Day 4,311—a February Marathon: Hello Sidewalks!—

 

       I ran towards the Loop and Forest Park. It was colder than yesterday, but I started to see some scenic settings, such as the frozen ponds and the little piles of snow juxtaposed against the yellow light from the sky. They were having a race in Forest Park when I got there. I was going to the Visitor Center to get some water, but it was turned into a finish line, so I ran on the grass to avoid the crowd. Still, it wasn’t too crowded to use the water fountain, but there were so many people there. When I left, I wasn’t trying to run any of the race, but it was unavoidable for certain sections. I saw a sign for 7, which made me wonder what distances they were doing.

        I went home towards the River Des Peres Greenway. I stopped at the grocery store to get something to drink and went home to change shirts. I decided to run the rest of the marathon on the track, so I went there and ran five miles before heading back. It was more difficult than I would have thought to get under a 4-hour time, but I stayed consistent. My leg started to bother me after about ten miles, and it wasn’t terrible, and there were times when I wasn’t thinking about it all. Originally, I thought I would run another marathon tomorrow, but now I am not sure if I can. I will plan to go to the track, run slowly, and see how I feel. I have been stretching almost every day in the cafeteria before the students arrive, and I have been consistently doing around 100 push-ups each day for the past four days. Of all the things I have tried, the leg lifts I have been doing are the most effective. It was a good run! It was nice to run on the sidewalk again!