The best part of the marathon

was running up this huge hill, with about three miles left to the end. I became overwhelmingly grief stricken, like my body was saying, "Whhhhhy are you doing this to meeeee, you fucking assssss?!" Actually, that's happened many times while I'm running. My lovely co-worker says that I'm probably accessing unlocked emotion that's stored in little pockets all over my body. I don't know what that's about, but I could barely contain my crying.

My lovely ex-roommate had joined me on the course for the last six miles to provide morale support. She asked if talking was helpful, and I said, "You talk. I'll listen." However, given my volatile emotional state, she could be helpful one moment and the next her words could be unbearable. She asked, "So, how's your writing going?" And I barked, "I CAN'T TALK ABOUT THAT RIGHT NOW," and felt this heavy drop rise from my stomach, headed towards my eyes. She just shrugged, put on her headphones, and kept running.

Then, the best part of the marathon happened. She started telling me about breaking her foot, and how everyone would ask her, "How'd you break your foot?" And, unfortunately, she'd have to tell them that she fell. That's right, she fell.

"How'd you break your foot?"

"I fell."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Then the conversation would end, because the next question would naturally be, "How'd you fall?" And that's already two questions too many.

So, we're running up this huge hill, and I see a lady stopped and gripping her ankle. I ask her if she is okay. She says yes, and then says, "Woahhhh, what happened to your arm?" Folks always ask this about my scarification, and my lovely companions always have to rescue me from the onslaught of questions that follow. "Did it hurt? How did they do it? Why didn't you get a tattoo?"

This time, though, it clicked and I knew exactly what to say.

"I fell."

[Insert, confused look on lady's face, image of geeky runners wearing headbands bouncing off to the finish line, giving each other high fives, and eating piles of frozen yogurt. Journey's "Don't Stop Beleiving" is playing. The sun is shining over a sparkling ocean, on a perfect day in Southern California.]