Pain in the Membrane (786 hits)
Category: SportsLabels: short_stories
Rating: 1.66 on 37 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Axolotl (View user info) at 2006-04-07 10:34:34 EDT
I'm on the line, on the soft red track. It amazes me how soft the track is, and the turf on the inside. In front of me is a large aging man with a pistol, and behind me is a hundred yards of track. To either side are my rivals, elbowing each other for a place in on the starting line.
There's four from my school, and eight from our ultimate rivals. Our schools have hated each other in the fifty years we've coexisted, there's always a huge and violent crowd at football games shouting "rejects!" and now won't be different. Just to round out the number, there's four from another school, from a more working-class industrial city.
As far as my school goes, I'd say I'd be the second or first runner in this heat, but I'm not sure about the skills of the maroon-colored rivals jarring me on all sides. The other school won't be doing that well.
It's around five o'clock, April fourth, 2006. I don't know the time exactly; I had to take off my watch before the officials saw me, the same official that's walking out ten meters in front of us.
"Set!" he says, raising his pistol. It all happens so fast, they herd us out on here, fire the gun, and let us run, every time. There's never any ceremony, it's not done with anything except assembly-line efficiency.
There's tension all along the line, and my rivals in maroon uniforms next to me lean down like hawks, shoving me with their arms. All the human emotions, pain and feelings during a race can be condensed into a single number—the finish time.
With a puff of smoke and a crack, the gun goes off. The first three seconds is a barrage of elbows and legs to our ribs and shoulders as sixteen JV runners sprint out of the starting line and the first curve, trying to take a decent place.
You never want to start out in first, you'll be overtaken. You want to stay a little behind the first place runner, and that's what I do. My legs, groin and abdomen have been stretched comprehensively, and there's not an ounce of tightness in my body as I sprint with the fourth-place rival runner. I stay with him down the first straightaway, past the large ridge to the right, and down past the high jumps and sand pits to the left by the first curve.
I sprint around the first curve, still in fourth, making my way down the track. Thankfully, they have a large clock on the opposite side of the track, used for their football games. As I neared the one hundred yard marker, it read :56. I was making good time.
The wind at my back, I ran along the ground, in synch with those in front of me. As I crossed the first lap, the timer read 1:15.
The first lap is never bad, because you've just started and there's no pain yet. The last lap, you know it's almost finished, and you can use up all your energy. It's the middle two laps that can be tough.
I crossed the curve again, pumping my arms and keeping my head high up and my breathing passages open. I experimented with my breathing; breathing too heavily could send my heart rate too high up, but I wanted enough oxygen to power my fast-moving legs. I settled on a moderate breath rate, and kept up behind the third-place rival. We moved as one down the straightaway, and around the curve once more.
People are capable of different things, but all their talents and capabilities at running can be reduced to a single number, their mile time. We become numbers and statistics out on the course...not necessarily a bad thing.
On the track, the mile is monotonous, just passing the same sights and people over and over again. As I moved by the bleachers on the far straightaway, my teammates called out, "Come on, Chris! Pass the third guy!"
I raised my speed up slightly and check my time on the clock as I near the half-mile mark. The pain is just beginning now. My calves are burning, and there's a tight pain in my upper chest, by my collarbone. Because of my heart problems, I want to make sure that the pain is normal, and not exert too hard.
There's people all waiting around the starting point, preparing for their own races. Some hurdlers are vomiting on the ground from their races previously. I'm a little behind, and as I cross the half-mile at 2:49, I'm not going as fast as I would have liked.
"Pass him, Ryan!" the rival coach called. Moving down the straightaway, "Ryan," a short blond boy in a maroon uniform passes me, his face contorted in cramps. My morale falls, and I go a little behind. We run down the straightaway, but now I'm in fourth place. I'd rather not let this kid pass me, he looks about two years younger.
"Keep up!" my team captain shouts around the hundred-meter mark. My calves were burning with the exertation, and Ryan in front of me was wavering and preparing to crash and burn.
You can't run too hard, or you'll burn out quickly, and that's what Ryan was doing. We reached the beginning of the final lap at 4:40, and he was about to crash. It was the final lap of my last event; no need to conserve any energy, I was going all out.
