this is what I had learned—the screaming in my head could be reduced to faint hissing. All I had to do was remember why I was here, what I wanted—how bad I had wanted it. I had faced difficulties before. You work through them. The lung-burning climbs and quad-pounding descents? A small price to pay for entry into the promised land I had dreamt about. Part of me felt the scalding air. Part of me didn’t care. Part of me winced at each painful, jolting step. Part of me didn’t care. I was running toward that region where my body couldn’t go on, to see if I could will it to do so. It was exactly
...more
