Headed out for a training walk...

... even though it's really, really humid and I'll be a stinky, sweaty mess before I get past the bottom of the driveway.

... even though I am tired already.

... even though I have a slight headache.

... even though it will take up all the free time in my Sunday afternoon that I could be using for other things.

... even though my feet and ankles are sore from a short but ill-advised walk in flip flops yesterday.



Because...

... I need to train in heat and humidity, because the real walk might be hot and humid.

... I need to get my bootie up off the couch.

... I have not been training enough lately to be really ready for this event in less than 7 weeks.

... many friends and family have contributed their emotional and financial support for my training and fund raising, and I need to honor that.

... there are people who are battling cancer treatments right now who can't spend their Sunday afternoon walking.

... I am healthy and have never had cancer, and want to honor those who have.

OK, I'm off.  

And another!

Thank you, Rob and Ann, for making yesterday totally wonderful!    After having been surprised by two donations in a row, you came through with a third in the same evening.   What a nice way to end the day!

I'm having such a rewarding experience with this whole 3-day walk thing.  Every aspect of the event is resulting in such a positive outcome - from the training results, to the fund raising generosity of friends and family, to the connections with community.  There's no down side.

Life is good.  :-)

And Another Happy Surprise!

It wasn't a full hour ago that I wrote a post about being happily surprised by a donation to my 3-day fund raising effort, and now here I am with an update.  I have yet another donation today!

I wrote earlier about my Jason's wife Donna, who unfortunately have been added to the list of cancer patients that I'm honoring in my 3-day walk.  Donna's prognosis is a good one - but just the fact that she and her family have to go through this at all is irritating and frustrating and maddening.  Darn it!

So to see a donation from Jason and Donna tonight really made me feel humbled.  Thank you so much guys, you're awesome!

A Happy Surprise

What a happy surprise!   I came home from work today and discovered that I had received a generous donation toward my 3-day fund raising effort from a person totally out of the blue!

See, I do some light volunteer work for my kids' high school band program.  Last night I was in the band room with three other moms, fitting the students for their marching band uniforms.  I don't know these other moms very well, but they were very friendly, and working together we got the job done with no glitches.  So when I got home last night, I hopped onto facebook to see if they have accounts.  One of them does, so I "friended" her.  Then I went to bed and thought nothing of it.

Today, I arrived home after work and discovered that my new facebook friend had generously made a donation to my 3-day effort.  Wow!  I know that I did not talk about the walk last night.  I can't remember if I mentioned it earlier in the summer when we were having a volunteer meeting.  But either way, I know that I did not yet reach out to directly ask my new friend for a donation.  She simply saw my donation block on my facebook profile, opened up her heart and her checkbook and contributed toward the cause.

I think it's pretty awesome that the 3-day event has such recognition that it pretty much sells itself and people feel comfortable donating without any hesitation.  I think it's pretty awesome that the facebook application was made available for us, and that it worked so well to draw folks in to the effort.

And I think it's pretty awesome that my new facebook friend and partner in our kids' education felt compelled to make a contribution toward the cause.  Suellen, you rock!

A little perspective

I can't believe how far I've come in this training program for the 3-day.

When I started, I was struggling to walk 2 miles without fatigue.  I mean, I'll readily admit that I lead a very sedentary lifestyle, and so signing on to the 3-day 60 mile commitment was a big ol' risk for this couch potato.  Back in March when I decided to do this, I had in mind that this would be a way for me to contribute something good to the world while also doing something good for myself.  And boy, is that ever true!

In March, I was tired after walking 2 miles in my neighborhood.

In April I pushed myself to walk 3 miles, 4 times a week.

In May I got up to the 5 mile mark on a single walk, and that was pushing it.

In June I did both a 6 miler and a 7 miler with my HCTC&F team, and was so tired at the end of both of them!

In early July I did an 8 miler, a 9 miler, and then a 10 miler all in the same week.  I was tired but proud of my accomplishments.

In late July I had a hard time fitting in regular training, but still managed to do a 12 miler.  I felt really wiped at the end.

Today, after 3 weeks in which I was only able to do one training walk, I just went out and completed 8 miles with absolutely no trouble at all!  I feel great, and if my "to do" list allows it, I will do more later today.  And tomorrow I plan to do the same thing.

Having never been a "fit" person, I look back at this summer and I am proud.  I mean, I'm still by no means a "fit" person, but at least I'm seeing improvement.  I'm thinking maybe, just maybe, I can really do 60 miles in 3 days.  And that will be really cool.  :-)

Treasure Sale was a Success!

The HCTC&F team held our Treasure Sale yesterday, and had a fantastic day!  The weather was gorgeous (a little warm but not unbearable), the crowd was pretty steady, and we made some good money. The sale was a hit!

We made money a few different ways:

• Team members sold their own stuff,
• Team members sold stuff that others had donated for sale, and
• The team rented sales table space to friends for a small donation.

At the end of the morning, we gathered up all the left over "treasure" and it was picked up by the Purple Heart truck as charitable donations.  So we left with money in our pockets instead of stuff in our car!

We were so grateful that we got so much help from our friends in the Harbor City Music Company. That's where we got the majority of the donated sales goods, and where most of the extra sales tables came from.  Their support really pushed this into a big sales event that caught the eye of passers by and brought more traffic through.    It was also really cool that we gathered together to do some singing.  We even made a few donations just by singing for the crowd.  :-)

HCTC&F singing for tips

The team effort (table rentals, and sales from donated goods) totaled about $855 - not too shabby!  Team members who had their own sales tables reported profits ranging from about $50 to $300.  My bake sale table ended up with about $150 profit. Not too bad considering that I was supposed to be only selling just a few donuts. ; -)

Baked goods with pink ribbon theme were a hit

Dave helped me sell donuts and a few other things

Nancy D, our HCTC&F Team Captain, and family