Peachtree Road Race Update

Due to Normer’s injuries, I tried to convince him to not run the Peachtree. I even threatened that I would buy a new computer and iphone if he ran the race. I knew that if he ran the race, I would be stuck nursing him back to health. And that’s exactly what happened!

Normer stubbornly decided that he was going to run the race whether I liked it or not. I hid his number behind a picture frame on Friday night, but he ended up finding it and didn’t tell me. I left for the race around 6:15 and was waiting for the shuttle when he came jogging up with his number. He ended up running for the majority of the race and really hurt his leg even more. I think his time was around 72. (That’s pretty good when you have a fractured tibia..haha) I ran the race in 65 minutes and was happy with that time for not training at all.

I did hold Normer to my threat and ordered my new computer yesterday! I’m so excited! It’s a 13 inch Macbook Pro. We customized it so it will be another week or so before I get it.

And yes, I had to take care of my poor hurt husband all weekend…he is still limping and refuses to go to the doctor.
But at least I will have my new computer to console me.

Normer’s Consequences

Dear Friends-

You stand as my witnesses that if Normer Adams runs or walks the Peachtree Road Race tomorrow he will face severe consequences.

You see, Normer went hiking this week and injured his leg. His shin is all swollen and he can barely walk. We think he may have a stress fracture. Now, why would someone who is that hurt want to go walk 6.2 miles? Who knows, but he is crazy. And I will not allow him to go.

So friends, you stand as my witnesses that if Normer participates in this race he will face the consequences that I have picked. And the consequences are that I will buy myself a new computer AND replace my shattered iphone. All in one swoop. So Normer- are you ready to give up all that money towards my new gadgets? Or are you going to do the sensible thing and rest while you are hurt? The choice is yours my dear.

-Stacee

Update: I have hidden his number in the house. He can’t find it and he also can’t find safety pins. I’ve hidden them too.

Race Results

Normer and I ran the Strong Legs Race this morning down at the Braves stadium. Normer’s dad also joined us. The bet that Normer and I made was for me to have a time of 56 minutes or to beat him in the race for me to get an iPhone.
I started out the race pretty fast and strong.  My time at the 1 mile marker was 8:45 which is exactly what I wanted to do. Normer passed me during the first mile and his Dad ran up to find him. I felt pretty confident that I didn’t need to beat him but could just beat the clock instead. Mile 2 I was right on with my time as well. But by mile 3 I was about 2 minutes behind. Mile 4 I was 3 minutes behind at around 37 minutes. The 5th mile was pretty tough and my asthma was really kicking in. There was also a big hill during the 5th mile. I knew I was really cutting it close to beat the 56 minutes so I started running as fast and hard as I could. I wasn’t sure of my exact time at this point but I knew I was very, very close to 56 minutes. I finally rounded the corner and saw the finish line. I was running so hard that it was difficult to keep my breakfast down. I saw the clock and almost burst into tears. It was over 56 minutes. I slowed down a little bit and finished the race at 57:14. I was pretty disappointed but Normer’s dad was there waiting for me and he was really encouraging. Normer was no where in sight. I figured that him and his dad would have been together. We headed up to the T-shirt area and still couldn’t find Normer. We waited around for at least 10 minutes. A little bit of hope was starting to form in my heart that maybe I had beat him. I never saw him again after the first mile so I figured he had stayed in front of me. Finally, we found Normer and I asked him his time. He then asked me my time. I said,  “You first.” Then he said, “59:06″. I started jumping around and screaming! Even Normer’s dad was celebrating with me. After 6 months of training and four 10k’s I will finally get my iPhone. I am so happy. I’m going to shower and then we are heading over to the Apple store before lunch. I can’t wait!! I’ll take pictures at the store and post them on here! YAH!!

I think Normer ran a really great race for not training at all. I’m really proud of him but I’m glad I beat him. I’m sure he’ll never let me beat him again so the taste of victory is very sweet for now.
Thanks again for all of your encouraging thoughts over this training period.
I already have another goal of 50 minutes to get a new MacBook. Haha. That is very far away though so I’m just going to enjoy my iPhone for now.
I’m so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Race time

The race is on! I’m ready! I’ve been working on my Race playlist and here is what I’ve got so far. Music really, really motivates me so I tried to pick good ones.

1) Death and All His Friends- Coldplay
2) Halloween- Matt Pond
3) Billie Jean- Michael Jackson
4) Sea Lion Woman- Feist
5) Running with Your Heart- Charlie Hall
6) For Nancy- Pete Yorn
7) Runnin’ Down a Dream- Tom Petty
8- Move You- Anya Marina
9) Beat It- Michael Jackson
10) Take Back the City- Snow Patrol
11) I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For- U2
12) Starting Now- Ingrid Michaelson
13) Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough- Michael Jackson

That should be enough to get me through the race. I have a few extra on the playlist in case I get tired of the song and want to skip ahead. I have a few more Coldplay, U2, Feist and Weepies songs on there.
And yes, Michael Jackson is great running music!!

