 5. Yesterday for some reason my body was seemingly saying, "You should probably run 25 minutes without stopping, and I won't even warn you." So I did, I ran to the other college the town over and around their campus, I waved to people, I got some weird looks, I busted a move. But you know what the great part of it was? God didn't let me feel any pain in my back, NONE. I don't know if it was my endorphins or if my spine just decided to have its discs work again, but I was truly liberated! I was in this Never Never Land of pain free movement, and it was liberating. I circled back and ran to my town and felt invincible.

I am so grateful that I was able to do that again, and now I can say that I have truly experienced this thing called "rest" (yes, even while running). Let me just tell you, beating the odds is great!