what I talk about when I talk about running

The title of this post is the english translation of the title of a book by H. Murakami (one of my favourite writers).
I haven't read the book yet, since I feel like I will allow myself to read it when I will have many more hours of running in my log.
But that doesn't mean I can't have my own feelings about this powerful activity, so here we go.
I find it liberating.
It's probably the closest a human being can get to the sensation of flying like a bird.
At first I always struggle, I don't pant (especially when I'm fit), but each and every time that I take those first steps after lacing up the shoes I wonder why I'm doing it. I almost always regret running for the first couple of minutes.
I think about the long distance that I have to cover and I start immediately to find excuses to shorten it.
My running shoes are old and they are actually hurting my feet, or my back's not 100%, or I should try and be back home earlier to attend to that chore....
The number of times my feet go forward one in front of the other corresponds to the number of times I think about quitting and walk back home.
But then it gets easier.
Slowly the breathing finds its rhythm, the legs feel lighter, the surroundings don't look boring anymore and I begin to think that maybe I can make it till that street crossing over there.
When I reach the street crossing I don't feel too bad so maybe I can try and go a little bit further, not much, just the school at the corner, just to see if I can make it.
And then I reach the school and I actually feel good and think maybe I can run a bit more, who knows, maybe I can match the distance I did yesterday, let's see.
And on I go.
And when I finally get back home, already sore and breathless, the sense of accomplishment puts me on a fantastic mood.
I didn't do much, I just run for an hour, but I feel like I've conquered some never before reached limit and beyond, I feel like if I can do this there's nothing I cannot do.
And I swear to myself that tomorrow I will do it again and maybe I'll try and go a little bit further away.
We're now training hard for the Everest Base Camp.
I know, I know, it's supposed to be a stroll in the park, just maybe a few hours trekking uphill (although "uphill" may be the understatement of the century since we'r talking about the roof of the world!!!), technically very easy and last year an 84 year old woman did it so why can't I?
Yeah, let's have a look at things in a slightly different way.
At 5000 m above sea level, the level of oxygen is 50% of what we are used to.
This makes any of your steps feel like a 10 minutes run.
Anyone who suffered from acute mountain sickness knows what I'm talking about.
The headache, the breathlessness, the feeling that even covering the distance of 10 metres is absolutely impossible.
That's why we are training, and I know that AMS has got nothing to do with your level of fitness but if you're preparing for trekking to Everest Base Camp and it's been the dream of your lifetime you feel like you have to do something.
At least if I fail I will know it's not because I'm not fit!