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"Can I challenge you to a fartlek?”
I had a feeling I wouldn’t receive a favorable response to that question, but I asked it anyway.
I needed to try to keep the lines of communication open with Rhea, and the only way I stood a chance of making any progress was if I found ways to make it impossible for her to avoid talking to me.
Her body had come to a grinding halt, and she slowly spun around to face me. “What did you just say to me?”
Just as I had suspected, Rhea had assumed I’d said something vulgar to her. “A fartlek,” I said. “Can I challenge you to one?”
Rhea’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not sure I can do that, considering I have no clue what you’re talking about.”
At least she hadn’t declined immediately. “It’s a competition of sorts. Essentially, you and I will still run together, but we’ll have different spots throughout the run to get to, like a tree, for example. We’ll race to that tree, or whatever other landmark we decide on, and whoever gets there first decides how long of a rest we have and what the next stop is.”
Though I had a feeling she wanted to appear confident, I could see her tenacity waver. She already knew she’d have a difficult time beating me, but what she didn’t know was that I had a plan.
“I feel like doing this would just take longer, and neither one of us would get a decent workout with so many breaks,” she reasoned.
“So, you’re scared,” I stated.
“What? I didn’t say that!”
I grinned at her and cocked a brow. “But you’re looking for an excuse not to do it. I think you’re worried you can’t beat me.”
Rhea shook her head. “I’m not worried. Are we doing this on the hiking trail or the bike path?”
I shrugged. “I’ll let you choose.”
She thought for a moment, considering both of her options. “There’re probably more landmarks on the hiking trails.”
Nodding, I added, “Yeah, and we already know the trails are better on your knees.”
Rhea scowled.
I laughed. “Are you ready?”
She didn’t respond with words. Rhea merely walked over to the entrance to the hiking trail, correctly assuming I’d follow behind her. Once there, she looked up and asked, “So, what’s the first stopping point?”
I looked away, my eyes focusing on the trail ahead of us. “See that tree just before the trail splits?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“Let’s stop there this first time.”
Rhea let out an audible sigh. “Fine.”
I got myself into position, one that indicated I was preparing to run a race, and Rhea stared at me for a few seconds like I was crazy. Not letting that bother me, I said, “And I thought you were competitive.”
She rolled her eyes and got into a similar position.
“Three, two, one, go!”
The two of us took off sprinting. As I knew would be the case, I made it to the tree first. Rhea was not happy at all.
“Big surprise, you decided on a relatively short distance and have a longer stride than me. No wonder you won,” she clipped.
“Okay. You know what? You have a point. Since I won, I get to choose the next location we race to, but I’ll take what you said into consideration, and we’ll run a longer distance. How about up to the wooden bridge?”
Rhea seemed surprised by my willingness to listen to her valid complaint. “Fair enough.”
