My jaw dropped. "Forgive me, but I'm not used to tape around my knees. I need to get used to it."
Kova tilted his head to the side and raised a pointed brow. He was annoyed with my response. "Get used to it, now," he said, low and controlled, using his index finger to point at the floor. "Get used to it, now."
Flattening my lips, I nodded hastily. Swinging my arms down to gain power, I put everything into the jump. With my hips squared with my shoulders, I let go and relaxed my head, arching my back as much as I could humanly manage, and tried to spot my toes. Coming down, I landed with both feet and squeezed every muscle I could in an effort to not wobble.
"Excellent. Only do not come down sounding like a goddamned elephant. You cannot weigh more than one hundred pounds soaking wet, if that. Act like a feather delicately floating down. We want elegance."
I ground my jaw. "Yes, sir." I didn't look his way, but I saw a smirk dazzle his face for a split second from the corner of my eye. It was the first hint of something other than brooding since he spoke to Katja and that made me happy.
"What was that?" he bit out after I jumped.
I glanced down. "What?"
"That noise?"
I dropped my arms to my sides. "What noise?"
He squinted his eyes. "Did you grunt up there?" he asked calmly.
I bit down on the inside of my lip. "No."
Kova stepped closer to the balance beam and leaned in like he was listening for a pin to drop.
"Do it again."
Looking for a spot on the wall to focus on, I swung my arms down and moved into the sheep jump. Coming down, I took note in how I landed and tried to appear as graceful as possible.
"There it is. You did it again!" he yelled in shock. But he looked mostly disgusted and that made me flinch.
"What am I doing?" I responded, exasperated by his attitude.
His eyes were huge orbs. "You are grunting when you jump, as if you are exerting yourself to the max. Like you are out of shape and cannot run twenty feet in front of you. It sounds horrible, not to mention embarrassing."
"I honestly had no idea I was."
His brows lifted in disbelief. "You mean to tell me that you cannot feel or hear that god awful sound come out of you?"
I shook my head. "No, I can't."
"I do not believe you. Do it again. Come on. Get moving." He rushed me with his hand movements.
Taking a deep breath, I exhaled nervously and sent up a silent prayer before I jumped.
And heard it.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!
I snuck a glance at Kova, which was a huge mistake. He looked like he was ready to climb up on the beam and kill me.
"Do you have Tourette's?"
"What? No. You know I don't."
"You sound like a pig. Is that what you want the judges to hear?"
"Of course not."
"Then control it. If you must put so much into the jump that you have to grunt, then you are doing it wrong. You are exerting yourself way too much."
I nodded and tried to figure out how the hell I would control a sound coming out of me I hadn’t realized I was making until now.
"Think about the breathing techniques and go from there. Do not hold your breath when you jump. This is all basic shit you should already know," he mumbled, running a hand down his face. His eyes were bloodshot and I felt bad.
Two hours later I had finally stopped making the sound, and we moved on to handstands for another hour before he called it a day.
I. Was. Drained.
I was beyond sore and tired, and my muscles ached.
When I planned to come in today, I had it all mapped out. I was going to designate a specific amount of time to each event, work on skills I knew needed attention, follow up with intense conditioning and drills, and then end with a run.
Then Kova had showed up and blew my plans to shit.
Thirty
There was not enough Motrin in the world that could help me right now.
I could barely walk. My thighs quivered relentlessly, and my stomach was so tender to the touch that I hunched over like an old lady.
If I had to guess, I'd say Kova ran me ragged because of his phone call with Katja. This was by far the hardest workout to date.