Key to Track events:
55m hurdles: About 1/8 of a track, with hurdles
Shuttle Hurdles: (Not very common,) You basically have a relay team. But with hurdles faced opposite directions so both people can jump over it at the same time. (One hurdle is facing you, the next is the opposite, etc. etc.)
70m: A very short sprint, about 1/5 of a track.
100m: A sprint, 1/4 of a track.
4x1 relay team: Four people run around the track at separate times, but only 100m. When they get close to the next person who runs, they pass a 'baton' onto them, where this step is repeated 4 times until you come across the finish line. There are small exchange zones where you hand off the baton to the next person, if you fail to get the baton, or, you drop it, your team is disqualified.
200m: 1/2 of a track, one of the more difficult sprinting events.
4x2: Four people run around the track at separate times, but only 200m. When they get close to the next person who runs, they pass a 'baton' onto them, where this step is repeated 4 times until you come across the finish line. There are small exchange zones where you hand off the baton to the next person, if you fail to get the baton, or, you drop it, your team is disqualified.
200m hurdles: 1/2 of a track of hurdles that are places around 40" from each other. (Usually depends on the track, and this event is very tiring and difficult.)
400m: One lap around he track. Unless you're an experienced runner, these can be pretty painful.
4x4: Four people run around the track at separate times, but only 400m. When they get close to the next person who runs, they pass a 'baton' onto them, where this step is repeated 4 times until you come across the finish line. There are small exchange zones where you hand off the baton to the next person, if you fail to get the baton, or, you drop it, your team is disqualified.
800m: Two laps. These are also very difficult.
4x8: Four people run around the track at separate times, but only 800m. When they get close to the next person who runs, they pass a 'baton' onto them, where this step is repeated 4 times until you come across the finish line. There are small exchange zones where you hand off the baton to the next person, if you fail to get the baton, or, you drop it, your team is disqualified.
1600 (Aka, the mile): The mile sucks to run. It's basically four laps.
3200 (Aka, the two mile): PEOPLE DREAD THIS EVENT. It's eight laps, and I've had to run it before. It SUUUUCKS.
Key to Field Events:
High Jump: you must must jump (without help) over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without knocking it down.A bar is set between two standards with a crash mat for landing. You run towards the bar and use the 'Fosbury Flop' (I don't know why it's called this) method of jumping, leaping head first with your back to the bar. People usually vs each other until the other knocks it down. (Basically, you go as high as you can, for as long as you can.)
Long jump: You jump as far as possible along the ground in one leap. Usually, you go from 6-7 steps back, and you run to the 'board' which is a small place where your foot MUST land, if your foot goes over or is before it, you get a 'scratch.'
Shot Put: You throw a ball, known at the shot, as far as you an in one movement. BUT! You cannot throw it over hand, OR UNDERHAND! (Just look up 'shot put,' and you'll understand.) The shots range from 5lb to 10lb.
*
The tension in the air on race day was thick, everyone was nervous about our first meet. We were racing another team called 'The Panthers,' and they were rumored to be the best. They went completely undefeated last year.
Since it was just a duel, we would only be going against that team. Later in the season we would have track meets with anywhere from 3-4 teams, but for now, we would just stick with the duels.
Why was everyone so nervous? Well, coach decided to put everyone in different events the Friday before the meet. Which meant that everyone would probably get no sleep over the weekend. Including me.
I didn't know why I was so scared when thinking about the other team, I needed to keep my thoughts positive. But some of those negative ones slipped into my mind and made me discouraged.
"You'll do great!" My mother had told me the morning of the meet. You could see the happiness in her eyes as she waved me off to get on the bus, but I felt like I was going to let her down, along with the team.
When I got to school, Sasha was nervously gnawing on a potato. And okay, you may think, 'Classic Sasha,' but you're wrong....
She eats potatoes, she never gnaws at them.
"So you're nervous too, huh?" I said while crouching down to her level while she was sat on the floor, leaned up against the wall.
"Coach is so going to put me in the two mile." She said with a shaky breath and wide eyes, "I'm good at hurdles and sprints, along with field events, but I can't run distance."
I sighed heavily and sat down next to her, throwing my gear bag aside of me. "I'm so nervous about this track meet." I rubbed at my eyes, "I feel like I'm going to let the team down-"
"Eren." She said while cutting me off, "You can only run three events, and even if you did fail, we have enough good runners to make up for it, so don't worry about it. Plus, you're an amazing runner."
She smiled at me and took a bite out of the potato, showing me that she was no longer worried, "We're going to kick ass tonight."
I stared at her for a moment before I chuckled and rested my head against the wall. "Yeah, we will."
