Jack circled the track for the third time and felt like he was about to collapse. He did not expect that running would ever be so difficult, but for the past two days he found himself rehearsing in his mind what Ox had told him about Mr. Roderick. The nice thing about running on the track behind the school was that Jack seemed to be by himself. There were hardly any other students who came out back after school and the football players practiced at a park in the opposite direction of where the track was. Other than running out of air and energy, feeling the muscles in his legs tighten, and being sore the next morning Jack enjoyed his time alone.
Instead of stopping, Jack slowed down his pace and promised himself a hot shower if he could get around the track two more times. As Jack was circling the track the first time he was surprised to suddenly see Mr. Roderick standing by the track. Jack eyed him, but decided that he better keep running. After he passed Mr. Roderick the first time he found some extra energy and upped his pace in the final lap. By this time his lungs were burning and his legs didn’t feel like they were attached to the rest of his body, but he kept going until he got back to Mr. Roderick where he stopped and started breathing heavily.
“Congratulations son you just completed the first half of a basketball game…are you ready for the second half?”
Jack could not catch his breath and he looked perplexed at Mr. Roderick’s comments.
“That’s right son…I heard you wanted to try out for my basketball team…well if you want to play you need to be able to run through the whole game. The five laps you just ran is what my players usually run in the first half of the game. Are you ready for the second half?”
“I…uh…just…went farther today…then yesterday.”
“Great…time for the second half…let’s see if you got the legs for it?”
Jack did not feel like he could quit. He started running again, but this time is more like a slow jog. Mr. Roderick stayed where he was until Jack was on the other side of the track and then started walking back towards the school. Wondering what just happened; Jack rehearsed in his mind what Mr. Roderick had just told him. He couldn’t believe that basketball players ran so much. Jack was unsure if this was what he really wanted to do. He knew Mr. Roderick had watched him because he knew how many laps he already ran, would he watch him run another five laps? Uncertainty swirled in Jack’s mind. Finally he thought about what his dad would think about his son playing for Manley Roderick and he resolved to finish another five laps.