A Day | Teen Ink

A Day

May 1, 2017
By Eiref BRONZE, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Eiref BRONZE, Cambridge, Massachusetts
4 articles 0 photos 0 comments

“What About Sleep?”
*Bzz* her phone goes off
“Who is down for a 6am practice before class?” the message from her coach reads.
She rolls her eyes.
She begins to type ...
*Bzz* a response from a teammate “Sure.”
*Bzz* “Yeah okay.” from another.
She deletes her original response. “I love waking up at 5!” She sends.


No Shower, No Breakfast
Three alarms carefully set, one for 4:40am, another for 4:50am, the last for 5:00am.
She wakes up to none.
6:03am rolls around.
She wakes up on her own and checks her phone.
“S***.”

But For Why
She was already going to be late, in the scheme of things, eating breakfast would be more beneficial than getting to practice 5 minutes earlier.
She throws on some clothes while her egg cooks.
Mid dress, she smells an egg beginning to burn.


Senses to Stay Awake
Push pedal. Push pedal. *click*. Push pedal. Push pedal. *click*. Each wheel rotation causing a noise from the chain. She presses on down the long street, sun beginning rise and stir up a breeze. The smell of burnt egg lingering, though the taste has been replaced with minty toothpaste. Push pedal. Push pedal. *click*.

“Why Haven't You Started The Warm Up Yet?”
“We are going to do a 42 minute piece. Starting at an 18 for 6 min bumping up 2 beats in a pyramid. So 18 for 6, 20 for 5, 22 for 4, 24 for 3, 26 for 2, 28 for 1, then back down.” the coach repeats the workout a few more times.


And Repeat
She has already been awake for 5 hours. It's 11:08 and she has already been assigned even more hours of homework, not to mention more hours of school, than her a few hours at her internship, then her second crew practice for the day later…. Then also that homework…

Sweat
12:40. Pushpedal. Pushpedal*click*. Pushpedal. Pushpedal*click*. She has 20 minutes to get from school to Tufts. That’s 4 minutes to get out of the school and on her bike, 5 to get to Porter, 5 to get to Davis, and 6 to get up the mile long hill to campus. Pushpedal. Pushpedal*click*.


And Repeat #2
Light the bunsen burner.Sterilize the tweezers. Put the three rubber units on the system. Place three sterile membrane filters onto the system and cap. 10 mL of the inoculated solution each.. Spray the caps with Milli-Q.. Sterilize the tweezers. Take off the filters, put on the coli-blue dishes. Boil the caps and rubber units.

Sweatier
4:45. Pushpedal. Pushpedal*click*. Pushpedal. Pushpedal*click*. She has 20 minutes to get to practice. That’s 2 to speed down the mile long hill to Davis. 4 to get to Porter. 4 to get to Harvard. 3 to get to the river. 5 to the boathouse. 2 to get changed. Pushpedal. Pushpedal*click*.

“Why Aren’t You Warming Up Yet?!”
“So pause drill to warm up. Pause at the finish, arms away, bodies over, quarter slide, half slide, three quarter slide.. Each for 10, then 10 full on the square. Then same pyramid workout we did earlier on the ergs.” The coach begins to go over the workout again… And agian… And agian..

Or Maybe Sleep?
7:45. Push… Push Pedal… Click… Click…  The wheel rotating slower now than it had been the all day. Almost home... All she can think about is the dinner waiting for her on the table, it’s probably cold by now. After that maybe a shower? She hasn't had one all day… Then that homework...

And Repeat #3
11:45. Showered. Fed. Homework finished (barely). Awake for about 18 hours now. Sleep. Awake in about 6 or 7 hours.



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