My next couple of installments will be the “From Sea to Shining Sea” part of my trip report.

WARNING: The next series of post will cover domestic travel in the U.S., including a few segments in economy and a low cost carrier. Reader discretion is advised.

Rocking Chicago: Introduction

In 2011, one of my friends talked me into running the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in Las Vegas. Naturally, the first thing on my mind when he invited me was, “I wonder how I can turn this into a mileage run.” Go figure, right? I managed to find a nice Delta fare which netted me just under 4 cpm, since I was routing through ATL on the outbound and the return. But then came the training, which quite frankly sucked. However on race day, it really wasn’t that bad, and I actually had a great time running, as well as great time afterwards.

Like most FTers, I’m addicted to shiny metals. One of the cool things about the Rock and Roll Series races are the heavy medals, which are awarded for completing more than one race. After the Vegas race, I was hooked. If I run a few of these things, I get a bunch of shiny medals and turn the travel to race into mileage runs to help with elite qualification. And it was good excuse to spend more time with friends and get in shape. How much better can it get?

In 2012, I decided to aim for the Grand Slam medal, which is awarded after completing 4 races. To reach this goal, I decided to run the races in New Orleans(my hometown), Dallas (my current town), Chicago, and San Jose. The New Orleans and Dallas races were in March. The Chicago race fell on July 22nd, the Sunday after I returned from Hong Kong. Obviously, I didn’t know I was going to Hong Kong when I planned for the race. But I was determined to run it, despite how closely timed both events were. I figured it wouldn’t be much of a problem, provided I could avoid jet lag on the way home, which I managed to do.

All of the Rock and Roll series races do not allow for race packet pickup on race day. Runners must go the day before to pick up the race packet at the Fitness Expo. Thus, I booked a flight to Chicago on Saturday and returning Sunday night, after the race. Unfortunately, I was unable to turn my trip into a mileage run, but I did book my flight using an VDB voucher I got on one of my DFW-SFO runs. So my cost was essentially zero. My upgrade cleared at exactly 72 hours out.

After a few days catching up with things at work after a week off, I was pretty exhausted on Friday night and went to bed early. I woke up just before 6AM, after 10 hours of much needed sleep. I had already packed the night before, so I was able to get out the door by 6:20, after freshening up. Knowing traffic would be really light early Saturday morning, I stopped at Starbucks on the way to grab a latte. Parking was a bit of a pain at the DFW Remote North Lot, as it was very full due to summer travel. Not surprisingly, it was a bit crowded on the terminal bus, which deposited me at Terminal C a little more than an hour before my flight.

I was greeted by a large crowd at the check in counters and kiosks. But luckily, the Priority AAccess lane empty. After the family already at counter had finished checking in their cat and said good bye to Fifi, I was beckoned to come forward to the counter. The friendly AAgent quickly printed out my boarding pass, and I was off to security. The regular security line snaked around the check in counters, but again the Priority AAccess lane was pretty empty and I was through security in 10 minutes, after playing the name game and posing for an inappropriate picture, that’s for TSA eyes only.

I arrived at my gate, C-28, about 10 minutes before boarding began. Two middle age ladies provided entertainment before boarding, as they were loudly speculating on big the time difference between Dallas and Seattle, which was departing from the adjoining gate. One of them reasoned that it was at least 4 hours, as California was 3 hours behind, and Seattle is further away. I was wondering if I should point out the gate information screens to them (the information is on it), but they were too entertaining, so let I it slide. Boarding was called at exactly 30 minutes before departure. I walked briskly into the jet bridge after my boarding pass was scanned.

AA 2330
Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW)-Chicago O’Hare (ORD)
Saturday July 21, 2012
Depart: 8:20 AM
Arrive: 10:40 AM
Aircraft: McDonnell Douglas DC-9-83 (N579AA)
Seat: 4F (First Class)

I settled into my favorite first class seat on the Mad Dog, 4F. Unlike many people, I actually really like the MD-80/83s. They’re quiet, if you’re sitting in front of row 20. And 2-3 configuration makes flying coach a little more palatable, as there are fewer middle seats. That being said, I will be glad to see them leave fleet in the name of reduced fuel consumption. Although the flight appeared to be wide open on the day before, the flight was completely full up front and economy was announced to be full. Our friendly purser came through the cabin with a tray of water and orange juice for PDBs.


Just in case you forgot what a cup of airline orange juice looked like

The captain came on the PA welcoming us aboard and announcing a flight time of 1 hour and 59 minutes. We pushed back right on time and began our lengthy taxi to runway 17R. After take off, we flew on an easterly course for awhile before turning back to the north and setting course to Chicago. Beverage service commenced soon after we climbed above 10,000 feet. I was going to just stick with water or OJ, since it was less than 24 hours before the race, but the gentleman seated in 3F ordered a mimosa. Well, that sounds really good… So that’s what I went with.


Post take-off mimosa

Next up was the continental breakfast, with a choice of a biscuit or cinnamon raisin bagel. I chose the bagel.



While it doesn’t look like much, the breakfast was actually very filling. It’s hard to screw up cereal. The bagel was soft and warm, accented nicely by the provided cream cheese. The fruit was ripe and fresh. Overall, it was a very nice breakfast, though it’s not much different than what I usually eat at home. The FAs were very good, clearing trays as passengers finished and coming by on regular basis for refills. I worked on my aforementioned SQ teaser after I finished breakfast, and managed to finish it before our descent. We had a nice view of the Chicago skyline and Lake Michigan just before we turned into the short final. Touchdown was smooth and we quickly taxied to gate H12. Overall this was a very nice flight, and certainly made up for my crappy LAX-SFO flight of the week before.

After deplaning, I headed to Blue Line station, spent $2.50 for a ticket, and made it to downtown in a little over 40 minutes.

Coming up next: Intercontinental Chicago Magnificent Mile and Rock and Roll Chicago.