Torry shrugged A little more than that But yeah it’s not like the 400 I don’t think there’s anything like the 400 I said Wish I could drop down to the sprints But Bethune is loaded with fast sprinters Coach had convinced me to move up to the longer event where speed and endurance are equally important Torry is 8
lightning fast so he fits in with the older sprinters But there are at least seven runners on the team who are faster than me at 100 or 200 meters And only the top three or four get to compete in the meets There’s room for me to contribute in the 400 but I’ll have to do better than I did today My dad held out his hand as I climbed toward him in the bleachers Good effort he said
That made me wince Dad didn’t say great race or anything like that Good effort sounded almost like a put-down although my father never would have meant it that way He’s always supportive whatever I’m trying I plunked down on the metal bleachers which were nearly empty Just a few parents were watching the meet My effort wasn’t the problem I said I ran out of gas Don’t know how I even finished Everybody ties up at the end of a 400 Dad said You just tied up a little sooner than the others Way sooner I was barely halfway done That’s when the monkey jumped on my back Dad laughed I never ran track baseball was my springtime game but I knew a lot of people who did The trick is to ration out your speed That way you have enough energy left for a strong finish 10
That’s what Coach keeps saying I squinted and stared at the track where the hurdlers were racing toward the finish line It’s easier said than done Experience is everything in sports Dad said Run a bit smarter next time Little by little you’ll see a difference I hope there is a next time Coach could easily replace me Then you’ll prove yourself in practice Look that kid Adam who won the race When you hit 200 meters he was only half a step ahead of you But he beat you by 30 meters Speed wasn’t the difference Endurance was Yeah I stay pretty close to him when we run shorter distances in practice See Dad said You’re as fast as a rabbit but you have to learn how to use that speed I shook out my wrists and took a deep breath I need to jog Otherwise I’ll tighten up 11
