Running the Dream by Matt Fitzgerald

Author:Matt Fitzgerald
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pegasus Books
Published: 2020-05-05T00:00:00+00:00

SEPTEMBER

37 Days to Chicago

I came downstairs somewhat later than usual, whereas Matt rose early, a coincidence that resulted in my finding him already well along in the process of preparing two slices of toasted Dave’s Killer Organic White Bread Done Right with organic berry harvest spread when I entered the kitchen. Never one to invite conversation before sunrise, my host pretended not to notice me, but two can play at that game, and I pretended not to notice his desire to be left alone.

“Was it awful?” I asked.

“Huh? Was what awful?”

“David’s viewing.”

Yesterday Matt drove to Phoenix for the second time in two days. The first trip was planned well in advance, a quick sortie down the mountain for an appointment with John Ball that was supposed to have been followed by lunch with David Torrence. But David is no longer taking nourishment, so instead Matt came straight home to sleep and bang out a couple of runs and a strength workout before returning to the valley to say a final goodbye to his friend last night.

“It wasn’t easy,” he said. “It was different from every other viewing I’ve been to. Usually people just file through and don’t interact much. But this time everyone kind of gathered at the front and people took turns telling stories about David, which was nice. It gave us a chance to laugh and cry and it made the whole thing more cathartic than I expected. But, well, how do I say this? My understanding is that the whole thing came together quickly, and David’s going to be cremated, so they didn’t, um…”

“Prep him?”

“Yeah. He wasn’t, you know, wearing a suit or anything like that. It’s not the way I wanted to see him for the last time.”

I shuddered at the image—David’s warm, handsome, olive-tinted, animated face now bloated, waxy, cold, and still.

“So, what have you got this morning?” Matt asked, pointedly changing the subject.

“Fartlek,” I said. “My first real workout in sixteen days.”

“But who’s counting?” Matt laughed.

Life goes on. Three hours later I was warming up with Steph (the only other team member who had the same workout as me: ten times one minute fast, one minute slow) on the wooded trails that branch off Kiltie Loop. Two summers ago, David stayed briefly in Ben and Steph’s home, during which time he volunteered as a counselor at their first adult running camp, his playful, people-loving personality making him a hit not only with the campers but also with baby Riley (whose brother, Hudson, was baking in Steph’s womb at the time), and he’d remained an honorary uncle to the boys ever since. Aware that Steph, too, had attended the viewing, I waited for her to bring it up, but she didn’t, so I asked for her take on the experience.

“It was brutal,” was all I got out of her.

Back on pavement, we started the fartlek together, but within ten strides Steph was two strides ahead of me. I couldn’t have cared less, so grateful was I to be healthy again (touch wood) and running relatively fast.

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