Likely to be the only time in my life that my mug makes a national newspaper

This was in Monday's Globe and Mail as part of the Canada's Top 100 Employers section. Ironically, seeing this picture for the first time a few months ago is what inspired me to go back much closer to my natural hair colour! Yikes. The photo shoot happened with little warning the day before I was scheduled for a long-overdue cut and highlight. Had I known how widely it would be circulated, I would have tried pulling strings to get in sooner.

I did not know the photo would be used here - just started getting emails about it out of the blue today.

(Liam took this photo. He's got mad skillz.)

The 2013 season comes to an end

This weekend, Chad and I spent 24 hours in Detroit for the Detroit Free Press Half Marathon. Following the same agenda we did last year, we drove down on Saturday afternoon after Liam's hockey game, went to packet pick-up (which for this race includes processing of your passport), and settled in for an early evening at the MGM Grand. Well, it was supposed to be early. We stayed up late enough to think the Tigers had a chance of making it to game 7, only to wake up and find out that following a Red Sox grand slam, it was not meant to be.

This was the 7th half marathon I've run and the first time I was really gunning for a goal time. My first race back in 2000 has stood for 13 years as my PR at 2:04:54. I have long held that I'd like to break 2 hours but have never done it. Then again, my half marathon training has never been all that focused. Typically I do one long run a week and wing a few shorter ones the rest of the time. And then, whether I have a great run or a lousy one, I generally finish in the 2:06 timeframe. Keep in mind I was significantly younger and lighter when I set that PR!

This time around I was more invested. I followed a training plan and got to experience all of the joys of tempo runs and intervals. The plan ran for 13 weeks and I missed maybe 3 days. I was as ready as I'd ever be.

I set a hierarchy of goals, because I figured if I had one goal and I missed it, I'd swear off running forever. The hierarchy looked like this:

1 - beat last year's time on this course (2:06:54)
2 - sub-2:05
3 - new PR
4 - sub-2:02
5 - sub-2:00

Whenever my race plan called for a run at race pace, I ran it at 9:10 per mile, which was what I'd need to finish in sub-2. It was hard but I had one glorious long run a few weeks ago where I held that pace for 8 miles and thought perhaps I could eek it out for the whole 13.1 on race day.

But, it wasn't meant to be. I had a good day but not a great day. The hills really got to me. Unlike last year, where I ran really efficiently and negative splitted most of the course, this time around I was less consistent. I thought about trying to stay with a 2:00 pace bunny but I know that I always need a few miles to warm up and can generally run faster toward the end. So I started slow, but this time, I had no gas left in the tank to catch up at the end.

I should be happy, because I finished in 2:02:59, which obviously meets my 3rd level goal and hello, that PR has held for 13 years - it's about time I broke it! What has me bummed though is something stupid. I ran the race using my GPS watch and rather than watching total time, I was watching pace. The watch miscalculated the total length of the course, finishing 0.15 miles longer than it should have. This meant it calculated my pace at 5 seconds per mile faster than I really was. So when I crossed the finish line, I knew I hadn't run under 2:00, but I thought I'd finished in 2:01:46 and met goal #4. It was only when I checked the official results that I realized the error and saw that I'd really run 2:02:59 and only met goal #3. Dagnabbit!!

So, now I have to find a nice flat course to run at a race that occurs when the weather is perfect. (Trot to the Beach is a nice flat course, though dreadfully dull, but being the first weekend in June, it can be awfully hot.) I figure the steep incline on the bridge and tunnel got to me today and that's why that 9:10 pace was so elusive. The last 4 or so miles were a real struggle just to hold on; there was no way I was going to finish strong.

Oh well. I guess that's why runners keep running right? There's always an elusive goal and a "maybe next time".

(The view from our hotel room after the race. The starting line was a few blocks away, the bridge we crossed in the distance, and you can see some late finishers still making their way down Michigan Ave.)

The Second Annual Robinson Family Thanksgiving Road Hockey Tournament

It often ends with some tears and shouts of "No goal! No goal!", or perhaps a skinned knee or stick to the shin and more tears... but it's fun right up until then.

Thanks a lot

I was admonished at family gatherings this weekend (and again this morning, I see - thanks for your concern!) for my nearly-monthlong absence, which was due not to illness or tragedy but rather laziness. I thought this was going to be the end of the blog, but hey, I'm back. At least temporarily! In the spirit of Thanksgiving, here is a Thanksgiving song that Mallory wrote. She is one month into piano lessons and she thinks she is all that and a bag of chips when it comes to music now. I say that in jest though. That she would pick up and write a song, even one that's not quite ready for radio, really blew me away.

Silk? Linen? Spandex.

On the weekend, Chad and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary. This was the first time we broke with the traditional gifts. Rather than giving each other silk or linen, we treated ourselves to some spandex instead, and registered for the inaugural GranFondo Niagara Falls.

GranFondos are essentially long supported bike rides. There is an elite division that races. They tell the rest of us it's not a race, but they do log your time, and you don't officially complete the event unless you maintain a certain pace. In this case, the roads were closed for the event, but if you didn't stay within the event then the roads would be re-opened and you'd be subject to some pretty brutal traffic. Good incentive to keep up with the group!

We drove up on Friday night to attend packet pick-up. I realized then that I'd forgotten to pack a sports bra. Sport Chek was closed so we made do with Walmart. The extra errands meant getting to bed later than expected and we had to be up before dawn... 5 a.m. to be precise, in order to be in the starting corrals by 6:30 a.m. O Canada was sung at 6:45 a.m., the loudspeakers started to play Queen's "Bicycle Race" and we were off just as the sun was starting to rise.

