Luther's Run

Never willing to give in, Luther had been a fiery athlete in his scholarly years. He could run five thousand meters in fifteen minutes at one time. Now, he could run ten thousand meters in sixty. What had happened?
This thought was going through Luther’s head as he trotted along the lake. His competitive spirit persisted, but his body had given out. Rejected by the University of Wisconsin Men’s Cross-Country team, he fell into a deep despair. He had been one of his high school’s top three runners throughout his four years. And now he wasn’t even good enough to make the team. So, he stopped running. He didn’t think about the future. He didn’t think about making the team next year.
As a freshman in college, Luther welcomed all the corruptions a higher education affords. Where he might have gone out and gotten drunk a total of four nights in four years of high school, he would have gone out and gotten drunk no less than 300 times in his four years at Wisconsin. Needless to say, his days of running like an Olympian were over—for now.
Once he left Wisconsin, he took a good look at himself. What he saw was someone who had permanent bags under his eyes. He saw someone with a less than slender midsection. He saw someone with a stupid haircut. He saw someone who wore ugly clothes. He saw someone who had tasted what the world had to offer, and was no better for it.
Luther’s cell phone buzzed at 9:39 AM. He felt it on his left thigh, slowed considerably, grabbed it, flipped it open, and said:
“Hi, Mom.”
“Hi Lu, did you remember to turn your clocks forward?”
“No, but thank you for telling me.”
“Are you alright? You sound terrible.”
“I’m exhausted.”
“Well you should get to bed!”
“I just woke up.”
“You are impossible. Why did you wake up if you were going to be exhausted right away?”
“I’m exhausted because I’m running.”
“You bring your phone with you when you run?”
“I might get an important call. Maybe you’d be calling to tell me you fell into a deep hole and couldn’t get out. If I didn’t have my phone, who knows, you might die.”
“If I fell into a deep hole I probably wouldn’t be able to call you.”
“Okay mom.”
“Well, have a nice time.”
He flipped the phone back up, put it back in his pocket, and saw two girls walking down the beach, apparently looking to set up a tanning spot.