I DID IT!

Here's the text of an email that I sent to my sponsors after the walk last year. I couldn't stand the dangling blog...

10/15//2007
The 3-Day--I DID IT!!
This message is going out to all of you that contributed to the fundraising portion of my 3-day walk. I raised over $2800, with the promise of coming in closer to $3000 when more recent cash and check donatations are posted.

As I shared in my original plea for help, my original concern was whether I could raise the minimum to walk ($2200) but I reached that mark on July 4! I walked and walked and walked. But as The Walk date approached, I became apprehensive about whether I was really going to be able to do 20+20+20. The longest walks I had done were 15 and 18 and none of those were followed by another long walk. But I did lots of 5-10 miles walks and finally figured out that a 1 or 2 mile walk was better than No Walk when I didn't have the hours to devote to the longer ones. I guess the one thing I didn't foresee when committing to this walk is the sheer number of hours it would involve over the months of preparation.

And while I am sure I walked well over 60 miles over the last 3 days, the official walk was Day 1: 18.1 miles, Day 2: 18.9 miles and Day 3: 15.? miles. But the long walks were broken up into smaller walks with frequent pit stops and "grab and go" stations where water, gatorade, snacks, and port-a-potties were abundant. So I focused on going the next 2.8 or the next 3.1 to the next stop instead of the total distance. And to be honest, the last couple of stops of day 2 and every stop of day 3, I wasn't convinced I was going to make it to the end. But I didn't quit. One of the things that kept me going was my sister, who has undergone surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation while I was doing my training walks. She didn't have the option of giving up and getting on a bus--so I didn't either.

One ugly blister, a bruised hand, and sore feet are my only casualties. But it was a very rewarding and inspirational experience. If you've ever considered doing it--do it. Am I going to do it next year? I'm uncertain. But if I don't, I'll crew. While we had somewhere around 3000 walkers, there were 350 people who spent four days feeding us, keeping us safe in crosswalks, manning the pit stops, driving the sweep vans, patching us up in the medical tents, and cheering us on with their costumes, music, and enthusiastic attitudes. They worked as hard as we did--not for 3 days but for 4.

Thanks again for your support.

May Walking Update

I’m going to try to forget about trying to explain whatever has happened since my last update. Anyone that wants to know what has transpired in between can ask and I’ll be happy to elaborate. I get so stuck in composing some explanation of why I haven’t updated that I end up not knowing how to bridge the gap.

I’m bound and determined to post this tonight (otherwise, I’ll have missed May altogether). My focus for this update is the last week and a half.

Last week: Both days I walked on the Silver Comet Trail. Monday I started Coopers Lake Road area and walked west. Tuesday, I started at Concord Road and headed West (last time I started here I went East). My intent was to take it easy and do about 2 miles each day. But due to location of mile markers, I ended up walking at least 2.5 miles both days.

I think having the SCT is good training in that it is paved walking (as the 3-day will mostly be). It is also pre-measured, making it fairly brainless for picking any distance and then Doing It. Two lessons learned (or maybe just Things Know but Now Reinforced.) The first is related directly to the SCT--it is unnaturally level for typical Atlanta terrain so any hill walking—no matter how moderate is exaggerated. The second is my own mental observation. The first mile or maybe 1.5 miles is a mental torture. I have to play the “I think I can” or “just one more milestone and then I’ll abandon the walk” way of thinking. Once I pass some point (<2 miles) then the walking is just routine. Some may be mental; some may be inadequate stretching; I don’t know. I do know that the beginning of a walk seems to be miserable and that by the end of the walk, I have a few achy spots, but overall the walking experience has been enjoyable.

Saturday I joined my first Official training walk in Kennesaw. It was a 5 mile walk promoted to be easy and to include all walking levels. I take responsibility for not proclaiming that I was finding that my best pace is Very Slow. Less than a mile into the walk my outer calves started hurting (honest! They’re not shin splints; but they’re similar but a different set of muscles.). Two members of the walking group asked how I was and I told them “I’m sure I’ll be okay, but something is hurting” and then I slowed down. Before long I was torn between trying to shout to yell Mayday! and just turning around and going home. But dammit! I’d driven an hour to get here and it was my first official walk and I wanted to Do It. My biggest fear was that I didn’t have a map and I didn’t know at what point I would just be limping aimlessly through Kennesaw vs. walking as a stragger on an intended route. Fortunately, after I’d lost my chance to holler for help, a convenient jogger happened by and I asked him to tell the cluster of 3-day walkers that they had a straggler without a map. Our Training Walk leader quickly joined me and I think I did approx 4.5 miles of the walk (I walked slowly through the pain and ended up okay—we just turned back when met by the others and missed one final loop of the intended walk).