The morning was considerably colder than we'd expected. I was wearing a short sleeved jersey and had thrown an old cotton shirt over top while we waited in the corrals that I'd planned to discard at the start line. As it turned out, I wore that shirt flapping in the wind for the first 80 km of the ride, because it took forever to warm up!

The course was amazing. There was some really beautiful scenery. We started and ended in front of Horseshoe Falls. The ride was on the Niagara Parkway to Niagara on the Lake, so we passed the American Falls, the Whirlpool, the Floral Clock and Butterfly Conservatory before we started passing some stately real estate. People were out at the end of their driveways in their robes and slippers to wave and cheer. From NOTL we came back along the Parkway (which meant riding UP the Escarpment... ugh) and then did a loop through the Thorold Tunnel under the Welland Canal and around Short Hills Provincial Park. We passed lots of orchards and vineyards and enjoyed some rolling hills that were a lot of fun to ride on.

There were six rest stops along the way with food/drink/bathrooms/first aid/mechanical assistance. We stopped at 5 of them. I am still having back issues and can't ride an hour straight without it pinching horribly. We knew going into things that we'd be off our bikes at almost every stop to give me a chance to stretch out. Besides the stretch, we needed some sustenance. I ate a whole stack of Honey Stinger waffles... love these things...

...as well as some non-conventional fuel... M&Ms anyone?... and several Niagara peaches.

And two of the rest stops had sparkling wine from Jackson Triggs, which was actually quite yummy at 9 a.m. (despite the fact that I never really drink it at the usual time of day).

Me and the world's smallest cup of wine. Good thing there were refills.

Shot from the top of Effingham Hill which was a big effing hill. We were woefully undertrained for this ride. Well, I was. I really slacked off the bike the last part of the summer, and at any rate, even if I'd ridden more - where around here could I train for a hill like this? We were timed on this 2 km stretch of road and the winning times were awarded "King of the Mountain" polka dot jerseys. If you look closely at this photo I think you can see four walkers and two people still on their bikes. Chad made it up, but I walked - hey, it was another opportunity to stretch my back - and I also started shooting photos before I crossed the timing mat at the top of the hill. Those are my excuses for why my KOM time was so ridiculously long.

Luckily the last 20 km or so of the course was net downhill, because by then I was pretty tired. We did manage to stay ahead of the pace car and within the event, so we were awarded medals at the finish line.

More important than the medal though was MORE FOOD - I was ravenous! Jambalaya, salad, and beer for all.

There was a finish line concert too enjoy too - Barney Bentall and Jim Cuddy. Barney must be a fast rider because he was changed back into street clothes. The rest of the band belted out Blue Rodeo's greatest hits (mostly) in their spandex. The woman in purple is Canadian rowing legend Marnie McBean. I'm still not sure what qualifies her to sing in public.

GranFondo Niagara Falls... done!

We spent the rest of the afternoon/night in town. We treated ourselves to a nice dinner at a churrascaria restaurant. Not too much more walking around though; man, was I tired.

Fortunately, we did wander by this place before heading back to our hotel, and felt entitled to order one up. Killaloe Sunrise, of course.

This was the first year for GranFondo Niagara Falls and it was a super event. Kind of pricey, but that's what happens when you have to hire a small army of police to control traffic along 125 km of closed-down roads. I get that that costs money. It was a fun little adventure for a special weekend, so well worth it in our book.

Up til present

I had a couple of blog posts that were semi-started and never finished, but I'm just going to skip over them and keep going. It's September now, the month when things get a little crazy for a few weeks. The start of school went off without a hitch; the kids like their new classes and are settling in just fine. Mallory joined a lunch-hour art club and thinks she is the coolest kid at the school.

Late in the week, she modelled in a local fashion show (Auntie Jenn scored her the job). She did great even if she did look like she was going to throw up a little! I think she was pretty nervous but also very proud of herself when all was said and done.

Liam got a Flock of Seagulls haircut for back to school. Ha ha! This is how he looked when he came home from the hairdresser, but he's been wearing it a lot flatter ever since.

We have been watching a lot of the US Open, which inspired us to go out and play some tennis, right in time for the end of the season. Nice how that always works out right??

And we took advantage of some overcast-but-dry weather on the weekend to go apple picking. It feels a little early for such a fall-ish pursuit (indeed, this was the first weekend the orchard was open), but we had nothing else going on, which can't be said for the foreseeable future. I am out of town for the next 2.5 days for a conference, back for less than 24 hours, and then Chad and I are off on a little getaway.

Back to school 2013

Today was back to school day, and it went off without a hitch. There were no tears shed by any family members. Last year's Mallory-driven school-administration-involving incident was fresh in my mind, so I took the kids to the YMCA Before School Program and dropped them off unceremoniously. I figured if I took them to the school yard at bell time and stood there in a parent gaggle watching them line up, it might trigger some sort of flashback or PTS episode. Nope, better to pretend that there was nothing special about the day whatsoever.

Well, we did start off by taking a couple of quick snaps on the front porch... that is pretty much a given. We have it down to a science now though - what used to take lots of direction-giving and coaching and time and energy has become a well oiled machine - a couple sitting down, a couple standing up, a couple together, throw in a free internet printable and Bob's your uncle.

To cap the day off, Mallory's first activity started - she was back at the gym tonight for her gymnastics class. 'Cause you know... why not launch headfirst into the craziness of the school year by piling on the activities right from Day 1? At least hockey/swimming/music/skating give you a week or two to settle in before they start up.

Welcome, 2013/2014 school year... hope to make it through to the other side.