I was just playing the song Beat It and Normer was singing “Just Beat Normer, Just Beat Normer” Haha. Don’t worry. I’ll do my best to beat you to the finish dear husband.

24 Days Winner!!

Congrats to Amy G. who is the winner of 24 Days of Running! Thank you so much for all of your guesses. 

I ran a total of 17 out of 24 days!  

It would have been 19 but I was under Doctor’s orders to not run for 2 days! Oh well!! I wish I could have run more but I’m happy for Amy to win! She has requested her giveaway gift to be an apron. I’ll be sure to show you a picture of it once it’s made!

Here is a list of all of the days I ran plus the mileage/times!

October
13th) 4 in 38 minutes
15th) 4 in 40 minutes
16th) 4 in 40 minutes
17th) 4 in 36 minutes
18th) 4 in 40 minutes
20th) 4 in 46 minutes
22nd) 4.4 in 50 minutes
24th) 4 in 40 minutes
25th) 5.8 in 60 minutes
26th) 4 in 37 minutes
27th) 4 in 36 minutes
31st) 4 in 45 minutes
November
1st) 4 in 40 minutes
2nd) 4 in 40 minutes
3rd) 4 in 39 minutes
4th) 4 in 45 minutes
5th) 4.8 in 47 minutes

I ran a total of 71 MILES! Crazy!! I’m so ready for the race on Saturday!!

24 Days of Running Update

For all of you who entered the giveaway here is an update!!

I am on my 15th day of running 4 miles a day and I have ran 11 of those 15 days so far. I could sit here and make a lot of excuses but I think I’ve done pretty well. So the most days I could potentially run (if I don’t miss a day from now on) are now down to 20 out of the 24. I only have 9 more days left!! My race is on November 8th and I’m already pumped. Normer is going to run the race as well. If I beat him to the finish line then I get the iPhone NO matter what my time. OR I just have to finish under 56 minutes. I have been feeling really great on my runs for the most part so I’m counting on having that iPhone in hand very soon. CAN’T WAIT!!!!! My birthday is on the 10th so it will make a great addition to my B-day gifts (notice I said addition, not substitution). I’ve worked hard for this!!! Thanks again for all of your guesses in the giveaway. I can’t wait to make the winner something fun! And sorry to all of you who had such great confidence in me that you guessed over 20. I’ll try to do another giveaway soon!

Weekly Update 10/18

Wow, I can’t believe it’s already October 18th! This month is flying by!
This has been such a great week. Really busy at work but good. Well, maybe work wasn’t so great…but I had so much fun on Friday that’s probably why I think the week was so great!
On Thursday night we had our first Chorus concert of the year. It was our Fall Concert with Band and Orchestra. I’m so mad that I forgot my camera! All of the kids dressed in their Halloween costumes and they were totally adorable. My favorites were a Hip-hop Ghetto kid and Jacob the Robot. I spent most of the week thinking about what I should be and finally decided on a Fall Tree. I made a headband that had all of these brown pipe cleaners sticking out and then I attached Leaf Rubbings on them. I had some tree costumes left over from Jungle Book so I tied those around my waist and taped leaves all over my body. The tree costumes are just really long strips of brown fabric hanging down. Seriously, why did I forget my camera!!

On Friday my friend Catherine came over and we had a lunch of Apple Chicken sandwiches (similar to West Egg’s) and then we made…..PUMPKIN SCONES! Yum. I am going through a pumpkin phase right now. I just want to bake a new pumpkin treat everyday. Good thing I’m running a lot to burn off all those calories!! We used this recipe for the scones. Apparently it is based on Starbucks’ scones. I think ours are a LOT better though. We ended up adding a little extra flour, spices and milk than we should have but I think they turned out really well. We also made a Cream Cheese Frosting to go on top. So delightfully good. Our friend Lindsay also ended up coming over and we had a great time eating scones and drinking hot tea on such a rainy day!!

RUNNING UPDATE: I ran 4 out of 5 days this week! I would have run on Tuesday had it not been for a full day of working, piano lessons, grocery shopping, making apple pies and then small group. I did have my fastest time yesterday of 4 miles in 36 minutes. I was very happy with it. If I can do that in the next race then I will be VERY close to reaching my goal. Thanks goes to everyone who submitted a guess in the Giveaway! I’m doing my best to run everyday so we’ll see how it turns out!

24 Days of Running Giveaway!

In an effort to boost my training for the next 10k,  I have decided to set a goal of 24 days of running! If you don’t know the back story of why I’m running see these two blogs here. Starting today until November 5th,  I will do my best to run at least 4 miles everyday. I haven’t been doing so well in my training lately and I really need to kick things into high gear! This past month I have averaged running three miles 3 times a week.  My next 10k is on November 8th so I’ll have two days off to rest before it.

