I stand in a crowd

Of runners and sprinters combined

Listening to coach

Give the day's schedule

Sprinters, 25x200 yard sprints

Followed by 100 yard dashes

And finally cool down

Distance, follow Trina

And she will tell you

What you will do

I glance at Trina

My coach of four years

With a mixture

Of excitement and nausea

Wondering why I keep coming back

To face her hellish torture

Perhaps I love her?

In my own childish way?

Doubt it…

I follow after her

As she walks toward the track

My leg muscles tightening

In anticipation…

Of the running to come

She assigns me the position

Of Distance Captain

Which I want

Then she takes off

Yelling for us to keep up with her

Sighing with resignation,

The rest of us follow her

I find myself, after the first mile

In the lead; to my right

Runs a freshman, Bianca McKinney

She looks over at me and smiles

Than takes off in a dead run

Leaving me to chase after

But I have no fear

For I know I can catch her…

Or so I think

After practice, in which we run 6 miles

I look over at the runners

Beginners and veterans

Strong and versatile

And I smile anew

For this was my team

My chance, and believe me

I am going to take it

For all that it is worth…