the benefit

It is not the mythical, may-be-a-figment runner's high: my weeknight miles aren't long enough for the endorphin flow. But each pound of the pavement seems to shake loose another care of the day until all I can do is breathe and wipe the sweat from my face as I bargain myself up and down the hills. As I race the sunset into the driveway, my shoulders slump: there's no tension left to hold them tight. It'll creep back in, even as I loosen my laces and look towards tomorrow, but for a while there, I do forget.