Runner's High (ON HOLD)

Chapter 11: A Big Surprise

Countdown to states: 4 days

Why are my teachers trying to kill me with homework? I don't know. I don't freaking know. And I freaking hate it.

It's only 5th period and I've gotten homework in 4 classes. Now I'm in double period bio, and we have a lab period instead of a study hall. Crap. There's no way I'll be able to get my homework done tonight.

The phone rings and my teacher picks it up.

"Mrs Paschal," she says into the phone. "Yes. Um... Yes. Yes. Okay, I'll send them down. Okay. No problem! Bye now." She hangs up and turns around.

"Ava, Cassidy, and Mikaela! You are needed in the lower commons lobby."

"Do we need to take our stuff?" asks Mikaela.

"Yes, take your things. You will not be returning. Pick up the homework worksheet on the way out. See you tomorrow, girls."

The three of us pick up the worksheet and leave the room. We walk down a hallway in silence for a minute, then turn and walk down another to the stairwell. Finally, I decide to start a conversation.

"I wonder what this is for. Do either of you know?"

"No... I have no idea," replies Mikaela.

"Could it be for cross country?" asks Cassidy.

"Maybe," I reply. It seems like a possibility.

We walk down into the lower commons lobby, and see coach Todd and coach Megan sitting with some of our teammates. Cassidy was right, it is for cross country.

We make our way over to the group and sit down, and we all wait for everyone else to show. Finally, the rest of the team comes and Megan explains what we are here for.

"We got permission for you to train with the Deer Lake University cross country team today. Don't worry, your parents know. We will be there for the rest of the school day, then we will come back here and have a bit more practice as a team. Everyone go change, then board the bus. This should be fun!"

We all go into the locker rooms and change, then get on the bus. We ride out to Deer Lake's course, and upon arriving we see their cross country team in a group over by the locker rooms. As we unload the bus, they all turn around and look at us. We walk over, and our coaches introduce us.

"Okay, the girls team. This is Ava, Elliot, Cassidy, Katelyn, Grace, Mikaela, and Marie. And the boys are Ryan, Ben, Kenneth, Tyler, Carter, Hunter, and Daniel."

"Nice to meet all of you," says one of the girls. I look closer, and am happy to see it is Alaina. She smiles at me and I smile back, then we turn back to the coaches.

"Each high school runner will be assigned a college runner or two to train with. Luckily, there was a fairly close number from each team," coach Todd says. He then reads down the list of pairs. I am placed with Alaina and Katie. Katie is the top runner from DLU.

After the coaches are done talking, we all split up and begin our training. I am happy to be training with the fastest two runners from the college because it provides me with a challenge, instead of me being the one providing the challenges. We do a ten minute warmup run at a 9:00 mile pace, then we start our workout. It is 4 mile repeats at a 5:30 mile pace, which is slightly faster than my race pace. We choose a flat part of the course instead of to run on instead of a hilly part to make it a bit easier. The first two repeats are easy, and we hit below a 5:30 mile pace, but when we get to the third they start getting more difficult. I make it through the third with a time of 5:34, coming in only a second behind Alaina and Katie. The final repeat is hard, but I manage to hit a 5:35, and I come in right with the two. Then, we do a ten minute cool down and go back to the locker rooms. We are the first group of runners back, most likely because we had to hit a faster time in the workout so we got done sooner. We sit down and stretch, and Alaina and Katie ask me a bit about my life.

"You're a very good runner, Ava. Not many high school runners could hit the mile time that you were consistently hitting. How long have you been running?" asks Katie.

"I started in kindergarten, when I would do fun runs with my mom," I tell her. "I ran my first 5k in second grade, and that's when I met Ryan, our top boy runner. I joined a track program in third grade, and I did the 400 and the 800, and I made it to states in a track and field competition that year. I joined track and cross country in seventh grade, and I've been doing them since!"

"Wow, that's crazy," says Alaina. "Do you still run the 400?"

"Yeah, I do. Coach Todd thinks I can go to nationals this year in it. He's going to train me really hard so that maybe I can make it," I say happily. I really want to go to nationals, no matter how hard I'm going to have to train.

"That's awesome! Keep at it, and you'll go far," says Katie.

By this time, everyone else has returned. We all say goodbye to each other, and then the college team leaves to finish practice and we board the bus to go back to the school. When we get back, school is just letting out. We take all of our bags inside to the locker rooms, then come back out to the lobby so we can start practice as a team. Our coaches tell us that we will just be training in the running center for an hour, so that's where we go.

Our school's running center is fairly new. It is pretty big, and it takes up about half of the top floor of the school. It's full of treadmills, bikes, ellipticals, and tons of other equipment that is specific to running training. Coach Todd tells us to do whatever we want as long as we are actually working out. Elliot and I go to the bikes and bike for a half hour, then we lift weights for ten minutes. We do a ten minute nonstop ab workout, then ten minutes of stretching. As everyone is leaving, coach Todd calls me back.

"Ava, how's your knee? Did it hurt while you were running today?"

"My knee is good," I assure him. "It didn't hurt at all. I made sure to pay attention to my strides to make sure it wouldn't hurt today."

"Good. So you'll be good for this weekend?"

"Yep, I should be. Are we ever going to meet as a team to discuss how this weekend is going to work? Like what to bring, when and where to meet to get on the bus, stuff like that?"

"I'll have papers tomorrow," Todd says. "We'll talk for a bit before practice. Now go home and get some rest. You're going to need all the sleep you can get the next few days."

"Okay. See you tomorrow," I say, and I leave the running center and take the elevator down to the lobby. I would take the stairs, but I need to get there fast so I don't keep Ben waiting. As soon as the elevator doors open, I run out and get my bags out of the locker room. I come back out into the lobby, and I don't see Ben. He's probably still changing. I sit and wait, and when he comes out we go home. Our parents are out tonight, so we can have whatever we want for dinner. I make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, then go up to my room. I watch Netflix for a bit, and do my homework, which takes me three hours. I finally finish and drift off into a deep and long sleep.

When I wake up, there will only be 3 days until states.