Amber mentions at 3:00 that we have conditioning today at practice.

"Seriously? We do?" Tanya cries. "I'm not mentally prepared!"

What is it about the repetition of strength exercises -- none harder or more physically demanding than the skills we do voluntarily -- that wipes the smile off of anyone's face?

Back in the day at the tender age of 11, we used to have four sets of fifty push-ups, three sets of seven pull-ups, three sets of ten leg lifts, and an assortment of other activities that took up a good chunk of practice time. We also had an infamous routine of "vaulting drills," which involved conditioning that moved up and down the seventy-foot runway. These activities ranged from sprinting to sitting on the runway, legs stretched out in front of us, pushing off of the floor with our hands, scooting our legs forward (no use of the butt allowed), then sitting again. For the length of the runway. And back again.

"Good," our coach said once after we'd finished, panting. "Now do those all over again, and do them right."

It came to the point where you either sobbed or simply embraced the situation. (Or, of course, cheated.) I'd like to think that I have some integrity. And thus I attacked every repetition. Eventually, strangely, I gained a certain pleasure from this repeated pain-and-relief-and-pain cycle.

I would like to tell you that conditioning works miracles. That if you can do all of those push-ups, there's no limit to your skill level.

But I've seen plenty of cheaters with better success than me. They'd do twenty lame push-ups as I worked through my fifty, then bounce off to get a drink. I kept going.

When it came time for gymnastics, I found that I was still terrified of new skills in spite of my newfound strength. And I found that those who cheated could easily toss skills without any lingering thoughts of, "I really half-assed that last jog around the floor."

And so it comes to me at age 21, still pumping out gymnastics and learning to enjoy conditioning. Perhaps that's what happens to the "leftovers." Well, you may be two levels higher than me, but damn, can I do a leg lift!