Preseason had just begun and everyone was already in tears. Walking onto the field, we all expected what was to come; pain, torture, and exhaustion. As we set our water bottles down, the sun’s rays had already gotten hotter.  The turf burned through our thick, leather boots, leaving massive blisters to scar our feet. The heat traveled through my cleats, and through the holes in my socks, which left red, burn marks on my feet. We jogged over to the end line and waited for instruction. We were all ordered to stand in lines of four so we could stretch. Some people were incapable of this and that is when we heard the most dreaded word of all. “Loop!” Coach Heenahan screamed.

A herd of upperclassmen sprinted through the open gate leading to the baseball fields. Underclassmen trailed behind, confused about what we were doing. My legs started shaking, as were everyone else’s. Rounding the final bend of the soccer field, bodies were moving in slow motion. Crossing the finish line I heard crying, coughing, wheezing, and panting. Everyone shot their hands on their knees. “Stand straight up. Hands behind your heads, get them off the knees” Coach Heenahan said without any sympathy. The pain was immense; I have never experienced such exhaustion in my life. Only a few more hours I thought, but who knew a few more hours would consist of torture and pain.

Time passed as we hit the balls back and forth and did energy draining drills. It was time for lunch and everyone was ecstatic. “I’m sure you girls cannot wait to get to lunch. Since you have been working so hard today, I will give you an extra twenty minutes for your break. Although, you must have plenty of energy for one more of these. Loop!” Coach was cut off by the sound of crying as feet hit the ground moving faster than imaginable. I neared the front of the pack and tried to keep up with the fastest seniors. We all cut the corner in unison. Sweat trickled down my neck, sliding down my back. I could see the dye from our sports bras seeping through our shirts. My cheeks were bright red, soaking up all the sun. It seemed like a lifetime, but we were finally at the end. Everyone was close to collapsing because our legs could not hold us up. We dragged our legs behind us as we walked over to our bags. I did not know lunch would be the highlight of my day.    

Later that afternoon, the temperature increased. We were all sweating as we ran through the scrimmage as best as we could. I struggled to breath, attempting to inhale the hot air. The turf was so hot that from across the field I saw heat waves in the distance. The hours did not go by fast, I would have done anything to get off of that field. “Bring it in” boomed my Coach. “Great job today everyone. Although you worked hard, there is still a lot that must change. The rest of this week is not going to be easy in any way. You will continue to endure both physical and mental pain, so we can see who belongs on what team. Having said that, fitness is another large component of soccer. We need to get faster… Loop!” His voice echoed through the sky. Nothing had ever felt so much like a dream. None of us could comprehend what he had just said. It took a moment, but once again we bolted through the gates. What felt like a sprint was more of a slow jog. My legs were heavy. It felt as though they had three hundred pound weights on them. None of us bothered to go around the corner, we ran straight across the field because we were out of sight from Coach. The physical pain we were experiencing was so unbearable that I was waiting for someone to collapse. What had felt like 500 years was only three minutes, three painful minutes. As we neared the end and we used our last bit of energy. The finish line was so close but so far at the same time. My legs hit the end line, and I realized that I had never been in so much pain before. Crossing the finish line was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, but it was also the most electrifying.