I'd just finished conditioning and I was sweating profusely. I shot a brief glance at my teammates, hoping they hadn't heard.
"Very…white," he added.
My nostrils flared, but I pretended his comment didn't bother me. Propping my hands on my hips, I shifted my gaze up to his.
"I think you mean pale. Sometimes your Russian gets the best of you," I said, and Holly chuckled.
Truth was, I was suffering inside. After I left his office, I climbed the rope ten times in pike position and did so many crunches I lost count, among other core workouts that left my muscles screaming in rebellion. That blooming pain in my lower back returned and it was all I could focus on for the last hour. It was growing stronger with each passing minute.
Kova didn't respond to me, but instead turned to the team. "Today we are doing jump conditioning, also known as plyos, which I am sure you know. It is used to increase speed strength. Your muscles will exert maximum force and you will thank me later for it."
Kova wore arrogance with pride. It worked for him.
"We are going to be doing quick switching of the feet, with bending and jumps. Lots of leg power here. Quick, quick, punch!"
Kova had us stand in a line on the floor with a folded mat that stood about ten inches tall in front of each of us. I jumped on and off, pin straight and as quickly as I could, making sure my body stayed tight.
"On and off the mat. You must jump way higher, quickly," Kova shouted. He was circling us like an animal eyeing its prey with his laser gaze trained on our feet. "Nice, extend those ankles and pop off. Off!"
I was afraid to extend too much in fear of worsening my injury.
"You can go a little lighter on your extension, Adrianna." I swear he’d read my mind. Strange. After a few minutes, he said, "Now do the same thing on one foot."
My thighs were on fire as we switched legs again and proceeded with the same technique. I looked at my teammates and we all wore the same pained expression.
"Okay. Enough. Get in line over here." He pointed to the white tape on the floor.
I stood with my hands on my hips and watched as Kova added two extra boxed mats that were waist high and chest high. I knew where he was going with this.
Kova instructed us to jump over the mats with our legs straight and tight together. Sounded simple enough, only it wasn't. Nothing that looked easy ever was, even if the floor had springs underneath and helped boost us.
One by one, we jumped over four spaced-out folded mats like we were little toothpicks bouncing around. As I neared the end, I dug deep and pulled my knees up to jump onto the taller boxed mat. Drawing in an audible breath, I shot up to reach the top of the last mat and crouched on it. Finally! Jumping down, I released a strenuous pant and got back in line, but not before I stole a quick glance at Kova to see if he’d caught how fatigued I was. His eyes were already on me.
"Extend, ladies. Reach and jump. Light and easy on your toes. This needs to be as clean as possible. If toddlers can do it at birthday parties, there is no reason you cannot."
I chuckled under my breath. World Cup hosted birthday parties like most gyms did. The youngest child he allowed for a party was four years old, and they weren’t leaping over mats this high.
"Excellent, ladies. That is what I want to see."
We were all a little out of breath when we reached the sixth round. I looked at the clock and realized we had another two hours of this. I was already more winded than the rest of the girls.
A tickle in my dry throat caused me to cough. Covering my mouth, I fought back another cough as a choked, hoarse sound came from the back of my throat. Reagan watched me. Deep lines formed between her eyes like she was trying to figure something out, which only made me feel more insecure about my coughing fit. My stomach tightened as I fought a cough back again. I offered a smile like everything was okay and inhaled a deep breath and held it. Once I exhaled, I felt better.
"On the next set, squat and touch the floor with your hands on each jump. Like frog jumps over the mats."
Breathing through my nose, I watched Holly go first, then Reagan, then I went. I missed the last mat I had to jump on top of it, and tried again.
"Pull those knees up, Adrianna." My thighs were blazing hot and shaking. I almost kneed my mouth. "Good. Just like that," Kova added.
Since there were only a few of us, the sets went quickly, and each time it took longer and longer for me to catch my breath. I avoided Reagan's nosy eyes and looked ahead. Rubbing the side of my face into my bicep, I wiped away the sweat from my temples.
"Touch the floor, now jump! Again. Touch…touch…touch. Jump! That is it!"
I hopped over the mat to the next mat, overanalyzing over my reality. I was okay. I'd be okay.
Had I never worked out hard enough? I'd always used the extreme exhaustion I experienced as my motivation. Now that I knew about the kidney disease and lupus, it was my crutch, and I feared the possibility using it as an excuse to slow down. It would be so easy. But just like all those other times when I’d struggled, wrestling with my aching muscles and strength to keep going, I always got back up and pushed myself ten times harder.
I wondered if I was dealing with the repercussions of what I'd always done now.