For Just One Day

For just one day, I’d like to run like Jackie Joyner-Kersee, swim like Janet Evans and bike like Lance Armstrong. To switch bodies and see what it feels like to be so amazingly athletic. To run with lungs that can accomplish a 4 minute mile. To swim with shoulders that cut through the water like oars. To bike with thighs so strong they can climb hill after hill after hill. To learn to what extent their power is true gift and how much is hard work. To see if what I consider “effort” compares to their ability to drive themselves through discomfort or pain. To experience their mental stamina and focus.

While it would be humbling (and probably depressing) to return to the world of back-packers, maybe I would have learned how to move with better technique or what it is like to truly push myself to the limit.