Chicago, Day 4

Well, Happy Labor Day. 

So today was the first run in my training program for the 8k and 10k I have coming up in October and November. I was supposed to do a 30 minute tempo run, which is really 5 minutes warming up, 20 minutes at my 10k pace, and 5 minutes of cooling down. With absolutely no airflow in the hotel gym, it was rough. I got through the 25 minutes and walked on an incline for the final 5. Not a great start, but Wednesday night we can do it again.

Once again, it was an omelet for breakfast, but I added green chiles and bell peppers this time. I had some time before Ryan picked me up, so it was back to the room to clean up a little bit and do some writing.

We headed to the Last Fling, the summer farewell festival in Naperville. We were surprised how small the space was and I think part of that is the reconstruction of downtown. At least half of the space was reserved for the carnival. 

The first band was Rick Lindy and the Wild Ones, which had sort of a 50s and 60s rock and roll feel to it. There was even a little rockabilly, so I had flashbacks to Lucky 757. After the band, we had lunch on a rooftop at a place called Empire. I ordered a Gumballhead beer and a burger with Swiss cheese, bacon, mushrooms, and onions, and a side of ordinary fries. I was really sad how liberal some of the businesses have become with their books and clothing. It's like downtown infested the suburbs. God help this country.

Anyway, we watched a few minutes of the Ron Burgundys, who play yacht rock. We left about an hour in, the sun was pretty intense on our backs and I think Ryan was about spent. So he dropped me off at the hotel.

I headed to the cocktail reception, and had two glasses of red. At 8 pm, I wanted to splurge just one time. So I had dinner at Fogo de Chao, and went through as much meat and salad bar as I could. With the glass of red wine and tax and tip, I only spent about $90. Seems like a lot, but at most quality steakhouses, you're not getting the main course for less than $65. So I thought it was worth it.