The countdown alarm

Words  325

            For the sprint today, I set the countdown alarm at 1 minute.  Then I ran as fast as I could, as usual.  If I had made it in under a minute, the alarm would not have gone off.  It did go moments before the end.  When I looked at the watch, it said, “:57”.  I thought that meant that it was .43 seconds over one minute.  The next time I looked, though, it said “:33”. 
So my result was somewhere between 2 seconds and 3 seconds more than one minute.  So it could have been just 2.01 seconds.  At any rate, I understood that I would need to run 16 flights when I returned to the apartment.

            Next, I went across town to meet with a dude who he had called the night before.  My sick friend in Pokrov needed me to bring some medical supplies—what he calls ‘blue clay.’ I understand, possibly incorrectly, that he puts it on his body to alleviate the pain. After running, I called this guy again and we agreed to meet at a metro station.  I planned to get the stuff and go immediately to the train station for the 2-hour trip to Pokrov.  I didn’t check the times of the train because I knew I was going to go as soon as possible.  Well after I made the 45 minute trip to the train station, walked up to the ticket desk, and saw that the next train was schedule to leave in 3 minutes.  I quickly bought the ticket and scampered to the platform.  “Where’s the train to Petyshka (the biggest town beyond Pokrov)?”  I turned one way, then the other, found someone who knew the location of the train.  I went to the train and I had pulled away about 5 feet.  So I missed it by seconds.  I should have looked at the schedule.  I’m sure I could have hurried a bit and made it.