runner's low

i've heard tell that some people, when they run, experience a euphoria.
i've heard, too, that regular exercise makes one more energetic and alert.

oh, really?

this last week, i have gotten up early every morning and hit the streets with tim. every morning we start out at a brisk walk and end in what he refers to as a "light trot." (i think of it more as butt-shaking, tummy-tightening, sweat-inducing plod.) when we get home, i am red and sweaty, though not gasping for breath (this is good; i'm learning to breathe and not gasp), my limbs feel like they will float away, but my eyelids are heavy. i know i could sleep like the dead. i go on the rest of the day feeling that way, reminded of the morning's debauchery only by the sudden twinges of pain in my hips, calves, and feet.

what gives?
where's the runner's high?

hmph.

cowards (replay)

cowards!
in times of trouble you run off
sighing and fainting
trembling and twitching
at the thought of a woman
who, so like your darkest heart
thrusts herself forward and out of the light
and into the darkness
of what you know and cannot concede

your heroes turn to dust
and you turn to what, my friend?
the lines of some old tale
told on the feigning of a great deed
tender one more line to faith
and cast your dust unseen
your soul burrows deeper
alone at last

9/10/04