Two Seconds

Three & Four

PART THREE

“Ladders today Jess,” Joe said, causing me to groan as I sat on the track ready for another day of training.

“How brutal?”

“4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 12, 8, 4,” he replied, referring to hundreds of meters in turn.

“Race pace?”

“Slightly faster if you can.”

“Gross,” I sighed, lacing up my trainers.

“I could add a 2000 in there if you want.”

“Not today,” I said, “I still can’t believe you had me do 12 one hundreds yesterday after my 90 minute run. My legs were on fire last night, had to do a full ice bath before bed.”

“It’s an important year,” Joe grinned alluding to the Olympics, “Now get your ass stretching.”

“If I can’t stand for my photo shoot this afternoon…”

“Shut up Miss Celebrity and get to work!” Joe laughed.

I smirked before beginning my stretching routine, counting the seconds in my head as I went through each position, my mind beginning to go blank in anticipation of what was to come.

As much as I hated doing ladders, there was something soothing about the routine. Every second of the workout was planned to perfection, and I knew just how much time every piece should take, to the hundredth of a second.

“Jess you’re going too fast!” Joe yelled as I rounded the back stretch during my 1600.

Sighing to myself I pulled my pace up a bit, relaxing into the new rhythm I had going. It felt wrong, I needed it to go faster.

“I’m going faster,” I shouted as I passed Joe.

“Be careful,” he shouted back as I readjusted my pace again. Much better.

The workout passed effortlessly after that and I found myself back in the showers being hustled along to make my car to the Sport Relief photo shoot.

“You’re crazy,” Joe said as I came out of the locker room and met him in the canteen of the track for a quick bite to eat.

“What?” I shrugged.

“That 1600 was nearly ten seconds too fast,” he replied.

“It felt good,” I smiled, digging into the plate of food set before me in an effort to replenish my energy before I had to leave.

“Well it’s a good sign, but we want to ease into the conditioning or you’ll peak too early.”

“I’ll peak when I want.”

“Stubborn cow!” he laughed as my phone rang indicating the car was here.

“Watch me be stubborn again,” I said as I picked up the heaping plate of noodles and took it with me out to the car. I didn’t care that I was sitting in the back of the cab, I was going to eat my lunch and enjoy it, cab driver be damned!

The ride across town was uneventful save for my delicious meal, but when we pulled up at the location of the shoot I realized I was laden down with a now empty, and dirty, plate.

“Hungry then?” a voice asked me as I stashed the plate with my bag. I could feel my insides cringe slightly as I heard the voice, even though I was prepared this time for Aston’s persistence.

“Famished,” I replied as I turned and gave him a once over, brushing past him and heading for the stylist.

They put me in some relatively standard running shorts and trainers with a Sport Relief t-shirt, my hair pulled back in a tight ponytail and my make-up glossy. To be fair, I didn’t look much different than I usually did, just maybe less sweaty.