Kite Festival

Luckily, our next family adventure turned out much better!  I was SO EXCITED to go the kite festival....but there was no wind.  We decided to go anyway, and miracle of miracles, it was a little windy in Lee's Summit.  And the weather was absolutely beautiful.  We ate a picnic lunch and then tried our hand at getting a kite in the air.  Hannah was IN LOVE with kite flying.  She was really good, too!  She ran with it to keep it up, and she never got tangled with anyone else.

 

 

 

 

  

 

I think the huge purple cat was my favorite.  It was flown by professionals.
 

 

 

After awhile we made our way over to the children's section.  They had these flags set up for the kids to run through.  I think this was Olive's favorite part.  Even though she got knocked over by bigger kids probably ten times, she laughed and laughed.
 

Olive's picture with the clown fish was in the KC Star- front page in the special "neighborhood news" section.     

This is definitely on my must-do list for next year.  We didn't even make it to all the booths: food, bouncy house, face painting, kite-making, etc.  Eating a picnic and watching kites is my idea of a perfect Saturday.  When I asked Hannah which kite was her favorite she said, "Our kite."  This is funny because our kite is some old '90s thing with hot pink and turquoise splash paint on it.  We need a new kite.


Then to top off my perfect Saturday, I had a girls' night with Wendy and Andrea in the River Market.

Steve had a girls' night with Hannah and Olive at home.  He won Hannah over with ice cream.

Paradise Park

For Olive's birthday trip we went to Paradise Park- an indoor play place in Lee's Summit.  Randomly, we found out the manager is someone who went to our high school!  I was impressed by how they went the extra mile to keep it clean.  The ball pit had a ballwasher attached to it.  The infant room had a "dirty toy" box for things that babies put in their mouths.  But I was a little disappointed by the amount of stuff to do for the price.  It didn't turn out to be a great trip.  We got a little lost on the way there because someone whose name rhymes with Beve didn't want to look at the Garmin.  Then while we were there Hannah wet her pants...while she was on me!  So we had to wash out our clothes in the bathroom.  Then my camera battery died after about five pictures!  It was just one of those days.

 

Boston Marathon

Boston Marathon was one of the hottest on record.  Steve finished in 3:08.  He knew he couldn't do under 3:00 in the heat.  He thought about dropping out and running the Olathe marathon instead, but he finished.

Olive Stats- 1 year

Olive is  now 22 lbs 4 oz (70th percentile) and 29 inches tall (50th percentile).  How did I get a daughter that is average in height?  I'm not sure I believe this yet.  Over the last year she has gained over 15 lbs and grew 10 inches.

Olive has a lot of personality.  Strangers always say, "What a happy baby!" when they see her.  Although she also lets you know if she is upset.  She has a high-pitched yell that she does whenever Hannah takes toy away from her...then Hannah gives it right back.  Strangers are also impressed by how well she walks.  Olive can say mama, dada, and baby.  She can nod her head for yes or shake it for no.  We ran out of formula right before her birthday, and she switched to milk without any problems at all.  Next up is switching her from a bottle to sippy cup.  One of her front teeth is coming in, so she has five total.  She likes to eat All. The. Time.  I swear she eats more than Hannah at most meals.  Although it is hard to tell because half of it ends up on the floor.  Olive has always been a Mama's girl, but she has become especially attached recently.  She lets other people hold her, but sometimes she almost jumps out of their arms to get to me.  I have to enjoy it while it lasts. :)

What I love about Olive:

I was a little afraid that a younger sister so close in age would be overshadowed by her older sister.  I don't think Olive is going to let that happen.  I love how she is assertive and stands up for herself.  I love how she laughs- easily and loudly!  I like how she can be the center of attention and she also enjoys going off on her own.  She is very independent.  And of course I love her fangs.

What Steve loves about Olive:

I love how happy she is and how she lights up when she sees us.  I love how independent she is.  I love how fierce she is.

