Vessels

I'm heading into month 4 of the rebirth of my running habit. It feels absolutely terrific. I'm back into the routine of doing my long run on weekends.
Today I went for 35 minutes, which is still nothing compared to where I once was, but it's a hell of a lot better than I was 4 months ago. Here's the thing about running in general, but about the long run in particular.
Running exercises the mind far more than it exercises the body. The mind is prone to seeking pleasure, and avoiding pain. This is obviously a good system to operate under most of the time, but there are times when it's counter-productive.
For example: Eating candy and nothing but candy is really pleasant. But in the long run it can be extremely harmful. Shooting heroin probably feels pretty good...you get the picture.
Running does not feel good. Not initially. It's the results of running, and the after effects of running that feel good. Running itself is painful. This is part of why it's such great exercise for the mind.
The mind feels the pain of running in the first few minutes after you set off. Its survival mechanisms sense that it's burning more energy than necessary, causing undue pain, and it instructs your muscles, your heart and your lungs to send you stressful warning signals. The mind begs you to stop, and it does so a thousand different ways, until it gets the response it wants. It speaks to you in your own voice.
"You can always do this tomorrow."
"5 minutes is probably good for today"
"missing one day isn't going to hurt."
And it doesn't take no for an answer. It comes back again and again because its mandate is to avoid pain, conserve energy.
The runner learns to overcome this inner voice. And in so doing the runner learns that inner voices can often be wrong. The runner exercises his willpower when he rejects his own counter-productivity and pushes forward.
Today I rejected my brain's entreaties to stop for the longest time that I have done so in ages and it felt great.
Afterwards I had something that exceeded a runner's high. I had this awesome sensation of blood rushing through my blood vessels. I could feel my blood moving in a torrent, through my arms and legs. It was the wildest feeling, like I was lined with surgical tubing and somebody had attached a jet of water to it.
I was going somewhere with this, but I'm tired now, so I'll pursue it later.