The Big Walk

My Official Recap - Day 3

2010-11-07T18:58:00.000-08:00

Well, quite a bit of time has passed since we did the DC 3-day in early October, and I'm just now getting around to finishing up the recap. Sorry about that, for those who are following the saga. I'm not going to be able to remember details now, oh well.

Day 3 we awoke before dawn again. I got dressed and headed over to the medical tent to have my blisters treated. At this point I knew that the day was going to be painful - not only because of the blisters, but also I had developed very painful tendonitis in my feet (Plantar Fasciitis) and behind my left knee. But I wasn't going to let this stop me from walking the course today. We had approximately 15 miles to do, and I was determined to do them all!

Went back to the tent to pack up and take the tent down. This was a challenge in the cold, dark, dewey morning, but we managed. I headed over for breakfast. Eventually the rest of our team finished their morning chores as well, and we got in line for the bus to the start of the route. At the beginning of the walking route, we sang a quick song or two, then started out walking.

Today the plan was to stay ahead of the middle of the pack. We all felt that the trick is to shorten our time in the pit stops and lunch - that was where we lost a lot of time in the first two days. We did NOT want to be in any threat of being swept by the van.

Pretty soon after starting out, our team of 9 found ourselves spread out into pairs, triples, and a few singles walking each at our own pace. I enjoyed walking with Lori C for a while, then I walked alone for a while. As I was walking alone, I pushed myself to keep a rapid pace - frankly, I felt like I was speed-walking. However, in reality, I was just keeping a 3 mph pace, which should have been a piece of cake, but by Day 3 was a real challenge.

So here is a list of all the ways I was in physical pain: My blisters all over both my feet hurt. The tendonitis throughout my feet, shins and knees hurt like crazy. I was limping, favoring my right foot due to the Plantar Fasciitis, which caused extra stress on my left knee and caused huge blisters to form on my left foot. My muscles from hip to toe were aching and tight no matter how much stretching I did. I was developing a head ache and I was exhausted. All this before the first pit stop at mile 3. This was going to be a long, challenging day.

OK, whining over. The fact was, the pain was not getting worse, it was just staying constant. And so it was something that was going to either make me stop now, or I could live with it and over come it. This was, I would recognize later, the most powerful lesson for me of the whole walk. I could deal with pain, and I did not have to let it scare me or stop me.

After the first pit stop, I paired up and walked with Lori D for the entire rest of the day. Lori and I chatted about all kinds of things throughout the day. She kept pace with me and helped keep my mind off of the reality of how my body felt. Sometimes our other team mates were with us, sometimes it was just the two of us. She was wonderful - I'm so thankful to her for staying with me!

The route on Day 3 was once again a beautiful one - we went through lovely neighborhoods in Bethesda and Chevy Chase, and then down Connecticut Avenue, past the National Zoo, and to Dupont Circle. Once we go there, Dave and Mike were there cheering for us again. I was never so happy to see them as I was that day, in that moment. They gave me a big morale boost and bit hugs, and then we were off again.

Later, they were are the next cheering station too. Oh. My. Goodness. Thank you for being there!

Toward the end of the route we were once again in the heart of downtown DC. We walked right in front of the White House, where Dave and Mike made a surprise appearance and walked a few blocks with us. Then it was just a couple more miles to the end.

Finally we were at holding. The 3-day organizers have everyone gather about a 1/2 mile before the closing ceremonies, so that everyone can march into the ceremonies together. We waited for all of our team members to arrive, and then had this great photo taken. What a team!

Once all the walkers arrived from the route, we all lined up and marched en masse over to the Washington Monument for closing ceremonies.

The ceremonies were wonderful - so moving, so rewarding. Words really can't describe the emotions that I felt - pride in my accomplishment, happiness for all the survivors, sadness for the victims. I was exhausted, and overwhelmed. What a moment!

After the ceremonies, Dave and Mike met up with us and together we walked over to the Metro station to take a train out to where they had parked the car.

Soon we were home, and it was all over.

What an experience this was. I'm so grateful for all the support that I received, from my husband and kids, to my friends, to my extended family. And I'm so grateful for all the donors who contributed the fundraising efforts.

Thank you all so much!

My Official Recap - Day 2

2010-10-16T07:55:00.000-07:00

Day 2 - Sat October 9 - The Longest (Shortest?) Day

Good Morning!

Woke up at 5:15am, was a bit chilly at about 52 degrees. Headed to the shower truck. Really impressed by the facilities – a tractor trailer held 8 or 10 individual shower stalls, each with its own dressing stall. There was lots of hot water, good water pressure, and it was nice and clean. Enjoyed the shower, it really was nice to start the day off with a hot shower, it kept me warm the rest of the morning, Also took advantage of the towel service. For $12, I got the use of two fresh hotel-style white towels. Saved me from having to bring them and worrying about drying them, etc.

After the shower, I headed to medical and spent some time fixing up my feet with fresh bandaids on the blisters. I had blisters on both pinkie toes, the instep of my left foot in three plces. Over the rest of the day, they got worse and worse – ouch!

Off to breakfast. Very impressed by camp meal services, both at dinner and breakfast. Good hot food, well organized, no lines. Breakfast today included scrambled eggs, sausage patties, fried potato rounds, fresh fruit salad, Yoplait yogurts, oatmeal, and pre-packaged muffins. They also offered coffee, juices, milk and sodas.

After eating, I realized that it was already time to grab my waist pack and head over to get in line for the start of the day’s walk. The walk on this day left directly from the camp and headed out into suburban Germantown and Gaithersburg.

Jen, Lori D, Sharon and me

Some of our team members decided to head out a little later, so I was starting off the day with Jen, Lori D, and Sharon. The morning was chilly, but sunny and clear. It was going to be a beautiful day!

Walked to Pit 1, again pairing off with different team members here and there. I was really worried about my blisters – they were very uncomfortable, and I wasn’t sure what would happen if they got worse. I spent quite a bit of time at Pit 1 trying to re-bandage them, but wasn’t really able to make them feel any better.

Walked some more, blistered some more. Walked alone a little, walked with team members a lot. Really enjoyed the company of my team mates to try to keep my mind off of my feet.

Came in to Pit 2 (or was it 3? I can’t remember), where our friend from Harbor City Music Company chorus was there to cheer us on as an unexpected surprise. Thought the New Balance Cheerleaders were really fun – very encouraging and cool to be welcomed into the pit stop that way. “No skateboards, no scooters, you’re walking for our hooters!”

Took a shorter pit stop here, just potty and refill on drinks, then kept going. I knew that Dave and Mike would be at the Cheering Station just down the road and I wanted to get there. By this time, I was really hurting, from big, angry blisters and from tendonitis that I felt gaining hold in both shins, my right foot, and behind my left knee. I called Dave and thanked him for being there. If he wasn’t there, I might have grabbed the Sweep van to lunch by now.

On the way to the Cheering Station, I looked up ahead of me and saw a man walking with an artificial leg from the knee down. I decided to stop complaining about my sore legs and feet, and tried to keep that attitude the rest of the weekend. (not sure I achieved the no-complaining goal, but I tried,)

Mike and Dave

Got to the Cheering Station and found Dave and Mike holding up some great signs – very funny! It was so great to have their support all weekend, I appreciated that so much!

Next, kept walking on into lunch. My pace was really dragging at this point, and by the time I had just finished eating, the last walker had arrived at lunch and we had to get a move on. We had spent the majority of the day at the back of the pack on Friday, and once again we found ourselves in the back of the pack on Saturday. Darn it!

Headed out again, enjoying a nice walk and chat with my friend Jen. Got to the second (and last) Cheering Station and again Mike and Dave were there. Yay! They asked us how far we’d come so far, and we said 12.5 miles. When Dave said “only 11 more to go,” Jen and I looked at each other like “OMG!!!!” . It was already after 1:30pm and we still had just under half way to go! Ugh!

Thank goodness for supporters!

We walked a little more, hit another pit stop, and then walked a little more. As we walked, the sun was high and hot, my blisters and tendonitis were really yelling at me, and I just couldn’t figure out how we could possibly finish all 23 miles that day. At the 13 mile mark, Jen and I decided to take a sweep van to the next pit stop to give ourselves a fighting chance of finishing before they closed the route.

Once on the van, we learned that they would be taking us to the second stop, since the next stop was not a full pit stop an the van wasn’t allowed to pull in. As the van drove along the route, we saw Lori D and Sharon walking a few miles ahead of us already. How had they gotten so far up there????

Once we got to the pit stop, I hopped off the van and my feet just screamed at me! I felt like there was no way I would be able to walk any more that day. We were at the 5-miles-to-go point, and debated resting just a minute then walking the rest of the way back to camp. But the soreness and heat and fatigue were just overwhelming, and Jen and I decided to join our other team mates who were at this stop and hop on the bus back to camp.

Me and Jen back at camp

Immediately after arriving at camp, I began to regret that choice – I had wanted so much to walk all the miles on this weekend, just to prove to myself that I could do it. So I was disappointed in myself for letting my pain get in the way of that. But, I have to admit, there is no way I could have walked all the Saturday miles without being forced off the route by the sweep van, my pace was just too slow.

So we spent the afternoon enjoying the camp. We visited the sponsor tents and the Remembrance tent. We took our showers. We relaxed. I checked email and facebook. Generally rested. Hung out in the dining tent, listened to Candy Coburn’s concert, which was fun. Visited medical again – they lanced my blisters and wrapped me up again. The old dogs were not looking too good!

Sharon and Lori finish Day 2

Around 6:00 we began to wonder about Sharon and Lori – how were they doing? Would they make it all the way? Around 6:15 we got the text from them that said they had one mile to go. We went down to the camp entrance and began cheering for walkers who were coming in for the day. Soon we saw Sharon and Lori – wow! They walked the entire day! They looked really tired, but really beautifully proud as they walked into the camp! Congratulations girls!

We all grabbed dinner together – chicken, rice, mixed veggies, breadstick, salad, and pre-packaged chocolate brownie/cake. Again, very good!

We enjoyed the camp show, including a motivational speech by Nancy Brinker, the sister of Susan Komen, and the founder of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation.

Last but not least, enjoyed the camp dance party. I didn’t do too much dancing, but enjoyed the fun atmosphere and the opportunity to stretch out my muscles. (Wrote about the dance party here.)

I called Dave to say goodnight, then headed to bed. Again, loved the air mattress! Slept ok, though not as well as the night before. I guess walking fewer miles made me less exhausted on this night. But still, a good night’s rest.

Up next: Determined to walk all day Sunday!

My Official Recap - Day 1

2010-10-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

Here begins my official recap of the Washington DC Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure, from start to finish. Nothing but the facts, ma'am.

Day 1: Friday Oct 8 - Opening Ceremonies
Lori C, Dave and I got up early and headed out by 5:00am. Picked up Lori D and Sharon by 5:15am. Drove to Nationals Stadium and were dropped off by 6:20am. Bye Dave! Thanks for the ride! Opening Ceremonies started at 7:00am - very moving, energizing, ready to go! Waited a while to file out of the ceremony area. Met up with the rest of our team, took a picture. We got underway roughly 7:45am - we were trailing near the very end of the pack at this point.

Walked up to Botanical Gardens - beautiful views. Walked up Capitol Hill, between Capitol Bldg and Supreme Court Bldgs. Tried to stay together as a team, but we all had different walking paces, and we ended up splitting up. Headed west and zig-zagged across the National Mall a few times, great views! Arrived at Pit Stop 1 just a few minutes before it was scheduled to close, still late in the pack

Pit 1 was jammed, people crowding the food tables like it was a supply truck in a war zone! Headed out for more walking through DC. Hit Pit 2, more pleasant, less grabbing for food. :-) Still trailing the pack, pits are closing late because the walkers are arriving late, us included. Feeling great! Called Dave - he's waiting for us at the first Cheering Station.

