Greensfelder Park, New Shoes, and Marathon Training

We took a hike last weekend with the Harmons in Greensfelder park in Pacific. We chose a 1.2 mile loop for our hike, but must have taken a wrong turn, because it took about an hour, and I was thankful for the GPS feature on my cell phone. I managed to bring a tick home with me, but Amy did surgery and removed him (it hadn't implanted yet, so I'm good to go...).

We worked so hard we just had to stop at Super Smokers BBQ on the way home. That place was great – I don’t know if I’ve had better barbeque in a restaurant. Granted, I haven’t eaten any in Kansas City, Memphis, or Texas, so I don’t have much to compare it to.

After lunch, we split off from the Harmons and headed up to Fleet Feet to get new running shoes for both of us (adults). There’s nothing like the feeling of new running socks and shoes – I swear they make you faster, if only for a day. An extra bonus for me, the latest model of the shoes I wear (Nike Zoom Equalon+ 4) came in my favorite – red.

(yes, I know it’s dorky to take a picture of your shoes, but they’re only bright white for about a week)

Now for the marathon…

I took about 2 weeks off after the Go! St. Louis Half Marathon to try and heal up a bout of chondromalacia and I was getting burned out on the training. I started back on a 5-day/week schedule today, and we’re both starting to get pumped up for marathon training this summer.

Amy and I started working with a personal trainer to shed some extra pounds and strengthen before formally starting marathon training in June, and I signed up to run with the Fleet Feet marathon training program, which should provide good coaching and information, and an opportunity to meet other runners in the area. Also, Amy and I are going to run the Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon on August 1st, which looks like a fun race.

So, our personal records, which we are certain to set this October, will be brought to you by the following sponsors:

Adam's First At-Bat

Here is some video of Adam's first at bat of little league. Now if we can just get him to run when he hits it...

Gettin’ Back on the Horse

So there are things I like about Blogger, and things I like about Facebook, but I can’t seem to totally commit to one form of social media.  I’ve slacked off on the blog side for a while, because it seems so easy to share photos right from my phone via Facebook. 

I still haven’t decided which way to go for sure, but I figured I would try to do both for a while.  But, I’m so far behind on blogging that I’m not going to bother trying to catch up – I’m just going to try to get going again.

So, here we go…

Last weekend we were happy to have Jeff and Shawn come down for a busy weekend.  We started with the culmination of Emily’s Read, Right, and Run program, where she must read 26 books, do 26 good deeds, and run 26 miles.  The final element of the program is a one mile run in Forest Park as part of the Go! St. Louis marathon weekend.

Here are a few shots from the run…

We followed that up with lunch at Hannake’s – one of our favorite things about living in Glendale.  It’s an old-time grocery store with an awesome deli during lunch hours.  We sat outside and just kept tabs on all the traffic along Sappington Road while we ate.

After lunch, it was time for Adam’s first baseball game (ever).  I don’t think Adam was nervous about playing, but Uncle Jeff was a bit concerned about how it would go.  Our nerves were calmed with a cold beer from the concession stand (yes, they sell beer at the baseball games here…awesome).  Adam made one plate appearance, and got a hit, so all was well.

That night, some friends of Jeff and Shawn’s who now live in St. Louis came over for a half-marathon pasta party with their two kids.  I think the kids and the adults had a great time, with lots of carb-loading and laughing before the big race the next morning.

Speaking of the race, we headed downtown at 5:45 in the morning for the Go! St. Louis Half Marathon along with another of our friends.  After last year’s rainy, miserable race, we figured the running gods owed us one, and they certainly delivered.  The weather was perfect – cool temps at the start, and warm temps at the finish.         

Happy Birthday Emily!

It’s double digits for Emily today – the big 10!

Festival of Strings

Tonight was the Festival of Strings at Kirkwood High School, which featured performances by the 4th and 5th grade strings, the middle school orchestra, one of the high school orchestras, and several solos.

The teachers have done a good job managing such a huge group of kids. They have learned a lot so far in their first year.

Vacation Blogging – Day 5

Day 5 started out good enough.  We got to Hollywood Studios early and headed straight for the Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster and did the parent swap.  Amy went first while Adam and I had a blast playing with his Star Wars action figures.  We taught Vader how to give the storm troopers both swirlies and atomic wedgies.

After that, we headed over to use our fast pass at Toy Story Midway Mania, which was a lot of fun.  Jeff, Amy, Emily, and I then checked out the Tower of Terror twice before heading to meet the rest of the group for lunch.

After the afternoon parade, we headed over to check out the stunt show.  Adam curled up with Uncle Jeff before the show began.  He then asked for a drink of water.  As soon as he swallowed the water, he immediately threw up all over himself, Amy and my leg, and he also got several good chunks on the Brazilian tourist sitting in front of us.  Luckily she was understanding and wasn’t mad.

While we watched the stunt show, Amy took Adam to get him cleaned up and the staff were nice enough to give him a voucher for a new t-shirt.  He then received wheelchair transportation back to the front gate.  Amy took him back to the hotel to rest.

The rest of us went to Epcot for dinner.  Emily wasn’t quite ready to go home yet, so we walked through the different countries at Epcot, stopping for a picture in France and a funnel cake in the USA.

 

Emily after braving the Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster

Adam trying out the speeder

They conquered the Tower of Terror!

Minutes before throwing up

Adam’s special transportation

The maid had a special arrangement for the kids’ animals each day

Sunset on another great day in the Magic Kingdom, despite all the vomit!

Vacation Blogging – Day 4

Day 4 was our first day in the Disney parks.  Of course, we started with the Magic Kingdom.  The kids were pretty excited when they saw Chip and Dale right as we got in.  We hit all the highlights – Dumbo, Small World, Philharmagic, Pirates, Toy Story, Space Mountain, etc.