Musings of the Swift-Footed Poet

"If anyone should ask why, of all trades or occupations, did I choose philosophy, there is but one reply – to better understand why our tortured lot of humanity is made to suffer – and over the years my hunch has changed from one of injustice to one of desert. Running is an anesthetic to these incongruities but more oft...en than not, if performed in a vacuum, an exacerbating factor."

"Today I celebrated a run, the last of its kind, until quite some time. A 4.5 mile loop, really just around the block, but for me, the world. Sunkissed by an effervescent glow through leafy branches, saying hello to my good boy German Shephard, and collecting peace like miles reward on this green boulevard."


"Like a phoenix from the ashes, I have risen, from the depths have I emerged. Now, the canyons are dark, and the trails are lovely, sun-baked, and deep, but I've got miles to run and promises to keep."

"As certain races get closer, there's always this feeling, this fear, that maybe it's not everything we crack it up to be. I ask, is this it, is this what I've become? And usually, if I'm being honest with myself, the truth is that I've just gotten really good at passing time."

"Allow yourself to dream, for even if you can't be one of them, as this philosopher will tell you, the spirit of running has no official proprietor. The act itself is participation in an art form whose essence touches us all."

"To thee I offer up this elegy, amidst the trials my body now endures. For years have I sojourned to that fateful site, when on the 15th of April, 2004, victory was first achieved, eclipsing, if you will, a virgin streak. A lot has changed in six years hence, but in many ways I'm still that rabid, zealous runner bidding for the lead on old Bayshore Drive. In sleep have I pictured those glory days of yonder, in training have I paid dues to its bittersweet nostalgia. Sure enough, come this Thursday the course will be decked out in its race-day best and mine the lot to envy.Twice defending champion and now broken by a wayward knee, I'll be thinking of thee, as an absentee, but somewhere down the road, behind the motorcade, on a warm, crisp spring day, the prize will I reclaim."

"We all have our reasons, you know. As youngsters, we'd embark on a furious pace and throw caution to the wind, making our bed on the inside of lane one. But at some point the main hunt becomes more important than chasing the runaway rabbit, and the sun begins to rise in a not-so-Neverland. Older is better, I say, especially when you're traveling through greener pastures."

"You triumph over the adversity, that's what running is all about, and therefore you know there isn't anything in life you can't triumph over after that." K. Switzer