Walked through beautiful Georgetown, very pretty. Brick sidewalks made for some very unstable footing, though. And it was hilly. Getting a little tired, and a little warm. Pit 3 was civilized, as all Pits were from here on. I guess the first one was an anomaly. On to the first Cheering Station, where we found Dave waiting for us. Yay! Thanks for coming out!

On to more walking - through Adams-Morgan, across a pretty bridge (don't know where we were). Onto Wisconsin Ave for quite some time. I'm getting all mixed up on where we were at this point, it's all a blur. Sometime in there we had lunch in a pretty park behind the Scottish Rite temple. We passed some beautiful sights like the National Cathedral, beautiful neighborhoods in Chevy Chase. The DC route was really beautiful for the walkers, very well planned and picturesque.

Throughout the day, our team would split off in different groupings, taking turns being with each other. Some of our team took advantage of the sweep vans, others didn't. We would meet each other at Pit Stops, and use them as opportunities to pick different walking partners.

In the final few miles of the day, it seemed we were headed up hill all the time! Whew! Finally made it into the last Pit Stop of the day around 5:30 or 5:45pm. Walked 20.5 miles today. Very tired! Physically, my main issue was blisters and pain in my right foot. Others were talking about their hips, knees, ankles, muscles, etc. Funny how everyone felt the 20 miles differently.

We made it!

Caught a bus to go to camp, which was about 15 or 20 miles away in suburban Germantown, MD. Arrived at camp around 6:40pm. Met up with team mates, found our gear and set up our tents. Didn't take long, wasn't too bad, though we were rushing to beat the sunset. Dinner was steak, steamed red potatoes, green beans, salad, dinner rolls, apple pie, and sodas/coffee/milk. Yum!

Bathrooms = Port-a-Pots on the 3-day, and washing your hands = moist towelettes. This was true at camp, and at all the Pit Stops. As we walked, we'd see folks stopping in to fast food places, mostly to use their facilities!

Chilled out in the dining tent, which is the only place you could sit on a chair all day. The "camp show" was a bit corny, but hey, it's camp, so what. They had a karaoke/talent portion, where folks could sign up to sing. The Harbor City Titty Committee got a chance to sing "Help is On the Way", an inspirational song that we sing in chorus. It was really fun to do that, and folks were talking about it (in a good way!) all weekend.

Wanted to shower before bed. Showers at camp were in tractor trailers, very nice private stalls with hot, full-pressure water. Very acceptable! But unfortunately the lines were really long, so I opted to shower in the morning. I dosed up on my Advil, hit the port-a-pots one last time and headed to bed. Two people to each tent, in a 6'5"x6'5" tent left not much room but we made it work. We had an air mattress, which was just as comfortable as my bed at home, so I have no complaints about the tent accommodations!

Once I fell asleep, I slept like a log. Unfortunately, my team mates reported that I slept like I was sawing logs. Sorry Lori and Lori!

Soon to come, Day 2 recap.

The DC 3-Day Experience: Choosing Life

2010-10-11T16:37:00.000-07:00

As I sit here on Day 4 of the DC 3-Day, I am overwhelmed by this past weekend. The enormity of it is astounding. Over 2000 walkers and 350 volunteer crew members participated, and over $5.3 million was raised just by the DC event alone. How will I begin to capture all that happened in the pages of this blog?

For me, the weekend was all about choosing life. "Choosing", as in, making a conscious, active decision and sticking with it. Not letting things happen to you, but making things happen for yourself. Not being a victim, but accepting the circumstance with grace, and finding the good in even the worst situation.

I saw women with gaunt faces and bandana-covered bald heads pushing themselves forward with determination to complete another leg in the journey, this walk a metaphor for the day-to-day, step-by-step battles they are facing at home with their disease.

I was moved to tears as I was being passed by women who were chatting with each other in such a matter-of-fact way about how they manage to keep the family rhythms moving along even as they make it to all their oncology and chemo appointments. I know what a busy family calendar looks like. How in the world do you manage any semblance of family life while you're trying to save your own life? These women knew, all too well.

I loved talking to survivors on this walk. One women was wearing a pin that said "20 year survivor". But when I got further into the conversation, I learned that she's actually a 21 year survivor, and a 13 year survivor, and a 4 year survivor, because she has been diagnosed not once, but three times. And she has been here walking, year after year, to show that she might have cancer, but cancer doesn't have her.

One of my favorite memories from the weekend is from the Saturday night dance party in camp. My team mates might wonder why I say that, since I didn't really participate in the dancing so much as I sat in my chair and watched everyone else dance. But the thing I loved the most about it was watching my friend, Nancy, and her sister and our other team mates get up there. It was just one big celebration. A celebration of life. Of surviving - surviving the day's walk, surviving this stinking cancer. It was letting go of everything negative, just enjoying the moment, enjoying the music, enjoying each other's company and laughter.

Everyone told me that this would be a life-changing event, and as I went through the weekend, it became more and more true for me. This was a really inspirational weekend, in many ways. I'll try to limit the syrup-y goopy drama in my future posts, but for now, this is my current state of mind and state of heart, so this is what I'm writing.

Life is good. Choose it!

Thank you Dave!

2010-10-11T13:39:00.000-07:00

I am home now from completing the Washington DC 3-Day for the Cure walk. It was wonderful. It was impossible. It was the hardest thing I've ever asked my body to do. It was an emotional roller coaster. It was a weekend full of touching moments. It was amazing.

I have a lot of stories to tell, a lot of special memories, and I will write about them in due time. But the first thing I need to do is say THANK YOU to my husband, Dave.

This guy was amazing. He was at the dinner table one night in March with my friends Lori and Lori, when I decided I was going to do this crazy thing, and his encouragement began right then and there.

All spring and summer, he was right there by my side for my longest and hardest training sessions: on his birthday, in the rain, fighting off wild dogs and tame geese, and on the hottest day of the year.

He helped me raise funds: he kicked off my donations by seeding the pot, he volunteered his time and energy at the treasure sale fund raiser, he came to support me at our sing-out fund raiser.

He gave me the moral support I needed all along the way to preparing for this event.

He woke up on Day 1 at oh-dark-hundred to drive me and my team mates down to the Opening Ceremonies. And then he showed up on Day 1 at Cheering Station #1, even when our team was at the back of the pack and almost all the other cheering folks had already left.

He showed up on Day 2 at Cheering Station #1 with my son Mike, with one of the funniest signs of the day.

He and Mike showed up on Day 2 at Cheering Station #2, giving me the encouragement I needed to get that far, and to go a little further.

He took my phone call on Saturday night, when I was feeling down about having stopped walking before the end, and he helped me feel proud of my accomplishments.

He sent me encouragement all weekend via text messages.

He and Mike showed up on Day 3 at Cheering Station #1, and gave me the huge hugs that I needed to keep going even though I was really hurting.

Then he and Mike were there again at Cheering Station #2, telling me I could do it, and giving me the boost I needed.

He and Mike popped up out of nowhere at the White House on Day 3, and walked with me for a few minutes, then sent me on to the last few miles with his encouragement.

He kept texting me to keep me going.

He picked up my bags, and my friends' bags, at the closing ceremonies.

He and Mike carried our bags through the subway and to the car for us, and drove us home.

And when we got home, he made me dinner and brought me new band-aids.

All the way through this crazy journey, he was there for me, encouraging me and supporting me. I could not have done it without him.

I love you, Dave!

One thing I don't like about the 3-day...

2010-10-05T20:14:00.000-07:00

... is having to ask people for money.

I have never been good at soliciting donations. I have never felt comfortable doing it. In fact, I have never liked for people to ask *me* for donations, and so turning the tables on them is really something I have a hard time doing.

So as I approach these last few days before the Washington D.C. 3-day, I find myself short of my minimum by $145. Partly because I didn't get a couple of fundraising events underway that I had in mind back when I signed up for the walk, but mostly because I was very poor at asking people to make donations.

I did not send out any hard copy letters. I sent only one email letter to my address book full of contacts, way back in April. I did not solicit from any local businesses. I didn't even ask all of my friends, because my team mates and I have the same friends and I did not want to pressure those same folks into donating to all of the team members.

I am very grateful that I have received the donations I've received. Don't get me wrong - many of those donations came in as a direct response to my first email plea. So I'm aware that solicitations do work. But many of the donations I've received have come in because I've simply put the word out that I'm doing this walk, and people have volunteered to be generous. I got the word out via this blog, via a tag line on my email signature block, and via facebook. These media are much more comfortable to me than the direct "sales pitch".

But now that I'm close to the walk itself, and I'm short on funds, I've had to bite the bullet and send more pleas for donations. I spent quite a bit of time tonight composing and sending email letters to folks that I contacted way back but who had not yet responded. It took a lot of nerve to send those out - and if you received one, I hope you understand that it's not in my nature to "beg for money".

But this is, after all, a fundraising event. And so I did it. But I didn't like doing it.

Ready or not, here I come!

2010-10-03T06:26:00.000-07:00

What happened to August and September? It seems like I blinked and all of a sudden it is October.

When I signed up for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk last March, I thought I would have all the time in the world to prepare. I thought I would gradually build up not only my walking endurance, but more importantly, my exercise discipline and habit, so that by the time October rolled around I would be well prepared physically and mentally for this event. I thought that I'd end the event with a new habit of walking on a day to day basis incorporated into my lifestyle, so that I could enjoy a new healthier me. In fact, this was the primary motivator for joining the walk in the first place - to get into a new habit for the long term.

In reality, as you've perhaps noticed here on my blog, I never really got into the groove of a new habit. I did get a lot of good training walking in, and I found myself out on a walk way more often than I would have if I had not signed up for the event. But a regular habit? Not! Through the early half of the summer, I fit in training as best I could. But then late summer hit, and with it all the stuff that happens to our family calendar. School started, I traveled for work, then the fall football season started at our two kid's schools. My chorus, the Harbor City Music Company, had a busy schedule with our annual show, and my quartet, Lustre, had a busy schedule with coaching and new music. My work pace picked up. Etc. etc. etc. Blah, blah, blah.

Through all of this busy-ness in August and September, I was totally unprepared for the impact this would have on my training. Because I did not have a good habit of fitting training walks into my daily life, my training really suffered. As my weekends and evenings filled up with other activities, I did not have a plan for setting aside time for walking. The result? I've trained for a grand total of 3 miles since September 1st.

This is not good. This is very not good.

The Washington D.C. Susan G. Koman 3-Day for the Cure begins this Friday. Like, five days from now. I am so unprepared.

I am anxious about how I'll do, how far will I be able to go. I am angry with myself for not keeping my promise to myself about the training. I am disappointed in myself - and oh how I hate that feeling! That old familiar feeling. Do you know the one I'm talking about?

I'm counting on the hope that during the event later this week, I'll kick that feeling in the butt, and replace it with feelings of accomplishment and pride. That I'll push myself past the aches and pains and give it everything I've got.

I honestly don't know if I'll be able to walk all 60 miles. I had hoped that I would, but the reality of my lack of training might get in the way of that goal. I know that I will do my very best, and more. I owe it to my sponsors and donators, I owe it to the cancer patients, survivors and victims - but most of all I owe it to myself - to give wholly and completely.

So, ready or not, here comes the 3-Day. And 3-Day: Ready or not, here I come!

Singing for a Cure

2010-09-05T16:40:00.000-07:00

This morning my quartet, Lustre, set up a donations table outside the local grocery store and sang for customers. It was a glorious morning - the weather was beautiful, with clear blue skies, light breeze and temps in the low 70's.

Are You Having Any Fun?

The quartet sang songs for folks passing into and out of the grocery store. We did not ask any one for any donations, we let our signs and our singing speak for themselves. We had mini cupcakes and rice krispy treats to give away as thank you tokens, and we also had pink satin ribbons for anyone who wanted one. I had printed out some information sheets on breast cancer which were available at the Susan G. Komen website, and also printed out some "In Honor of..." and "In Memory of..." cards for people to fill out as they made donations. A dozen balloons, a painted sign, and we were good to go!

