Seconds and Firsts in St. Louis

For the second time in my life, I have registered for a marathon. Barring any thing odd happening, for the first time in my life, I'll line up and start one. Hopefully, I'll also finish one for this time as well. This one is in St. Louis. Last fall, I was signed up for the Twin Cities Marathon, but didn't even attempt it due to a double scheduling. I was in State College, Pennsylvania watching my Hawks get whooped. But tailgating and beer was still more fun than running 26.2 in 75+ degree heat with 90% humidity. Tell me there's no such thing as global warming, when that's the weather in Minneapolis in October. So I'll try again, this time in St. Louis. Why St. Louis? Why not? Perhaps I'm proud of it for improving to #2 in the violent city rankings. Actually, it's because that's where Todd moved to a couple of years ago, and being the great friend that I am, I haven't been there to visit yet. Apparently, we're not creative enough to come up with a reason to get together under the Arch and drink beer, so we'll run all morning instead.

So, I'm registered. I'm getting used to treadmill training, and spent almost $300 on gear that is suppose to make it bearable to run outside in a Minnesota winter. As a side note, I went to a small store in Edina, on 44th and France called Gear. The service was excellent, and extremely helpful. The selection wasn't huge, but it was adequate. This place now comes highly recommended by me for anyone who needs help or recommendations on clothes or shoes -- or would just rather support a local store than go to Dick's.