Olive's Favorites as a One-year-old

food: fruit, pasta, and black beans

song: Old McDonald, alphabet song

books: Peek-a-who?, Freight Train, That's Not My Kitten, First Words

toys: play kitchen, animal pop-up toy, anything that Hannah plays with

activities: digging in the sandbox, swinging, being flipped upside down, playing peek-a-boo, eating things off the ground, being tickled, giving kisses, taking baths

 

Olive's First Birthday

We decided to celebrate Olive's birthday a week early.  Since we would be in Chillicothe anyway for Easter, it seemed like a good time to get the family together for a party.  It was going to be at Simpson Park, but it rained.  It was beautiful the day before and the day after, but not on the party day.  Bah.  Such is life.  So we changed it last minute to the YMCA.  The girls kicked beach balls around.  Everyone talked and ate cupcakes.  It was simple and fun.  My aunt reminded me it was where I had my graduation reception.  And I also worked there for two summers as a camp counselor.  And now I'm back with my two daughters.  I feel old. 

My new favorite Olive thing- running at you, arms up, wanting a hug.

Hannah licked the icing off of several cupcakes, then gave the leftover part to Grandma to eat.
 

Ohhhh...fire!
 

 

It's just easier to take your face to the cupcake instead of the cupcake to your face.
 

 

The fangs come out!
 

There were LOTS of presents.  Olive birthday presents.  Hannah presents for Olive's birthday.  Easter presents for both girls.  Hannah and Ainslyn opened presents for awhile, but after they lost interest I had take over.
 

Bad family photo.
 

"Farmer Wall"
 

We stopped at the park after the party.  I had promised Hannah that we'd go to the top of the rocket slide.  It is in pretty rough shape now.  I told her the story of how Dada proposed to me at the top and gave me the ring I'm wearing.  Hannah's response:  "Oh."
 

 

Afterwards we had dinner at Royal Inn, which is also where we had our  wedding rehearsal dinner.  So the birthday activities turned out to be a mini tour of my past.  Weird.  But I suppose it is that way with any place you go in Chillicothe. :)

Thank you to all the family who helped us celebrate Olive's first birthday.  Our little baby has become a toddler!  She is lucky to have so many people that care about her.

For another trip down memory lane: Hannah's first birthday.

One-year-old stats coming soon....

Boston Marathon Update

Post by Steve:


Two Days to go
So all this week the race forecast temperatures have gone up.  Right now, the predicted start temp is 72 and the finish temp is 82.  The predicted high for the day is right around 90.  BAA sent an email today encouraging people NOT to run unless they were highly fit and offered deferrals (non-paid entry for next year - which actually goes back on something they said they wouldn't ever do) to people that don't run.  Couple thoughts...

• When it's hot, it's not PR weather.  When it's this hot, I don't even think I could make it under 3:00, which is my minimum goal.
• This is going to be an expensive jog since there's no way at this point to get out of hotels, flights, race fee, etc.
• One year off!  Last year the weather was absolutely perfect - low 50's with a huge tailwind.  It resulted in a course record and the fastest marathon time the world has ever seen.   http://www.letsrun.com/2011/bostonweather-0416.php

I spent some time considering my options.  Things could change if the forecast changes or if the heat doesn't affect me as much as I think it will, but as of now the plan is:

• Start Boston at 3:00 pace and see how high my HR/effort is.
• If it looks like I won't make it, I'm going to shut it down at the half marathon point and take the commuter rail back downtown.
• If I only end up running 1/2 this weekend, I'll run the full Olathe Marathon next weekend.

I'm good to go for the full next weekend because I only tapered two weeks whereas most people do three.  The weather for next weekend looks fairly good at this point - starting in the low 50's and finish in the high 50's/low 60's.  I even know another guy my speed running it.  If I wait much longer, I'll have to go north and actually travel in order to get something in... which will also be a gamble based on weather.  I don't consider that an option.  If I wait until fall I have to keep training all summer and then put in a peaking effort again in the fall.  I'd sure like to take training down a notch at this point, but a fall marathon is probably my next best option.