Kate and Lori C enjoying the morning

We sang for just a little over an hour before taking a quick lunch break. Soon after that, one of our members had to leave, so we sang as a trio for a short while, and then it was just two of us for another hour.

Singing to bring in the donations

I was really amazed at the generosity of the people who made donations. Some people gave a dollar or two, some gave a five, and four kind people donated $20 bills. One woman wrote a check for $50! She said that she had not yet really started her annual charitable donations effort, and so she'd get started with the Susan G. Koman fundraising effort. We were more than happy to accept!

All told, we raised $263 for breast cancer research.

I think most of the money (with the notable exception of the $50 check) was donated while the quartet was singing. It was fun to sing for people, watch them smile, and then watch them put cash into the box. Some folks donated right away, some waited until they'd finished their grocery shopping. Some of the store employees came out to see and hear us after they'd been told we were singing out front. Everyone seemed to be appreciative.

And we were very appreciative of everyone's generosity. We spent a few hours doing something fun, and earned $263 for research. Not a bad deal!

Thanks everyone!

Headed out for a training walk...

2010-08-22T09:42:00.000-07:00

... 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!

2010-08-19T17:24:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-08-18T17:20:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-18T16:10:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-14T07:35:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-08-01T15:42:00.000-07:00

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

Just a few donuts...

2010-07-30T21:05:00.000-07:00

When Lori C of HCTC&F suggested holding a "treasure sale" as a fundraiser, I thought it was a great idea. Unfortunately, though, I have already gotten rid of a lot of stuff from around the house, and we regularly donate to the Purple Heart, National Children's Center, and other charities that pick stuff up from our porch. So I dind't have a whole lot to sell. And also, digging through my closets, basement and garage is not on my list of favorite things to do.

So I decided that my contribution to the treasure sale would be to run the concession/snack stand. I thought this will be the easiest way to make a little money. I thought I'll just set up a table, put some water and soda on ice, and pick up some donuts to sell and away I go. It wouldn't be big money, but would be something, and I'd be able to be part of the team event.

So I signed up.

Then I got to thinking - why couldn't I just throw together some cupcakes and sell those too? While I'm at it, why don't I bake some easy muffins? Those would sell. What about some brownies? Surely those would sell too. I know that I'd make more money if I got people to donate the baked goods, but I figured I could still make a profit even if I baked myself. No problem.

Then I did a quick google search on "bake sale items" and found lots of great ideas for alternative things to sell. With all these ideas running thorugh my mind, I visited a few stores and picked up as many pink and white baking supplies as I could find. I tried to keep the costs down - the dollar store actually had a lot of great stuff!

And then I got home and realize that I have WAY too many ideas and only three evenings in which to pull this off! So what started out as a quick and easy "pick up a few donuts and have fun" has turned into three stressed out evenings of treat making! Why oh why do I do this to myself?

All told, here is the list of treats that I've made and will be for sale at the Treasure Sale on Saturday:

Chocolate drizzled Rice Krispie Treats with pink and white sprinkles on top
Milk Chocolate covered pretzel rods with rainbow sprinkles
Pink candy coated pretzel rods with white sprinkles
Cookie treat bags containing: Pink wafer cookies, pink and white frosted animal crackers, and Nilla wafers
Candy treat mix bags containing: Pink and white M&Ms, chocolate covered peanuts, strawberry malted milk balls, and red Twizzler nuggets
White cupcakes in pink cupcake liners, with white frosting and candy "pink ribbons"
Chocolate cupcakes in pink cupcake liners, with chocolate frosting and pink and white M&Ms
Brownies
Banana bread mini-loaves
Pumpkin chocolate chip mini loaves
Cherry Chocolate Cake

Oh. And donuts, soda and water. ;-)

I guess we'll find out tomorrow whether this has been worth it. It took a lot of work to put it together. But it sure beat cleaning out the garage!

Hope to see you all tomorrow morning. :-)

Treasure Sale!

2010-07-29T16:16:00.000-07:00

The Harbor City Titty Committee and Friends is holding a Treasure Sale this Saturday, 7am-12pm. It's going to be a great community yard sale with lots of great stuff for sale. We'd love to see you there!

Shoppers:
- Furniture
- Home goods
- Clothing
- Books
- Snacks and Cold Drinks
- and more!

Sellers:
- Sales tables are available for rent - $35 per space, you keep your profits (or donate to the cause!)

Donations:
- Gladly accepting donations for items to be sold for the cause

Contact me for more information!

I'm Walking For Donna A.

2010-07-26T19:22:00.000-07:00

I'm lucky to have a friend, Jason, who has been a colleague at work and a good friend for four years now. I've changed positions in my job a couple times since we worked in the same office, but we've kept in touch every now and then via email or a quick catch-up meeting.

Jason is married to a great woman, Donna. They are very much in love. In fact, Jason and Donna are the longest married "newlyweds" I've ever met! When I first met them both, I really thought they had just recently found each other and fallen in love - they were giddy around each other, they called each other all the time just to check in, they had the sweetest aura around them, like a bubble that the outside world couldn't burst. But then I learned that they'd been married for quite a few years. They just treated each other with such love, all the time, every day. It was amazing to me!

I asked Jason how they could keep up such a sweet "newness" to their romance. He said that he took time every day to be thankful for Donna, for the love she brought him and the love they shared together. He said that he'd waited a long time to get it "right", and so had she. They both had some not-so-great relationships in their pasts. And so when they finally found each other, it was something neither of them wanted to take for granted. I've always been so impressed by that, and I try to take a lesson from them in my own marriage to my great husband, Dave.

A couple days ago, I sent Jason an email to check in and see how his summer is going. My note went something like: "Hey Jason, how's it going? Haven't seen you in a while, hope things are good at work and at home. Give me a call, maybe we can get together to catch up."

This morning his response came in my inbox. I expected to read something like "Hey Jenny, thanks for the note... yes, let's meet for lunch." Instead, my eyes scanned the long-ish message and caught some words I did not expect or want to see.

Donna... doctor... lump... mammogram... surgery... biopsy... chemo... radiation.

I couldn't believe it! As I tried to read the message, I had to go back and start over multiple times before I really understood.

I immediately picked up the phone and talked to Jason to find out more. I learned that Donna found a lump during a self exam. Her mammogram earlier this year had not caught it. She's had three lumpectomies, and they're currently awaiting results from the third one to see if she will need any further surgery or not. As of now, they think she won't need chemo, but will need radiation and hormone therapy. I didn't catch all of the information Jason gave me - there were lots of medical details that I don't really understand... I suppose these are things you learn in the crash course on oncology that you have to take when you are diagnosed.

As Jason was talking, I couldn't think of anything to say. I couldn't think of anything to offer, anything to do. I felt so useless. What exactly are you supposed to say in a moment like this? What are you supposed to do? How do you help a friend face something so scary?

I'm really glad to hear that Donna's prognosis is good. I don't really understand all of the details, but what I took away from the conversation is that while it's bad, it could have been much worse.

So now I will add Donna to my list of cancer patients that I'm walking for. I want Donna to be completely cured. I want Donna and Jason to enjoy a long, happy life of love together, to fulfill their dreams, and continue to show the world how marriage should be done.

Won't you please contribute to the cause?

Successful training day

2010-07-24T20:32:00.000-07:00

Today's mission: walk 12 miles before the 100+ degree weather sets in. In order to achieve this goal, I woke up at 5:00am.

Yep. 5. As in, "in the morning". Those who know me are surprised and shocked, I know. ;-)

After a quick breakfast, my husband and I set out around 5:30. The sun was not yet over the trees, and the skies were blue-gray with pink streaks in the few clouds that were on the horizon. As we walked through the neighborhood, we saw some deer running into the woods, and heard some lawn sprinklers running, but otherwise all was still. The morning was comfortably cool -- or rather, not hot. We walked a little over an hour before heading home for a pit stop. At 6:45am, we had already completed 4 miles. Woohoo!

After a quick break, we headed back out, this time walking 2.5 miles to the local bagel shop. By this time, the sun was up and so were the temperatures. We got to the bagel shop, had a nice second breakfast, and stocked up on Gatorade for the walk home. By the time we headed back the sun was just downright hot. Whew! That, combined with the hillier terrain on our route, made this morning's walk much more difficult than the walking we had done in Oklahoma or California on vacation. We got home around 8:45am and were pretty well exhausted.

This was when I seriously considered stopping for the day. After all, we had done 9 miles already. I was developing blisters. My legs were really sore. I was very tired. and hot. and beginning to get whiny.

But I thought about it. I thought that if I stopped, then I'd be disappointed in myself, and I'd regret it.

So we went back out for another 3 miles. And man oh man. It was hard! I was totally wiped out. We both were so tired and hot. I told Dave that this is the first time in this training routine that I really felt like I was having to push myself beyond my limits. I wanted to just stop - just sit right on the grass under a tree and be done. Maybe sit in someone's sprinkler. I got a little complainy for a minute. But then, I figured, what's the point of that? No one is making me do this, I volunteered. So buck up and walk!

So, we completed our final three miles. When we got home, it was 91 degrees, with a heat index of 98 degrees. Oh. My. Gosh.

No wonder!

After a quick shower, I headed back to bed and slept for 2 1/2 hours. The rest of the day I felt great. And proud. And thankful to Dave for walking with me.

:-)

Training on Vacation - Part 5 - Disneyland and California Adventure

2010-07-15T22:06:00.000-07:00

Wow, can't believe I'm still on vacation! Taking two weeks off at once is really a luxury! During this latest portion of our vacation, we visited Disneyland Resort and California Adventure in Anaheim, CA. We are big Disney World fans in our house, so this was an exciting trip to see what the original Disney park is all about.

All in all, we took three days to do Disney "right" here in California. Day 1 we drove up to Anaheim from San Diego, and spent the day in Disneyland park. Day 2 was spent in California Adventure park, and Day 3 we went back to Disneyland for a short wrap-up, then drove back to San Diego.

Anyone who has been to a Disney theme park knows that you spend all day on your feet! I couldn't decide if this would translate into great 3-day training days, or horrendous days. On the one hand (foot), I would be standing and/or walking almost all day. On the other, I wouldn't be covering much ground, and I expected a low total mileage due to the stopping and standing that I'd be doing all day.

Once I got back to the internet, I used MapMyWalk.com to see how far I had walked. I had done this with our day at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, and it worked pretty well to get a rough estimate for miles walked during the day.

According to my estimates, it looks to me like we got the following mileage at Disneyland:

Day 1: Disneyland: about 6 miles
Day 2: California Adventure: about 5.5 miles
Day 3: Disneyland: about 4 miles

Again, the first two of these days were spread out over the course of 12 hours or more, and the third day was about 4 hours. So, this was not blazingly fast speed walking or anything, and certainly doesn't count as a long-mileage training day.

But overall, I am going to say that going on vacation to Disneyland is a good thing from the 3-day training perspective. I think the miles and the hours spend standing up all count toward a useful training regime for the big 3-day event.

And it was tons of fun, too! :-)

(hope to add photos later...)

Training on Vacation - Part 4 - San Diego Wild Animal Park

2010-07-10T21:01:00.000-07:00

After a week in Oklahoma, our vacation now finds us in San Diego visiting my sister and her family. Yesterday was a travel day, so today was our first full day here. The fantastic thing about training for a walking event is that sightseeing fits right in to the training routine!

Today we went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park, which is a fantabulous park that showcases wild animals mainly from Africa, in a habitat that closely approximates their natural habitat. The park is nestled in the hills of Escondido, CA, which is north and east of San Diego, about 25 miles from the ocean. The park is built on hills, and includes beautiful landscapes and breathtaking vistas of the southern California terrain.

