Preparing For A Marathon

 It was a beautiful Indiana fall day when we boarded the South Shore Line at the Portage/Ogden Dunes Train Stop.  After a short ride to Chicago, we got off at the McCormick Stop.  Monica had to sign in and get her BIB number for the Chicago Marathon.  Her number was 16,800.  With only 18 hours to go for the start of the race, we decided to do something low key to keep Monica relaxed for the big day tomorrow.  There were 45,000 runners this year and all the names were listed on the wall of runners.  We found Monica's and noticed that there were actually quite a few Schrocks on that wall though only one woman and that was Monica.

I made the regret of caring a bag instead of bringing my rolling backpack suitcase.  I looked like a bag lady every where we went.

 No visit to Chicago would be complete without that distinguishable Chicago skyline.  We commented on how glad we were that we decided to ride the train instead of driving.  It was an adventure.

 After dropping our bags off at the Palmer House just a few blocks from where Monica would start the race, we went for a walk to check out Grant Park. Needless to say, we had to stop by to see the Bean and Ben suggested that they stand on their hands.  As you can see, the people standing around us were taken back by the strength of the young couple standing on their heads!

After eating supper at The Corner Bakery, we turned in for the night.  The view outside our window was spectacular and seems to support the idea that the city never sleeps, but the marathon runners do.