Sunday I spent focused more on finding local walking routes that fit the distance goals. I’m still aimed at about 5 miles even though the training plan is moving on. I spent more than an hour but mapped out two 5-miles-ish paths—one is just over 5 miles and the other is just under. Distance is based on driving distance so there is some variation for walking. I don’t have a pedometer so this is close enough for now. After I mapped out the two paths, I walked the 5.2 one. I arrived home, rested for an hour or so; bandaged my baby blister, then went with my daughter to the Street of Dreams tour of homes. While not a significant distance in street distance, the tour was of 9 homes—each had at least 2 levels and some 3 or 4 so it was a lot of walking. We spent close to 3 hours walking through the houses, taking one quick break to down a $2 bottle of water. I’ll count it as “cross training” since I really haven’t figured out what that’s going to mean for me. We thoroughly enjoyed the show; this is one step beyond what has been a “riding around and pulling info sheets” hobby of ours for a couple of years. Needless to say…I was one pooped pup by the time we got home so it was hot dogs on the George and chips for dinner. Monday (Memorial Day) I didn’t walk at all.

Tuesday I showed up at SCT for the 3 mile training walk walk. Once again I was the “turtle” and one of the walkers hung back with me. Again, we turned around when we met the others—just shy of the 1.5 mark. I’d walked about 1.4 miles before we started as a warm up so I was okay on cutting the distance. My question to the coaches is “what is the slowest time tolerated by the sweepers?” My 24 minute miles are sure to improve, but I don’t see me being a long distance sprinter! This is all a big surprise for me since my natural gait is faster than normal.

Tonight after work, I swung by home, picked Jennie up and she walked my 4.7 Douglasville walk with me. She was nervous about the non-sidewalk streets, even though they were either low traffic or (what I considered) good shoulders. I’ll have to consider that if I hope to have others walk with me. The Sunday walk was more pleasant as far as streets and views; tonight’s probably has more potential for adding on for longer distance walks.

I think I’m taking tomorrow off from walking, but I might find myself at my son’s high school while he does band-march-practice. If so, I might do track-walking. Then again, I might read my current novel because my walking butt feels Worn Out. . I think I have a 3-Day Focus meeting on Saturday but will still work a walk in and will walk on Sunday before celebrating Father’s Day at home. Monday I’m headed to Salt Lake City and should have some time while there to walk. We’re in the downtown area so it shouldn’t be hard to get the hotel to help me map out a safe, long distance walk—it might even be good for some sight seeing.

Until next update….

Now I’m REALLY walking….
Becky

My First Blister! (and My GOSH…Look at her Ankles!!)

I’m not sure that a blister should be a milestone, but I’m pretty sure that it's the first of many. I walked 3.5 miles on Tuesday. I started at Concord Road, flipped a mental coin and headed East. I made a half-hearted effort at stretching but I’d forgotten to look up the stretching exercises so I was sort of at a loss and didn't spend much time pretending to stretch. I passed one slow, plodding walker--wondering if I ought to keep pace with her. The answer was “Yes” (but I didn’t). She passed me before I’d walked a mile (while I was stopped, stretching out "ouchie spots.")

The blister was minor—a raised spot on a pointy spot at the bottom of a minor toe. I’m pretty sure it’s what the walking crowd refers to as a “hot spot,” (which I think means a place on your foot that is prone to friction even after buying the right socks, shoes etc.) It hurt yesterday, but until I sat down tonight to finish the blog I started yesterday, I had not thought of it again. Then again, I have a scab on my leftt heel that seems to suggest that I had a second blister that fell under the radar but that is well on its way to healing. So now I have my “First Serious Blister” (one that hurts, oozes, gets reinjured) milestone. to anticipate.

Technically I should have walked again today. But I had a thing to go to at the kids’ high school (eek! next year I’ll have two high schoolers!), it was looking stormy, and (insert another excuse here). But while changing into “pick DJ up from soccer” clothes after the school thing, I notice that my left ankle was enormous! And the right one isn’t quite right either. So, not having walked since Tuesday, I didn’t immediately associate the swelling with walking, and for a minute (or 30 or 60) had ricocheting, semi-panicky thoughts about what new post-40 health concern was causing the edema. My dad’s congestive heart failure was only a fleeting worry (though there is that red-dress campaign that warns my risks are probably greater than I’ve stopped to realize); I knew darned well that I wasn’t pregnant (the last time my ankles were this big-- thanks, Jennie for mentioning that!) I recently changed BP meds to one that doesn’t have a diuretic (thanks to the whole “why is my sodium low” thing).

I wore “cute but dumb” sandals to work and while my feet didn’t hurt, they also didn’t get the support they needed following all of the walking I’ve done. I honestly need to accept that I’m an orthopedic shoe kinda gal and figure out how to buy good shoes other than the NB walking ones.

I can’t believe I’ve droned on and on about my physical aches and pains. I started this blog with the intention of comparing and contrasting my SCT experience of Concord Road > East walk with last Sunday’s walk. Hopefully I’ll get another walk (or two) in over the next couple of days (assuming my ankles go back to normal.)

