Theo was surprised and pleased. “I think that’s a fantastic idea! And I know Aunt Marj would be really happy to hear about it. I’ll tell her next time I talk to her.”
“How’s she doing?” asked Paul.
Theo shrugged. “A little better. I think she’s a little stronger lately. But she gets real depressed about not being able to do more, and that kind of sets her back. I try to see her at least every few days. She likes company, but she still gets tired pretty fast.”
The boys heard someone calling from behind them. “Hey, Theo! Is that you?”
Theo looked back to see Steve LaMotta quickly catching up to them. He came even with them and slowed to their pace. “I thought I saw you running. You’re doing better every time I see you.” Steve caught Paul’s eye and nodded. “Hi,” he said.
“Steve, this is my friend, Paul Baskin. He’s the guy who got me started in running.”
“Good to meet you, Paul,” said Steve.
“Good to meet yon!” replied Paul. “Wait’ll I tell my dad about this! He’s into running, big-time. He’s read all about you.”
“Maybe I can meet him sometime,” Steve said. “Oh, by the way, that race you’re going to enter — is that the one for cancer research next month?”
“That’s the one,” said Theo.
Steve nodded. “Yeah, I thought so. It turns out I’m going to be the official starter.”
“Great!” Theo said. “I was wondering, how does it work? Where do they — I mean we — run, anyway?”
“It’s a road course,” said Steve. “The runners will start in the park here. Most of the course will be on local streets. Then you’ll come back into the park for the last few hundred meters and finish here. I can get you a map of the course, if you like. Then you could actually run it and get to know it a little before the race.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Paul said.
“Tell you what,” said Steve. “Let’s plan to meet the day you sign up to enter the race. I’ll give you the map then.”
“When can we sign up?” asked Theo.
“Starting next week, either at the high school or in the park administration building.” Steve reached into the little pack he wore on a belt along with his drinking bottle and pulled out a card. “You can reach me at this phone number, and we’ll work out a day and time for you to sign up and for me to meet you.”
Theo took the card and tucked it into the pocket of the T-shirt he was wearing. “Great! Thanks a lot!”
“Yeah, thanks,” Paul said.
Steve smiled. “No problem. I like to see young guys like you getting into running like this. When I can do anything for you, I will. But now I’d better take off. See you later!”
He picked up his pace without the slightest show of effort and sped away. Theo and Paul, still running, watched him go.
“Amazing!” Paul said. “He’s like a total machine! No strain, no pain. What a smooth stride the guy has!”
Theo nodded. “Well, he runs marathons and twenty-thousand-meter races. By the way, how come sometimes they say, ‘ten thousand meters’ or ‘twenty thousand meters,’ and sometimes they say, ‘ten K’ or ‘twenty K’? Don’t they mean the same thing?”
Paul replied, “I asked my dad about that. He says that when you run long-distance races on a track, they measure them in meters, like five thousand meters or ten thousand meters. But for road races, like the one we’re doing, they talk about them in kilometers — five K or ten K.”
“Huh. Somehow, five thousand meters seems longer than five K.” Theo looked at his watch. “We’ve been running for twenty minutes. Amazing! I didn’t realize we’d been going so long.”
Paul looked around. “We’re not too far from where we left our bikes. Let’s head that way and walk the last few minutes.”
The boys had parked their bikes near the ball field. When they got to the bikes, they noticed some boys they knew at the field.
“Looks like they’re going to play,” Paul said. “Want to go over, or are you wiped out?”
“I’m not wiped out,” Theo said, “but we don’t have gloves or anything.”
“We can borrow someone else’s gloves when they’re at bat and we’re in the field,” answered Paul. “I’ve done that before. Let’s go!”
As Theo and Paul came over, the other guys greeted them.
“You got room for two more?” Theo asked.
“Sure,” said one of the others.
Theo saw Van Sluman standing off to one side, looking uncomfortable. Theo nodded to him but didn’t say anything. Van slowly approached. “Can I talk to you for a second?” he asked Theo.
“Sure.”
Van glanced at the other boys out of the corner of his eye. “Uh, how’s the running going?” He didn’t sound sarcastic at all.
“Pretty good,” Theo said. “Better.”
Van didn’t seem to know what to say. Finally, he took a deep breath. “Listen, about what I said before… I was only… I didn’t mean… well, I was wrong. To say what I did. I’m sorry. It was really dumb.”
Theo, too, felt a little awkward and wasn’t sure how to respond. “Okay,” he said at last. “It was dumb. But let’s just forget about it. I mean, I’m willing to drop it.”
Van let out a deep sigh of relief. “You are? That’s really great! Thanks! And, um, about that stupid bet…”
Theo couldn’t help grinning. “Oh yeah, the thing about pushing a peanut with your nose down Main Street. Forget that, too.”
“Right,” said Van, nodding and smiling. “Okay, hey, thanks, really. I was really a jerk, and I want you to know that I feel bad about it.”
Theo felt uncomfortable about the way Van was acting. He wanted to drop the subject.
“Well, like I said, I’d rather just forget the whole thing, all right?”
“Sure,” said Van. “Absolutely.”
