Gear

Gear is the official term for "the amazing amount of crap that walkers have to bring with them". -Anonymous

WHOA! I had NO idea how much Gear I would need for this. I went to a What to Pack Clinic last week and the list they provided me with of “what to bring” was 2 full pages typed! Time to go shopping…

I need everything from a rolling duffel bag, a miniature size sleeping bag that will fit in the duffel bag along with all my other stuff, I need an air mattress, tent decorations, 2 pairs of shoes, 6-9 pairs of socks, flashlights, hats, plus everything else you would normally pack to take a trip. Your bag can only be 35 lbs when it’s all said and done too. Those who know me, know I am known for over-packing so this could interesting. 

Anyone have any packing tips they want to share with me??:-)

What did you do this weekend?

I walked almost 30 miles this weekend! I have NEVER walked so much in my whole life & never thought I would. This was my big training weekend – this weekend we were supposed to walk 18 miles Sat and 15 on Sun. Saturday I went at it alone and could only do around 12 because it gets SO boring after 3 hours of being by myself. Sunday was amazing because I walked with a larger group that is doing the 3 day also. They set up a “mock walk” that was 15 miles with pit stops, a sweep van (it was great having someone drive by you often and honk/wave/cheer you on!), a lunch break, etc. I try not to be, but I am a pretty shy person so walking this alone is a big step for me. I walk into these situations (like Sunday) and panic that I won’t meet anyone and I still have nightmares that I could possibly be walking all 60 miles by myself but it always seems to work out and I meet wonderful people… some of whom I hope to continue a friendship with after this is all over.

And after walking all that… I felt great! A little heel pain while walking day 2 but that happens every weekend to me, some hip pain after sitting at work on Monday but otherwise no blisters, no hot spots, no leg pain! I actually feel like my body can handle this which is fantastic. Of course I do need to give a little credit to the awesome shoes & crazy expensive socks I wear. I will never be able to go back to my Nikes & normal socks again.

24 MORE DAYS!

29 more days....

29 more days until my walk!! I. CANNOT. BELIEVE. IT!! I am sooooo excited and sooooo nervous! It is going to be fantastic, even if I am in complete pain & agony on that 3rd day. I started this walk because of my friend, Gloria who passed away from this horrible cancer and now I am also walking it in my friend Pamm's honor, who is fighting breast cancer right now. So it doesn't matter how much pain I am in that third day because I am doing this for them!

Side note: The Spectator Info on the http://www.the3day.org/ (under the Get Involved tab) is being updated often if you are interested. 2 weeks before the event they will post "Cheering Stations" where you can come out and cheer me on! I will need the motivation and I am begging you to come!  You can also mail me a letter (seriously when was the last time you wrote a real letter, it will be fun! hee hee)! If you have the time, I would love to get one. Here is the information from their website:

Send letters to:
3-Day for the Cure
ATTN: INSERT NAME OF PARTICIPANT

P.O. Box 1089
Chandler, AZ 85244

Envelopes only, please. No boxes or large packages. Mail must be postmarked no later than November 1st in order to ensure delivery at the 3-Day Camp Post Office. Please note: This address is not the actual location of camp, but a PO Box for mail delivery only. Any mail that is not received by the 3-Day by the date above or retrieved by the participant by November 27th will be destroyed

Luv you all!

Team Gloria

Part of our team. Christin, Stacie, Myself, Yolanda, Andrea & Skye

On Sunday I did the Race for the Cure here in Phoenix as I do every year. These days, I laugh at 3.1 miles! That's nothing to me :-)  We have been doing this race since Gloria Myers was first diagnosed with  breast cancer. We have always done the walk in her honor to show her & her family how much we love & support her and in the end, the walk was always a lot of fun too. This was our first year without her and not having her at the finish line waiting on us was hard. It was hard on me so I know it was excruciatingly hard on her daughter Skye who also walks this every year. We got a BIG team this year and we tried to surround Skye with love and we all crossed the finish line together. Gloria would have been proud!!

October is...

Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Just thought you needed to know if you had forgotten :-)

Spread the Knowledge, Stop the Cancer

I feel like when I go on a long walk, I either see something interesting or I meet someone interesting. I have walked down the road with a Rooster & two hens. I am not a fan of Roosters after being attacked by them on a daily basis the year we moved to Arkansas but this one seemed nice enough and I guess he wanted to know where I was headed. Eventually he got bored with me, cock-a-doodle-doo’d, and they moved on. I have even stepped in a group of GIGANTIC cockroaches (I am sure you heard me scream) that must live in a particular spot on a sidewalk and I forgetting they are there so I step in them almost every time. Ick!  Last weekend I took one of my long walks and went into a gas station to “refuel”. The guy saw my hat and thanked me profusely for doing this walk (it was really sweet). He said his grandmother had breast cancer and it was her goal to inform everyone about the disease. She had worked with teenage girls so that they would start doing yearly checks since cancer can affect you at any age. He said she had recently passed away (not from her breast cancer though – she won that battle) and that her motto was “Spread the Knowledge, Stop the Cancer”. She sounded like an amazing woman and I love the line… I might even steal it and put it on a shirt to wear when I’m walking!

Fanny Pack & Flair

A fanny pack & flair are two things that I told myself I would NEVER wear again after the 80's. However here I am strutting my stuff walking down the road with a fanny pack with some flair on it and though I know the cars driving by me are laughing at me, I am still proud to be wearing it!

 

15 week training schedule

Only one rest day now and 16 miles of walking this weekend!? What happened to my nights at home of putting the kids to bed and enjoying a glass of wine?

They have been replaced with lots of walking & lots of cross-training. It's better for my body in the long run right? I do miss my wine though and I'm pretty sure it misses me too :-)

Monday		Rest
Tuesday		3 miles		Easy walking
Wednesday		15 minutes		Moderate cross-training
Thursday		5 miles		Moderate walking
Friday		30 minutes		Easy cross-training
Saturday		10 miles		Easy walking
Sunday		6 miles		Easy walking

Bald is beautiful!

I know some of you have asked about my friend Pamm and her diagnosis with breast cancer so I wanted to give you all an update! She has one more chemo treatment left (yay!!). She has lost most of her hair so she is keeping is shaved until chemo is over and she said she is never cutting her hair again because she misses it so much :-) Can you believe Pamm actually let me post a picture of her bald?! I was surprised too but it goes to show that she is proud of her fight & WINNING (as Charlie Sheen would say)! She is done with most of the reconstruction and the rest will be completed after chemo. Her doctors say she is doing great and she still goes to work every day. She really is an inspiration and this is proof of what a strong a woman she is.

Side note: I have been stressing out about what to do with my hair during the 3 days I’m walking because as most of you probably don’t know (because I try like hell to hide it), I have this crazy curly hair! The thought of no plugs – meaning no flat irons or blow dryers after my showers – has put me into an utter panic that when people see my hair they will run the other way screaming. Pamm allowing me to post this picture & seeing it out there on her facebook has made me realize that my hair being curly is not the end of the world and I am being tad dramatic over the whole situation (me dramatic? never! ha). I realized that there will be women out walking with me who are bald and like Pamm, aren’t scared to show it!

Getting my walk on...

Since the temperatures have risen to a nice warm 115 degrees here in Phoenix (and possibly 120 on Saturday - whoa!), I have taken to "getting my walk on" at the gym. This would be all fine & dandy however I am not a big fan of treadmills. Walking & Running on one is just so boring… thank goodness for the great songs in my ipod or I’d be off in 20 minutes. I have to train so I don’t have many options at this point . My ideal situation is to walk around my neighborhood in the evenings and look in all the cars that are parked on the street to see if they are dirtier on the inside than mine (they usually are though I bet that’s hard for some of you to believe!) and to look in the windows of the houses that forgot to shut their blinds once the sun started setting but I’m not willing to die of heatstroke right now so I head to the gym and force myself to smile as I step onto the treadmill.

I also cheated and looked ahead at my training schedule and discovered that 5 weeks before the event I will spend a weekend walking 18 miles on a Saturday and 15 miles on Sunday. Looks like the treadmill and I are about to become very good friends whether I like it or not over the next 4 months :-)