Back from the midwest, at last. It was just as I remember it–frigid, grey and dilapidated. But I’ll doubt I’ll ever be excited about cities, or flatlands.
I rode the chameleon to school today; the sun was in full force and it succeeded in thawing me. I’m starting to feel alive again.
This week I’ll be working on my presentation, finishing up taxes, and knee-dependent getting some rides in.
For details on the St. Louis trip, click on ‘Full Story’ below.
4/3/03 – St. Louis, Missouri
Arrived today in the midwest to overcast and foggy skies. This is my fourth visit to the
midwest, and I have yet to see the sun shine.
My first visit was to Wisconsin for the USACO national programming contest. 16 of
us smarty-nerd-pants high school kids spent 10 days learning and competing. The sun failed
to shine.
Now hailing from Tucson, I appreciate days where the sun fails to shine. Even in the
winter the sun is incredibly intense in Tucson. So, I’ll enjoy this respite before
thing start to really heat up.
We attended the VIP reception at an “athletic club”. I am was unable to
determine what place the adjective ‘athletic’ has in front of this club. Here’s
my read on it: the club is for affluent business types who may or may not have
attempted a sport (like tennis, rugby) while in college. They are now old, but
they cling to the glory days when they were athletic. So, they have a club
where they come to enjoy posh furnishings, bars, conversation, valets, snobbery and
cigars. This, with photos of various athletes hung on the walls.
4/4/03 – Hotel super posh
The sun is still hiding. But life continues below us on the streets of St. Louis.
It costs $1.50 to make a toll free call, and $3.00 for a nutra grain bar. The hotel
employees will happily help and patronize you, given the possibility of
gratuity. Everything here seems unbelievably fake. Can one really maintain this lifestyle?
The sounds of Anekdoten fill this apartment of a hotel room. Sad Rain.
10:00a – Attended press conference. The race director assured us that every
situation and scenario had been thought of. There is not a single security
situation in the world that they haven’t thought of and taken care of. They had
the two top women answer questions as well as three locals.
11:00a – Went for a walk / jog around Forest Park. It was nice, the air was fresh
and the temp. comfy. But it’s just an island of green surrounded by rotten
city. While it’s certainly better than more buildings, it just seems like
patch-up job to make the city livable. Duct tape.
12:30 – Sitting outside the Chase Plaza fighting the traffic noise with music.
Paul, Hideyo and Bert are struggling to be heard. We’re awaiting a pickup for
the obligatory health and fitness expo. Every marathon must have one.
2:00 – The Marathon Expo is succeeding in sucking the life out of me.
How about a TopoFusion booth? 🙂
We missed the bus tour of the course, so now it seems we’ll roll our
own. The mandatory athletes meeting is soon.
4/5/03
5:30a – Just wished Hottie farewell as she got on the bus for the start line. She’s ready to rock!
It is downright frigid outside. The temperature must have dropped 40 degrees
in the last 12 hours. It’s silver bullet grey outside as the sun slowly rises.
The sun did shine yesterday, briefly.
Level 5 just finished. This laptop can get surprisingly loud without much
distortion.
8:30p – The day’s activities are finished. Hottie battled it out but
bonked around mile 23. There was a significant difference in her pace
from when I saw her at miles 22 and then later at 26. Something is not
happening for her — she was totally prepared and should have nailed it.
I do not think it’s the normal ‘wall’ that everyone supposedly hits that
late in the race.
I and the other spectators froze out on the course. It was great to be
able to see the runners (and only the good ones) so many times. As we
walked over to the park I felt the coldest wind since I lived in Utah.
I figured in 2.5 hours it would heat up at least a few degrees, but
it never did.
After cat napping in the afternoon we attended the Pasta Dinner / Awards
Ceremony. It was mostly awful, and the less said about the phoniness
at the event the better. Jeff Galloway gave the regular marathon crowd
a pep talk (read: he advertised for his book and coaching services). He
made no mention of the marathon championships or the 30-odd elite women in the
room. He’s not going to make any money off them, so why bother?
4/6/03
Last night the Variety Club telethon was hosted at our hotel. S&S reported
an important dignitary, Ronnie Prophet, announcing himself proudly
at the front desk as they checked out. “Hello, I’m Ronnie Prophet!”
Later in the evening it became clear what was going on. We walked around
in the lobby and saw tuxedos and evening gowns strutting around. We
received more than a few dirty looks.
Apparently someone is giving a concert and hosting a telethon
for disabled kids. I’m sure they raise money and that it does go to good
purpose. However, I saw an incredible amount of it being wasted last night.
Including: 120 page full color programs with photos and writeups about major donors
and their accomplishments, hotel (this one) for all guests and dignitaries (Mr.
Prophet), free alcohol was flowin’ left and right, etc.
Daylight Savings Time. Hottie went off to run with some local kids @5am Tucson
time. It sounds like it was a blast, especially for her.
We’ll be leaving these freezing lands today; back to the warmth!
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