“Come on, you guys!” called one of the other boys. “Let’s play!”
As the group chose up sides, Paul whispered to Theo, “What did Van want?”
Theo whispered back, “He says he’s sorry he was such a jerk before, and does he really have to push that peanut with his nose. I told him to forget the whole thing.”
Paul smirked. “Why? It would’ve been fun to see that.”
Theo said, “I don’t want to be a jerk just because he was one.”
“I guess you’re right,” admitted Paul.
When teams were chosen, Theo wasn’t among the last to be picked. The team captain asked him to play first base. Van, who was on the opposing team, ran over to offer Theo the use of his glove.
Paul caught Theo’s eye and winked.
At first base, Theo was much more involved in the action and caught just about everything thrown his way. He made one really nice play on a ground ball hit to his right, making a diving catch and tossing the ball to the pitcher covering the base.
In his first at bat, Theo hit the ball sharply up the middle. The center fielder trotted over to pick it up, and Theo surprised everyone by stretching the hit into a double when the fielder made a casual throw in.
Later in the game, Theo dropped a throw from shortstop. He was angry with himself and said to the shortstop, “Sorry, I should’ve had that.”
The shortstop said, “It was a tough throw. We’ll get ’em out.”
The next batter popped the ball up behind first, and Theo backpedaled to make the catch. He realized that he wasn’t a star, on offense or defense. But he was also far from a total disaster. And he was having a great time.
Late in the game, one of Theo’s teammates ran on a fly ball with only one out. When the ball was caught, the runner had gone too far and was doubled up at first base.
“Real smart, Jeff,” someone yelled.
“Did you leave your brain at home this morning?” shouted another teammate.
Jeff looked at his feet as a few other comments were thrown his way. Theo said nothing. When his team ran back out onto the field,
Theo came up to Jeff. “Don’t worry, it’s no big deal,” he said quietly. Jeff smiled at him.
After the game, Theo and Paul were riding home. “I noticed you with Jeff after he messed up,” Paul said. “What did you tell him?”
“Just not to worry about it.”
Paul nodded. “Huh. And you didn’t want to rub it in with Van, either.”
Theo said, “Well, I remember what it felt like when people said stuff like that to me. I almost got into it like that today. But then I couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t have felt right. You know?”
“Yeah,” said Paul. “I know. Now that you’ve explained it to me.”
12
A few days later, Theo called Steve LaMotta to set a date and time when he and Paul would sign up for the race and meet Steve to get the route map. They set it for one day the following week.
“Has your friend ever raced before?” asked Steve. “I know you haven’t.”
“Uh-uh,” Theo said. “It’ll be the first time for both of us.”
“Then I’ll give you a few tips about things you may want to do to get ready for this one,” said Steve.
“We’d like that,” said Theo. “Thanks.”
Then he called Marj.
“Hey, there,” she said. She sounded better than when he’d last spoken to her. “Got a little time to spend with me? I could use some company.”
“Sure,” Theo agreed. He biked over and found Marj sitting on her front porch.
She waved to him as he came up the steps. “Hi, skinny. You’re looking good.”
Theo smiled and studied his aunt. “You’re looking good, too.” She really was. Her face had more color, and her smile seemed to be more genuine.
“Let’s take a walk,” she said. “I’ve been trying to get a little exercise every day lately.”
“Great,” Theo said. Marj grabbed a cane from the floor, and Theo helped her down the front steps. They set off down the sidewalk at a slow pace.
“It looks like your workouts are going well,” Marj said.
“They are,” Theo agreed. He told her about his running, his general improvement in sports, and also about Steve LaMotta. “He’s a great guy. Paul and I are going to meet him when we sign up for the race. Paul’s racing, too, did I tell you?”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Marj replied. “And I want to thank you for your pep talk a while back. It made a difference.”
“Yeah?” Theo was pleased and surprised.
Marj said, “Definitely. Keeping a positive attitude turns out to be important for me. I think it’s important for anyone in my situation not to get down. When I get better — did you notice I said when, and not if? — I’m going to do volunteer work with women going through what I went through. Maybe I can help them learn what I’ve learned about eating right, taking care of themselves — and especially about keeping their spirits up.”
“That sounds like a great plan,” said Theo.
“Speaking of plans, do you have any plans about getting into other sports?” Marj asked. “I hear you say that you’re playing ball more and enjoying it. Have you thought about going out for any organized sports? Football, baseball? I think that organized sports are great for a lot of kids. Not just because you can stay in good shape, but you can also learn about what it is to be part of a team.”
“I know you’re right, but the thing I really like right now is running,” Theo said. “I could see going out for track or cross-country, maybe. I don’t know about other sports. I’m not sure I want to do any of that. And I don’t know whether I’ll be good enough to make any teams. All I know now is I’m going to keep running.”
“I know you, young man,” Marj said. “If you set your mind to something, you’ll do it. And that includes making a team.”
“Well, we’ll see,” Theo said. “Like I said, I haven’t thought about it much. But maybe. Paul wants to play football, but I haven’t thought about it.”
