WORKOUT -
Ran on hotel TM -
7.0 miles/61 mins
1.0 incline
nice and easy
{I’ll have a race recap up tomorrow when I get home}
Saturday mid-morning we were walking downtown Chicago doing the tourist thing when pretty much of all the sudden the man needed food. like half an hour ago.
You know how you can go from “Hey, I’m hungry, let’s think about where to eat” to “I need food now or else I’m going to say some really mean things and ruin the whole day” in 90 seconds flat?
That’s the situation I was dealing with so I asked a Starbucks barista for nearby recommendations which led us too…
Eggsperience Pancakes & Cafe. Some of you had mentioned Yolk and I want to try it out too, but I was dealing with a precarious situation and Eggsperience was close by, saving us from disaster and marital discord.
It sorta reminded me of the Broken Yolk Café in San Diego; the place was packed with a ton of people waiting for tables, but the servers were on it and sat us down within 10 minutes.
Good food, huge portions. We both ordered egg white omelets and should have shared one since neither of us finished our meals.
After brunch I hitched a ride on the free shuttle to the race expo at the McCormick Place Convention Center which took maybe 30 minutes.
The convention center is HUGE, I think it’s even bigger than the NYCM expo. It was nice because even though there were a lot of people (45,000 runners) there was plenty of room and it wasn’t that crowded.
The expo was really efficient: there wasn’t a line when I picked up my bib, and I think only one person was in front of me to get a shirt… probably because all the dudes were at the New Balance area watching football.
Brooks always has funny race expo setups, and this big ‘ol container of pasta was right up there. I think they might have even been giving out little sample cups of spaghetti? I saw a bunch of people eating them, but I don’t know if it was from Brooks or not.
Pasta or not, I’m FTD MFL (fresh to death, mizuno for life) so I had to check out the new Mizuno Wave Rider 16s coming out in November.
The swag bag had tons of coupons and flyers, a few samples, and the race shirt like the good ‘ol bags before everything went paperless and to the world wide internet:
I dig the logo but wish it was long sleeve. I pretty much donate all short sleeve race shirts and keep the long sleeved ones.
There was a long line for the shuttle when leaving the expo, but it was only about a 20 minute wait, and then we headed back downtown where we walked around some more and did a little shopping and touristing.
Yesterday after the race we did the ultimate Chicago tourist thing: take pictures at the Bean.
By the way, if you want to own this gorgeous look, go get yourself some capri sweatpants(?!) at Old Navy on clearance for $6.99. I bought them on Saturday in Chicago because I forgot to pack anything to wear after the race. Obviously they look amazing.
Now we’re off to find some food and spend some more time checking out the city before we fly home tonight.
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{ 42 comments… read them below or add one }
Congratulations on your time!!! I love reading your blog, especially when I need some motivation to get out the door and run. Doing my 10th half this Saturday….shooting for a full
in the spring.
Thanks:)
Went to Chicago last summer with my mum, loved it. Love the race shirt, donate it to me!
email me your mailing address and i will.
That omelette looks larger than my head. The bean! I have no idea why I’ve never taken the customary picture there. Maybe next time.
It looks like you had a great time in Chicago. I can’t wait to read your race recap!
I love the picture of the dudes standing in front of the tv! Two of those dudes were my dad and boyfriend. They were super excited to find something that they liked while my mom and I checked out the booths. I hope you enjoyed the marathon and your time in Chicago! Congratulations!
That outfit could only be more beautiful if you wore your kitty cat t-shirt. meow.
OK, sort of random, but i was wondering about compression socks. i’m pretty much all about the “well if SR says they are cool, then they are cool”, but i’m also, “really? $50 for socks? am i a millionnaire!?!”
so,
1. are there any other brand socks that you’ve used that you like
2. is it worth just bitting the bullet, spending the $$ and surviving off bread and water for a week or two?
3. my main purpose (for now) will be for travel and longer runs. and walking around playing tourist for 12 hours a day on an upcoming trip.
alright, thanks for any help!
love the capri sweats. those ON peeps come up with some fantabulous trends.
check out this post for more info on compression: http://skinnyrunner.com/2012/07/25/compression-101/
i love mine and always wear them traveling.
you might be able to possibly use the code GARMIN for 40% off and free shipping at procompression.com
Nice work on the marathon!
Fun fact-I presented my cancer research at McCormick in April and was seriously BLOWN away by how many people (i.e. super nerdy scientists like myself) could fit in that conference center. Unreal!
