Day 3,940 —Lost in the City!—

I kept looking outside, but the sun wasn’t out yet, so I played Persona 5 Royal until the sun came up, and my kids woke up and ran downstairs. I was dressed and picking out music for the run. I was enjoying music again and listening to stuff from the early 2000s and some classics I discovered then. For whatever reason, I wanted to listen to the Streets and the Hold Steady, and why not some Replacements and Ben Folds Five? A lot of this stuff I have on vinyl, but I haven’t dug it out in years. And right now, my record player is unplugged because my son has kept hitting the play button and playing with the needle. 

I planned to be gone for a couple of hours and back in time to go to the Magic House. I was feeling that marathon energy, so I went to Gravois and took Gravois to Grand. Once there, I ran around the area, not sure where I wanted to go next. 

I stopped at a gas station for some Gatorade around 12 miles and realized I didn’t know where I was. I figured I could find my way back to Grand or Gravois, but I wouldn’t be sure which way to go because I turned around so many times. It was fun to be lost. In the gas station, there was a woman picking a fight with the man behind the counter. They parted ways when I brought my drinks to the register. The guy told her that she wasn’t allowed behind the counter, and the woman suggested they take this outside. 

 

“Interesting day so far?” I said when I put down my two drinks. 

  “What?” 

  “Interesting day so far?” I overpronounced while making eye contact. 

“Always interesting,” he mumbled and looked down. 

I clicked on the map on my watch and selected “trackback.” I have never used this feature before, and while I didn’t want to go the exact same way back,  I did want to start heading back eventually. I told my wife I wouldn’t be gone longer than 2 or 3 hours, and I was about an hour and a half. I didn’t want to have to think about directions anymore, so I followed my bizarre path back to Tower Grove Park, and from there I took a different way home. 

I wasn’t looking at my watch at all. I just kept moving forward, throwing myself up one hill after another. I wanted to run a marathon; at least I got close. Maybe tomorrow I will get in 26.