Article in Paper

I seen this article in the Chicago Tribune Sunday paper in the Metro section and right away I thought of Melissa over at My Back Pages and I wanted to put it into my journal today.

It is called: The rhyme and reason of running

(With marathon day dawning O'er the streets of old Chi-town A runner and non-runner Both decided to sit down)  The marathon was on Sunday

To talk about the meaning

Of the long and winding race

Which to the one who didn't run

Seemed like a senseless chase.

"Please tell me," said the non one

"oh please tell me why you run

That huffing and that puffling!

Oh please tell me why that's fun.

"I look at all the joggers

As they trot along the street

And all I think is man oh man

That's murder on their feet

"They're grimaching and grunting

And they're limping like lame ducks

My friend, I have to tell you

Why I think that running......"

The runner took offense then

And he cried, "How wrong you are!"

He laced his new New Balance shoes,

He munched his Balance bar.

He'd loaded up on carbos

And he'd quaffed some Gatorade

He didn't want to hear this whiner

Pout on his parade.

"I run to feel I'm flying."

said the runner: full of glee,

"It's only when I'm running

That I feel I'm really free.

"I know that when I'm jogging

I may look just like a dork.

But thanks to all this exercise

I've trimmed off pounds of pork."

The runner tapped his belly

It was lean and hard as stone

He winked at the non-runner:

"Maybe you could use some tone?"

"Oh, hush," said the non-runner,

"I am not done with my rant."

She finger'd the top button

Of her strangely shrinking pant.

"I used to run the big ones,

Oh yes, I was once like you

I thought that bliss when I was young

Lay in a Nike shoe."

She flet her heart rate rising

Tho she hadn't run an inch

It's true her waist had widened

And her jeans begun to pinch.

She went on:

"Two dozen miles and then some

With my wing-ed feet mid-air

I floated like an angel

As I ran away from care.

"With spurs that pierced my heels

Just like a thousand tiny pins

With toenails that were blackened

And with splinters in my shins.

"My knees were crushed to gravel

And my hamstrings tight as wire

Oh yes I still remember

Running's rush and thrill and fire."

A teardrop filled her eye then

Did she miss her running days?

Oh no! She must resist! She

Must resist the running craze!

She sniffed:

"Your running is not healthy, dude!

You're hooked on runner's high!

You ought to switch to yoga

It's good even for a guy."

The runner gave a chuckle

While he did a runner's stretch

He pitied the non-runner

She was such an old kvetch.

He said:

"You say that I'm addicted but

I'll tell you what I think

An overdose of milage

Is far better than a drink.

"That pounding on the pavement

Sure beats knocking back the booze

It's also a lot cheaper

Even with these pricey shoes.

"I live to run!" he carried on.

"My running keeps me sane!

So what that when I'm sixty-five

I'll hobble with a cane?"

And just like that he sprinted off

And left her in the dirt.

She watched him with a wishful gaze:

She'd miss the race-day shirt.    

I hope one day to be able to run in a marathon but first I have to start walking. LOL I hope you like it Melissa.