ShannonAlbert.com - June 2009

What we've been up to lately....

- I've been working quite a bit.
- Clandestine operation we'll be able to tell you about next week.
- Helping a couple of friends plan trips to Walt Disney World. Brings me so much happiness to help other people plan their trips. Almost as much as planning my own.
- Watching the show Wipeout - a hilarious obstacle course show. Thank goodness for the Internets because we are able to watch older episodes online.

Payton says "Lenny will not drink out of a bowl!"

She's blogging periodically while she's there....

http://thecoolangel.blogspot.com/

Logic says: Putting your well-traveled 13-year-old on a plane alone to fly to South Carolina is fine. She loves South Carolina and has been on at least 50 planes in over a dozen airports.

Emotions say: Putting your baby girl on a plane alone where she has to connect in O'hare (where everybody seems to get stuck) is scary and what if she's delayed overnight and what if she doesn't find her gate and what is she misses her connection and...and...and.*

Logic usually wins out with me which is why I suggested the trip and booked the ticket. However, Andy will be taking Payton to the airport Tuesday morning to avoid me transferring anxiety to a perfectly capable teenager. Of course, I've got tracking setup every step of the way just to be sure all goes well. Wish me...I mean her...luck. ;)

* Liz knows people in Chicago so in the event Payton would be delayed overnight, they would be able to help out since Payton can't get a hotel room at 13 years old. Payton also has printed maps of the airport, a cell phone, cash and a debit card to assist her with whatever she needs. She'll be fine. I think.

Last week I dropped my short runs down to 3 - 3.5 miles so I could focus on pace and try to go a bit faster in preparation for the 5k race on Saturday. It was really good for me to do that because I had been struggling with the longer "short" runs...since when is 4.5 miles "short" anyway?

Weight-wise I've stayed the same as I've been for several weeks which is fine with me right now. I'm just focusing on completing the half-marathon training and then I'll re-evaluate from there. Obsessing over pace time, distance, heart rate, weight, calories is just too many pieces of data at once. One thing at a time and that thing is the half-marathon.

Just returned from a 4.5 mile run tonight which I would normally have done tomorrow morning but decided to do tonight. I like running at night and feel much better afterward. Going to try that this week and maybe these 4.5 mile runs won't seem so bad after all. This weekend....trying 7 miles again. Barring any bathroom emergencies, I hope to be able to check that distance off the list finally!

On Saturday, we spent the morning being lazy and then headed out for a late lunch and then some time at Unpluggits for some arts and crafts time.






Reaghan made a jewelry box thingie and some paintings. Payton made some wire figures in the shape of band members to add to her collection. Reaghan's birthday party is being held here in a couple of weeks so we'll be back soon!

The good news is that despite the heat, we managed to run well at the Midnight Streak run late Saturday night.


Amy (Kam's running partner and friend), Kam, me

The bad news is that this 5K wasn't a whole 5K - we were about 1/4 mile short.

Here's the way the course was supposed to look:



Here's the way it did look from my watch data:



Since the course didn't have us going all the way to 12th street, we were shorted and as a result our times are skewed. This was a sanctioned race that is supposed to follow certain rules and Kam says they could get into trouble for not having the right distance. It was certainly disappointing at the very least.

My goal was 32 minutes and when I crossed the finish line and it said less than 30 minutes, I knew it was wrong for sure and my watch confirmed that.

The overall results are here. Kam came in 5th in our age group and I came in 22nd, right in the middle of the pack which I'm very happy about.

Unfortunately, Kam hurt her foot while running and is now out of commission for at least a couple of weeks.

This could be my last race before the half-marathon!