--
"Line up maggots!" Our coach screamed in our faces while we hastily scrambled to do what he ordered. We all salute and stood tall while he surveyed us carefully.
He pulled a sheet of paper from his black messenger back and held it up so that he could read it.
"Ackerman! You will be running in the 4x2 relay, along with Jaeger, Blouse, and Springer!" Everyone looked relieved wen they found out that their first event was something easy, but they were still nervous on what coach was going to put them in next. Since this meet was co-ed, both girls and boys could race together on the same relay team.
"You will also be running the 1600, and 200m hurdles." Levi smirked and brushed off the events like they were nothing, which was expected. He could run the two mile in 11 minutes and 12 seconds.
"Next! Krista Lenz! You'll be running long distance this meet! The two mile, 4x8, and 800!" He blew his whistle and motioned for her to stand in lane 2.
"Berthdolt! 55m hurdles, high jump, and 400m!" He basically shoved the tall boy into lane 8, where he awkwardly waited for his next instructions.
"Jaeger!! Besides the 4x2, I you will also be running the 4x4, and 100m dash!" He put me in the lane that Berthdolt was in and I had to crane my neck to look up into his eyes. Someone really needed to stop giving him so much water.
"Blouse! 4x2, shot put, and 70m!" He was about to move her into Kristas lane, but he decided just to leave her where she was. That brunette could be stubborn when she wanted to be, and Pixis knew she was going to be difficult to move.
As he listed off the other events for everyone else, I tried to get myself mentally prepared for the meet.
'You got this Eren, it's just a meet, your first one at that. Everyone's going to be nervous.' I caught a glance of Levi staring at me. I offered him a small smile and wave, in which he returned with a chuckle and a shake of his head.
"ARLERT!" Armin nearly screamed at Pixis' loud voice. "You....." He looked down at the sheet of paper and scowled, "1600m, 4x4, and long jump."
Armin nodded vigorously and dodged coaches hands so he could get the the lanes. "Yes SIR!"
"Now!" Pixis said finally as he folded up the paper and shoved it into his pocket. "I want everyone to do a warm up 800, along with drills ands stretches! If you fail to do so, YOU'LL BE DOING IT OVER AGAIN!'
Everyone quickly began jogging the warm up in a few large groups, me being the only loner, that was, until Levi jogged up beside me.
"You excited?"
My breath lodged in my throat and I had to cough once to remove it, "I guess, I'm just kind of nervous."
Levi shook his head and chuckled, moving of of the lane to pass a few runners with me. "Everyone's nervous at the first meet, and it's good to be nervous, just don't use up all of your adrenaline before you race, okay?" He looked at me from the corner of his eyes and I sighed, "Okay, I'll try not to."
He smiled weakly in my direction and before I knew it, we had already run the warm up.
"DRILLS!"
Nearly everyone grabbed and we lined up on one of the straight aways, and we went through our drills. Which consisted of,
High knees
Butt kickers
High skip
Long skip
Quick skip
Ballerina (left)
Ballerina (Right)
Karaoke (left)
Karaoke (right)
Toes out
Toes in
Heels backwards
Tip-toes
Build ups
Striders
And last and not least, form run.
By the end, everyone was panting heavily and struggling to breathe, which made everyone feels out, thinking that Armin was having an asthma attack.
While we were about to get ready to stretch, a large greyhound bus pulled up next to the track with, 'The Panthers,' printed up against the side.
"How God damn rich are they!?" I snapped, pointing to the team flowing out of the bus doors in black track suits that all matched.
"Oh, that reminds me." Coach said while walking off to the side to come back with a card board box. He slammed it down onto the ground and smiled.
"Track uniforms."
*
"Ew..." Sasha groaned while picking up a jersey in between her thumb and index finger. "It smells so bad..." She reluctantly shoved it over her head on top of her white shirt, moaning and groaning all the while. "Have these ever been washed?!" Coach shrugged and blew his whistle, "Grab a shirt and some shorts and let's go! Move it move it!"
Levi glared at the box, "I am not wearing anything that hasn't been washed in the last century.
"You wore them last year-"
"Don't remind me of those horrid times."
I picked up and jersey and threw it at him, making him catch it because of his good reflexes.
"Oh, quit your whining and put it on, the meet starts in about 10 minutes, and you're not going to have time to completely soak it in bleach."
Levi whined almost like a child and slipped off the shirt he had on, and holy mother fucking abs.
All of the girls on the team stared at him with blood trickling for their noses, along with me.
"Who the hell just started singing, 'Rub you the right way'?!" Coach yelled, snapping everyone from their trance. "We don't have time for this! Get a uniform on and let's go!"