Washington Cherry Festival 5K

Yesterday i got a phone call from the Washington Park District, they helped organize the 5k. The gal on the phone asked to speak with Chris Robinson. I said, "This is". She then told me that they had a trophy there for me from the 5K,and that I could pick it up or they could mail it to me. Since we are leaving for vacation I asked if they could mail it. Then since I could not wait until I got home to see how I did, I asked what place the trophy was. She said she would have to go check, but would be right back. When she returned to the phone she informed me that I was the overall winner in the 35-39 age group for....females.
Female 35 to 39

Place Name City Age Overall Time Pace
1 Chris Robinson Eureka IL 35 68 23:44.3 7:39/M
2 Amy Lee Morton IL 39 121 26:25.0 8:31/M
3 Heidi Ricker Deerfield IL 39 126 26:56.7 8:41/M
I replied that I was a male. She agreed. We decided there must have been a paperwork error.

On the positive side, I placed 68th overall and was in the top quarter, aprox. I am very proud of my performance for a first race. Not to mention I am the fastest 35-39 year old female in Central Illinois.



In other news, we leave for vacation in a few hours. The lap top is making the trip so there just may be a No Worries update or two.

Cheers

Oh Vacation, Where Art Thou, Vacation

Work karma knows I am going to be gone next week. That is the only way to explain the start of my week. We crammed 4 days of work into the first two this week. Monday was a full slate of incoming trucks topped off with route changes at the end of the day. I was in at 5a.m., and did not leave until 3:30p.m. Yesterday brought a different set of challenges, excuse me, opportunities. One of our trailers had its freezer/fridge unit fail. So we started the day with finding a new trailer and salvaging what product we could. Then having to repull items and then load the new trailer. On top of all this I am helping cover for a guy inthe office that is on vacation. No Worries, makes the day go fast.

Cheers

Big Doings

As you can see from my previous pictorial post the Sporting Extravaganza was a giant success.

As for the pictures, Nora is going to be on the front page of the Woodford County Legal Record. It is nice having a newspaper in the family! Grandpa Fyke is using the pic of Nora throwing that is featured in my blog.

Nora loves playing ball. We had another practice session on Sunday. We worked on playing catch, throwing, hitting from a pitcher and from the "T". After we finished up and I started dinner, Nora continued batting from the "T" and was making some good contact. She is very excited about her next game on Thursday.

As for me, I was very happy with my result in the run. I have only been running for 2 months. So, to be able to have that kind of time and to finish ahead of as many as I did made me feel pretty good. My next race will be the Firecracker 5K downtown Peoria on the 4th of July. That will most likely be my last before the Pumpkin Festival 10K, the race for which I have been training.

This is going to be a busy week in the Robinson household. We are preparing for our summer vacation to CA. Aunt Linda and Uncle Mike are flying us out and putting us up for a week of fun, sun, wine, perhaps a Martini, and Nora and Nigels most anticipated attraction...Monterey Bay Aquarium. Nora is very excited as are Robin and I. Nigel lives for the now so he is all good. We have lengthy lay overs in Minnesota, which is an airport I spent a ton of time in during my traveling days with Orion. I am excited to show Robin and the kids a bit from my past. It should be fun...there is a mall in the place you know!

That's all folks.

Cheers

Sporting Extravaganza Images

Pictures say a thousand words...enjoy.


Nora getting warmed-up.


Nora at the dish.


Who's on first? Nora.


Nora cleanly fielded the "T" and made the play at first.


The Dodgers


Pre-race photo op of Green Lantern and Josh Yoder.


275 run the first annual Washington Cherry fest 5K.


Finishing strong at 23:46ish...official times are not yet posted.


Josh coming down the chute.

A great day was had by all. Nora loved her T-ball game and cannot wait to play again. She will not have long to wait as her next game is Thursday.

As for me, running the race was a blast. I may be addicted.

Cheers

Sporting Extravaganza

Tomorrow is a huge day in the sports world.

Nora Robinson is making her T-ball debut at 9:00a.m. and Chris Robinson is coming out of competitive retirement to run in a 5K at 7:00a.m.