Marj patted Theo’s arm. “Well, there’s no need to rush into anything. It’s just something to think about. I’d like to head back now,” said Marj. “I’ve enjoyed this, but I have to take it a little at a time.”
They went back to Marj’s place. Theo helped Marj up the steps.
“Thank you,” she said, sitting back down in her chair with a sigh. “I’m doing what you’ve been doing: adding a little more to my exercise each day.”
“That’s the way to go,” Theo said. “You’ll be doing all the stuff you used to do soon, I’ll bet.”
Marj smiled. “Could be you’re right. I believe I’ll be a lot stronger than I am now, anyway. How much longer is it until that race?”
“Almost three weeks,” Theo said.
“Right now, my plan is to be able to go to watch that race with your mom and dad. I want to be there and root for you and your friend. I think I can do it.”
“If you want to, I bet you will,” Theo said. “And it’ll be fantastic if you do.”
Marj smiled at Theo. “I’ll be there. You wait and see.”
13
On the day arranged for the meeting, Theo and Paul went to the park administration building to sign up for the race. They filled out forms and paid entry fees — donated by their parents — that would go to fund cancer research. They were given papers with the rules for the race and also got official race T-shirts. These were gold with the name of the race in bright red on the back and front.
“You can come in and get your race numbers on the day of the race or the day before,” said the woman at the entry table. “You have to wear those numbers on your shirts so we know that you’ve paid the fee and are officially entered.”
Steve was waiting just outside the building when Theo and Paul came out. “I like those shirts,” he said when they showed him their new tees. “Here’s the map of the route. There aren’t many steep hills around here, so it’s pretty flat. There’s one fairly long rise, but the grade isn’t bad. Look it over later.”
“Thanks a lot,” said Theo. “Uh, you said something about training tips.…”
Steve grinned. “Right, I did. I even wrote them out for you. Here.” He handed each of them a sheet of paper with printed notes on it. “Let me explain these.
“First, you should do a couple of runs of more than five K, the distance of the race, a couple of times before the race itself—but not during the few days just before. I think you might run — let’s see… thirteen or fourteen laps around the track on those. That works out to a little more than five K, either three and a quarter or three and a half miles. That’ll help your stamina on race day.
“Once a week, do what we call speed workouts on the track. In a speed workout, you run a lap around the track as fast as you can, then jog or walk for a one-minute rest interval, then another fast quarter, another one-minute rest, and so on. Do eight or more laps that way, if you can. And remember — when you’re walking or jogging, go to the outside edge of the track.”
“What do speed workouts do?” asked Theo.
“They help your muscles build up their capacity to take in oxygen. That means you can use your energy more efficiently. It’s called ‘building your V02 max.’ You may want to make speed drills part of your regular running routine, not just when you’re getting ready for a race. You can gradually add more fast laps, or try doing fast half miles instead of quarters, once you’ve done it for a while.
“Another thing. The day after a speed workout, do a slower run for variety and to give yourself a little rest.
“Now, let’s see… you’ll be doing one speed workout a week, one long run on the track a week, one easy workout a week. Another thing to try on a long run in the park is to vary your speed. Run fairly slow for a few minutes, then speed up, then slow down again, and so on. There may be times in a race when you want to lay back and conserve your energy. Then there may be times when you want to really put the hammer down, put on speed. You may want to pass someone at the end of a race, or psych another runner in the middle of a ra
ce and get him or her to try to keep up with you and risk burning himself or herself out. Any questions?”
Theo and Paul looked at each other. They both shook their heads.
“Okay, then,” Steve said. “Good luck, and I’ll see you on race day. If you want to ask me anything before then, you can leave messages for me at that number I gave Theo.”
“Thanks a lot,” said Paul.
“Forget it,” Steve said. “Have fun.”
The next day, Theo and Paul went to the track to try a speed workout, following Steve’s suggestions. They found that Paul could run faster quarters than Theo could, by several seconds. But Paul could only manage eight really fast laps. Theo was able to run another lap at his slightly slower pace. He had a little more stamina than Paul, though Paul had more speed.
Two days later, taking the map of the course, Theo and Paul ran and finished the course, not fast, but without stopping. They stayed together, and finished the five kilometers in a little more than twenty-nine minutes, by Theo’s watch.
Afterward, breathing heavily, Theo said, “That’s as fast as I can do it, for now anyway.”
Paul thought for a moment. “I think I could have maybe done it in fifteen or twenty seconds less. I still had a little gas in the tank at the end there.”
“But I bet I can cut my time down by race day,” Theo added.
“Me, too,” said Paul. “A little, for sure.”
Both boys were wearing the official race T-shirts. “Hey, let’s show the shirts to Aunt Marj,” Theo suggested.
They stopped by Marj’s place going home. Marj, who had just come back from her daily walk, said that the shirts were “very cool.”
The following week, they kept the same schedule. They each added a lap to their speed workouts and ran the laps a bit faster. They also added another lap to their long workouts, doing a full three and a half miles. They took it fairly slow but put on a few bursts of higher speed. Theo ran the last two hundred yards as fast as he could and surprised Paul, who was coasting, by passing him just at the end.
“Hey!” Paul yelled. “Where’d you come from?”
Run For It Page 6
