A Little Excerpt

Summer 2024

“So I attempted to run 10 miles around the park close to our parents’ house, since I went home for the weekend,” Toby Ingram said over the phone to his older brother, Brody.
“How did it go?”
“Not as well as I had hoped. I think, at this point, I’m so used to being able to run up to 8 miles, that somehow I knew something was up around Mile 5.”
“What happened?”
“I noticed that my heart was beating really fast, and so I thought I needed to slow down a bit before going much further. I walked a mile to slow down my heart rate, and then I just chilled by the lake for about 15 minutes. After that, I was able to finish strong,” Toby replied.
“Were you able to run the full 10 miles?” Brody asked.
“I would say more or less 9 miles, but close enough. Then, as usual, on my way home, I got an iced coffee, and right now I’m at Mom and Dad’s house waiting for Dawson and everyone to come over.”
“Yeah, sometimes around Mile 5 or Mile 6, I have issues with my heart pounding really hard, and I have to also slow down for a bit. McCalsky and I are training for the half marathon next year. So far, we are able to run up to 8 miles, walk 1 to 2 miles, and then finish it out. I’m not too worried about it honestly. I’m just there to have fun, not to win money or anything. But that would be nice.”
“Yes, it would be,” Toby remarked.
“By the way, why did you not go back to Crown Point with Dawson and everyone else?” Brody asked.
“They had friends over last night. I’ve been back in Crown Point since last night because I wanted to run at the park. It’s been a minute since I’ve been there, and it’s one of my favorite places to run.”
“Makes sense.”​​