I run because I like to get high...

There are days when you feel as if you're laden with some kind of invisible load. What is normally a breeze is a quagmire of fatigue. The stars are severely misaligned.

If you haven't had a day like this, don't fret. It's not a question of if, but when you will experience such a day. The painful truth is that you will likely experience MANY days like this if you run long enough.

This is not to say running is all doom and gloom. There are moments when lightning strikes. There are moments in which all the stars align. These are moments in which you are optimally engaged.

Some call it 'the runner's high'. Sadly, you don't trip the light fantastic every time you lace up. The runner's high doesn't work that way.

It's a fickle high. It's one that sometimes shows up after 15 minutes. Other times, it rolls in after about 45 minutes. Sometimes it just doesn't show up at all.

Then suddenly, it does. Everything clicks. Running feels like flying. You become the personification of running. You lose yourself.

I don't have these moments nearly as often as I would like, but I am not in exclusive company. Most people don't get high every time they run.

But, I will take innumerable days of slogging if periodically I am blessed with a brief whiff of the high that has brought me moments that I can never forget.

I am an addict. I run because I like to get high...