We spent the day in the park, and covered nearly every inch of the place over the course of 7 hours or so. There were a few great things about the day:

1. We got to spend some time with my sister and her two kids, which is a very rare event and was much appreciated
2. The weather was gorgeous, with 80 degree temps and bright blue skies and cool breezes in the shade
3. After walking all day long, I truly felt like I was IN SHAPE for once! All my training walks leading up to today have left me feeling very able to handle a whole day on my feet!

Once we got back to the hotel, I used MapMyWalk.com to approximate our walking route in the park today. If my estimates are even close to correct, we walked roughly 4.5 miles throughout the day, of course with lots of stopping and starting, lots of standing still or slow walking, and some sitting through shows and meals. There were quite a few hills which gave me ZERO trouble! And at the end of the day, I was much less tired than I was after my last few training walks. All in all, a great physical experience to match up with the family day.

Training on Vacation - Part 3 - Owasso, OK

2010-07-08T17:12:00.000-07:00

More walking today. I did 5 miles with David in the morning around the lake, once again being attacked by the geese there - they have a vendetta against us now, I'm positive of it. The morning was heavy and humid with rain that had just stopped. It was not hot, per se, but very muggy and there was no breeze, meaning that it felt like we were walking in a steamy sauna.

We came home after 5 miles for a break. David had errands to run, so I headed out again for another 5 miles on my own. This time I was kind of bored with the lake loop, so I headed for a major road and walked two miles out and two miles back on the sidewalk.

It's amazing that I felt like a slacker on that part of the walk. This is because I was passed on mile 1 by a jogger, and then after I'd gone out and turned around, I was passed again on mile 4 by the same jogger who was returning along the same path as me. How much further had she gone, and had she jogged the whole way? Wow!

After the 4th mile, I wanted to do another but was back at my starting point. So I headed over to the lake again and did two more laps around. Finally, walking back to the house brought my second walk total to just over 5 miles, and my daily total to just over 10 miles.

This is the first day I've done that much - and it feels good.

Of course, it only feels good emotionally. Physically I'm totally wiped out! I have been sleepy and hungry all day and am pretty much good for nothing!

Tomorrow we move on to the next phase of our vacation, flying out to San Diego to visit my sister and her family. Not sure when the next official training walk will be, but I'm sure I'll be getting some serious walking in at least via sight seeing. Can't wait!

Training on Vacation - Part 2 - Owasso, OK

2010-07-06T19:39:00.000-07:00

Still on vacation here in Oklahoma, though now we've moved from my parents' home out in the country into a relative "big city" feel here in Owasso, a suburb of Tulsa, at my husband's parents' home. We woke up this morning bright and early again at 7:00am or so, and were out the door for a walk by 7:40am.

Today Dave and I walked through the neighborhood over to a local park. This park has a man-made pond/lake, lots of playgrounds, picnic tables, enough trees to feel like it's got good shade, and LOTS of geese and ducks! There is a gravel path around the lake that we originally estimated to be about a quarter mile long. We decided to break today's walk into a few sections, taking breaks at homefor restroom and water breaks. My goal was to get in 9 miles this morning.

We began our loops around the lake, stepping carefully to avoid the ever-present goose poop that was all over the path. There was a light breeze, and a few clouds here and there. This was good, because the temps were already high, as was the humidity, making the morning feel quite warm.

We saw a mama duck and her 6 babies, so small and fuzzy. The mama was carefully watching the babies, letting them explore the pond and its feeder stream, but not letting them get into trouble. We saw a large gaggle of geese eating in the grass and gathering on the path.

When we approached, one of the geese felt threatened and starting squawking and hissing, stretching out its wings and flapping them around to try to scare us. He even charged at us at one point. It was a (much less threatening) replay of what had happened with the dogs out in the country last Saturday. :-)

As we walked, we thought that the loop felt more like 1/3 mile rather than 1/4, and so after 9 laps and 1 hour 20 minutes, we called for a break and headed back home. Once at home, we looked on MapMyWalk.com and discovered that our loop was actually about 1/2 mile! So with the walk over to the lake and back, we had already competed 5 miles!

After a quick break at home, we headed back out for four more miles. We passed by the animal control officer who was busy rescuing another set of baby ducks from the storm drain where they had fallen, with their mama duck standing by in distress. The animal control officer was successful, and the babies and their mother were taken back to the lake safely with the rest of the ducks and geese.

We walked another 7 laps - chugging water, listening to our iPods, stepping around goose droppings, and taking pictures on the last lap. We met other walkers, some runners, some moms with their babies and kids in strollers, and lots of geese. That one squawking goose continued to holler at us every time we passed him, and on the last time around, as I stopped to take his picture, he tried to eat my shoe laces. I guess we were on his territory and he had had enough!

All told, we walked 9 miles this morning. It was hot, but it felt good to get it done. This is the longest walk I've done so far in the training program, and I'm really proud of what I've been able to do!

Training on Vacation - Part 1 - Rose, OK

2010-07-03T16:22:00.000-07:00

I'm on summer vacation with my husband and kids, taking 2 1/2 weeks away to visit family across the country. Will I still be training for the 3-day while on vacation? Heck yeah!

First stop on the trip is a few days at my parents house out in northeastern Oklahoma. Mom and Dad live off the beaten path - ok, they live off the paved road! It's 2 miles to the nearest black top, and between their house and the road is just Oklahoma red clay and gravel road.

I decided this morning to walk an "out and back". Dave and I got up fairly early (at least early for vacation) and left the house at 7:30am. We walked out to the gravel road and turned right to head west on the rural farm road. After about 10 minutes, the road turned left to head south. Right after we turned the corner, about 100 yards ahead of us, we saw four dogs in the road. They saw us too. Soon, they were running at full speed right toward us! So we turned on our heels and high-tailed it back toward mom and dad's driveway. Those dogs ran behind us until we had gone around the corner and out of sight from them, down and up two hills, until finally they decided we were really, truly leaving. That was more excitement that we counted on!

Not wanting to call it quits quite yet, we walked the opposite direction on the road for another 20 minutes, passing by a chicken farm and a cow farm, and going up and down some fairly impressive hills. I thought Oklahoma was flat?! After an hour (3 miles), we stopped at home for a break.

I wanted to do more but didn't want to be too far away from a bathroom. I also was not keen on encountering any other stray or loose dogs out here in farm country. So Dave and I thought we'd drive into town and use the high school track. We hopped in the car and drove the 13 mile drive to the nearby town.

We walked on the track for 2 miles, then stopped into a near by convenience store (the Git-'n'-Split. I'm not kidding.) to use the facilities and pick up some Gatorade. Then back to the track for more miles.

We were working on our 7th mile when it started to drizzle. Actually that was pretty nice, because it kept us cool as we walked. But at about mile 7.5, it started to just downright rain. I wanted my miles in, but not bad enough to walk in a downpour. So we stopped at the 8 mile mark and headed back to mom and dad's house.

All in all, we logged 8 miles this morning before lunch. Awesome! We did not get attacked by dogs. We didn't melt. And I felt great from the accomplishment.

I'm not quite sure when I'll do the next long distance walk on this vacation. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe Monday. I don't know. We'll have to play it by ear. It is, after all, a vacation!

Training Walk on the B&A Trail

2010-06-27T11:15:00.000-07:00

Some of the Harbor City Titty Committee and Friends

Went for a training walk today with some of the HCTC team members. It was a hot, humid morning here in the Baltimore area, and we definitely felt it! Even starting at 8:15am, the temperature was already in the upper 80's with very high humidity. By the time we finished the car thermometer said it was 91 degrees. I believe it!

The Baltimore & Annapolis Trail is a former railway that used to go between - yep, you guessed it - Baltimore and Annapolis. It has been converted to a recreational trail for bikes, joggers and walkers. There are mileage markers every half mile or so, which of course helps you know just how darn much further you have to go until you get to your car!

Nancy, Lori D, Jen, and Lori C

Today also happens to be my hubbie's birthday, and he was really great to not only not mind that I was out training on his birthday, but to come along too!

Dave and me - Happy Birthday!

We dropped a couple cars at our end point, then drove back to Jen's house and started out from there. It's pretty convenient that she lives very close to the trail! We walked from her house back to the cars we had dropped earlier.

Woohoo for a snowball stand at then end of the walk!

Yum - Cherry!

We walked just over 6 miles in just about 2 hours. That's 6 miles further on our training journey and 6 miles closer to a cure!

HCTC Training Walk

2010-06-19T11:37:00.000-07:00

It was an early morning wake up call today. The alarm went off at 6:45am -- and on a Saturday, that's a tough thing to hear -- time to get up and get moving. Harbor City Titty Committee (HCTC) was meeting up for a 7 mile training walk!

This is the first official training walk that I've attended which has been sponsored through the Susan G. Komen 3-Day website. I've been kind of hesitant to sign up for them. I don't know why. Maybe it's going by myself to meet up with people I don't know. Luckily for me, five other members of the HCTC were there today, so I didn't feel out of place.

Lori D, Lori C, Nancy, Jen and one of our newest team members, Christy, met up at Down's Park in Pasadena, MD. Once there, we hooked up with Training Walk Leader Jennifer Delandy, plus a handful of other women. I should really say that the others met up, and I came in late because of getting lost after taking a stupid turn that I shouldn't have taken. But anyway...

We got under way walking the perimeter trail of Down's Park. The trial is a 3.5 mile loop through mostly wooded areas right by the Chesapeake Bay. There were trail markers every tenth of a mile, so you could easily track your progress. We walked the trail clockwise first, then turned around and walked the loop again counter-clockwise, totalling 7 miles.

So, what did I think of the event?

I really enjoyed walking with my HCTC friends - having them there made it much, much, MUCH easier to walk so far, compared to if I tried to do that on my own. We did get separated throughout the morning for various reasons, and we paired off and clumped up in different formations, giving everyone a chance to chat. (except Lori D, who had another place to be at 10:00 so she zoomed ahead and walked the whole thing herself, probably in about half our time!)

I found that I did not really mingle much with the other folks who were on this walk. I'm not really good at the whole mingle thing, never really have been, and I'm always awkward and uncomfortable in a new group of people. It's one of my worst traits. So I didn't really benefit from the "get out and meet new people" aspect of this walk. It's my own fault, really, so I'm not complaining, just noting.

Overall, I am very glad I went. We got hot and tired, but we all finished, and most of us probably would not have been so successful on our own. So, the HCTC is going strong!

I've been a slacker...

2010-06-13T10:08:00.001-07:00

... and have not been doing much preparation in the last two weeks for the 3-day. In fact, I've not done much training, have not done any fund raising, not even any blogging. I have not figured out how to fit training walks in on Tuesdays or Thursdays (or any other work day), because of stuff going on in the evenings. Weekends have been hit or miss. I've not yet done the full mileage that the training plan calls for on *any* day. The more I write this paragraph, the more I feel down about what I've not been able to accomplish. (sigh.)

On the bright side, I did walk last night and this morning. Last night I did a 3-mile loop at dusk, and had the pleasure of seeing hundreds of fireflies and a few deer in the woods, plus some butterflies and squirrels here and there. That was very pleasant. This morning my husband and I went out for a bagel, and took the 4.6 mile round trip that I described here. I had a yummy breakfast, a nice walk with my sweetie, and got the walk out of the way early. Which is great, because it's about 91 degrees here today with hot sun and high humidity. Whew!

Now I have to build on this momentum and keep up the good work this week. I'm going to look at the calendar today and make sure I schedule in my walk time. I'll see if I can get some walking dates planned with friends so I have no way to back out. Gotta get back on track. Wish me luck!

Promising Research for Breast Cancer Vaccine

2010-05-31T09:20:00.000-07:00

News headlines today report that there is a promising study showing a potential vaccine for breast cancer! Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute report that they have seen "overwhelmingly favorable results" in their clinical trials on animals.

