Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Like our friendship was slipping through my fingers, and if I wasn’t careful, I’d lose it.
Feeling desperate now, I pulled out my phone when I got to a stoplight and texted again.
Me:
You know what’s always there for you? Carbs. They never let you down.
Still no response.
I stared at my phone, wondering what my best friend was doing.
On the way past Hazel’s place, I looked for her car in her driveway but I didn’t see it anywhere in the vicinity.
That was how we’d become such good friends.
We kept seeing each other on the trail that ran around the lake, and one day four years ago, we’d decided that since we were already running, we’d run together.
From there, a fast and easy friendship had formed.
I loved Hazel with all my heart and counted her as my very best friend.
Yet, as I waited for a solid thirty minutes for her with no response, I began to think maybe I wasn’t that to her anymore.
Stomach a little uneasy at the thought of Hazel not wanting to be around me anymore, I threw my running vest on over my shoulders and began loading it up with my running gels and electrolyte water.
Today I was running nineteen miles.
In exactly one month, we’d be running not only our first marathon, but our first trail marathon.
The marathon was in Glacier, Montana and I was super duper thrilled about it—despite my depth perception problems.
I was excited because one, I’d always wanted to go to Glacier National Park. And two, I got to get away from the store and my family for a while and spend a week at, arguably, one of the most beautiful national parks in the nation.
Me:
Hey, I’m really sorry, but I can’t wait anymore. I have to get all of these miles done before I have to meet the contractor at Grizzly to let him in.
With my heart heavy, I started my long run off.
At first, it wasn’t too bad.
The day was cool but proved that if I didn’t hurry up and get this long run done, I’d be spending the tail end of my run in the blazing heat with no shade.
I was about an hour in when I made it all the way around the lake.
I had a pressing need for a bathroom, so I went off course of my usual running trail and headed to the end of the lake where I usually stayed away from because Hazel didn’t like running it.
She’d told me once that the trails were all uneven, and she always felt like she was going to trip and fall if she wasn’t careful. Generally, we’d avoided that end of the trail for so long that it wasn’t something I even contemplated going to anymore.
But today, knowing there was a public bathroom that was well-lit and safe, I headed toward it.
I got to the bathroom, did my business, and started pulling my soaked leggings up my legs and positioning them in place.
It was while I was doing that—and if you’ve ever pulled on anything spandex and wet, you know what kind of a struggle it was—that I heard a familiar laugh.
I pushed out of the bathroom door once my leggings were in place and stopped, heart beating fast, and listened.
I knew that voice and that laugh.
Hazel.
A smile on my face, I rounded the corner of the bathroom only to come to a startled halt when I saw Hazel there, stretching, and talking to the best friend stealer.
Hazel was laughing about something.
Rayann turned to my best friend, a smile on her face, and said, “I just love this part of the trail. I’m glad you were willing to run with me today. I know you said you were busy last week.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I wasn’t too busy,” Hazel said. “What I had to do wasn’t all that important.”
What I had to do wasn’t all that important.
Noted.
“Did you talk with your other friend?” Rayann asked. “Did you tell her that we were going to go to the race with you?”
“Uh, yeah. She’s fine with it,” Hazel said, but immediately changed the subject. “Did you get your new trail shoes?”
I looked down at my stupid trail shoes that I hated beyond belief.
I hated running on trails.
I hated even more that I tripped eight thousand times and fell at least twice a run.
Stomach in knots now, I readjusted my pants one more time, then turned.
Since I could no longer go past them to the trail entrance that was beyond the bathrooms, I turned and ran for the road.
I still had two hours of running to go, and I wouldn’t skip out on it now, no matter how awful Hazel had just made me feel.
I wouldn’t get the trail running in that I should have gotten, but running on the road would boost my morale and hopefully keep me away from Hazel and her new friend.