Alex opened his bedroom curtains and groaned as quietly as he could at what he saw through the rain drops that ran down the window pane. The rest of his family were still fast asleep in bed, lucky for them thought Alex as he wiped his hand across the misty glass he could now see that it looked very cold too. It was on mornings like this that Alex often had to remind himself that it was the people who still went out training when things got tough, like the bad weather this morning, who ended up winning the big matches, the big points and the biggest prizes.
Alex believed that one day he might be looking across the net at someone who was just as good a tennis player as himself, someone else with talent, someone else with all the shots but maybe, just maybe, someone who would rather stay in bed on a morning like this. The inner strength he would get from pushing himself now might make the tiny difference between winning and losing later. He looked back at his warm and inviting bed one last time then shrugged his shoulders and began to get ready to be a winner.
Alex walked quietly down the stairs carefully avoiding the squeaky stair halfway down. He knew his family supported his ambition but he still didn’t need to wake them all up at 5.30! To save time in the morning Alex always put all the things he needed for training ready the night before. It didn’t take him long to put everything into his backpack; clean shirt, clean socks and an energy drink. He went into the kitchen and opened the fridge. He smiled when he saw that his Mum had packed his breakfast ready for him to take with him. He couldn’t eat before he ran to the gym; it would just make him feel sick. For now he would make do with a banana, which would give him enough energy to run to the tennis centre.
As Alex sat on the bottom stair he pulled on his trainers, next he put on a waterproof jacket, zipped it up and then, taking a deep breath, pulled on his beanie hat, opened the door and ran out into the darkness and rain.