13.1

Spencer and I had a wonderful time in Chicago this past weekend. We got to meet our friends Jason and Jennifer from Illinois. Luckily, they were familiar with the city so all we had to do was get there and they took care of the rest.
We left Louisville early Saturday morning and arrived at our hotel around noon. We stayed at the historic Congress Plaza Hotel on Michigan Ave. It is an older building and I had read some not-so-positive reviews online, but it was great. The building was beautiful and the rooms were clean and comfortable. Everything (sheets, shower curtain, wallpaper) was marked with the Congress Plaza Hotel emblem, which I thought was nice.

Driving in, we noticed that there was a Panera very close to our hotel. Spencer and I had already pegged that we would eat lunch there. We met Jason and Jen at the hotel and they also, wanted lunch. I mentioned Panera and Jason gave me that sad little head shake that said, "silly tourist". And then he marched us a few blocks down to this place. I'm glad he did. I love Panera but this place had Parmesean Hot Chips. (Thinly cut potatoes fried in oil and then sprinkled with fresh parmesean while still hot and served immediately) Went very well with my chicken salad sandwhich.

After lunch we walked to the McCormick Center to the registration and Expo. There were booths and booths of running garb. Who knew runners could use so much "stuff"? One booth had a slew of t-shirts with witty sayings. My favorite was "Run like a Mother". I'm not quite bold enough to actually wear that in public, but I love it.
Big backdrop at the expo for picture taking. So we did.
After the expo we went back to the hotel for a nap and get ready for dinner. Why not? No kids. Naps are good. Again, Jason had already set us up with reservations at a fantastic Italian restaurant.
We couldn't get a picture of us next to the sign (it was too high up) so this is a picture of us under the sign (you'll just have to trust that its over our heads)
Walking back from the restaurant we saw this (and I learned that at night you have to turn your flash OFF to get pics of the skyline - where are my photographer friends when I need you?)

And walking back from the restaurant we HEARD this

We rounded a corner and all perked up when we heard music in the distance. We followed our ears and discovered a free outdoor concert in Millenium Park. My picture is blurry but there is a full orchestra and choir on stage. They were performing Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius.

After listening for a while, it was back to the hotel and get a good night's sleep. I don't have any pictures of race day (not worth it to run while holding a camera) so you'll have to use your imagination.

The weather was perfect. PERFECT. 65 degrees. Clear. No humidity. Gorgeous. So we bopped down to the start line, I said my goodbyes to Spencer and Jason (Jen could not run, she has a disc/bone problem with her back) and went to stand in my corral. They put the faster people up front and the slower ones toward the back. I was in corral 14, so it was going to be a while before I got to go anywhere. (Jason was in 2 and Spencer was in 8). Everyone's race is a little different, but here is how it went for me.

Miles 1-2. I've just started and already I think that I'm dying. The beginning is always rough for me. What was I thinking? 13.1. Blech. I want to stop right now and go back to bed.

Miles 3-5. Okay, maybe I'm not dying. Breathing has slowed down and I'm running through downtown Chicago. People are everywhere on the sides of the road cheering - Perhaps I could do this?

Miles 5-7. Perhaps I drank too much at the early water stops. Is it worth stopping? I'm getting a little tired.

Mile 7. I stop. Have to wait 5 min at the portapotty but feel much better. ACK! Now I'm 5 min behind. Try to catch up.

Mile 8. Catching up was a bad idea. Thoughts of dying have returned.

Miles 9-10. Eat some of that Gu stuff and I think it actually works. I start to feel better again. Now I start thinking in terms of the smaller numbers. I'm not on mile 9 - I only have 4 to go. My brain can wrap itself around the number 4. Keep moving.

Mile 11. Start looking at my watch and doing some serious math. I want to finish in 2:30. 2 miles to go. Can I keep this pace? Why oh why did I stop and waste those 5 min?

Mile 12. Look at watch. Keep running. Look at watch. Keep running.

Mile 12.5. Look at watch and realize I'm not going to make it. Watch says 2:28. Everyone on the sidelines keep yelling, "You're almost there!" I think they're lying to me but I keep running.

Mile somethingoranother: I have no idea where it was, but it was the point where I rounded the corner and could SEE the finish line. There was one big stretch of flat straightness in front of me with a FINISH banner in the distance. I've never been so happy. So I sprinted. Fast. (yeah, in retrospect, not such a great idea, but it felt good at the time).

And I crossed the finish line at 2:32:07.

You can see pictures here. I have to warn you that some of them are pretty horrible. I made it a point to try and smile every time I saw a photographer so it wouldn't look like I was dying. Instead I just look like I'm dying and trying to smile at the same time. Spencer was awesome and finished in 2:06. (His goal time was 2:11) He is also much cuter in his pics too :-)

After the race Jason and Jen had to head back home and Spencer and went to take another nap. After resting a few hours we were starving and ready for Chicago pizza. And that is where the bad decision making began.

The man at the front desk advised us of a nearby pizza place that was beside the Hancock building. He said not to take a cab, but we could catch the #3 bus outside the hotel and go right there for much cheaper. So we went out to sit at the bus stop and wait. While waiting, a guy on a bike pulling a carriage thingy asked if we wanted a ride. First we said No thanks. And then he says, "Two bucks each - I'll take you wherever you want to go". $4? A senic ride? Why not?

Pay attention now. This is where we messed up. Spencer says, "Will you take us to the Hancock building?" Guy says, "Sure, wherever you want to go". We get on carriage thingy and then he says, "Um, do you know what street it's on?"

WARNING. Guy on bike does not know what street Hancock building is on. And yet we still ride with him.

He starts to peddle off and within seconds we have already pulled into traffic (as if he's a car and he is clearly not a car) and has yelled at another driver for almost hitting us.

WARNING. Guy on bike thinks he's a car. We are going to die. Yet we still ride with him.

Somehow he gets us off of busy street and onto senic path near Lake Michigan. We see pretty things like this:

Spencer starts to make small talk, "So...how many rides like this do you do a day? Do you stay pretty busy?" Guy answers, "Well.... you're number 2. (it's 4:30 in afternoon btw) I just bought this thing yesterday and thought I'd give it a try just to do something recreational"

WARNING! WARNING! Guy on bike has no idea what he's doing! We are only his second ride EVER and the first ride was just to help a couple move their luggage one block down the street to their hotel!

And yet we do not jump off but continue to ride with him.

And now that he's not on the road he doesn't think he's a car anymore. Now that he's on a bike path he simply thinks he's a bike without a carriage thingy on the back and almost runs over a zillion innocent bikers in the process.

Somehow. Somehow....he gets us to a place that is remotely near the Hancock building. We still have to walk 5 blocks to get there, but at this point we are grateful for our lives.

We find pizza and eat ourselves into a cheese/bread/pepperoni/sausage state of happiness.

And then we stop by this place on the way back (we walked the whole way home, no more crazy bike carriage thingys or busses or cabs for us) to the hotel.

Monday morning we slept late, had a nice breakfast and hit the road for Louisville. Again, it was a great weekend.