Jamie was right. After the first three miles, Eddie felt warmed up and she had calmed down. The large pack of runners that surrounded her from the start finally began to spread out, and this made her feel more comfortable and gave her more room so that she could lock on to her own rhythm and pace.

Eddie couldn't help but smile thinking of Jamie. Knowing that she would see him at mile six and later on throughout different points on the course gave her something to look forward to. His presence and support would help break up the monotony of the constant inner physical and mental stamina that was needed to keep pressing on mile after mile.

Something in her suddenly clicked and there was a spring in her stride. Maybe it was the "old her" from her high school cross country days showing back up again. Eddie loved the thrill of competition, and a fire was lit deep within her. She decided right then and there to give this her all. Knowing that people were counting on her not just for the charity money but also because her precinct's reputation was on the line, she started to focus on her strategy of holding an 8:15 minute-per-mile pace for as long as her body would let her. She checked her Garmin and saw that she was right on pace.

With her thoughts drifting back to Jamie, she suddenly realized that she especially didn't want to let HIM down. She wanted him to be proud of her. Why was that, she asked herself. She really wondered what he thought of her. They had been playing each other out ever since that kiss, and she wasn't quite sure what was going on in his head. At times he would pull away, and other times he would unsuccessfully try to hide his disappointment whenever her phone rang and it was "some guy" that she had gone out with.

She supposed she was doing the same to him- giving him mixed signals. If she was honest with herself, she knew that none of these superfluous dates she had been going on would ever amount to anything serious as long as she was waiting on Jamie to make a move. Was that what she was doing? Waiting for him? Well, what about the dates he had been going on? Nothing seemed to stick for him, either. How long could they keep fooling themselves if neither of them could move forward with anyone else?

Her Garmin beeped at her, letting her know that she could check another mile off as completed. She had been so lost in thought that she looked up and was surprised to see that it was mile six. So much for staying focused. She quickly scanned the sidelines looking for Jamie when all of the sudden he just appeared out of nowhere next to her on his bike, riding along at her pace.

"Hey Girl, are your legs tired? Because you've been running in my mind all day!"

"Jamie!" she jumped in surprise and wrinkled her nose at his Ryan Gosling joke. "Don't make me laugh! I'm too busy kicking butt!"

"Yeah, I see that! Reynolds just hit mile 5. Keep this up and I'm $50 bucks richer."

"Yeah, I'll keep this up so you can take me and your $50 bucks out for a steak dinner," she huffed out while continuing to keep her pace.

"I'll need more than $50 bucks to take YOU out on a steak dinner, seeing that you'll want an appetizer, and drinks, and another appetizer, and fries, and two desserts—"

"Funny, Reagan. Real funny."

"You need this?" he asked as he held up her fuel bottle that held her special concoction of electrolytes.

She nodded and grabbed it from him, took a few sips, and handed it back to him.

"Okay, so I'll see you at thirteen. You're looking strong. I told you, you got this!"

And just as quickly as he came, he quickly disappeared as she kept running onward. She was grateful for the information he had on Reynolds. She smiled to herself and said out loud, "Reynolds, you're going down."