Ensign Lera Michaels - The Spirit of the Marathon

[steve...@yahoo.com]

((OOC: My vacation isolation is not quite as severe as I feared it might be.))

((Deck 5, Holodeck 2, USS Khitomer))

Michaels: At this pace, we should reach Marathon in about 50 minutes. ::beat:: How are you feeling?

She knew that he would say he was fine. The only way she could be certain how he was doing was to get him to talk. If he could only say a few words before he needed to breathe, he was close to his limit. Longer sentences meant he was doing well. Talking to him would make it easier and help pass the time.

Zerva: ::heavy deep breathing:: Feeling just fine thank you.

Lera shook her head. He was breathing too hard. Pushing his limit.

oO I need to slow him down. And keep him talking. Oo

Michaels: Remember that there is a time to race, a time to train, and a time to simply run. :: beat :: I admit, the scenery here is not very exciting. Scrubby little bushes, dead grass. It does look better during the rainy season... which is about three hours one day in mid-September. Ah, but it is home.

Zerva: I’m happy to know you enjoy this place. I like it. It has a charm all its own that I like.

Michaels: So, Ezra. There are a few things you should change to make your running easier. First off, stop clinching your fists. Holding your hands like that tightens your shoulders. That wastes energy, and your back will be sore at the end of the race. :: beat :: Relax your arms. Keep your hands open.

He relaxed his hands and the impact of his running was immediately obvious. Perhaps too obvious.

Michaels: What kind of physical training do you do for Security?

Zerva: ::breathing:: It’s a mix of the martial arts that I train in the dojo, general gym exercises, fitness workouts and what I like to call jungle gym runs. That’s where you run all over the ship using Jeffries tubes, ladders and other physical objects to train off of as you move about. It was taught by Captain Tuvok at the Academy.

Michaels: I do not understand some of those words. Dojo, Kempo, and Jujitsu sound like they may be Japanese. Escrima does not.

Zerva: Escrima is Philippine stick and knife fighting. It’s a lot of fun and it’s my favorite of the arts I practice. The others are indeed Japanese in origin. My Kempo comes from the island of Okinawa and Japan. It was brought to the United States by James Mitose in the mid twentieth century on earth.

Michaels: After we finish this, why not show me your Dojo... did I say that correctly?... program. You could teach me one of those.

She slowed the pace gradually enough that it shouldn't be obvious. Just a couple strides fewer a minute.

Zerva: ::smiling:: I would like that and yes dojo was correct. I can tell you more about each of the three arts if you like?

Michaels: That would be nice. I must admit my exposure to the martial arts consists of little more than watching movies. They do quite a few... interesting things in the movies that certainly appear to be violations of the laws of physics. Running up walls. Impossibly long leaps. Balancing on top of a stalk of bamboo. Fighting a dozen opponents with a step ladder. I confess that I do not understand the difference between the styles.

Zerva: The main differences between each are escapes, locks and holds for jujitsu. Kata’s and Kempo’s for your Kempo classes. I’ve also learned how to use various lengths of staff for training. The Jo and Bo staff. Training the samurai of old practiced with for their sword use in combat. The Escrima is what I mentioned previously, using Escrima sticks and knifes. Escrima is a separate art that is taught separately in its own form with a slightly different ranking system. The other three are learned together in the same ranking system.

Michaels: Unless they are "street fighting" they all wear white clothing with colored belts. Is that what you mean by ranking?

Zerva: More specifically, Kempo are self defense used to defend yourself from one attacker, typically in front of you. Kempo Katas are long form of motion used for multiple attackers coming from various directions. I apologize if that’s a lot to take in all at once. It was a lot for me at the beginning. The books I was given by my Sensei helped me a lot too.

Michaels: It does sound like quite a lot. I have seen the Kempo Katas in the videos though I have seen. I do not understand why they do not all attack at once rather than waiting their turns. I have always assumed that was simply fiction.

Zerva: Rather than trying to learn it all at once, each week of the month, you learn something different. It helps to start at the beginning, learning a little more at each rank you obtain.

Michaels: That does sound like the superior approach.

Zerva: Does any of that sound interesting to you?

Michaels: I am interested. I look forward to fighting a dozen opponents using a folding chair and a belt.

They were catching up to another couple. Generally she ran this program race at a significantly faster pace. She had never noticed the couple had matching shirts. His short said "Since 97." Her shirt said "Married 23." It only took a moment for Lera to realize, they were on the wrong side of each other. Together the shirts would read, "Married Since 2397." She smiled. It was a cute approach. The woman, however, was leaning against her husband, clearly exhausted.

Zerva: ::nods as she spoke:: Looks like we’re out pacing a couple of runners. Slow and steady wins the race, eh?

Michaels: Only if you are a turtle running against an arrogant rabbit. The woman of that couple is what we sometimes refer to as the walking wounded. She is exhausted and judging by her gait, she has injured her left leg. But she will not give up. She may collapse the moment she crosses the finish line but, for her, the most important thing is that she crosses the finish line. That is the thing about the Marathon. Except for a few elite runners, the marathon is not a race against other runners. It is a race against yourself. And the clock. It is a race to prove you can do something most people can not do. For the elite runners, the absolute winners, fast as you can go at the end wins the race. For everyone else, it is about the spirit of the marathon. Its about overcoming the difficulties, to push through and triumph at the end. That woman is a winner.

Zerva: Response

Lera shook er head.

Michaels: I must apologize to you. I neglected to tell the most important thing about long distance races. The one thing you must never do is start out too fast. She started out too fast and used up too much energy too early in the race. But she will finish.

Zerva: Response

Michaels: And as long as I am doing too much talking perhaps it would be well if we made a few more changes to your running style.

Zerva: Response

Michaels: First. Hold your chin up and stand up straight and tall. Holding your chin up straightens your wind pipe. You will have an easier time breathing. Leaning forward does not help except at the very end and only if there is another runner next to you who is also leaning. Leaning forward means you are supporting your upper body weight with lower back muscles. Again. A waste of energy.

Zerva: Response.

Michaels: See those buildings in the distance?

Zerva: Response

Michaels: That is Marathon. We are nearly finished.

As they made a wide sweeping turn, they spotted their first spectators, who were holding up signs that said things like "You're almost there" and "You're kicking asphalt" and "All this for a free banana?" 

Spectator: Look! It's Lera and Ezra. You rule!!"

Michaels: I thought you might appreciate that touch.

Zerva: Response

TAGS/TBC

--— ☼ --—

Ensign Lera Michaels

Engineering Officer
USS Khitomer
K240106LM2