Day 4,185—You’re Good to Go, Sir—

 

        I needed to do some trails today, so I headed towards Emmeneger Nature Park, which is next to the river and roughly a 6-mile run from my house. I took Watson and ran on the new sidewalk. For such a long time, I have imagined what a sidewalk would look like her. Before, there was only a partial sidewalk on one side of the road.

        I immediately slowed down once I was on the trail and climbed the hill, enjoying the fall colors. There are two spots there that are my favorite. The first one I go to is on the top of a hill, and you can see over the highway. The next one is by the river. Either on the bench or down on the rocks. Today, the water was so low that I was able to sit far out. The water looked almost still, and it was peaceful sitting there. When I turned to go, I saw a person leaving in the other direction. I wondered if they turned around because I was there. I thought maybe they were looking to sit by the river.

        I went into Old Fenton, and I was surprised by how much I liked aspects of it. I am familiar with when Gravois becomes Fenton. There are so many big box stores in that area, but Old Fenton is all independent stores, and you’re right by the river. There was an old church that looked abandoned, which had cathedral-like architecture. A sushi restaurant that looked completely out of place, and a few small restaurants like that were spread out around the area. I ran all the way to Minnie Ha Ha Park. I haven’t run there since I won the 12 hour race in 2023. I should do it again sometime, but doing the one lap there today was enough. I went around before, like 70 times in 2023. It was fun revisiting and thinking about how fun it was to run there, and while those races do have some pluses. One of my favorite parts of running is going somewhere. It was cool to be able to run to the park because I remember that it was at least a 25-minute drive from my house, so it felt like I had gone far.

        I was looking for a way to run on Gravois, but it looked too dangerous. I wonder if there is some other route I can take to go back to Lindbergh after going that way. Running on the same road for a long time is fun. I used to run on Gravois a lot, but it turns into a highway after it intersects with Lindbergh. I went back towards home, taking Kirkwood, and stopped at a gas station there. I got my usual fountain Powerade, and I went crazy and got a tiger blood slushie. When I got to the register, the guy said, “You’re good to go, sir.” I hadn’t paid yet, so I was confused, so he repeated, “You’re good to go, sir.” I am not sure why he gave me the drinks. I did tell him good morning when I walked in. Whatever the reason, it is always nice when a stranger shows kindness. It has happened to me more times than I can count. Still, It is easy for me to forget that there are a lot of kind, decent people out there.