Woohoo!

It's a bit premature to celebrate, I suppose, given that the research has only been conducted so far on mice - and jumping from mice to humans is a big leap. There is still work to be done to turn this research into clinical treatments. And that means there is still money needed to fund this and other critical research.

But this is pretty darned good news. Won't it be great when we can vaccinate against breast cancer, removing it from our modern medicine landscape forever?

This is why I'm walking 60 miles over 3 days. So that I can contribute crucial funding to the fight against breast cancer, taking the form of research for vaccines, new treatments, therapy, and support.

Won't you please donate today?

I once was lost, but now am found

2010-05-30T15:15:00.001-07:00

I thought I'd take a walk this morning, venturing a little further afield by trekking through a nearby park and over to the grocery store and bagel shop. I figured I'd make a trip of it, stopping for a tasty bagel at the 3-mile mark, then returning home the same way. I made plans for my kids to meet me over there (3 miles is too much to ask of them on a lazy Sunday morning).

So I started out, headed one street over in my neighborhood, and then went into the woods and into the park via new bridge over the stream that has separated our neighborhood from the park until this spring. After I got into the woods, I was loving the walk - enjoying nature, spotting birds and squirrels and enjoying the trickling stream. I got to the point in the trail where I had planned to pop out into the parking lot and follow the road around to the other side of the park, and I thought "why not continue on the trail a little more? I think it cuts off a corner and will save me some time." I was enjoying the coolness of the greenery around me, and the road would be out in the strong hot sun.

Lesson learned - do not try to find your way through the maze of trails in the woods if you have never looked at the trail map!

I ended up wandering around an extra mile, lost in the trail system. I happened to find a nice man and his four year old son, who were out playing Frisbee Golf in the park. I asked them for direction, then I wandered some more tryign to follow what they had told me. Then I called my son and asked for directions, and he tried to help by looking at Google Earth for me. Then I saw the man and his son again and asked again for directions. The father took pity on me and walked with me out to the main road of the park. Thank you kind sir!

I eventually did make it to the bagel shop - and I did meet my kids there for breakfast. My son had in the meantime looked online and had better instructions for my return trip. My walk home was very uneventful and actually pretty short, all things considered.

The trip out: 1hour 25 minutes, and 3.3 miles according to Map My Walk:

The trip home: 48 minutes, and 2.3 miles according to Map My walk:

The Five Mile Mark

2010-05-23T08:57:00.000-07:00

Finished my first day of 5 miles of training. I split it into two sessions - 3 miles then 2 miles, separated by a brief pit stop for laundry chores at home.

So ... yeah. That fifth mile. It was a lot longer than the first four! I really noticed it!

I've gotta get into the 5 mile habit now as the basic every day walk, because the training plan calls for more and more miles every weekend. And so I guess that means really looking at the time scheduling, and just making it happen. No more excuses!

Here we go!

Getting past the "same old, same old"

2010-05-22T13:51:00.001-07:00

So I've been "training" (yes, I think it counts, even if it's sporadic!) for a couple of months now, with the first few weeks just getting used to the habit and the last few weeks trying to following the 3-day training recommendations. I've not been entirely successful in sticking to the training plan - I've missed quite a few days, and some days I just haven't been able to do the recommended mileage either because of time limitations, or more often, energy limitations. But I've been kinda, sorta on track.

About this time in the training plan, the recommended mileage starts to really pick up. Starting soon, I'll be expected to do 5 miles every Thursday, with more than that on Saturday and Sunday.

Unfortunately, my neighborhood around my home is somewhat isolated, separated from other neighborhoods by two-lane roads with no sidewalks. So if I walk within my neighborhood only, I can only really cover about 2.8 miles without repeat. And THAT means that if I want to get some decent mileage with my home as home base (start and stop), then I MUST repeat. You know, laps.

And THAT gets boring. Really fast. I mean, REALLY fast!

So I've been experimenting with ways to make the same neighborhood streets seem different from walk to walk. To get past the "same old walk" feeling (which for me is very demotivational) and into an eager, motivated frame of mind.

Trick #1: Vary the time of day.
The neighborhood has a completely different vibe when I walk in the early morning before work. And again a different vibe at sunset/dusk. In the morning, the birds are singing, the sun is coming up, the grass is dew-covered and glistening. Sometimes you can hear through people's open windows that they are showering and drying their hair, getting ready for the day. Sometimes you can even smell coffee brewing. In the evening, you can feel that people are settling in, mothers call their kids in from the back yard, charcoal grills are finishing up and burning low. The neighborhood turns grey as dusk settles, and the crickets come out. Mid-day on a Saturday, the streets are very busy with the weekend chores - lawn mowers, hoses, cars, skateboards, swimming pools, bicycles - these all add motion and sound, and give me something to look at and people to talk to.

Trick #2: Add or delete legs of the route
In my development, we have one main street that is 1/2 mile long with a dead end. The other streets come off this main street like branches on a tree - all dead ends too. So my walking route consists of going up the main street, down the branches one at a time, back out to the main street, down the next branch, etc. There are five branches of varying lengths. So sometimes I it them all, sometimes I only do the longest ones, sometimes I do them all going out and all coming back, hitting htem twice, etc. I use different combinatinos of them to get different lengths of walks. The shortest feasible walk is about one mile. The longest, if I hit each branch once, is 2.8 miles. If i hit each branch twice, I can get about 4.6 miles. And so on. Ok, so now that I think about it, this doesn't really make the walks less boring, but it does give me options in my isolate neighborhood.

Trick #3: Vary the music on my iPod

First, for safety I walk with only one ear-bud so that I can hear the traffic and people around me, and i keep the volume low. Safety first!

Some days, I walk with just any music that strikes my mood, and some days I walk with a playlist that I selected specifically for walking. Some days I walk with no music at all.

For my walking playlist, I did some online research to see what tempo (steps per minute) I should be walking for optimum fitness conditioning. I learned that you should warm up slow, then pick up the pace to about 128 beats per minute. You can then do "sprints" at about 140 beats per minute, and then slow down for recovery at 120, etc. Once I knew this, I went through my iTunes collection of music, and I found songs that match the various tempos that I wanted in my walk. I selected songs that have upbeat, positive, even motivational lyrics.

I find that when I use this walking playlist, I get a better workout due to the commitment to the tempo. But when I don't use the playlist, I'm often more relaxed. So there are pros and cons.

Trick #4: Walk with a friend

Whether my husband, kids, quartet mates, or neighborhood friends, I find that the boring route doesn't matter at all if I have someone to walk with. This is a no-brainer!

Trick #5: Spy on my neighbors

OK, I'm kind of only kidding. I don't actually spy on them. But I do enjoy looking at everyone's lawns and gardens, and I do like to see what I can see inside at night when their curtains are open - sometimes you can get good ideas for decorating. That's not spying, is it????

Daily Affirmation

2010-05-17T16:08:00.000-07:00

Some days, I feel overwhelmed, don't you? Like it's just too hard to do everything I want to do. Like the world is against me and what I'm trying to accomplish. Some days it's tough to give myself the pep-talk I need to get past the roadblock-du-jour.

But this little girl has found a way to feel good about herself. Maybe we can all take a lesson from her? :-)

I'm walking to make a difference

2010-05-10T07:38:00.000-07:00

Do you ever wonder what you're doing in life? Why you bother? Who even notices?

Do you ever feel like you're just treading water in your life? Like every day is the same as the one that came before? Like you're using up more than you're creating? That you're not making any progress?

I feel that way a lot. That's one big reason why I'm doing this 3-day, 60-mile walk. I want to make a difference. I want to contribute. I want to help. I want to be part of something important.

Breast cancer sucks. It sneaks into our lives, uninvited and unwelcomed. It ravages our bodies, and all too often it takes away our precious loved ones. It really sucks.

But I am going to make a difference. I am going to raise critical funding that will go directly toward finding a cure. I will provide money that will improve treatment options for women and men affected by this disease. I will make it possible for vulnerable and hurting women to find comfort and care.

By taking part in this awesome event, I will be contributing. I will be helping. I will be part of something really important. I will be saying "I was here." And the world will be better for it.

Would you like to join me? Please donate.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

To all the mothers out there, I hope you enjoy a fantastic Mother's Day!

I'm walking for Donna H.

2010-05-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

Donna H. is a very special person. She is a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, an aunt, a friend. She is kind, smart, funny, giving, caring, and supportive. She is a great cook, gardener, home decorator, and crafter. She is sharp-witted and has a great mind for business. She's great with people, and makes everyone feel comfortable and at home.

Donna grew up in small town Oklahoma in the 1940's and 50's. She was the oldest girl in a family of nine children, and lived on a farm. This meant that she very quickly became her mother's helper, taking care of the younger children, and helping with household chores at a very early age. She learned early to be caring and kind, and to take wonderful care of her family.

Donna married her high school sweetheart and raised three sons. She and her husband started out with not much to call their own, but over time, they built a home and a life togther that was full of love.

In the mid 1970's, when Donna was only in her mid-30's, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Back then, the treatments for breast cancer were not very advanced, and the prognosis was not as good then as it can be now. It must have been a very scary, uncertain time for Donna and her family. To make matters worse, breast cancer was not something that people talked about back then. It was pretty hush-hush, and women with this diagnosis didn't have the openly supportive environment that we can find today. What could it possibly have been like for her to go through that?

Donna had a mastectomy to treat her cancer, but other than that, I don't know much about it. I've known Donna for 28 years, but she has never discussed her cancer with me. She's not one to talk about herself in the first place - she's pretty unassuming and she deflects attention. And especially for health-related issues, she's a pretty private person. I've learned about her cancer only through her son - my husband.

Yep, Donna is my mother in law. And I love her very much.

I wonder what life would have been like had the cancer taken her away. How could my husband, just a young boy, possibly have lived without her? How could my father in law, my brothers in law, my extended family, have possibly gone on? What must it be like for families to lose their mothers to this disease? What must it be like to face this harsh reality, to fight through it, to emerge victorious?

I'm walking for Donna. I'm walking to honor her victory over cancer. I'm walking to pay back the medical community a debt that can never truly be repaid. I'm walking so that none of Donna's granddaughters will have to face the same diagnosis that she did. I'm walking to show her that I love her and I'm so thankful to have her in my life. Happy Mother's Day, Donna!

At the Track

2010-05-07T19:01:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I tried out a new locale for training walks - the track at the local high school. Dave and I went over together on Sunday morning, he was planning to run, and I was looking for an easy, flat walk.

I did notice a few things that are different (in a not-so-good way) than walking in the neighborhood:

the track is ever-so-slightly banked on the curves. This means that one foot steps slightly lower than the other, putting a strange and uncomfortable stress on one shin, knee and hip. To accomodate this, I walked counter-clock-wise for half the time, and clock-wise the other half of the time.
there are other folks using the track for their morning runs too. And because you're just walking in circles, you sometimes either pass them or they pass you. If you're not careful, you can end up feeling like you're competing against them, and that can become a stressor or a motivator, depending on your outlook.
The sun beats down on the track and the bleachers block the wind - making the track feel much hotter than the neighborhood
There is not much to look at, and the laps can blur from one to the next. Keeping count of your laps can be tricky if you're not paying attention.

On the other hand, there are other kinds of differences (in a kind of good way):

It's easy to challenge yourself to improve. Every second or third lap you can pick a faster pace, and treat it as a sprint. By repeating this pattern, you can really boost your heart rate, and if you do this often, you can boost your fitness levels.
It's easy to zone out and really just let your mind empty of all your worries and your stress. You can get into a groove and just walk. Without any curbs, obstacles, or traffic you can focus on just your movements and your breathing. It can be very relaxing and zen-like.
You certainly don't have to worry about whether you've accurately counted your mileage!

