10 Things I Hate About the Track*

I hate the way you’re super flat
And how it makes me think I’m fleet
I hate the way you make my lungs burn
I hate it when my heart wants to burst at every beat

I hate your long, dumb straightaways
And the way they’re always breezy
I hate you so much it makes me want to quit
It especially makes me wheezy

I hate the way I want to pass everyone else
I hate it when I can’t
I hate that my water sits there and gets so warm
While I trudge around and pant

I hate the way you feel so long
But look so easy and small…
But mostly I hate the way I don’t hate you
Not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all.

*This poem was inspired in equal parts by a less-than-triumphant return to the track this week and, obviously, this pivotal scene of the greatest movie 1999 had to offer. (Also, it takes all the self-control I have to not cry exactly like Kat [around the 1:25 mark] at the end of every track session.)