I want to tell you a story.  Maybe “want” is too soft a word.  Need.  Yes, that’s it.  I need to tell you a tale.  You seem like the kind of person who would understand.  Otherwise I figure you’d be looking out the window.

My story is about the bags under my eyes.  See them?  All puffed and purple, a bloated display of fatigue and weariness?  They’re the kind you get after pulling an all-nighter writing a 15-page paper the morning before it’s due.  Or, in my case, after dancing an evening away with your friends on the heels of the most surreal three days imaginable.  But these aren’t just bags from the last night, or two nights, or even the past week.  These are badges of honor, the likes of which have taken years to earn.  They’ll fade in the next day or two; what they symbolize will last a lifetime.

Let me be completely honest with you: I just had the greatest weekend of my life at Nike Cross Nationals.  And since we’re both on this flight heading out of Oregon back to wherever home may lie, I thought you might be interested in hearing about it.

Let me also give you this disclaimer: You will think my teammates and I are nuts at the end.

Then again, we’re cross country runners.  Was there ever any other option?