All in all, things worked out great. I will definitely be back to the track. As you go through your training for your 3-day, I really recommend that you find a local track and use it as part of your training regimine. Good luck!

Back in the Saddle!

2010-05-05T09:26:00.000-07:00

I'm really happy to report that whatever was plaguing me last night has passed. After last night's discouraging training walk, I was eager to get back out there and try again. I'm so glad I did! I walked this morning out in the neighborhood and had a glorious time. The weather is beautiful - clear blue sky, low humidity, slight breeze, and temps in the mid 70's. I called in to work and got the day off, and have been enjoying myself to no end!

I walked for an hour, and ventured just a tiny bit into the state park that is near my neighborhood. Those 15 minutes in the woods on this picture-perfect day were just enough to bring me a sense of calm that was just what I needed. After I got home, I mapped the route and was happy to discover that it was 2.85 miles long - about a half mile longer than I expected. This gives me another easy, local option for a quick route, with the added benefit of an easy nature walk as part of it.

I know that this journey toward the 3-day event is going to be filled with starts and stops, highs and lows, ups and downs. Anytime you embark on an aggressive plan, you have to expect bumps along the way. Knowing that I've never been a "fit" person, training for a 60 mile walk is setting a high expectation, to say the least. Those of you reading this blog who exercise regularly might wonder "what's the big deal?" But to me, this is definitely a big deal! Just getting up out of a chair is a feat in itself for me some days!

So this morning I'm so happy to know that I've made it through a low moment and have regained momentum. I feel able. I feel eager. I feel motivated. I'm ready to keep going.

This feeling is definitely a keeper!

From High to Low

2010-05-04T19:03:00.000-07:00

Darn it.

I was doing so well.

I walked all of my first week's worth of training walks with energy to spare. I got my first walk in last Tuesday despite the day getting away from me. I walked on Thursday last week after work, enjoying the great neighborhood and cool evening air. I walked on Saturday morning bright and early with my team friends. I walked Sunday morning with my husband despite the hot and humid morning. It was going so well, everything as planned.

But then today came. And the day was busy. And I was tired. And I was not focused. So by 9:15pm when I finally made it downstairs to the treadmill, things did not go as I wanted. I started off ok, at a steady 3.0mph pace. But for some reason, for the first time, I got shin splints. I don't know why - I never have had that problem before, especially at such an regular and easy pace. But after only 15 minutes, my legs were really, really hurting.

I decided to stop and stretch for a few minutes. I had stretched before starting, but I guess it was not enough. So I stretched some more. Then I walked again. But still my left leg kept cramping up, on my shins and on my hip. My knees were also screaming at me. That was a first too.

I pushed through it for a little while longer. I tried to motivate myself with thoughts of others who are fighting much harder battles than a few leg cramps. But then I gave up.

I hate that.

I hate that feeling.

Darn it.

I know, I know -- this is not the end of the world by any means. I'll come back at it next time and give it another go. And again. And again.

What motivates you go keep going when you feel like giving up?

Cool stuff you can find online

2010-04-30T19:09:00.001-07:00

So I've been surfing the 'net, just kind of exploring various walk-related stuff. You know, just filling time. Avoiding housework, that kind of thing. ;-)

Here are some cool things that I've found:

East Coast Greenway

The East Coast Greenway (ECG) is a project underway (apparently for more than 10 years!) to link the entire East Coast of the US with safe, paved, off-road trails for non-motorists. So far about 20% of the trail

is complete, and a big chunk more is under development. The idea is to link up hundreds of local trails into an inter-connected trail, providing recreational and commuter options for hundreds of thousands of people.

Here in Maryland, the B&A Trail is part of the ECG, as is the BWI Airport trail. There are other trail sections that are included too. Somehow I've not heard of the ECG before tonight, but I'm excited about exploring the Maryland, DC , PA and DE sections of the trail as possible training walks over the coming months.

MapMyWalk.com

MapMyWalk.com is

a pretty cool site. You can create maps of walking routes anywhere in the US or Canada (maybe even beyond - I haven't tried). You can save the routes, mark them with various landmarks such as restrooms, restaurants, or pay phones. You can have it keep track of elevation changes if you like. Of course it tracks mileage. You can also save notes with the route, indicating directional turn-by-turn instructions for following the route.

So far, most or all of these things are also offered by Google Maps Pedometer, another really cool app upon which MapMyWalk seems to be based. The benefit of using MapMyWalk, though, is that you can also keep track of training sessions, you can share your route info with a friends list. You can connect to Facebook or Twitter. You can get the HTML code to publish your routes on your blog. I'm sure there are other great features too, I just haven't explored them fully.

All in all, pretty cool stuff!

What have you found recently that will help with your walking goals?

Feeling Inspired and Motivated Today

2010-04-27T18:23:00.000-07:00

So today is my first official day of the 24-week training program for the Washington DC 3-Day walk in October. And while I've been slowly getting ready in the past few weeks by fitting in two or three walks per week, this is the first real week where I'm expecting to really stick to a training routine.

I didn't start the day off feeling inspired. Rather, I slept too late to get in a walk in the morning, and had no time to walk at work. When I got home, I had a free evening (the first in a few months, it seems), and so I hoped to do a walk around the neighborhood after dinner. But things happened, and it got late and dark, and the walk didn't happen.

But, I didn't want to give up on my first real training day.

So, I asked my wonderful husband to pull the old treadmill out of the back storage room and set it up for me in front of the TV. Then I turned on the Biggest Loser (my favorite show!) and walked 3 miles on the treadmill while I watched. This particular episode was especially motivating, showing the contestants encouraging overweight Texans to complete their first 5K run/walk, and encouraging them to begin a weight loss and fitness journey.

I walked and considered the fact that I'm so much more healthy than some of those people on the show, but that I still have a long way to go to be really healthy. I walked and considered the fact that I'm fortunate to have a treadmill at home, so that I can still get my walks in even if the weather is bad or the day gets away from me and it's too late to walk outside safely. I walked and considered the fact that I'm blessed to have a team of friends with whom to walk on this 3-day journey. I walked and reflected on that fact that part of me wanted to just get off the treadmill and sit down -- what was that all about? Where was that coming from? I pushed through those feelings, and kept going until I'd reached the 3-mile mark. I took my motivation from the thought that if the contestants on the Biggest Loser could do it, then I knew could too.

I came upstairs after my walk, feeling very satisfied and motivated.

Then I sat down to my computer to find that I'd received another donation for my 3-day fundraising goals. Thanks very much, Kate! So that put a really nice finish on the happy motivational evening!

What inspired or motivated you today?

A World Full of Sisters

2010-04-26T06:12:00.000-07:00

My Sisters

I am so lucky in life to have three sisters, Suzie, Kathy and Vicky. Growing up, we played together and fought together, as all sisters do. We stuck together when we moved to a new town. We borrowed clothes (sometimes without asking first, which doesn't truly count as borrowing so much as sneaking). We shared bedrooms. We shared a single bathroom (which was fine until those teenaged years when it became quite a challenge!) We annoyed each other. We helped each other. We loved each other. With the exception of living together, we still do all these things. It's what sisters do!

Now, we've all grown into women. We've created our own new families, our own new lives. We live far apart from each other, spread across the country from the Pacific to the Atlantic and the heartland in between. We don't see each other very often at all, and very rarely all at once. But we are still sisters. We are bound together by a family thread that won't be broken no matter what life throws our way.

My Lustre Sisters

I am also blessed to have three "sisters" of a different sort. I am lucky enough to sing in a barbershop quartet called Lustre. For the past five years, we have met weekly to rehearse and perfect our songs, and have had the opportunity to give performances together all throughout each year. We have gone through highs and lows together, and have celebrated so many wonderful moments together, and supported each other through life's challenges. Lori, Lori and Laura are like adopted sisters to me.

My Sweet Adelines Sisters

I am so fortunate to not only have the sisters mentioned above, but also to have 60 other "sisters" in my Sweet Adelines chorus, the Harbor City Music Company (HCMC). There is nothing quite like belonging to an organization of women - the sharing, the caring is like no other experience. We gather weekly for chorus rehearsal where we learn to sing and perform. But during those rehearsals, over the course of the weeks, months, years, we form bonds. We work together toward a goal. We share the workload of running a large volunteer organization. We share creativity and inspiration. We get to know each other, and we include each other in our circle of care, becoming "sisters" and forging lifelong friendships.

It is through HCMC that I met some of the women who are inspiring me to do the 3-day walk: Nancy D., Eve S., and Alta P. Through HCMC, I met the sisters and teammates for the Harbor City Titty Committee. HCMC has become my extended family, with as many substitute mothers, aunts, and sisters as as girl could imagine.

Beyond HCMC, there are all the other women in the Region 19 Sweet Adelines organization with whom I share these bonds. I just returned from the annual Region 19 convention, where the overwhelming feeling was one of sharing and sisterhood. I am so lucky that I have a hobby that brings me close to thousands of women, in spirit and in song.

With all of these amazing sisters in my life, the urge to contribute to the fight against breast cancer is too strong to ignore. All of these women matter to me. Every one. Each and every one of these women deserve to have a full lifetime. And so I'm walking to help find a cure for this disease. So that we can change the statistics, to go from 1 in 8 women, to 1 in 800, then 1 in 8,000,000, then finally, eradicate the disease forever. So that we can find better treatments, provide better support systems for our cancer warrior sisters, and find a cure.

Won't you please join the fight against breast cancer? Please donate today.

I'm walking for Alta P.

2010-04-19T18:24:00.001-07:00

Alta P. is a singer in the Harbor City Music Company. She is a somewhat quiet person, someone who does not seek the limelight. She contributes to the chorus, and the Sweet Adelines Region 19, with steady, dedicated and very effective service in a variety of ways. In addition, she sings in Joint Venture Quartet (JVQ), and shares her gift of harmony with audiences throughout Maryland. She is friendly, smart, funny, and talented.

And she is a breast cancer patient.

Alta tends to shy away from attention, so when she was diagnosed with cancer, she kept it to herself for a while, only letting the chorus know when she was due to have her treatment procedures. She has been quiet, answering inquiries about her progress, but not seeking attention. She says that she has been participating in some experimental treatments. She is having radiation therapy, but no chemo. She says that her case was caught early, thanks to a regular mammogram.

I hope that Alta is going to be ok. I hope her treatments are working, eradicating the ugly cancer from her body forever. I hope she is healed, in body, heart and soul, and has a long, happy life.

I hope that no more of our HCMC sisters are ever diagnosed with breast cancer. We've had enough, thank you very much. But the statistics say that 1 of every 8 women will have breast cancer. We have 64 women in our chorus. So, figure the odds. I'm guessing Alta won't be the last of our chorus sisters who have to face this horrible diagnosis.

This is why I'm walking.

So that we can find a cure.

So that we can save lives.

So that everyone can have a lifetime.

Won't you please donate to the cause?

Monday Update

2010-04-19T16:57:00.000-07:00

Here it is again, another Monday. Another Monday update. :-)

Training

My goals for last week were to walk on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, for one hour and 3 miles each time.

Actuals for last week:

Tuesday: no walking, but I did go buy shoes

Thursday: One hour, 3 miles, after work and dinner. Yay! I fit it in on a weekday!

Saturday: one hour, 3 miles - yay! a beautiful walk in the morning, was home before 8:15am!

Saturday night: one hour ten minutes, 3 miles at the U-MD Relay For Life with Mike

Sunday night: 45 minutes of fun on the Wii Fit

So I didn't make all the walking goals, but I did fit in some extra exercise on Sunday. I'm still learning how to fit training walks in on weekdays. One of these days I'll get the hang of it.

Training goals for this week:

Tuesday: one hour, 3 miles - this is gonna have to be before work if it's gonna happen.

Thursday: one hour, 3 miles - this is gonna have to be BRIGHT AND EARLY since I go out of town for the weekend on Thursday starting at 8am.

