They used to say in martial arts: “Beyond the mountains are mountains”

It was painted as a mural on the back of the building

It seems like since at least 7th grade I’ve been countin’

I remember the way the old Sensei would say it was a little chilling

It was like the 70-something-year-old man knew 

There’d always be more to learn and more to do 

I hung up my blue belt and took up running 

Starting anything new is humbling

But in 3 years I took 12 minutes off my half marathon 

Slivers off my 5k

It turns out there’s always another ponytail to chase 

My high school cross country coach used to yell: “Catch the next ponytail!”

I’d be in a long trail of multicolored uniforms bobbing up and down

Ponytails swayin’

Even in a storm 

My legs burned and my heart churned

As they do again in present day 

Some might say 

What is the point of the chase?

I pay money to run 

It turns out hunting ponytails and running up mountains is fun

Yesterday I finished with just one swaying ponytail left

That woman was like a horse, deft

I’m not sure how many more years of training it’ll take to catch her

It could very well be out of my reach, I conjecture 

The girls behind me are chasing as well

My whole system burns 

After this race there will be another 

With more ponytails of varying colors 

There’s sure to be some faster than me 

I’m sure to be gasping 

But until I find myself collapsing, I’ll keep running 

Over the years I’ve noticed a few strands of gray in some of the ponytails 

But it’s true that love never fails 

We old timers keep showing up 

Like the mountains 

Pushing the limits even harder
Sweating by the gallons 

I, we, love this chase

Something about it lets us look mortality in the face

To flirt with the lactate threshold 

To go for the podium, for gold 

To be the best YOU

Is something that the mountains and ponytails can help you do