Race (Without the Bending)

“Why did I agree to this again?” Jack panted. He hated working out. Running was horrible. How he found himself in this 10 kilometer was a good question.

“We just started! We've only run one kilometer!” Alex said enthusiastically. He wasn't even slightly breathless. He was barely sweating. It wasn't fair! He ran easily, in a perfect form. Jack’s side burned, his legs hurt, and he just wanted to curl up and sleep.

“Only one?!” He moaned. “Not like 5?!” Alex laughed.

“Think about it this way; do what you did now 10 times.”

“Somehow that’s not comforting at all.” Jack said.

“Do half of what you did now 20 times?” Alex suggested with a smile.

“No!”

“Do a quarter of what you did now 40 times!” Alex said with a smile. Jack smiled back despite the never ending pain.

Alex insisted they were going slowly at a decent pace but Jack felt like he was dying.

“No!”

“Do an eighth of what you-”

“Alex!”

“What? I’m trying to comfort you.” Jack laughed. OK yes, Alex was adorable, even if he had somehow managed to convince him to run with him. Maybe that’s how he did it.

“Why do you even enjoy this?” Jack asked breathlessly. Was his boyfriend completely insane? Three times a week Alex would go running. He’d always come home with a huge smile. Why would he even run for fun?! This was nothing less than torture!

"It's so much fun! Think about how amazing it is that you can do this. You can run. Your body is strong enough to do this."

"Maybe yours is. Mine clearly isn't." Jack muttered.

Alex laughed. Jack loved Alex's laugh. It never ceased to make him smile. "You can do this! Running is more of a mental sport."

"Ughhh. Aleeeeeeexxxx everything hurts!"

"Everything?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"My side, my legs, my lungs, I'm dying!"

"Um OK, hold on to your side where it hurts. Breathe in and out deeply. Don't move from your current pace." Jack did as he said.

"Hey look we just finished the third kilometer!" Alex said. Jack smiled, despite everything.

"Only three times and something what you just did huh?" Jack said.

"Right! Or like half of what you did 6 and something times!" Alex laughed.

Jack squeezed harder on his side and finally that pain faded away. "Praise the lord!" Jack said dramatically.

"About your legs, try holding your shoulders back, like more relaxed, yeah like that. Make sure your foot hits the ground on the balls of the foot, like after the toes but not the heel."

"The balls of the foot?" Jack giggled. Alex rolled his eyes.

"And then breathe from your nose and mouth. See doesn't that feel better?"

"I still feel like my body is falling apart." Jack stated. It still felt better. His lungs didn't burn anymore. Maybe that's how Alex made running look so easy.

"Just imagine all the muscles in your body working together to make you be able to run! Isn't that awesome?!" Alex said enthusiastically. Running never stopped to amaze him. All those muscles, his body getting stronger, working together, for him, just because he decided to run.

Jack looked around. Everyone around was running. Old people, teenagers, big scary muscly dudes, couples and large groups. Everyone was running exactly the same course, doing the same moves. There was a feeling of unity. The sun was shining and there was a nice breeze. The sky was a perfect blue with a few puffy white clouds. The streets were cleared for the race so they could run on the road. The sound of his feet hitting the asphalt was calming. It didn't change, hitting the ground again and again. Despite everything, there was something nice about it.

"You're awfully quiet. Are you plotting to kill me when we get home for making you do this?" Alex asked. Jack laughed.

"Maybe. For this, you'd deserve some thing worse."

"No seriously though, I'm sorry for kind of forcing you to run with me."

"Well it's a bit too late for that, isn't it? It's ok though. I wanted to. I do kind of understand why you like this, I guess."

"Yes! I knew I could make a runner out of you! Does this mean you'll join me next week for a half marathon?"

"No. We still have 3 more kilometers which is enough time for me to throw myself on the ground and never get up." Alex laughed.

"Come on! You can't deny how fun this is!"

"Watch me."

Alex pouted. "Okay yes, it is fun." Jack admitted.

More than half way. Come on. He could do this. He felt exhausted, but he wouldn't let himself stop, not now, not when he was so close.

"I still feel so so tired, ugh my feet, this is impossible." He said quietly, breathlessly.

"Jack, we're almost done! Come on, you need to finish strong!" Alex said, full of energy. "Breath. Take deep breaths. One more kilometer."

Jack focused himself. He could do this. He pushed himself, made his feet go faster. He ignored the pain and his body's complaints. Alex smiled as he saw Jack run. He ran next to him.

The finish line was so close. With one last deep breath, Jack and Alex crossed it.

"You did it! Jack you did it! I'm so proud of you!" Alex said.

Jack smiled and said breathlessly , shoving back his sweaty hair "Anything for you Alex." Even though they were both sweaty, Jack pressed his lips to Alex and kissed him. Alex leaned forward, running his hand through Jack's hair, hugging him. They broke apart the second they saw water.

Alex made Jack stretch and laughed as he saw just how unflexible Jack was. Jack was so happy. He actually ran 10 kilometers. He thought that wasn't possible.

"Never again." He stated.

"So we're going running tomorrow?" Alex suggested.

"No!" Jack said. "Well um maybe tomorrow. Definitely not today and I refuse to run a half marathon."

"Sure Jack."