So far I am not sure who is more excited about Nora's T-ball game, her or me. My excitement will probably make me run faster so I can get to her game as quick as possible. I can hardly contain my excitement as I type. This is going to be a long day!

Nora and I have been working on her throwing and catching, (we will have another session tonight) and Robin has worked with her on her hitting. My little girl has a pretty good arm and I think she is trying to be a power hitter. She gets under the ball a bit. You can expect to see plenty of pictures from the game.

As for my little event. I will have been running for 2 months on race day, and it will be my first ever competitive run. So, I really do not know what to expect from myself. I am just going to get out there, have fun, and make sure I do not hurt myself. I am running with a friend of mine, Josh who is training for the Chicago marathon, so I will have someone there to help with my pace a bit. That is until he gets tired of waiting for me and takes off. Wish me luck!

Cheers

The Big Yard Sale Was A "Steal"!

Believe it or not we were victims of shoplifters at our yard sale yesterday. I would like to think that they spent hours in a dark smoky room with a map of Eureka with thumb tacks marking the sale locations on the wall planning the heist. "O.k. here is the plan, while I am acting like I cannot get something big into the car you two grab some little things. Carry them around a bit and then come to the car to help. Just casually toss the things in while you are there. The rubes will never suspect a thing." Upon agreeing the plan was good, they synchronized their watches an head out. Here is how the deal went "job" went down.

A family was interested in purchasing my old grill, but wanted to make sure that it would be able fit in their vehicle. During the "confusion" of trying to load it into the vehicle they picked up some little items and carried them down to the car and causally put them in. Both Karen, my Mother-in-law who was manning the money, and I saw what they were doing. They grabbed an old caller i.d. machine, a herb planter and nice serving bowl. We decided to call then out on the bowl and let the other items go.

They were laughing quietly among themselves. Must have been thinking they really pulled one over on us. I figured that if they needed items that were priced at under a dollar each that they felt the need to pilfer them, well...have at it. To me all a garage sale is is having people pay you to haul away items you do not want. Whatever was left was going to be donated at my expense. Besides, the thievery gave me good blog material...you cannot put a price on that.

Besides that the day was a great success. We got rid of some big items that were just taking up room, and made a little cash. Karen helped me with the sale since Robin was at the church doing a wedding. In twelve some years it was the most we have ever talked. Not that we avoid talking to each other by any means, but we just have never sat and talked that much before. It was nice. Made the day much more enjoyable.

In preparation for my upcoming 5k I ran that distance consecutively today as part of my 5 mile walk/run. It was good to know that I can run that distance without stopping. I am no where near a competitive pace, but I know I will be able to run the whole thing!

Enjoy your day!

Cheers

Big Day

I cannot wait for tomorrow morning. It is a very special day at Nora's school, donuts with Dad. To make it even better Nora is going to come to work with me in the morning. After the first few hours we will head off to her school for the donuts, and then some entertainment. Nora and her classmates are going to put on their class play for the dads. What a day! I am not sure who is more excited, Nora or me.

In addition to the already planned activities of the weekend I am hoping to get in a little brewing related activity. I would love to be able to bottle my latest brew, Beach Blonde. I am not too sure if that will fit in with everything else going. If I was really ambitious i would include brewing a vanilla porter, but that may be a stretch. We have been having unseasonably cool weather...perfect for brewing, and I do not want to miss it.

You know what else this weather is great for....running. It has been great getting out in these temps. I am sure I am one of a handful of people that like this weather. I went out for four miles today, walked a half mile and ran 3.5. It was my best run to date.

On to the word of the day...going to give you a double dose today as I missed one.

This week's theme: words related to beards.

Vandyke or Van Dyke or vandyke (van dyk) noun

A short, pointed beard.

[After painter Anthony Van Dyck or Vandyke (1599-1641) who painted
portraits of people having these v-shaped beards.]

bluebeard (BLOO-beerd) noun

A man who marries and kills one wife after another.

[After Bluebeard, the nickname of the main character Raoul in a fairy tale
by Charles Perrault (1628-1703). In the story, Bluebeard's wife finds the
bodies of his previous wives in a room she was forbidden to enter. Yes, he
did have a blue beard.]

That last one was news to me. I hope Robin does not want me to shave now.

Cheers