Friday and Saturday: I'm out of town, and won't have any time to walk

Sunday: one hour, 3 miles after I get back in town

Fundraising

I sent out email letters to a lot of people this week. I have so far sent to family, work friends, Girl Scout friends, high school and college friends. I have so far received $150 in donations from those emails - thank you very much, Wynette and Suzie!

I continue to post Google Ads on my blog as a small fundraiser. It has so far earned about $43 for the cause. I hope that readers will continue to click through to those ads that interest them, to investigate new products, services or other interesting websites, etc. You never know what good stuff you might find on those advertisers' websites!

I've brainstormed some ideas for fundraising events with my team mates, but haven't really followed through on any of them yet. I need to get through this weekend of barbershop singing competition before I really have any brainpower to put toward something else.

Goals for this week:

It's going to be tough to do much the rest of this week because of the other stuff going on in life. I will focus on getting out of bed on Tuesday and Thursday morning to get in a training walk. If I accomplish that, I will consider myself ahead of the game!

Relay for Life at University of Maryland

2010-04-18T16:40:00.001-07:00

On a whim last night, we decided to head down to the University of Maryland to take part in the Relay for Life with our son, Mike. Mike is a Freshman there, and was participating in the walk sponsored by and benefiting the American Cancer Society. He was planning to be there all night, walking off and on with his friends and fellow trumpet players from the Mighty Sound of Maryland. I had already done my 3 mile training walk yesterday morning, but we thought, "What the heck? Let's go walk some more!"

So we made the short drive down, paid our small entrance fee, and joined Mike on the track. It was a great sight. There must have been a thousand or more UMD students participating. Many were walking the track - it was crowded and slow-going! A lot of others were playing soccer, throwing frisbees, or tossing footballs around on the infield. Lots of tents were set up for the kids to take turns sleeping, chilling, or otherwise hanging out.

We got a chance to meet many of Mike's friends last night - kids whose names and faces we knew from Facebook and the many stories Mike tells us. They're a great bunch of kids, and it was fun to walk a few laps with them.

Dave and I walked 3 miles around the track in total. Some of the laps were pretty slow going due to the crowds. But some other times we were able to hit a pretty good clip. It only took us about an hour and 10 minutes to walk the 3 miles, which overall was pretty good considering the hordes of people there.

What struck me in the most touching way were the luminaries lining the track showing messages of love and support to current cancer patients, or honoring those who have already passed. "In Honor of Pop-Pop." "In Memory of Aunt Teresa." "For My Mom". "For Grandma, I Love You." One cancer survivor knelt beside her own luminary and had her photo taken as we passed by. The atmosphere was strange mix of college campus fun and games combined with touching scenes of love and compassion.

After our 3 miles, we said goodbye to Mike and his friends. He was in for a long night. I'm not sure how much Chemistry studying he ended up getting done - but that was his 3am plan, he said. Before leaving town we stopped by McDonalds to pick up a big bag of cheeseburgers for Mike and his friends. Then we headed home to bed.

I'm glad we stopped by. I've been focusing mostly on the Breast Cancer 3-Day walk, but I don't want to forget that other cancers are out there that are just as insidious and awful. Together we can make it possible for research to continue, for a cure to be found. Please consider donating today to a cancer research effort.

You can donate here to support breast cancer research.

You can donate here to the American Cancer Society. If you want to thank Mike for walking in the UMD Relay, click here to donate in support of Mike and his team, the RYB Trumpets.

Go here to find a Relay for Life near you.

Random Thought Thursday

2010-04-15T18:10:00.000-07:00

Wow, less than one week after adding Google AdSense to my blog, I've already earned $43 for the cure! Thanks to all of you out there who are visiting the advertised websites, thereby earning easy money for Breast Cancer research. Please keep it up! It's a win-win!

In other news, I had a great walk tonight. I went on the new 3-mile loop that I discovered last Saturday and chronicled in this post, wearing the new shoes that I wrote about in this post. The shoes felt pretty good. Yay! I was strolling through the nearby private school grounds, and came upon a herd of deer. There were about 15 of them, including some new fawns and lots of yearlings and older does. They were beautiful, and I'm so glad I saw them. Also tonight as I walked, I enjoyed dusk falling over the neighborhood, and the sliver of a crescent moon in the evening sky. And the smell of flowering shrubs throughout the neighborhood. And the cool evening air. And the calming effect of a nice walk after a stressful day. :-)

Finally, to wrap up Random Thought Thursday, please check out this article from the 60 Mile Thoughts blog. This is a very thoughtful and inspirational essay, reminding me why the 3-day is important, and why I'm walking.

These shoes are made for walkin'...

2010-04-13T18:03:00.001-07:00

...and that's just what I'll do!

Sorry. Had to do it. :-)

Tonight after work I stopped by our local Road Runner store to look into proper shoes for training for the 3-day. They were having a 3-day Walk Clinic 6:30-7:30pm. Great! I called Lori C and Lori D (walking team mates) and we met over there to see what's up. I'd heard they have this cool machine that they use to analyze your feet - your arches, your pressure points, etc. And they analyze your gait as you walk on a treadmill. All this goes into recommending the perfect shoe type for you. Sounded like a plan!

I walked into the store and discovered that they also were having a local High School Cross-Country Team night. There were 25 or so teenagers and their parents there, also interested in being fitted for new shoes. I was a bit frustrated, thinking that I was going to have to wait in line forEVER! But no, the nice manager guy set me and Lori C and Lori D up right away with Mike the Friendly Salesman.

Mike the Friendly Salesman was a jokester - which suited us just fine, as it is a bit odd to stand foot-naked on a pressure mat, then walk foot-naked on a treadmill while a video on a giant screen shows your ankle wobble for all to see! We appreciated the comic relief in this strange environment. We had a lot of fun with Mike the Friendly Salesman. He assured me I was not duck-footed, he assured Lori C that she could still join the army, and he assured Lori D that she had the most expensive feet of all of us!

Lori D had the honor of being fitted for custom insoles. This involved putting a flat insole into a toaster/CD-drive/Blu-ray player type thing, where it got heated up until it was pliable. Then the pliable, toasted insole was placed on a cushioned mat, and Lori D stood on top of it, while Mike the Friendly Salesman massaged the insole onto Lori D's foot. It sounds quite absurd. It kind of looked absurd too - I'll post the photos when Lori C sends them to me. :-)

Lori C and I left Lori D standing on the cushion getting her foot massaged, because for us it was on to actually choosing the shoes. This was less of a fun adventure, since after helping Lori D, Mike the Friendly Salesman had to take care of other customers on the magic foot pressure mat, video humiliation treadmill and insole toaster/DVD player, and we had to find another salesman to help us. After patiently waiting for a few minutes by the moisture-wicking sock display (who knew there could be so many kinds of running socks?), Mike the Friendly Salesman proudly announced that he'd found us a New Man. (I told Lori C she could have the New Man, since I already have my own man).

Lori C's New Man (whose name escapes me) squatted at our feet, as Lori and I sat on a bench together. He meditated for quite some time, with his hand on his chin and a perplexed look on his face. Apparently it was quite a puzzle to determine just exactly which shoe would best fit my low arch, right foot dominant, uneven peak pressure, outward foot position, wiht semi-flex ankles. Very perplexing indeed. Finally Lori C's New Man stood and walked away without a word. Lori C and I looked at each other and shrugged. Was this a good sign? Meanwhile, Lori D had already been passed off to her New Man and was already trying on shoes.

After a few moments, Lori C's New Man returned carrying six pairs of shoes - three for each of us to try on. We tried and tried and tried again. We walked, we stood, we traded, we tried again, we went back and forth. Which one looks better? Which one feels better? Which one is better for our unique arch support problems? Which one has less silver metallic trim? Is there one that comes with a cup holder? Decisions, decisions.

After much debate, all three of us found our new shoe.

For me, the winner was the New Balance Women's R1225 Stability.

Isn't it purty?

I asked if it came in Breast Cancer Awareness Pink, but alas, it was not to be.

I also ended up with Blue Super Feet insoles. Yep, Super Feet. Yay! There's something empowering in the idea of having Super Feet insoles in your shoes. Sorta makes you feel like a 3-day Super Hero, doesn't it?

I should mention that there was an extensive sock decision process, but that's not nearly as exciting as the tale I've already told. No, this is quite enough for one day's adventure.

:-)

Monday Update

2010-04-12T20:17:00.000-07:00

Am going to try to do a regular Monday Update - kinda keep myself on track, review successes and challenges from the last week, and look forward to the week ahead. Hopefully will be able to keep my eye on the prize, so to speak, rather than get mired in the little things that can get in the way of progress.

Training:

I had planned to walk on Thursday night, Saturday morning and Sunday morning. But you know, things happen. Thursday night turned out to be a no-walk evening. For one, I have this thing about walking in the dark. I think my neighborhood is actually very safe, so I'm not sure what the problem is. But by the time I got home from work and dinner and had a moment to walk, it was dark. And I didn't budge. For another thing, I had been getting up really early all week long and working really long days. And I was tired. And the couch was really comfy by about 8:00 Thursday night. Hmm. This is not forward progress. :-(

But on the bright side, I did drag my sorry self out of bed bright and early again on Friday morning. Instead of going in to work early like the days before, and instead of sleeping in to catch up on missed sleep, I went for a morning walk. So, yay me. :-)

Saturday I had a gorgeous morning and a wonderful new walk which I posted about here. Loved it! I was all motivated and stuff. It was great. Then I spend all day and night on Saturday at a singing engagement. I got home around 1:00am on Saturday night. The plan was to repeat that walk on Sunday. But then Sunday came, and the walk didn't happen. I did get up early-ish at 8:30am - which after the day I'd had before, I thought was pretty darned impressive for this non morning person. But instead of walking, I helped my husband spread 10 cubic yards of mulch around the yard before heading off to a singing engagement for the rest of the day. So, while I didn't walk at all, I did get some over-all exercise in that I am choosing to count as cross-training. After all, I'm sore today, so I must've been getting some training in somewhere along the way, right?

Lessons learned:

don't plan for a walk on a night when I have to work early the next day
don't plan for a walk on a morning when there's a huge pile of mulch in the driveway
wait a minute - just get over it and get up a little bit earlier and make it happen!

I guess my point is that I'm still not quite able to fit this thing into the daily routine. But that's why I started before the official training program. This way I will have at least a small chance of knowing how to balance it all.

Goals for this week:

Tuesday - one hour, 3 miles
Thursday - one hour, 3 miles
Saturday morning - one hour, 3 miles
Sunday morning - one hour, 3 miles

Fundraising

I haven't really gotten into the fundraising thing yet as of last night, but I did add Google AdSense to my blog. Maybe that will help in some (very) small way?

Update: Actually, after only two days, the Google AdSense has already earned $22 for the cause. Wow! I had no idea! Thanks everyone for clicking!

Goals for this week:

I will be sending out targeted solicitation emails to my family, work, and community friends. I'm avoiding the HCMC crowd so far, so as to avoid saturating them with too many requests from the same small group of people. Are there any experienced walkers out there who have thoughts on how to manage the fact that your team mates are soliciting from the same group of people as you? However, of course, for all those barbershoppers out there, I'd be very happy to accept donations from you if you want to contribute! :-)

There you have it. Let's see how this week goes!

Monetizing the blog

2010-04-11T19:41:00.000-07:00

Nope, "Monetizing" doesn't mean using Monet's "Water Lilies" paintings as background art. :-)

I decided to put Google Ads on my blog. It's free, it's easy, and it's a way for me to earn funds (pennies at a time) for the 3-day walk.

How does it work?

Well, I put the ad space on the blog. Google sends me ads that are somehow related to my blog content. Then, I wait for someone to click on the ads. That's where you come in.

