There had been more thunderstorms overnight, and the rain had continued on throughout. Some marathon participants were doing the 5K this morning, but they found it delayed a little due to the weather. We did however see it was forecast to stop for a few hours in the morning, and for an hour or so later in the day. It could be perfect for some quick sightseeing in the morning, and then getting food in the evening.

For the first time this week we had breakfast in 312 Chicago - the hotel’s restaurant. I went for blueberry pancakes with syrup. I think perhaps that was a good start to marathon carb-loading for the day. I already knew where I wanted to go in the evening for pasta.

My plan for today had originally involved a little more walking, but I decided the buildings south of the hotel weren’t really worth photographing so we’d just do those north of there instead. The first of these was the aqua tower which I could locate easily as I knew it was at the top of Grant Park. I guess it’s a fairly interesting building design, but only takes a few seconds to photograph.

We crossed the Chicago River at the DuSable Bridge - named after the first non-indigenous settler of what became Chicago. The buildings here on Michigan Avenue are mostly skyscrapers - Trump Tower, the Wrigley Building, and the Chicago Tribune Tower. Two of these were ones I wanted to photograph, so there was a purpose to crossing where we did.

All we now had left to see was the Navy Pier - this however seemed like an unnecessary mile for our feet. It was on the cusp of raining, and clouds were hovering down the avenues making it impossible to see the tops of any buildings. Perhaps in clearer weather, and at night, it would have been more interesting.

Since we had nothing left to see we decided it best to head back to the hotel for lunch, and to relax. Maybe my legs would have enough time to recover for the marathon if I didn’t use them for most of an afternoon. As it were they ached, and were uncomfortable to stand on - possibly some of the worst marathon preparation ever. I even had a bath of scalding hot water in the hope it would help.

As the day grew ever closer to an end, we eventually headed out in the direction of Pizano’s Pizza. This was their busiest day of the year of course - the night before a major marathon when runners from all over the world would be wanting to eat Italian. We should probably have booked a table, but instead we had to wait thirty minutes for one to become available. Not too bad.

I ordered spaghetti, and James had a deep dish pizza. It seemed the deep dishes were popular that evening as it meant a forty-five minute wait for it to be ready. The food portions in America tends to be plentiful, but even this went beyond that. I thought perhaps I’d eaten too much.

So, we got back to the hotel later than intended, but hopefully I’d still have enough sleep before the big day.