Sitting on my balcony I can hear all sorts of sounds of the city.....dogs barking, cars honking, fire trucks blaring, construction workers pounding, even fireworks booming at Navy Pier on Saturday nights. Today I hear marching bands from the Columbus Day Parade. Brizz and I took a walk this afternoon through Grant Park to check out the festivities, but she was more interested in the random bits of trash....I mean treasure....buried in the grass, as usual. So, we visited our favorite fountain and enjoyed the walk back up the lakefront trail to our home.
You would never know it's October in Chicago. The weather for the past week has been more like the South than the Midwest.....low 80's and Carolina blue skies. There are people everywhere enjoying the warm temps, which is how it's been since I arrived. I get the impression that Chicagoans truly appreciate a nice day and don't take them for granted. Yesterday we noticed a group of people in the park sitting on a picnic blanket around noon. They were camped out until close to dinner time. People are constantly playing soccer, flying kites, walking dogs, or just sitting and enjoying being outside. I've had to get used to walking through different parks in the city and coming upon a person just lounging alone in the grass. When I see someone sitting in the sun, I get the impression that it's not because they want to get a tan, like most Southerners, but they are soaking up the warm rays and enjoying the wonderful weather while it lasts.
Chicago has been especially crowded lately because of the marathon of 45,000 people, which was on Sunday. It started at 7:30 a.m. a couple miles south of our building. At 7:45 we could see the pack of runners sandwiched in Lower Columbus Dr., and they didn't stop coming for at least half and hour.
yep, those are people in there!
We decided to walk down to the finish line to see the leaders come in. It was amazing to see such incredible athletes and even more awe inspiring to think they finished a marathon in just over 2 hours! Some of them looked like they had just been out for a morning jog instead of a 26.2 mile run. I felt ashamed as I stood there in the sun, squished by spectators on all sides, thinking how hot I was and how much my feet hurt.
men's winner
women's winner....she was booking it on the home stretch!
We made our way to the 26 mile marker (which was up a cruel hill), and as we watched longer, the more "inexperienced" runners started coming in. It was difficult to see the pain on their faces as they pushed through the last .2 miles. Some got a huge smile of relief and joy as they spotted the 26 mile sign. Others were doing all they could to make it up the hill. One guy lost all his Gatorade and collapsed on the concrete. Less than a minute later he sprang up and kept going. There were amputees racing, men and women of all ages, one guy dressed like Minnie Mouse, runners high-fiving the spectators, and people carrying their country's flag.
It was inspiring to think about how hard these people had trained, and I have a new respect for marathon runners. However, I will use that experience to inspire me in other areas. Call me a wimp, but I still have no desire to run like that, especially not after seeing the pain of the Chicago runners. Kudos to them, but I'll stick with yoga.
By the way, I did finally make it to my yoga class.
Namaste.
