Adam Blake - 14. Chapter 14

I had driven about 15 miles when I began to hear the surf. I looked at Billy he was confused,

At the 10 mile mark, he was beginning to get the idea, “That’s a surf I’m hearing.”

“Yes, that’s the surf you are hearing.”

“So we’re going to be staying at a beach.”

“Yes, a friend of my dad’s has a cabin here. We’ll stay there for two weeks of training.”

“Training for what?”

“Your Olympic trials”

“My Olympic trials, when did you and Dad decided that?”

“After that last run, you did. Did you realize your time in that 5-mile run?”

“No, all I wanted to do is run and win.”

I laughed, “You have no idea how fast you run do you?”

“No, I look at the distance, not the time.”

“We’re going to run each day from the cabin toward the diner and the day you accomplish that you will be ready for the Olympics. To start with we’re going to focus on strengthening your legs by running in the sand. The sand will slow you down and you will have to work to beat me.”

“I can never run all the way to the diner. That is what 25-30 miles.”

“Never say never, you are already defeated if you say that word. You may not make it all the way to the diner but you’ll be surprised how far you will make it. All I ask is that you give me your all. I’ll be running right beside you and if I can do it so can you or are you saying I’m a better runner than you.”

I looked at him and could see the challenge building. “If I stay with you or you quit then you’ll have to buy me a gift of my picking.”

“If you stay with me, I’ll buy you any gift you pick.”

I open the cabin and brought in our bags. “There are two bedrooms in the back, you pick one and I’ll take the other. The bathroom is the room between the bedrooms. Take your bag and get settled in. We can take a walk after you’re settled, sort of check out the place.”

It has been a few years since I had been here, I remember the cabin but I’m sure the area has changed. I also wanted to check out the beach for running.

“Tomorrow morning at 5 we’ll begin running. We’ll take it easy until you get accustomed to running in the sand. It’ll be a lot different which you’ll find out. Let’s go and check out the beach area.”

“We walked to the beach, Billy being Billy took off his shoes, handed them to me, and ran into the surf. “The water feels great Uncle, come on in.”

I just looked at him, I’m holding his shoes. “Enjoy yourself, tomorrow you can swim for a while after we run. Use the ocean to cool off.” I watched him for about 30 minutes as he horsed around in the surf. I’m glad he and I get along so well. He is a great kid, Bill and Jennifer lucked out with this one.

“Billy, I’m going to walk up the beach a little way. There used to be some rocks up this way and I want to see if they are still there or not.”

As I started to walk away, Billy started to follow me walking in the surf. “When I was a kid, Dad would take me to the park and I’d play in the sandbox with some other kids. It was fun, I think I’ll take Scotty there when we get back. I know he’d like to play in the sand.”

I just smiled at him and placed my arm around his shoulder, when he left the surf and began to walk along my side. “When I was a kid and my folks came here, I use to play in the rocks. I pretended I was king of the mountain.”

We walked for a few hundred yards and you could see the beginning of the rocks. Billy started to laugh, “You were king of the mountain on that little pile of rocks?”

Just then we went around the bend and there was the pile I remembered. Billy looked and wanted to climb the hill. It was a pile of rocks that the builder dumped there when they built the cabins and some houses further back. It was a good 40 to 50 feet high. “I never made it to the top, my dad had said it was dangerous as the rocks could slide and I could get trapped. The rocks aren’t there naturally, they were dumped there from the excavation a long time ago when the cottages and homes were built here. I guess that they have been here for at least 50 years.”

“Do you think it’s safe to climb them now?”

“I don’t know, I guess you could still fall. I wouldn’t climb them unless someone was with me in case I did fall. Will be running in the other direction toward the diner.”

I gave him his shoes to carry, we walked back to the cabin. “Billy, do you want something to eat? We still have the leftovers from the diner.”

“I could eat some of it but not much. I usually don’t eat too much before I run.”

“Here’s the food, help yourself. I think I’m going to take a shower and go to bed. 5 will come very early tomorrow morning.”

As I was leaving the bathroom, I saw Billy finishing a small plate of salad. “Good night, Billy” I got a good night response.”