“Well, scientifically speaking, human beings fear the unknown. So, whatever’s freaking you out, grab it by the balls and say hello.” — Samuel Halpern*   The other night, I had a profound moment of medical clarity, the sort that I’ve found incredibly rare throughout my long and crutch-aided running career. Five minutes after arriving at [...]

Remember the first time you saw an athlete after his playing career had ended, and thought to yourself “Was he always that doughy and tired-looking?” When I was twelve, I sat a few rows behind Ryne Sandberg at a Cubs game. He was there to sing the seventh-inning stretch, and I was there to stare [...]

The pool is a junkyard of maligned runners, an island of misfit toys, a scene from ‘Lord of the Flies’ in which a man clearly out of his element is forced to contend with a new and hostile reality, all-the-while reeking of chlorine and shame. In the interest of avoiding long-term injury, I have willfully [...]