...because I can by BBluvs2run

Have you been there?  After a rest day, all ramped up and ready to go for your long run?  Getting your gear ready - reset the heart rate monitor, got your iPod charged, apply the chapstik, stretch....

....and off you go happy as all get out to be on your run, clocking along just fine....then 3/4 of the way in things start to really bite, the whining starts in my head, every little ache and pain is announcing it's presence on loudspeaker, the "I can'ts" invade, I'm drowning in self-doubt and questioning my own mental stability for even owning a pair of running shoes.  Me and myself argue over why the heck I am doing this....but I plod along with, I am sure, an ugly pinched look on my face.....

The cyclists fly past me and I long for my bike.  L-O-N-G for my bike, I tell you!  Why am I not riding my bike?  Why the heck am I putting myself through this agony and the injuries?  After I am done suffering on this run, I will have to go home and suffer more when I shove my entire foot into a bucket of ice.  Why?  Why?

Why?  Because we can.

Somehow, you come full circle, find yourself again, tighten up your form, find your stride and finish your long run, stop your heart rate monitor....get your stats.....and the whole time you are cooling down and stretching you can't help but smile. 

Ahhhhh....what a great run.  Today I completed my first 10.5 miles.  I thought I did terrible with my time, but was euphoric to discover I was right on track.  9.3min/mi.  I am not fast.  And even though the demons can get loud, I will finish what I start.