That omelet is ridiculously enormous.
I love wandering around Chicago. It looks like you had a lot of fun.
Seeing the Chicago Expo is making me less nervous and way more excited to work at the Hartford Expo on Thursday and Friday.
Congrats on the marathon! I’m loving the sweats!
I would have totally forgot sweats as well…. I always forget something important. Looking forward to hearing how the race went.
Great job in Chicago! It is a cool town to hang out in.
The Kidless Kronicles
That is one massive omelet! I love places like that even though i rarely finish my plate.
How ’bout you donate the rest of that omelet to me!
That doesn’t even look like an omelet…it looks more like a healthy pastry…and simply yum!
I LOOOOOVE eggs, so I’m pretty sure I would enjoy that restaurant!
ooOOooh, the touristing looks fun
Good job! You look great after a marathon! The omelette looked delish. I ran my first marathon yesterday, The Portland Marathon and thought about how you and your man up week, helped me get through a few of the tough miles. I thought hey SR can do like 3 or 4 of these in a week so I can do this one
Thanks for the motivation you didn’t know you gave me!
congrats on your first marathon! i really liked the portland marathon when i ran it a couple years ago.
Ya it was a great race with a lot of support from the volunteers and other spectators passing out even more water and snacks and all kinds of treats. Felt cool to be part of such an awesome tradition. A couple even got married at mile 20!
I couldn’t stop myself from laughing outloud when I saw your red Old Navy sweatpants and hot pink compression socks, sexy! But hey, you just finished a marathon, you can wear whatever you want! Congrats again!
I actually like that red race shirt. Most race logos are hideous and the shirt colors are even worse.
It still amazes me how you can run after a marathon!! I can barely walk the day after. Congrats on a great race
I definitely NEED those capri sweats. Like NOW.
Chi town sounds fun, I need to get there soon!
You are impressive as hell, SR! I was just sitting here feeling all sluggy and then I read your post and see that you not only did a run the day after your marathon, but you walked like a tourist boss all over town the day OF the race, so really I need to suck it up and get my shit together.
Capri jogging pants seem like an oxy moron. Ha.
Congrats on the Chicago Marathon! I live in the Chicago suburbs so I watched some of the marathon on tv!
Ga! You donate your short sleeves and keep the long sleeves? I’m the exact opposite. I’m in a tank top running when we hit a low of 50 degrees here in Orlando. So freaking hot always that I NEVER get to wear the long sleeves when they hand em out. We need a shirt swap. Course…mine would look like a dress on you and yours would look like Milla Jovovich’s getup in the Fifth Element on me.
That omelet looks AMAZING!!!
I’m so impressed and wish I had the same motivation you had to run a marathon and then 7 miles the next day. Good for you girl!
I just moved to Chicago, I am thinking I need to go to that place for an omelet just for the leftovers.
I’ve been reading for about 6 months now, and I was cheering at the marathon Sunday, and did not see you. I was thinking if I saw you I would scream GO SKINNY RUNNER, but what is your actual name?
i usually just go by turdface or killer.
Yep, he’s cute.
So I was telling my friend about you, sent her your link, and demanded her to take a pic of you while she passed you in the marathon, and she laughed “haha, doubt I will…” But then she DID. But she did not take your pic. So I’m penalizing her 10 minutes, so you WON! Congrats.
winning!
My husband and I have found ourselves in this exact situation but it is always me that needs food or things get really bad. He knows I’m not responsible for anything I say if I have to go too long without food! Congrats on the marathon!!
Looks like a great expo! I like the race shirt.
I LOVE chicago and eggsperience!!! I am so jealous looking at your photos!!! btw your husband looks great (tough compliment to give- dont want to imply he didn’t look great before), congrats to him for working so hard on a healthy life style!
freakin’ love those boots. you’re cute.
You are a MONSTER! Running for an hour the day after a marathon. Great genes?
I still have ice on my knees from a marathon I completed a year ago!!!
Enjoy you blog. You are an inspiration!
Congrats on a great race and awesome time! Though I must admit I’m less in awe of your time and more in awe of the fact that you were able to get on a treadmill and run 7 miles today…under 9 minute pace! I’d be walking sideways down stairs for at least 2 days. Well done.
Totally dig the event tee!
‘That’s awesome!!!
We’re considering a half marathon next year but I only started running again around 3 months ago and my longest run so far is 13km… Long way to go. I’m inspired by this blog!
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