Sick

So I wake up at 9:15 and hurriedly get ready for the race. My nose is stuffy and my throat creaks. My muscles ache. I stuff some grapes and a waffle into my mouth and ride to Burtner Farm.

I look around for our team and see Mark. Simultaneously, the gun fires for the start of the girls' varsity race. MY only worry right now is that I'm late and I'll be looked down upon for it.

But Bair greets me warmly and I just chill for a little. I put on my uniform and try to calm my brain down. After I drink some water, my stomach starts to feel queasy. My head spins, and I walk over to the trees and puke up my breakfast. People ask if I'm all right, and David Love says he's gonna tell Coach. I tell him No, I want to race.

Me and Justin start to warm up at about 11. And we sweat and stretch and sweat some more. By the time I'm wondering what to do next, Coach is saying we should start to warm up. Great, the meet is behind schedule.

Eventually it gets time to be on the line and I head over there. And I start jumping and doing little stretches and then proceed to puke a lot more. I try to get all of it out and make my stomach feel better, but at the same time I try to hide it from Bair so he doesn't have a chance to take me out. All my resolve is going into just finishing the race.

And the gun goes off and our pack is in the same 20 meters for the first half mile. And then I start to drop off. My body just can not continue to go at that pace. It becomes a steady decline of resolve and strength until David Love passes me. I put one final effort into getting back into the race before collapsing at the mile mark, drained and disgusted and sick.