I got there SUPER early on Friday morning. For some reason I thought getting up for a 6am flight was a good idea, until it came time to get up. Luckily because I was so tired, I mostly slept and I was in Chicago in no time. After walking in a giant circle for 40 min, I dropped my stuff off at the hostel (yes, I was staying at a hostel, just like the good ol’ college and days). Then the first order of business was to get some FOOD. I had meticulously researched things that were in walking so I knew exactly where I wanted to go. There was a diner called Yolk near the shuttle bus that would take me to the marathon expo. Sounded perfect! I wasn’t expecting much because, hey, it’s just a diner, but this was seriously one of the best meals I had when I was in Chicago. Maybe it was because I was tired and cold and starving, but I think it was also just delicious. I ordered crepes filled with scrambled eggs, mushroom, avocado and cheese. Something about the savory of the eggs with the sweet of the crepe crust made for the tastiest combo ever. The best part? The sides. I could get a side of potatoes OR a side of fruit, plus toast, English muffins, or PANCAKES. I thought that pancakes plus crepes would be a little overkill, but I did it anyway. And seriously, those were some really good pancakes. Gotta say, some of the best I ever had. And the even better part, it all cost me only $10!!!
Next up was the marathon expo. You have to go to the expo to pick up your bib number, the timer tag for your shoe, and your shirt. Plus they sell a bunch of stuff if you need some last minute gear. I try to avoid spending money there or I might get carried away, so I grabbed my stuff, went around to claim the free samples, talked with a few people I knew and headed out. The best thing about the expo is it was the first time that I really started getting excited. It was making me nervous that I wasn’t super excited yet. But a marathon expo suddenly makes everything more real.
So with that done and some time to kill I headed off to the art institute. It was the one thing that I really wanted to see while I was there. I started getting tired and didn’t want to wear myself out the weekend of the big run, so I just had my Ferris Bueller moment and went to the impressionist wing. It made me happy.
By now, I was tired. Thank goodness the people at the hostel were super nice. It was still not time to check in but they let me hang out in their lounge. They have awesome wifi, so I streamed some shows on my phone and totally vegged out. It was awesome.
Around 5pm, I grabbed a quick Chicago dog (pretty tasty) and headed over to the DetermiNation event. Man, this dinner was swanky. It was a super fancy hotel and people were wearing cocktail attire. I always love these events. It’s a good way to reconnect with the mission and start to get pumped. I gotta say though, it was a little long winded and by 9pm I was fading fast. Thank goodness it didn’t last too much longer. I headed back to the room, and pretty much crashed.
Almost 10 hours later, I woke up. Some of the other DetermiNation members from New York had planned on meeting at the Bean for a quick 20 minute run at 10am. The bean is pretty cool, and I took some awesome pictures.
Then we headed out for a run by the lake. It was really nice. So blue. And very relaxing before our run.
Next up, LUNCH. I had to try some Chicago pizza so I headed to Lou Malnati’s. It was super tasty with tons of cheese and a buttery and crunchy crust. YUMMMMM. The rest of the day was devoted to resting, prepping for the race, and stretching. I had a nice relaxing day and went to bed early for the big race.
TO BE CONTINUED…
No comments:
Post a Comment