So where do you come in? Well, if you correctly guess the amount of days that I end up running then you will get a handmade item of your choice! I can sew aprons, baby stuff, purses and I even make pottery (although I’m not sure if you will want one of my crooked pieces!!) I can also draw pretty well too.  If more than one person guesses the correct number of days then I will use a random generator website for the winner out of those that guess correctly.

Here’s how to enter:

1) Leave a comment on this post with your prediction.
2) BONUS: If you have a blog of your own and you link back to my site- you will receive a bonus item of your choice if you win!! Just write a post on your blog about my giveaway and link back to this blog.

UPDATE: You can pick any number…even if someone else has already picked it! If more than one person picks the correct number then I will randomly select from those that guessed correctly!!

The last day to leave a comment is October 16th at midnight. I will write an update post on Friday morning with how many days I’ve run this week.

Good luck everyone!

I’m going through all the Rome pics tonight and plan to post Day 1 on Wednesday morning! Yippee!!

So close….yet so far.

The title says it all….I didn’t reach my goal of 56 minutes today in the 10k. I did break my previous record and under the circumstances I’m happy with the outcome. If you don’t know the back story of why I started running see here. Yeah, it would be nice to be at the AT&T store right now buying an iPhone but my day will come….SOON!!

I wasn’t feeling too well yesterday so I was a little worried that I wasn’t going to be able to run at all. Thankfully, I started feeling better last night so I knew the race was on. I had carefully set my iPod playlist the night before- making sure I had a good mix of fast and a little slower songs. I tend to run one mile fast and then slow down on the next one..then speed up again and so forth. Music is always a great motivator for me. Music and sleep…haha. So finally, race day arrived and I got up this morning around 6AM and then headed up to Suwanee for the run. I got there a little early so I had a lot of down time. I liked not being rushed but I probably could have left my house a little later. You just never can tell how things will go though. Finally at 8:30 the race started! This is only my 4th 10k but I was pretty disappointed with the lack of organization with the folks who put on the race. I kept looking at my watch thinking that I should be past the 1 mile sign already but there was nothing in sight. Eventually I realized that there were NO mile markers!! I was not happy with this! I had looked online all week to try and find a map of the race so I could figure out where everything is. I couldn’t find anything. At least if I had known beforehand I would have looked everything up online and known exactly where the miles were so I could pace myself. I ended up just guessing on where I was and hoping I was right. We were running along the Suwanee Greenway and we eventually got to the end and then turned around. At the halfway point my time was 30 minutes. That left me with 26 minutes to finish the race in order to reach my goal. I thought it was slightly possibly seeing how in training I’ve been able to run 3 miles in exactly 26 minutes. I pretty much ran non-stop the last half of the race and I ran hard. The last half mile of the race was entirely up a steep hill and it was brutal. I finally got in sight of the finish and I almost lost my breakfast…..twice. The time on the clock said 59 minutes…I really wanted to at least break the 60 minute mark but because of the near vomiting experience I ended up walking through the finish for a time of 60 minutes and 30 seconds. Even though I didn’t reach my goal…I am extremely close and I’m sure I’ll get it next time. Here’s a recap of my past times so you can see how I’ve improved:

Peachtree July 2007: 80 minutes
Possum Trot June 2008: 66 minutes
Peachtree July 2008: 65 minutes
Suwanee September 2008: 60 minutes

So close yet so far!!

Run iPhone Run

As many of you know, I have wanted an iPhone for a very long time…ever since I first heard about it coming out. One of the big differences between Normer and I is that I love new technology and always want to have the newest and greatest. Normer is NOT like this…he would much rather save money…which is a very smart and wise thing. I guess Normer finally felt a little pity after watching me pine away for the iPhone so he has given me a chance to get it. We made a bet that I have to complete a 10k in under 56 minutes. Now, this seems like a very easy feat for someone who is already a runner. But for someone like me who hated running, it seemed pretty much impossible. I have always hated running. I remember in elementary school telling the gym teacher that I couldn’t run the one lap around the gym because of my asthma. Haha, I was such a liar. Did you catch how a few sentences ago I put, “hated running”? In the past tense? Because guess what….I don’t hate running anymore. I can’t honestly say I love running… but at this point, I think that running and I are becoming friends. I have completed two 10k’s this summer. The first was the Possum Trot up in Roswell and my time was 66 minutes. Not bad for not much training. I also ran the Peachtree with a time of 65 minutes. I blame the heat and late start for not a great time in the Peachtree. Since the Peachtree I have been running several times a week and I’m really excited about the possibility of reaching my goal. Of course, all of this wouldn’t even be possible without the help of my great friend Jackie. She is an incredible runner and has given me so much encouragement and advice. I couldn’t have gotten this far without her!! I think my next race is going to be in September or October. I’ll keep you posted on the upcoming race and results. And there is also another level to the bet. Normer is going to run one race with me…and if I bet him, I get the iPhone no matter what my time. He is an extremely fast runner but I have hope that he isn’t training and I am. So keep your fingers crossed for me that I’ll have that iPhone in my hands soon!!