A long run in St. Louis is exactly the same as in Zurich...

My future runner

... ok, not really, no not really at all. Yet, there are a few similarities that a long run holds no matter where you are at. Namely it takes a long time, is a challenging mental and physical game, and your body hurts when you are done.

Yesterday afternoon I went for a 15 mile run from our house in south St. Louis city. The last time I ran that far I was in Switzerland. In fact I remember the last time I did exactly a 15 mile run was while we were traveling in Norway in the end of July. I ran along a fjord and it was incredible. It was rainy and overcast but an absolutely magical run. I wove along the banks of a massive body of water, saw small waterfalls, signs for reindeer crossings, beautiful cliffs and small mountains, and probably fewer than 10 people or cars the entire way. Yesterday was almost the same...

I ran by McDonalds, Target, and even saw the scenic River Des Peres.

I tried to stay on my feet as I ran along sidewalks that no one ever takes the time to shovel or salt.

Cars rushed by and splashed me with snowmelt and nearly ten drivers either honked or whistled at me.

A handful of times cars even stopped for me while I was in a crosswalk.



Yet, it was still a "scenic" and reinvigorating run. That is the other similarity no matter where I run, how much better I feel when I'm finished. No, maybe I couldn't run to the top of the valley that Zurich sits in or along the beautiful Zurichsee or see the alps. But I did get to explore a part of St. Louis that I don't know as well since we have only lived in this neighborhood for a few months, and I did even get to run by some of the Anheuser-Busch's Clydesdales. And I felt great when I was done.




A view from the top of our Zurich neighborhood!

And I shouldn't completely trash talk running in St. Louis. After all there is an AMAZING smelling donut shop a half mile from our house that depending on the winds I can probably smell for a good quarter mile when I run past it. While it makes me want to stop and taste one of every type, instead it motivates me to run a little further so that at least my caloric expenditure will match my intake if I eat ONE of their donuts. In comparison every once in awhile my long runs in Zurich would take me past a chocolate factory on the outskirts of the city. While one would think that it would be heavenly to run past, instead I found it quite the opposite as it made me nauseous anytime I had already run over 10 miles. So far the donut shop in St. Louis wins.

I would love to go back to the days where I could run a very short distance from my Zurich home and have amazing views, every car would stop for me whether in a crosswalk or not, nearly every sidewalk or path was shoveled and cleared since it was a major method of transit for everyone, and people didn't honk and whistle at you like they had never seen a runner before. Yet I won't complain that my new running paths don't involve near as many hills (or mountains for that matter) and south St. Louis actually has some beautiful old houses to run by and day dream about even if they aren't quite as large and picturesque as the ones in my Zurich neighborhood.

A late February sunset near our house in Zurich last year

While I sometimes start to get burnt out on running, I keep coming back to it. It is such a great way to explore and learn a city. It will continue to be one of my favorite things to do when I travel and when I move somewhere new (or old). I am not sure whether or not I have ambitions to try and get faster anymore, but I certainly plan to explore, meet new people, and see new things along the way. I hope Emma one day learns to appreciate it (at least a little). And so far the signs are good that she is making herself out to be an endurance queen. Remember this video from the Denver airport last fall? Still one of my favorites...