Spring Weekends in Chicago–athletics and Music Edition

Lynne Kiesling

One of the KP Spouse’s and my best friends has a great quote: “adventure is ordeal retold at a distance”. Today, on a gloriously sunny day, I think I’ve got enough distance from yesterday’s ordeal to think of it as an adventure! Actually, only the first part was an ordeal; the rest was delightful.

Sunday started at 5:15 AM when the alarm went off, and the KP Spouse, our friend Meg from LA, and I prepared for the Chicago Spring Half Marathon. When we opened the blinds and saw the damp pavement and the vigor of the treetops whipping around, we knew this one was going to be a doozy. The temperature was 46 degrees and due to fall during the day. The whitecaps and the layers of gray colors made Lake Michigan look like the Atlantic Ocean. Sadly for us, what creates whitecaps in Chicago is stiff winds out of the north barreling down the length of the lake — in this case, 20mph winds with frequent 40mph gusts. This was not good news for a race course run entirely on the lakefront path, out and back, with the first 6.5 miles heading south. The tailwind on the way out was pretty sweet, but I was still soaked through by mile 5, and the northbound return was the most brutal hour-plus of any of my sporty endeavors. Still, we (and a bunch of other crazy folks) finished, and I even managed a PR on the day. The real troopers on the day were the volunteers on the course and the spectators, voluntarily cheering their friends and family and the rest of us.

Recovery/transition involved homemade banana pancakes, a lovely bottle of prosecco, compression socks, and a Colin Firth-rich Pride and Prejudice marathon.

Then on to the next event! Elvis Costello, still the coolest guy in town even after 35 years of a rich musical career, brought his Impostors and a spinning wheel of songs to the Chicago Theater. With the help of some creative and enthusiastic wheel spinning and dancing from audience members, they charged through a variety of the Elvis Costello catalog. And we danced, and hopped, and sang. This is the third time I’ve seen these guys in the past three years, and they are a consistently creative and tight band of outstanding musicians. One example: the classic up-tempo Costello song “Pump It Up” played in 6/8 time instead of 4/4 — a sultry, jazzy version grounded in Pete’s (the drummer’s) outstanding triplets keeping the time. And some Smokey Robinson and Prince cover medleys for good measure.

Yep, life’s an adventure.