Zachary woke up a bitte the following day, feeling refreshed. He took a peek at his bedside clock and noticed that it was already 8:30 AM. Without dilly-dallying, he jumped out of bed and washed up before having a sumptuous breakfast with Cami.
Thirty minutester, he dropped Cami off at M?ller Bil Trondheim, her workce, and then continued to Lerkendal to attend Rosenborg''s official training that day. He navigated the early morning traffic at a leisurely pace while listening to the newest catchy tunes on his car stereo. He arrived at the gates of Lerkendal a little more than thirty minutester when thete autumn sun had long risen above the horizon in the east.
He wasn''t worried, though, since he was sure that the official training that day would start at 10:00 AM. He still had some time to kill before the coaches arrived on the training grounds.
Zachary slowly pulled his R8 GT into one of the parking spots allocated to Rosenborg yers before heading towards the training ground.
Wherever he passed, the Rosenborg employees working in the stadium greeted him enthusiastically and, of course, congratted him on winning yet another trophy. Some went as far as asking him to sign autographs for them as he made his way across the green towards the locker room.
Zachary could obviously see that the employees held him in high esteem. So, he returned their greetings politely and even signed plenty of autographs before continuing on his way with a slight swagger in his step. On the inside, he was swelling with pride since he''d finally managed to get recognition from both Rosenborg''s fans and employees.
It had only been less than a year since he began ying professionally for the Troll Kids. However, he''d already helped the Norwegian giants win the domestic double by bing a top scorer and MVP for Norway''s two most prestigious tournaments. So, he could hardly contain the sense of contentment swelling within him.
A few minutester, Zachary couldn''t help but smile when he got to the Lerkendal training grounds. His mood lifted when he noticed that the atmosphere around the whole Rosenborg team was exceptionally energetic.
It seemed that winning the Norwegian Football Cup had boosted his teammates'' morale and obviously pushed them to work even harder in preparation for the two remaining Europa League group matches.
Zachary could see that all the yers on the training grounds were in high spirits that morning. Most were spread across the field in groups, going through various fitness drills. They were all focused, performing routines without cutting corners, even though the coaches hadn''t arrived to supervise them yet. For that reason, the atmosphere on the field was so intense to the point that Zachary felt guilty just standing there on the sidelines watching his teammates train.
"Zach!!"
Zachary''s ears picked someone calling out his name at that moment. He turned around and noticed that Mikael Dorsin, Rosenborg''s assistant captain, was waving at him from somewhere in the middle of the pitch. With him were four other yers, namely: Tore Reginiussen, John Chibuike, Ole Seln?s, and Eric Bailly, all going through a simple stretching routine. "Don''t just stand there on the sidelines, gawking," the assistant captain hollered out again after a moment. "Come here and join our drill."
"Okay, just give me a minute," Zachary yelled back, grinning. Without further ado, he fixed his shin guards into his stockings, tied his shoces, and sprinted towards Mikael''s group like a whirlwind.
"Good morning, Zachary," Mikael was the first to greet him while stretching out a hand for a handshake. "How was your day off yesterday?"
"Good morning to you, too, Mikael," Zachary replied, taking the hand. "My day off was fine and pretty rxing."
"For once, you''re among thest to arrive on the training ground," Mikael said as Zachary took turns greeting the other yers in the group. "It''s quite a rare urrence."
Zachary just chuckled without giving a reply. "Shouldn''t we be getting back to training?" He said after a moment.
"Okay, then," Mikael said, nodding. "It must already be 9:30 AM. We only have about thirty minutes before the coaches arrive. So, guys, what do you suggest? Should we continue with the stretching? Or should we dive into agilities right away?"
"Zachary," Tore Reginiussen, the Rosenborg captain, chimed in. "Have you warmed up already?"
"Not yet," Zachary replied straight away. "I went through a yoga routine before leaving home. But my muscles must have already cooled down since more than thirty minutes have already psed."
"Then, let''s continue with the stretching routine for five more minutes," the captain said, ncing at the rest. "That way, we''ll let Zachary warm-up before diving into agility and body coordination drills."
"That''s perfect."
The rest of the yers concurred and immediately started going through a simple stretching routine. They began with neck stretches and then transitioned to upper body warm-up exercises before ending the regimen with lower body stretches. After taking a minute''s break, they dived into agilities and body coordination drills right there in the middle of the field.
They soon became so engrossed, stepping quickly through agilitydders and cones, with a hundred percent concentration for the next few minutes. In no time, their shirts were already drenched in sweat due to the intensity of the exercise.
Zachary, on his part, felt that the exercises were much easier than before. His motions through the agilitydders were smooth and immacte as if they were second nature to him. He breathtakingly went through all the body coordination exercises, including theteral plyometric jumps, the forward-running high-knee drills, and the shuttle runs without breaking a sweat.
His training efficiency was out of this world since there were no wasted movements as he performed the drills. He was still full of energy when the coaches arrived on the training ground at around 10:00 AM.. On the other hand, most of his colleagues, except Eric Bailly, were slightly out of breath by then.