After two years, I finally scored a business trip to Chicago. As usual, it was a short trip (made shorter by a 2.5 hour flight delay), but I squeezed in two runs along the lakefront and a meetup with Erica. #winning
By the time I checked in, all the Peloton rooms were taken,
but they gave me a river view instead.
Back To Chi-Town
With people coming from San Diego, Los Angeles, Boston, New York, D.C., Florida, Detroit, Milwaukee, Madison, and Chicago, Chicago acts as a center of gravity for my firm meetings—it doesn’t take too long for any of us to get there. The flight from D.C. is under two hours, and my short drive to DCA makes up for the gridlocked slog from O’Hare.
Tuesday morning after getting a “see you at the gate” text from United, I headed to the airport, only to receive a “your flight is delayed” text right after I parked. 🙁 I used one of the lounge passes I get with my United-branded VISA, and passed the time working and sipping club soda. A lot of people must have switched to the next flight (which ended up taking off 1/2 hour before mine), because my flight had been oversold when I checked in, but was half-empty when the crew closed the doors.
I had an exit row to myself!
Wednesday morning I met one of my colleagues at 6:00 am for a run along the lakefront. It was dark when we headed out, but we caught a gorgeous sunrise over Lake Michigan.
After my meetings ended, Erica met me for a walking version of her running tour. She took me to the untitled Picasso sculpture outside the Daly Center, and then we checked out Joan Miró’s The Sun, the Moon and One Star sculpture (a/k/a “Miss Chicago”) across the street. We made our way to Olafur Eliasson’s Atmospheric Wave Wall, and waited for a break in pedestrian traffic to take a selfie.
This picture-in-picture highlights some of the detail.
Thursday morning I mostly beat the rain on a solo run—but got pretty drenched walking back from the Starbucks near my hotel.
Between an earlier start and incoming clouds,
I never glimpsed the sunrise.
After my morning meeting, I headed back to O’Hare for an uneventful, on-time, and full flight home.
Weekly Run Down
The good news is that my Achilles held up to those two 5+ mile runs in Chicago. The *asterisk to that good news is that I am in the midst of a course Rx NSAIDs, so that could be masking any issues—but I’ll take it! I did take three days off running before (Sun/Mon/Tues) and two days off after (Fri/Sat), so hopefully that made a difference too.
Monday: Core + Glutes + Legs Strength
I had a work hearing to get ready for, so after taking Scooby for a walk I did a strength workout, but skipped out on cardio.
Tuesday: Core + 45 min Intervals + Arms Ride
I opted for a longer ride than usual before my flight, and then added a cool down to round up my “mileage”.
Wednesday: Core + Chicago Lakefront Run
My Garmin did better than usual at tracking me along the riverwalk, but I still don’t trust the 6 mile distance. We ran at an easy pace for about an hour, including several photo stops.
Thursday: Core + Chicago Lakefront Run
I pretty much ran the same route as Wednesday and ended up at 5.9 miles. Between the rain and knowing the distance wasn’t accurate anyway, I resisted the urge to keep going until I got to 6.0. 😉
Friday: Core + 40 min Peloton Rides + 10 min Upper Body
I stacked Hanna F’s new (UK) Black History Month rides, figuring they would be on the easy side—and they were, but they weren’t easy.
Saturday: Core + Conte’s Ride + 45 min Full Body Strength
We did our last Conte’s ride before the Shenandoah Farm to Fork Fondo next weekend. There was a good turnout with a few newbies, which is always fun. When we got home I still felt energetic, so I did Jess Sims’ latest 45 min strength workout, and it was a good one. She worked in everything — AMRAP, tabata, EMOM, plank party and more!
Sunday: Core + 6.5 Scooby Miles
I took advantage of attending church via Zoom and squeezed in a 6.5 mile run with just enough time to stretch, wash my face, and put on a clean shirt before logging in 😉 The weather was amazing—back to fall with a temperature in the 50s and low humidity.
Thanks to Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Run Down link up.
Is there a city you’re looking forward to visiting?
![The Ultimate Coffee Date](http://got2run4me.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Ultimate-Coffee-Date.png" "The Ultimate Coffee Date")
I am going to be in Chicago in 2 weeks too bad I missed you there. Erica is fun to run with she knows the city so well. Hope your achilles continues to heal. Have a great week!
Enjoy your trip. If you take United, make sure you check “where your plane is coming from” before you head to the airport, to make sure it’s on it’s way. 😉 Erica is a fountain of knowledge and also fun to chat with!
Glad you enjoyed your time in Chicago and were able to get some runs in! Erica is a fabulous tour gude!
Running along the lakefront was my main goal!
Ah, Chicago! Your pictures are beautiful. So glad you got to run while you were there. You really packed a lot of workouts into a travel week! I’m envious of your weather- 50s and low humidity sounds like heaven. Hope your achilles continues to hold up well!
It is my favorite running weather!
How fun to connect with Erica! I hope your Achilles stays quiet.
It was a great time.
So awesome that you got to meet up with Erica! I have truly missed visiting Chicago these past two years. It’s one of my favorite cities and always so nice to run there (well, except in the Winter, lol)
I hope that your achilles continues to be okay.
True, the wind off the lake can be biting!
Those beautiful lake photos! What an awesome view!
Glad your Achilles played nice with you for the runs. And how fun to meet up with Erica!
Our morning lows have been dipping into the 40s (well, today, and next week) which is great for running — especially when you don’t have to get out at the crack of dawn. 🙂
Weekdays I’m out and back before dawn cracks. 😉 We may dip into the 40s this week.
Brrr! I feel lucky I don’t have to be out that early. We’re going to be low 40s. I was glad to avoid the rain this morning! Nothing worse than cold rain!
Glad you enjoyed your stay in Chicago! I have yet to run a tour with Erica–hopefully once I’m back to running fully, we can set something up. Also glad your achilles behaved! Fingers crossed!
She knows a lot of cool sights to see, and interestng history, which is so rich there!
Glad you got to run in Chicago and that your achilles felt good! The last time I was there (12ish years ago?) I remember running on the treadmill because I didn’t feel comfortable running outside alone. That was before my husband was a runner!
I was on a main path and there are so many runners out, I really felt safe.
Glad you had a fun time in Chicago (once you finally arrived). I’d love a running tour with Erica, too! Hopefully the achilles continues to play nice 😉
Glad you and Erica were able to connect. Loved the sunrise pics. Boo on the delay – was that the United visa you got just bwefore we all stopped going anywhere.
Fingers, toes crossed on the achilles
Hah, no, that was for American Airlines, which I canceled when they wouldn’t waive the next fee.
So annoying!
Does a Peloton room have a Peloton in it? Wow! You had a great room though with a view. I haven’t followed Erica’s blog yet, will have to check it out!
Yes, the Westin has some rooms with their own Peloton bike!
I’ve never been to Chicago! Those photos of the lake and the art really make me want to go.
YAY on the Achilles, Coco! It seems like this time, the diva is quieting down.
I’m looking forward to reading about your Shenandoah Farm to Fork Fondo. Will they have whoopie pies, too?
I haven’t been to Chicago in years and then I wasn’t a runner.
I miss traveling for being able to run in different places. Your pics are lovely. Also so fun to meet other bloggers in the flesh.
Hope your Achilles continue to behave.