I look at the website below for heat adjustment stuff.  I don't know if it's quite this bad (for instance, elites don't slow down by this percentage as evidenced by Chicago 2007 and Beijing Olympics in 2008), but I haven't seen anything else I like better yet.

http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/tips_archives/seasonal.html

Adjusting Race Pace for Heat: Estimated temperature at finish - Slower than goal pace - 8 min mile becomes...
55-60 degrees - 1% - 8:05
60-65 degrees - 3% - 8:15
65-70 degrees - 5% - 8:25
70-75 degrees - 7% - 8:35
75-80 degrees - 12% - 8:58
80-85 degrees - 20% - 9:35
Above 85 degrees - Forget it... run for fun

* Note: This chart is based upon my own experience in the heat and talking to other runners. It has no scientific verification.

Previous Post
One week to go and I'm feeling good.  I started training in mid June to beat Taco in a 5k.  After that race (October) I set down a 27 week schedule to get to this point.  It's been the longest continual running streak I've ever had.

I had hoped to hit 70 miles per week regularly, but I typically only managed about 60mpw during my big weeks.  I also had a long period from September to the end of January without much improvement.  Not really sure what happened there.  These last 12 weeks have been very solid though and although I don't think I'll reach my initial goal of 2:45, I'm pretty confident I can run a solid time.  Based on the workouts I've been doing, I expect to run at 6:35-6:40 pace (~2:53).  I'm going to grade the race as follows:

<2:50 - A
2:50-2:55 - B
2:55-3:00 - C
3:00 - Something bad happened!

Keep your fingers crossed for some nice cool weather in the 40's or 50's!  And I feel like I need to add - since the forecast just went from cloudy and 63 high to sunny and 75 high.... if the weather at the end of the race is mid 70's temp, you can add just about 10 minutes to all those grades I gave myself above.

Tracking:
The race is next Monday, the 16th.
My bib # is 4135.  Or you should be able to search by my name.
I start in the first wave, at 10:00am.
Track me at the baa website: http://www.baa.org/

Q:

How can family members at home track me in the Boston Marathon?

A:

The B.A.A. will broadcast every five kilometer split to its website and family and friends can track your progress by logging in and entering your name or bib number. The "face" of the Boston Marathon website will change on race day and the process on how to enter the search will be clear. The AT&T Athlete Alert program allows messages to be automatically delivered to any US mobile phone, a pager, or any email address.

Alerts will be broadcast when your runner crosses the starting line, reaches the 10K, half marathon and 30K marks, and from the finish line. Runners or their family and friends can register in three ways: 1: Via text message or SMS, (after registering, you'll receive a text message confirming how to complete registration). 2: Visiting the AT&T Athlete Alert Sign-Up page at the race website,http://www.baa.org/, and sign up there

More details for the interested:
I'm going to eat a Gu packet before the race and every 4 miles during the race up until 24 miles.  100 calories / packet, 700 calories total.  25g carbs / packet, so about 75g/hr.

Every month I did a fitness test where I ran at 30bpm less than my maximum HR (185-30=155HR) for 4 miles on my treadmill so it would be consistent and I could see progress or lack thereof.  This is my starting the race effort and corresponds to my goal race pace.

Month	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr
Average	7:00	6:53	6:53	6:56	6:49	6:43	6:33

Easter

We had an Easter egg hunt with Steve's family at Chula Park.  Hannah was super excited to find the eggs.  Olive just wanted to eat.
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wanted a picture of polka-dot girls together.  This is what I got.

Picnic

This spring Steve has been really busy.  He was working nights and weekends finishing up projects at Black & Veatch.  Now he has business trips and a longer commute to his new job.  He has also been doing lots of long runs training for the marathon.  So I have logged a lot of hours as a single parent.  Not all that much fun since I actually enjoy spending time with husband...and he's good at diaper-changing, too.  

This particular day he was running Brew to Brew (his team took 2nd place).  The girls and I went shopping for Olive's birthday party supplies, then enjoyed some cheeseburgers in the park.  I love finding new parks.  This one got bonus points for having a pond.