Hi again, gang!  Brandon and I have had another super fun day in Chicago… and it’s not even over yet!

This morning we woke up early and headed out for our long run of the week.  As I’ve mentioned before, we’re currently training for a 10k and half-marathon, so we have a training schedule that we’re trying to follow.

Today’s run was amazing because we ran through the city, through Millenium Park, and along the lake.  Let me tell you, running is A LOT easier when you have fun things to look at!  We ran about 4.5 miles and we could have gone even longer.  But I finally put a halt on things because I didn’t want to push it and hurt myself again.  Plus, we had to get cleaned up for the baseball game!

After grabbing breakfast, icing my knees, and showering our sweaty selves, we headed to find the subway line that would take us to Wrigley Field!

waiting for the train

Brandon and I looked like complete tourists as we struggled to purchase train tickets and then figure out how to use those tickets.  But it’s OK because 99% of the other people around us also looked like goofy tourists.

After a short (and surprisingly pleasant!) train ride, we were at Wrigley Field!

Prior to the game, we met up with my friend, Sara, and her friend, Seema, for lunch at the Vines restaurant.  It was a super cool sports bar and restaurant with lots of TVs and lots of baseball fans.  It reminded me of being back in Gainesville on game day (Go Gators!).

(Don’t worry… they were fairly warned that they were going to end up in this blog. )

Sara is a friend from grad school  who is from Chicago and currently lives and works in the Chicago area.  She’s been a great friend, and I was really excited that we were able to catch up with her and Seema!  We did lots of laughing and lots of eating in a very short period of time!

as if we didn't eat enough pizza last night…

buffalo chicken nachos… at least I got some protein in there, right?!

With full bellies, Brandon and I faced the madness of entering into Wrigley Field (aka “the cattle call).

craziness

We were very excited to see that we had awesome seats.  Our tickets had been given to us by one of Brandon’s co-workers (how nice was that?!), and he had said that they were good seats, but we had no idea how great they would be!  We could see everything from where we were seated!

It ended up being a great game.  The Cubs were playing the White Soxs, so it was a hometown rivalry!

The weather was perfect (unlike yesterday!), our fellow fans were friendly, and the game got more and more exciting as the innings progressed!

Around the 8th inning, we headed out of the field and went to Bernie’s Tavern to watch the remainder of the game.

I know what you’re thinking… what could have torn you away from such an exiting game?!

Ohhh.

Yep, that’s right.  My husband is a saint.  He left the game so that I could satisfy my craving for an authentic Chicago-style hot dog.

Surprisingly enough, we were having a hard time finding one at the ball park… we were only finding plain franks.  So we went on a hunt for this dog.  And I’m so, so glad that we did.

stuffing my face… nothing new here.

This puppy (excuse the multiple hot dog puns) had it all… yellow mustard, chopped white onions, neon-green relish, pickled peppers, dill pickles, and celery salt.  Whoa.

Brandon took one bite and called it a day.  I ate the rest.  Happily.

Now we’re back at the hotel, resting and getting ready to go eat.  Again.

It’s a tough life, huh?