Personal Narrative: My Anaerobic Run

The alarm clock screamed before the first roasters song, I looked at my watch, “5:30 again” and I murmured to myself. I rolled out of bed and my feet hit the cold tiles of my first college dorm once again. This morning was different though, I felt oddly energetic this morning. My lungs where full and I had already recovered from a very hard work out from the day prior. I did my usual morning routine of getting my running attire, drinking a bottle of water and eating a whole grain bagel. I checked my phone on my way to the gym and an usual amber alert was delivered to my phone, “Atmospheric conditions highly unstable due to a jet stream of pure oxygen passing 1500ft above sea level.” I read the latest report and the oxygen content was just at thirty two percent as of 5:50 am. With no real danger present, other than higher chance of fires, Coach Provence had us do one of our normal
I was in near disbelief my heart rate was at a mild 120 bpm and I felt like I was jogging. Our normal morning pace for an aerobic run is seven minute miles. The four of us where like little children that have never seen snow or just visited the beach for the first time. We started running four minute miles because we could, we ran up hills jumped up over rocks and logs on our normal river trail. We carried on conversations as if we were walking. We were coming to the end of our joyful eight mile run at a blazing time of thirty-seven minutes. This type of speed is on par with world record setters and Olympians. All four of us felt no effects from this run as if we never even left our dorm rooms that morning. Off in the distance I saw a raging tower of smoke and a ominous orange glow coming from the mountains. For all of our fun on that mornings run something are not meant to be. The oxygen levels continued to rise endangering the lives of many and striking the stern realization that oxygen is a double edged sword not to be trifled with on a large