Scheduled StoriesNext:None scheduled at this moment.Next Empty Day:Mon, Dec 9th
I was left standing in the rising sun for what seemed an eternity, until I heard behind me a cart being brought in my direction. Harry appeared in front of me, and tied me to the cart, once again on the left.
He brushed my hair: “Good pony Gold-swan. Good pony”. He feed a little of their thick liquid in my mouth, and performed the same operations on my partner, once again Fire-Fox.
This time, I was ready for the whip and didn’t need to have my order repeated when I was asked to move forward. Within a few seconds, the cart was in movement and I was under the impression that our pace was much faster than in my first experience.
We quickly left the building area and entered a vast plain, where a narrow asphalt road determined pretty much our direction. Fire-fox and I could hear each other’s foot steps, and I quickly realized she had problems keeping up with me due to the length of my legs.
In a way, it was blissful for me, because it enabled me to remain at a marathon activity level, while maintaining a good constant speed. The aerobic exercises I had done in the previous months were really paying off on my cardio-vascular capacity and I was able to snooze off during long stretch of road.
Snoozing off is something I had not expected. The rhythmic repeated and simple minded task of simply running on a pavement, along with the incapacity of moving almost any other muscle tended to make my mind wander off. I was able to almost leave my body, leaving it automate my movements, returning only when I had to turn or adjust the pace.
The direct and primary benefit of course was the loss of time: When we paused running, the sun had travelled a lot, showing that we probably ran for over 2 or 3 hours, but I didn’t see the time pass, and I didn’t have any pain or exhaustion on my muscles.
My mouth was really dry, even if I had been able to keep the slim bit which didn’t make me drool all the time. Nonetheless, the refreshing liquid was very welcome. It was only the third time I had drank it and yet I was already getting used to it despite its really odd taste.
We waited a good 5 minutes to let our muscles relax a little but predictably, we resumed our course as soon as our break was over.
The day was starting to get really warm, and I must admit that my near nakedness really helped me retain my cool; otherwise I would probably be in full sweat. In fact, in the few places my harness did touch my skin I could feel the sweat accumulating.
It took me a while to register that we were doing the same route in circle, over and over again. Each of the loops was at least 2 miles long, but I could frequently see some of the features repeated, such as a small lake and a cabin in a wood. Every 2 or 3 laps, we stopped for a drink and a 5 minutes pause.
I took the opportunity of one of these pauses to empty my bladder, which was starting to feel more and more natural. Most of my urine fell directly on the pavement, reducing the risk of irritation in my hooves. The small portion that did follow my legs dried off rather quickly.
It is only when we stopped at the mansion again that I understood a little more about the test I went thru, by surprising a conversation between Harry and another man, while I was being nourished with the liquid by Harry.
“So, how does she do?”
“We did 11 laps”
“In only 6 hours?” surprised
“And we stopped only 4 times.”
“Wait a second… that means 4.9 miles per hour! It was never seen from a beginner before…”
“And Fire-fox was slowing her down. I am sure she can go to 5.3, or perhaps even 5.5 with Black-Bug. Look at those hooves. It gives her several inches on each of her legs, reducing her number of steps. And she is in perfect shape. It is almost as if she trained for this. Together, they would be really fast”
As a matter of fact, I had trained for the past year or so, every day, but I didn’t expect to blow their mind.
“We never found a good partner for Black-Bug. You should try them together.”
“Maybe I will put them together this afternoon.”
“After a 27 miles run? Are you crazy? She’ll need to rest…”
“I know, I just want to see them sprint together”
“Good idea… I’ll warn Mark.”