Down the second-to-last straightaway our group sprinted; I saw one of my own teammates pass me on the right. I didn't mind that, it was still a place for my school. People were cheering just two hundred yards away at the starting line, waiting for the end of the 1600m race.
I cleared the turn, turning up my speed. The sore feelings in my feet and burning lactic acid in my calves disappeared as I began the final hundred meters. The last lap was always the best, because you knew it was all over. The final lap of the final event of the day, after this you were done.
I leaned closer to the ground and started my heavy sprint, with 5:48 on the clock. Ryan ahead of me couldn't manage a sprint, and fell behind me. I pushed off of the ground with my light spiked sneakers and moved my arms quickly as I sprinted to the finish.
Under six minutes, I thought to myself, my body on autopilot. I wanted to finish underneath the six-minute mark.
Just fifty meters to go, and I was still at full blast sprinting down the last straightaway. I take my last breath of the race, and step across the finish line, in fifth place, still going strong. Unconsciously, I expend my momentum with a series of jumps and strides beyond the finish, and walk on onto the turf.
My heart is pumping hard from the race, and I stagger slightly, my eyesight blacking out and my head dizzy with the shock of moving from hard running to dead stop. I blink a few times, and clear my mind.
Walking around to see the scoreboard and see the rest of my team finish up, I check my final time.
Six minutes, and eight seconds.
Not under six minutes, but not bad for the first meet of the season.
User Reviews
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-07-10 23:49:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
ETS' ratings revoked?
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-08 20:27:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
My laptop is entirely rubbish.
I need to begin writing After the Pandemic again.
Submitted by Professional_Peon (user info) at 2006-04-07 18:20:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Happy Cleavage Day!!!!
See Peon's half assed attempt at a contribution ---> http://www.ubersite.com/m/86396
Submitted by creep_firebombing (user info) at 2006-04-07 18:18:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by leilani (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:07:20 (#)
Ranking: 2
Fun fact: leilani was a sprinter in highschool.
FEAR MY LEG MUSCLES, FOR THEY ART BEEFY IRON WONDERS
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That just gave me wood.
P.S. Fuck running. My fastest 3 mile time when I was in the Marines was like 22:30. I'm short and stocky, yo. I'm built for crushing spines, not delivering batons.
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-07 17:03:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Average_Dan (user info) at 2006-04-07 16:56:47 (#)
Ranking: 2
I can run much faster than you.
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That's definitely not that hard to do.
I'm getting better though.
Submitted by Average_Dan (user info) at 2006-04-07 16:56:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I can run much faster than you.
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-07 16:44:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2006-04-07 15:51:02 (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by The_taste_of_Monkeys (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:03:51 (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:01:52 (#)
Ranking: 0
ETS, would this be related to me negating your unwarranted -2 on TTOM's post?
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I think its more to do with him being a loon
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loony or not, ETS is only 3000 hits away (or two posts) from being on MVA...
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Considering Donovan's prodigious posting rate...I'd give ETS less than a week until he's on MVA.
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-07 16:41:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by JMG114 (user info) at 2006-04-07 15:43:34 (#)
Ranking: 2
Well-written. How long have you been running?
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I've run since Spring of 8th grade, in 2004, but since my public school's program was terrible, I wasn't any good until I began running cross country that summer in a private school.
My high school's track program is one of the top ranked in the country...we do the same runs and workouts as professional runners, usually between 6-9 miles a day, a few hundred per season. I've only gotten good at it recently, due to some heart problems, but I hope to do a lot better in the future.
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2006-04-07 15:51:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by The_taste_of_Monkeys (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:03:51 (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:01:52 (#)
Ranking: 0
ETS, would this be related to me negating your unwarranted -2 on TTOM's post?
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I think its more to do with him being a loon
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loony or not, ETS is only 3000 hits away (or two posts) from being on MVA...
Submitted by JMG114 (user info) at 2006-04-07 15:43:34 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Well-written. How long have you been running?
