Round two

So the marathon is tomorrow, he said.
Well, don't kill yourself, he said.
Don't kill yourself.

I reject this negativity, but it keeps coming and coming.

Crazy runner, in over your head?
Are you really ready?
Confident you can do it?
Well, are ya?

Am I? Hell, yeah!!!

I trained for months upon months,
miles upon miles,
up hills and down mountains.
I ran in the rain and in the freezing cold.
Early in the morning,
I ran from darkness to light.
I ran so far I got lost
and I kept going
and I lost 50 pounds
and I got found
and I lost some old baggage
and I found my way home
and I kept going and going and going.


And he had to say something discouraging.
Don't kill yourself.

Whatever happened to, no regrets?
Whatever happend to, make it special?
Whatever happened to, run for daylight, run like the wind, run for your life.
Give, give, give, give it all you got.

No, he's not a motivator.
He said, don't kill yourself.
As if I cared for bad advice.

Death doesn't even scare me anymore.
Death doesn't have anything to do with this.
Pain? Yes, I'm ready for the pain.
I will dance madly with pain in the rain
until we're both
soaked and dizzy and amazed that we remain on our feet.
Pain reminds me that I am alive, I can feel,
I can dream, I can overcome, I transcend.
I can run forever like a tantric master
lost in the moment, found in the moment,
lost in a moment founded on the foundation
of momentum that you think is crazy
but I shout that
insanity makes life interesting.
Insanity inspires artists to dance along
the ridge of the mountain
this fountain of blood and sweat and passion
pushes me forward so
don't tell me not to kill myself.

Because I believe
death is not the end of the story
I believe
death is not the worst thing that can happen
I believe
we see resurrections every day.

So sometime between the time that gun goes off
and I run across the finish line
I will be empty of everything
except the fire
fueling my desire
to keep on going
keep on running
keep on keeping on
until I finish strong.