For my final day in Saint Louis, I headed out for another sub-6:00-am run. Again, it was an overcast, chilly, and raining morning. However, after a mile or so of running, I warmed up and the weather conditions did not bother me. Once again I started off my run from the historic Union Station. My objective for this run was to find the Eads Bridge (the first bridge built across the Mississippi River) and run across it into East Saint Louis, which is in Illinois. Consequently, I headed west down Market Street to the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Park (which is home to the Gateway Arch) and headed along the parameter walkway of the park which took me directly to the bike path that goes across the south side of the Eads Bridge. Running through a number of puddles left behind by the continuous rain, I crossed the Mississippi River into Illinois. In this particular part of the East Saint Louis shoreline there was not much to see but the Casino Queen which I ran around before heading back over the Eads Bridge and enjoyed the spectacular view of the Arch (i.e., the morning fog was just settling in around it). I ran by a handful of other morning runners as I ran through the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Park (and around the Arch before heading back home. The total mileage of this wakeup run was 6.5 at an easy pace.
Before heading off to work then flying back to home to Salt Lake in the evening, I also completed 200 sit-ups and 30 push-ups. | 