Submitted by CaptainThorns (user info) at 2006-04-07 15:19:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-07 13:10:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by The_Cyst_Master (user info) at 2006-04-07 13:09:21 (#)
Ranking: 2
I threw disc and shot in high school. Then I ate abortions. Fresh.
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Retarded abortions?
Submitted by The_Cyst_Master (user info) at 2006-04-07 13:09:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I threw disc and shot in high school. Then I ate abortions. Fresh.
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-07 13:04:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by leilani (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:54:18 (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:13:25 (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by leilani (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:07:20 (#)
Ranking: 2
Fun fact: leilani was a sprinter in highschool.
FEAR MY LEG MUSCLES, FOR THEY ART BEEFY IRON WONDERS
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Girl sprinters are cool, but the girl throwers are beastly.
It afears me to see a 240 pound girl my age who could pick me up with relative ease.
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i have seen some scary sprinter chicks though too. after HS i started running long distances and morphed into a tiny little thang. Sorry to disappoint whoever was interested in those thick thighs :)
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I think I'll pass on the thick thighs...
Submitted by firefly (user info) at 2006-04-07 12:27:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
No Comment
Submitted by leilani (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:54:18 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:13:25 (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by leilani (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:07:20 (#)
Ranking: 2
Fun fact: leilani was a sprinter in highschool.
FEAR MY LEG MUSCLES, FOR THEY ART BEEFY IRON WONDERS
------
Girl sprinters are cool, but the girl throwers are beastly.
It afears me to see a 240 pound girl my age who could pick me up with relative ease.
-------
i have seen some scary sprinter chicks though too. after HS i started running long distances and morphed into a tiny little thang. Sorry to disappoint whoever was interested in those thick thighs :)
Submitted by gank (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:38:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
[http://www.ubersite.com/m/86295#1917906]
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-05 10:56:32 (#)
Ranking: 2
Method, you control all alters. Get rid of this Gank fellow.
##############
Ax: I wasn't an alter back when you wrote The Brink of Destruction for the D-Prime Madness II contest that I tried to resurrect, and I don't think anyone's gotten control of me yet.
leilani: Thick legs, huh? Let's have babies.
Submitted by The_taste_of_Monkeys (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:18:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:14:19 (#)
Ranking: 0
OH WAIT it was the government's fault. They rigged the clock, you know.
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Are you sure it wasnt global warming heating up the clocks components to exploding point?...oh, my bad cos thats a government conspiracy as well.
I think we may just have got ourselves labeled as 'enemies'
Seriously ETS, lighten the fuck UP!
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:14:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by The_taste_of_Monkeys (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:12:41 (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:05:34 (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by The_taste_of_Monkeys (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:03:51 (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:01:52 (#)
Ranking: 0
ETS, would this be related to me negating your unwarranted -2 on TTOM's post?
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I think its more to do with him being a loon
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To think I once respected ETS...
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Go and look at his labels, all but two of them are about him.
The clock just went "CUCKOO"
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The clock went cuckoo, and exploded into a thousand tiny pieces.
OH WAIT it was the government's fault. They rigged the clock, you know.
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:13:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by leilani (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:07:20 (#)
Ranking: 2
Fun fact: leilani was a sprinter in highschool.
FEAR MY LEG MUSCLES, FOR THEY ART BEEFY IRON WONDERS
------
Girl sprinters are cool, but the girl throwers are beastly.
It afears me to see a 240 pound girl my age who could pick me up with relative ease.
Submitted by The_taste_of_Monkeys (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:12:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:05:34 (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by The_taste_of_Monkeys (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:03:51 (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:01:52 (#)
Ranking: 0
ETS, would this be related to me negating your unwarranted -2 on TTOM's post?
---------
I think its more to do with him being a loon
-------
To think I once respected ETS...
----------------
Go and look at his labels, all but two of them are about him.
The clock just went "CUCKOO"
Submitted by leilani (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:07:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Fun fact: leilani was a sprinter in highschool.
FEAR MY LEG MUSCLES, FOR THEY ART BEEFY IRON WONDERS
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:05:34 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by The_taste_of_Monkeys (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:03:51 (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:01:52 (#)
Ranking: 0
ETS, would this be related to me negating your unwarranted -2 on TTOM's post?
