Catching Up

Yesterday wasn't my typical Thursday. I woke up at my normal time and had my routine breakfast. But I had the day away from the office and decided to knock out some doctor appointments that were well overdue. But the real purpose? I spent the day with a woman I've spoken highly of in the past.

My best friend from high school currently lives abroad in Tel Aviv with her husband. Professional careers uprooted their lives about 7 months ago and now Asia is the land they call home. But about a month ago, Kait decided she needed a dose of home. So she cashed in all the points she had and made her way back to the good ole USofA. It's safe to say that this move hasn't exactly been the easiest transition, but then again, when is an international move considered a simple task? Before the move, we were always scattered across the country so the distance wasn't something new to us. However for some reason when she left, I felt a yearning to be near her more than ever. We all know, I'm a worry wart. This is not new information to the world. The fact that an ocean separated us made me pay much closer attention to the international news. Communication has been tough, mostly revolving around emailing and texting. Until recently when I discovered the world of FaceTime Audio {hush, I'm not that old} and I heard her voice for the first time in over 5 months. I'm more of an old school girl, so I live for a spur of the moment phone call that lasts longer than I have time for. Hearing a loved ones voice is something that I cherish. So yea, that FaceTime Audio thing is GREAT for an international friendship, in case you're curious..

So yesterday was a day spent of catching up. We had no real plans, just be together. Of course I chauffeured her to Trader Joe's so she could pick up the necessities to smuggle back to the Mediterranean. I was expecting her to purchase a few small items, but it wasn't until her basket was overflowing that she was ready to head to the check out. Surely her bag will be over the weight limit on the way home. But I should have known, Kait has never been one to follow the rules.

Aside from our comical Trader Joe's trip:

"Have you ever tried this? Me either. I'm buying it."

"I used to stop and pick up this drink before practice EVERYDAY. I miss it."

"I wish this syrup wasn't so heavy, I can't lug this around the airport."

"WHY CAN'T FROZEN FOODS LAST FOR 12 HOURS OF TRAVEL?!"

 - Katilyn Marie Eggers

I think my favorite part of the day was when we both laced up our running shoes. She assured me that she would not be able to follow my scheduled workout and that I was welcome to leave her if necessary. But she forgets, her 5'11" frame is meant to fly. Within the first quarter mile I had to tell her to slow down because our warm-up pace was just shy of what our workout pace was supposed to be. I'm just following you! she says to me. We slowed down for a mere 60 seconds before the pace skyrocketed again. And that was the last time I said anything about pace.

Every step we took, the deeper into conversation we became. And honestly, I completely forgot about the workout. It was almost like we unintentionally saved our most personal conversations for the run. Topics changed at the drop of a hat and were revisited soon again without missing a beat. It's safe to say that 2017 has been quite a year for the both of us, so our 7 mile run contained some pretty deep and heavy thoughts. At one point our serious conversation was disrupted by a crossing guard at a local grade school yelling at us, "You know it's safer to run on the sidewalk with all these crazy parents!" Lady, please, you're interrupting.

It's amazing to me what a pair of running shoes can do. As soon as our feet hit the pavement {and Kait's ankle clicked with every step she took} it was like the flood gates were open. Words flew without warning and paces were thrown out the window. But don't let her fool you, she was easily able to hold a conversation the entire time while keeping the pace below an 8 minute mile. Her athleticism will never cease to amaze me.  Over the years we've had a few of these catch-up-on-life-runs. The day before her wedding, we both lugged our hungover bodies as far as we could across Fort Collins, Colorado in an attempt to detox before the festivities started over in a few short hours. About 6 weeks before Ironman Maryland, I made a trip out to Baltimore to spend the weekend and log some miles with my Best Giant Friend. Of course when we both find ourselves in our hometown at the same time, we cruise the streets like we still own the place. And I will forever etch our catch-up-on-life runs into my heart.

We closed the evening with a little game of fetch with her family dog, Jane, while we eagerly awaited the unveiling of the 17.3 Crossfit workout. {Something I know NOTHING about, but find super intriguing.} While the extremely muscled man was writing the workout on the board, my mind was struggling to comprehend the complexity and I actually said, "I feel like I need a certain type of degree to understand this." I also had to ask the question, "So why is it called 17.3?" Boy did I feel dumb when I got the answer. Either way, good luck to all you cross-fitters on this weekend's 17.3!

She *might* kill me for this photo

On Monday, a piece of my heart goes back to Israel and life will continue. And I'm already counting down the days until our next catch-up-on-life run.