A week ago I went on a 13-miler around the streets of Bethlehem. I was running at a decent clip, so imagine my surprise when I still felt good at the end. Too good. 13 miles was my longest run of the week– it’s meant to stretch my limits. And finishing that run didn’t leave me feeling adequately challenged. So I decided that I would kick up this week’s long run. Maybe then I would find satisfactory punishment.

Man, did I ever.

I ran 15 miles through an unshoveled, unplowed Bethlehem. I was lifting my knees as high as I could at first to try to hop over the snow. Then I got tired enough that I was just trudging through it, kicking the 6-inch-deep snow in front of my feet. My hips and quads were… well, have you ever tried to use a rubber band that’s been left in the sun? When it’s dried out and covered with cracks? And when you try to stretch it, it kind of crumbles instead of snapping? Yeah, it was like that.

At the end of a long week of teaching, I found myself sprinting across campus to fulfill my student-teacherly obligations. I had just submitted two forms containing my cooperating teacher’s evaluation of my performance, along with a detailed layout of next week’s lessons. I had to get to another professor’s office so that I could discuss a lesson I could barely remember. My red tie was bouncing on my shoulder, and my knees ached from the cold weather. Had I remembered to give that student all of her homework for the next week so that she could go on vacation? Was I meeting with Nate’s parents on Monday or Tuesday? Holy crap, I had to submit my portfolio soon. Did Dashawn ever give me a note for missing fourth period?

When I got home on a Friday afternoon, I was exhausted. I laid down my bag, untied my tie, and undressed. I struggled with my dress shoes until my feet popped out like a couple of dark corks. Then I pulled on my beat-up running shoes.

My longest run of the week is always on a Friday. After five days in the eighth grade gauntlet, my thoughts are tangled, my body weary, and my emotions running high. To get out on the road for an hour and a half, just me and the elements…

Well, it untangles me. It energizes me. It brings me peace.

Today did not get off to a good start. Thanks to complications with a phone alarm, UPS, and my own forgetfulness, I ended up spending most of the day frantically trying to keep up with my obligations. I’m already feeling a little frayed at the edges; I’ve been running and working a lot, and not sleeping enough.

But today is Thursday, which means Long Run Day in the Turtlerunning world. I went for a slow 15-miler and it cleared my head pretty well. There are few things as purifying as a long, long run. It separates you from the world for an hour (or two, in my case) and links you to a pleasantly uncomplicated level of thinking. For a little while, at least, there is only forward.

And pain, too. Always that.