limits

jack wasn’t an easy guy to know. he used to be outgoing and vibrant. back in the glory day he held court at the corner bar with wild stories and a personality that brought the lonely to him like those poor insects to a steel zapper. hover, hover, hover ZAP. he’d scorch them right when they got just a bit too close.

he used to be a champion physical specimen. but at 48 years old he wasn’t quite what he used to be. to admit that would be to admit defeat, and admitting defeat is what the weak do. after two divorces, three children, four jobs and one knee surgery he found himself on an elliptical machine under the fluorescent lights of the cheapest gym he could find. 

lately he hadn’t been able to sleep much, which explains why he was there at 10:18 PM on a wednesday night. just him and the night attendant. there was a third shifter finishing up a weightlifting routine downstairs before heading to work. jack could see him from the balcony where the cardio machines sat like gargoyles. he kinda hated the guy - young, full of energy, ready to go to work and conquer the world afterwards. 

jack was feeling it though. he was going to break a personal record tonight. muscle head jock downstairs didn’t know it, but they were competing. he’d finish a big rep on the bench, jack pushed the pedals on that idiotic half bike half treadmill a bit harder. jack couldn’t run anymore - on account of the knee - and this was all he had. he was determined to finish his five miles in record time. 

muscle dude pounded out another rep - jack upped the incline and the intensity. he was feeling dizzy from the pain, but he was feeling more alive than he had in likely a decade. his legs had an odd burning sensation - not pain, not discomfort, but a thick flowing. he was going to set a personal record.

yes, jack was going to run four miles in 22 minutes tonight. he could feel it. with every turn of those pedals he felt closer to the goal. with every rep his muscle bound enemy pushed out, he pushed forward a bit harder. 

jack hit 4.98 miles, and he felt his heart stab him. 

he laid with his face on the control panel of the elliptical machine until 1:24 AM, when the night attendant stopped facebooking, checked the upstairs, and called the ambulance. 

the paramedics came, picked him up, and drove to the ambulance at the normal speed limit with the sirens off.