Earth,Wind and Fire (in my lungs)

I decided to terrify the wildlife by going for a run this morning. The state park where I inflict this terror is a bit west of the city and elevated enough to be cool (even in July) early in the morning. Low clouds and light drizzle made it cooler still and it was downright chilly at first in my running togs. I had the place to myself.

The first mile from the car park to the campground seems easy enough but it is cunning and patient. It whispers to me.

"Yeah...g'wan there now and burn it up going downhill at first....you'll learn."

A Captain's Guard of old growth flanks the dirt trail. Their boughs interlocking and forming a verdant canopy above me. Like old friends grasping each other by their arms they offer me shelter in their ancient greeting. I pound down the path with the all the tact and grace of a 1970s Cylon. The forest empties ahead of me.

Just before the campground the terrain tilts very definitely upwards and the rain comes downwards with equal certainty. The broad ,deciduous leaves continue their generous protection and very little of the rain reaches me. A single, fat drop strikes the inside of my wrist and a silver sliver of sensation arcs across to my spine and shivers its way to my brain. I am alive now.

A brief levelling-off through the campsite allows me to lift the head and pull back on the shoulders. My breathing is getting laboured and I need to look up and breathe properly. The path now becomes a glorified coyote trail and the footing is getting treacherous. A dendritic maze of rills and streamlets break off a swift flowing creek and forces me to jump from rock to rock for a bit before acquiring the path again.

I'm well into the second mile now and the path goes near vertical for a while. This isn't running. It's climbing at a high rate of knots and it's pure murder. The trees are doing me a kindness by keeping the rain off but I'm soaked in my own sweat anyway. I pass the point where I wanted to lie down and wait for Death last week . I don't feel like that now (give me five minutes) so I mark it as progress and plod on.

My lungs are on fire and my heart wants to batter it's way out of my chest but my legs are better today. I keep going. A short plateau before the final gentle climb brings my heart rate down reassuringly quickly and I lope along sucking in great,grateful lungfuls of the cool,misty air. I guess I still have those long lungs. The trees start to thin out near the summit and I emerge into an Alpine meadow that would have a spectacular view if it wasn't shrouded in a cloud. I am elated. An easterly breeze is pushing the cloud cover up the hill behind me and random zephyrs boom around my ears like a drunk opening drawers and trying to be quiet about it.

I begin the last mile. It's all downhill from here and contrary to the end I find it to be the hardest part of the run. A momentary loss of concentration here on the mist-slicked grass could have you tumbling down that hill. The constant 'braking' is hard going and my thighs are getting to the point my lungs were earlier. It wouldn't take much to do yourself a mischief here and it might be days before someone would find you. Or what was left of you after the bears were finished.

Eventually the trail loops back to my starting point. I climb a stile and am deposited back at the Captain's Guard. I slow down now to a sort of determined trudge for the last 1/4 mile back to the car park. I emerge from the cover and the meek, dove coloured clouds seem almost apologetic for releasing their payloads upon me.

I turn my face to the sky and smile.