Every time someone clicks on the ads, I get a little bit of money. There's no purchase required, no commitment of any kind. Just a simple click.

So, yeah. How about clicking the ad?

It should be right over here somewhere. ------------->

Thanks. :-)

Walking in the Neighborhood: A 3-mile Loop

2010-04-11T19:15:00.000-07:00

This weekend I broke out of the confines of my immediate neighborhood and ventured to a nearby one for a 3-mile walk. I had never walked this particular route before. I guess I considered it "too far". But if I stay in my own 'hood, then I typically do a 1.5 mile out-and-back. That particular route gets pretty boring pretty soon, so I'm happy I found a new route to change things up a bit and give some new scenery.

The weather on this particular morning was gorgeous. It was a crystal clear blue sky, bright sun, and cool breeze. The trees and spring flowers were in full bloom, making the neighbors' yards beautiful to pass by.

The walk started out with about .6 miles in my neighborhood - ho hum, been there, done that a million times.

Then I took a new turn and headed up into a local private school grounds. I walked around the campus, which included a number of different buildings and some pretty, peaceful statue gardens.

Then, down a long wooded access road - this was my favorite part of the walk.

Next, along a busy rural road. OK, so it doesn't look incredibly busy here...

Then into the next neigborhood over from mine.

I saw the most adorable sight on this bright Saturday morning.

The walk took me out onto another rural road,

which passes by a state park trail head. Beautiful woodland scenes.

Finally, the route turns back into my own neighborhood and home.

All told, the route was 3 miles exactly, according to Google Pedometer.

Harbor City Titty Committee has another member!

2010-04-09T04:24:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to note that the Harbor City Titty Committee has another member - Sharon Ehrisman will be joining us on our 3-day walking team.

Sharon is a member of Harbor City Music Company chorus, a long-time quartet singer, currently singing with Party Line quartet, and she also directs a small chorus in Ocean City, MD. She also sings in the Pride of Baltimore chorus. And she does all of this on her spare time, since she is a school orchestra director for her day job!

We're really happy to have Sharon joining us in this adventure. Yay!

A small victory

2010-04-09T04:17:00.001-07:00

Woohoo! I actually got myself up out of bed (even though I didn't feel like it) and walked first thing this morning (even though I didn't feel like it). I did this because last night I didn't walk because I didn't feel like it.

So I had to. and I did.

That's all.

Just had to share. :-)

I'm walking for Eve S.

2010-04-08T19:19:00.000-07:00

Eve S. and I both sing in HCMC, and have known each other casually for about 6 or 7 years. While we haven't really socialized outside of the chorus, we have had regular interaction as acquaintances who share the same hobby and the same goals for success on a large team of women. I can't say we know each other very closely, but Eve has been an inspiration to me in ways she probably doesn't know. Until this post. ;-)

Eve was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago. I remember that she announced her diagnosis at the end of a chorus rehearsal, and I remember being so surprised at her upbeat, positive-minded attitude. I mean, she had just been given the big, bad news of Cancer with a capital C, and she was smiling and laughing.

In fact, smiling is the only expression I can ever recall seeing on Eve's face. She's just that way. She is so fun and light hearted and happy all the time. Really. All the time! So to hear her talking about this cancer in this way was true to her personality, but it seemed so unreal to me!

As time went on, Eve had various treatments and would miss rehearsals for a while, then come back tired but still smiling. I don't know the details of her treatment, don't know what she went through, don't know if she had rough times or not. I do know that she had chemotherapy as part of her treatment, and she lost her hair.

But when this happened, she had the most amazing reaction. She sent out a status email to the HCMC members, and in that note she said that she was outside enjoying the beautiful day on her patio. She was combing her fingers through her hair, and it would gently float out of her hand on the breeze. She said that she was happy thinking that her hair would serve as the material for birds to build their nests and begin a new cycle of life in nature. It brought her joy to give the gift of her hair to her world around her.

Reading that note just captured my heart. It struck me that I spend too much time focusing on the negative, feeling sorry for myself. I don't take enough time to look for the positive, to find the silver lining in every storm cloud. I was in awe of Eve. (I still am!)

Eve is now going strong. She is a survivor! Her hair has grown back, and her optimism and cheerfulness never left. She continues to give a thousand percent effort to our chorus. I am very thankful that I have Eve in my life. I hope her cancer is gone forever.

And so I'm walking to honor her.

Thank you, Eve!

Walking on Cape Cod: Punkhorn Parklands

2010-04-07T20:19:00.001-07:00

Last weekend, we were out of town up in Cape Cod visiting my husband's brother and sister-in-law. It was a wonderful weekend, with unseasonably gorgeous weather and a very relaxing schedule that pretty much called for doing nothing. Nothing except fitting in my training walks, that is, and otherwise just relaxing and enjoying time with family.

In this photo is Ann, Rob, me, and my husband, Dave.

On Saturday, my goal was to spend 45 minutes or more walking 2 or more miles.

We decided to walk in the Punkhorn Parklands in Brewster, MA. This is a nature conservancy that backs right up to our family's back yard.

The parklands were completely deforested during the early colonial days, and in the intervening years had been used for grazing sheep and cattle, and for farming cranberries. In the last 75 years or so, the forest has been coming back, and in the 1980's the town of Brewster MA purchased the land, creating the largest publically owned parcel of land on all of Cape Cod.

The walk itself was part easy hiking on narrow trails, and part brisk walking on dirt roads or wide trails. It was mostly wooded, but near the end, we had a great view of Upper Mill Pond, a large body of fresh water that is great for fishing, canoeing, kayaking, etc.

Total walking time: 1hr 15 min

Total miles: approx. 3.5 miles

Training: Planned vs. Actuals this week

2010-04-07T20:05:00.000-07:00

So, in a previous post this week, I outlined what I was hoping to accomplish in my first week of pre-training. My goal is to get into the routine of walking as outlined in the official 24-week training plan, so that I can jump right in already accustomed to the schedule.

I noted in this earlier post that I would be walking this past week on Thursday evening, Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday evening. I'm happy to report that I did accomplish my goals for Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, but that I did not walk on Tuesday. I found it too difficult to fit in to the day's routine. I have some head-game work to do in order to get into the right swing of things, and I have to be more rigorous about scheduling things to fit it all in.

So, for the most part, I'm pleased, but have some work to do to get really on track.

Here's the new plan for the next few days:

Thu Apr 8 - squeeze 30 min (1.5 mi) in between coming home from work and evening commitments

Fri Apr 9 - cross-train 20 min after work

Sat Apr 10 - 1 hour (3 mi) in the morning

Sun Apr 11 - 1 hour (3 mi) in the morning

After this, I hope to get onto a Monday-Sunday weekly routine, and will post weekly goals on that schedule.

Here goes!

I'm walking for Nancy D.

2010-04-05T16:10:00.000-07:00

Nancy D. is the inspiration behind our 3-Day team, and the reason that I signed up to walk. She is a current breast cancer warrior. She was diagnosed the day before her 42nd birthday, which was a few days before Christmas. Just in time for her wedding anniversary and right before Valentine's Day, she had a mastectomy and reconstruction surgery. And now for Easter she is sporting a new "chrome dome" as she says due to her chemotherapy. The last few months of her life have brought challenges that I would never, ever want to go through in my life - yet Nancy says she is lucky.

Lucky is not exactly the word that comes to mind. But that is her reaction to this mess of a disease. (Read her story in her own words here.)

Nancy is such an amazing woman. She is an incredibly talented singer in Capri and HCMC. She is one of the funniest people I know, with a razor-sharp wit that keeps everyone rolling with laughter. She lights up a room with her sparkling presence. She has friends all over the world, and she's just one of those people that everyone wants to know because she's so approachable, so honestly down-to-earth and just so alive.

Many of us in HCMC (and I'm sure other parts of her life) have watched her in amazement as she has tackled these last few months. She is handling her diagnosis, treatment and recovery one day at a time. She is not freaking out. She is laughing, and loving, and looking ahead. She's exhibiting a strength that I think we all hope we have, but secretly fear that we don't. She is showing us that it's possible to face this diagnosis with grace and with strength. She gives us all hope that we might be that strong too.

And so I walk to honor Nancy. And to thank her for showing us all how it's done.

Thanks, Nancy.

Getting into the swing of things

2010-03-31T19:46:00.000-07:00

On April 26, I will begin the official 24-week training program for the 3-day walk. The program assumes that you can do a 3 mile walk in one hour with no difficulty. I'm pretty sure that I can do this already. But it's probably no surprise to anyone who knows me that exercise is not a major part of my life. So to be certain that I'm ready to train, and to get myself into a training state of mind, I need to start now.

With juggling a full time job, family activities, and big time commitments to my hobby in the next month, I think it's going to be a challenge. I am going to have to find time to train either in the morning hours before work (ugh - I'm SO not a morning person!) or in the evenings after all the outside commitments are done. It's not really an option for me to take a break at work in the middle of the day, and I can't easily shift my working hours to be earlier or later.

So, given this state of things, I've determined that my best bet is to schedule training time on the calendar. And then if I post my goals here, I'll be more likely to stick to them!

So, here goes:

Apr 1 - evening walk for 30-45 minutes (1.5-2 miles)

Apr 2 - driving out of state all day, unlikely to walk

Apr 3 - morning walk for 45 minutes or more (2+ miles)

Apr 4- morning walk for 45 minutes or more (2+ miles)

Apr 5 - driving home, unlikely to walk

Apr 6 - evening walk for 60 minutes (3 miles)

Apr 7 - evening commitments, no walking

Let's start with this and see how it goes. It's not "typical", because we'll be out of town for the long weekend. But it will be better than nothing.

Would love to hear from you... feel free to leave encouragement, challenges, fightin' words, etc., in the comments! :-)

The Harbor City Titty Committee and Friends!

2010-03-31T18:44:00.000-07:00

I'm excited to introduce you to our 3-day walking team - we are the Harbor City Titty Committee and Friends! We are women who met through and sing in the Harbor City Music Company Show Chorus (HCMC), a women-only a cappella barbershop chorus in the Sweet Adelines International (SAI) organization. We also are members in barbershop quartets registered through SAI. Over time, we hope to add more members of our team (that's where the "and Friends" part comes in!)

Nancy D. - our team captain and inspiration, current breast cancer patient, and our friend in HCMC. She's the reason we are here! Nancy sings Tenor in Capri, the current SAI international 6th place quartet!

Jen K. - Nancy's sister, HCMC member, and Lead of Capri, the current SAI international 6th place quartet

Lori D. - HCMC member, Baritone of Lustre, SAI Region 19 2nd place quartet

Lori C. - HCMC member, and Lead of Lustre, SAI Region 19 2nd place quartet

Me, Jenny H. - HCMC member, and Bass of Lustre, SAI Region 19 2nd place quartet.

Over time, we'll be adding team members affiliated with HCMC, other SAI choruses or quartets, and other friends and family.

Go team!

Best of intentions

2010-03-30T20:33:00.000-07:00

So, it's day two of my walking blog, and still no walking. Bummer! Changing my routine and finding time to fit in all this training is going to be hard.

But not as hard as battling the disease, like one woman in 9 has to do. Not as hard as facing the doctor's diagnosis. Not as hard as waiting for pathology reports, or going through surgery, or reconstruction, or radiation, or chemotherapy.

Not as hard as wondering what the future holds, and whether I'm in it.

I can't even imagine.

So yes, this training thing will be hard to fit in, hard to stay motivated. But I'm going to do it. Because we need a cure.

Will you help? Please donate today.

I signed up - now what?

2010-03-29T19:42:00.000-07:00

So, my friends have created a team to walk in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day, 60-mile Walk for the Cure in Washington DC in October. I've been looking for a way to contribute more, to be more connected and more participative in the world around me. So here it is. I signed up.

and now I need to figure out what this means... and I guess I should go for a walk, huh?