---------
I think its more to do with him being a loon
-------
To think I once respected ETS...
Submitted by The_taste_of_Monkeys (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:03:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:01:52 (#)
Ranking: 0
ETS, would this be related to me negating your unwarranted -2 on TTOM's post?
---------
I think its more to do with him being a loon
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-07 11:01:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
ETS, would this be related to me negating your unwarranted -2 on TTOM's post?
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-07 10:56:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by electrictoothsyndrome (user info) at 2006-04-07 10:53:49 (#)
Ranking: -2
Since you have something to say to me. I though maybe I'd give you a chance on one of your posts.
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Nothing, except I think retaliatory -2s are ridiculous.
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-07 10:54:14 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
My next meet is next Thursday, I have one tomorrow but I can't go.
Submitted by electrictoothsyndrome (user info) at 2006-04-07 10:53:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Since you have something to say to me. I though maybe I'd give you a chance on one of your posts.
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-07 10:51:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by MyNameIsTim (user info) at 2006-04-07 10:48:29 (#)
Ranking: 2
I was a shot-putter one year in high school...hated it. the best part about the meets was the "fat guy relay" where every team took their largest throwers and put them in a 400 or 1600 relay heat.
just for fun.
what do you run in? training shoes...
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Our throwers are pretty cool. They don't run anything, they just throw. When our captains give us directions, it's like:
"Runners! Start stretching, and get onto the turf. Throwers! ...I guess you can go eat a hot dog, or something."
I run in track sneakers, usually spiked.
Submitted by MyNameIsTim (user info) at 2006-04-07 10:48:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I was a shot-putter one year in high school...hated it. the best part about the meets was the "fat guy relay" where every team took their largest throwers and put them in a 400 or 1600 relay heat.
just for fun.
what do you run in? training shoes...
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-07 10:44:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by The_taste_of_Monkeys (user info) at 2006-04-07 10:43:48 (#)
Ranking: 2
I used to run for my school...no, wait, that was FROM my school.after a couple of miles the big boys would stop chasing me though and I could go home
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In my school, the big boys are the ones who sprint fastest...I would recommend hiding up the tree, but they would high jump up there.
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-07 10:43:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by jack11058 (user info) at 2006-04-07 10:41:53 (#)
Ranking: 2
being incredibly slow, one of my proudest moments in the army -- the moment that told me i was finally in the best shape of my life -- was running a mile in 6:03. then i vomited and nearly went unconscious.
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Woo vomiting! Well, my top time last year was like a 6:05. I'm just trying to shoot somewhere around 5:30-5:40 by the end of the season.
Submitted by The_taste_of_Monkeys (user info) at 2006-04-07 10:43:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I used to run for my school...no, wait, that was FROM my school.after a couple of miles the big boys would stop chasing me though and I could go home
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-04-07 10:42:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
To the one on the flam
Boy your temper just toss that ham
In the fryin' pan, Like spam
Feel done when I come in slam, damn
I feel like the son of Sam
Don't make me wreck shit hectic
Next to the chair got me goin' like General Electric
The lights are blinking, I'm thinking
It's all over when I go out drinking
Oh, makin' my mind slow,
That's why I don't fuck wit da big four-o
Bro, I got ta maintain
Cause a nigga like me is goin' insane
Insane in the membrane
Insane in the brain!
Insane in the membrane
Insane in the brain
Insane in the membrane
That nigga's insane, got no brain!
Insane in the membrane
Insane in the brain
Submitted by jack11058 (user info) at 2006-04-07 10:41:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
being incredibly slow, one of my proudest moments in the army -- the moment that told me i was finally in the best shape of my life -- was running a mile in 6:03. then i vomited and nearly went unconscious.
Submitted by The_Cyst_Master (user info) at 2006-04-07 10:39:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by retrospect (user info) at 2006-04-07 10:38:29 (#)
Ranking: 2
from that point on, i was run ing
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Big 'ol fat raaaaiiin.
Submitted by retrospect (user info) at 2006-04-07 10:38:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
from that point on, i was run ing