I don’t intend for this to be a forum for my whining, but tonight that seems to be where I’ve landed.



Still walking….
Still blogging…

More next time about the walking experience!

Surprise! An Update!

Not only have I not been good about updating this blog, but I’ve gotten sidetracked and haven’t been walking as much as I intended. My excuses have been soccer season and a change of jobs, but now I’m ready to get back in gear.

April 30 – a week from tomorrow marks the official “Day 1” of The 3-Day’s 24 week training calendar. During each training week, Monday’s a rest day, an easy walk on Tuesday, Wednesday cross training, Thursday moderate walk, Friday cross train and Saturday and Sunday easy walks. Week 1 – all the walks are 3 miles.

I’m tired of walking around in circles and I’ve been intending to make use of the Silver Comet trail. It’s an easy drive to the Hiram parking area from home and there are a couple of entrances near my commute from work which I’m thinking might make it a good option for those Tuesday easy training walks. It doesn’t have the hills I’ll need to incorporate, but it’s a very pedestrian friendly trail. So today I headed to Hiram and walked to the Florence Road area. It was a 6.32 mile round trip and boy am I slow—2 hours and 44 minutes! That’s a rate of 25 minutes for one mile—slower than I would have guessed. I started out walking too fast (my normal pace) and quickly started to feel the threat of shin splints. I really need to remember to warm up and stretch. I did a little backwards walking (thanking Jennie for that tip) and a little bit of stop and flexing and managed to avoid any continued pain. I stopped a few times—not more than a minute or two, but I still took a rather ambling approach. I had started the morning off with a pint of water and a cup of coffee that was probably another 16 oz of liquid and was equipped with 2 liter bottles of water for the walk. The problem with walking too slowly while keeping yourself well hydrated is that the bathrooms don’t come along quickly enough! So…my bladder will likely be the motivator to keep myself moving at a more rapid pace than I assumed this morning. Traffic on the trail was light but steady. By far the bulk of the traffic was bikers—mostly serious-looking bikers with serious-looking gear, clothing, and equipment. There were a few recreational bikers—families and couples. I saw one tandem bike and 5 recumbent bikes. There were 2 skaters, one crouched into speed form, the other with more of a “Saturday in the park” sauntering gait. There were maybe a dozen or so joggers, 3 dogs, a handful of other walkers, and a few toddlers being pushed or pulled while their mom or dad exercised. Birds and squirrels were common—I even saw a cat; I heard a bunch of agitated ducks or geese near the Cobb County border and on my return, heard the telegraphing of frogs from the same marshy area. I was less excited to see the squished snake, the dead mole, and the patch of hair representing something far removed from its original animal form. I didn't see any horses being ridden though there were plenty of signs suggesting that it would not be an unusual sight.

I enjoyed the walk and had no problems with my feet or breathing. (Though every time I get up and move around this afternoon, my joints and bones remind me that the rest of my body isn’t quite as use to this as it needs to be.) I’m already planning what I’ll do differently for my Tuesday walk (it will be shorter in duration, I’ll stretch first, and I’ll be more cognizant of bathroom locations!)

I feel good about putting some serious effort into this today. It is kind of a mental “re-kick off” that I’ve been ready for. I’ve had a few other boosts to the motivation recently too. A few more donations have made their way into my fund and my Houston sister contributed a pink ribbon visor and pink ribbon socks to my walking wardrobe. I won my former job’s “Healthy Living” weight loss contest (greatest weight loss measured as a percentage of starting weight). The organizer asked if I wanted the winnings ($160!) to go to my 3-day and I had to agree it was a great suggestion so I’m looking forward to that too. I also got Doug to check and we confirmed that the registration checks for the Peachtree Road race have cleared (my confirmation of acceptance). Jennie’s going to walk with me in that one—willing, if not quite enthusiastic—I’ll take it anyway.

I’m liking the new job. I’m impatient and wish I was more up to speed than I am, but I’ve got more training coming along over the next few weeks so that should help put me into a position of being able to make more of a contribution to a very busy department. But it feels good to be back in the familiar world of SFA and Rx companies. I’m still figuring out the best approach to the commute. In general, I’ve been leaving home around 6:15 and that helps me avoid the bulk of the morning traffic (not counting the 2 hour and 45 minute commute the morning that Six Flags had their free admission promotion.) My early arrival hasn’t translated into an early departure, so the afternoon drive has been slow and long though I'm learning lots of new roads and communities in both Cobb and Douglas Counties.

I’ll be traveling much of the month of May, which will mean I’ll need to keep an even closer focus the training schedule. The 3-Day support—training walks and meetings are finally starting to appear on the calendars. So far—nothing is geographically convenient. Walks are in Gwinnett county or Jasper; events are in Alpharetta, etc. I thought I would have had many more opportunities by now to hook up with other walkers but maybe that will continue to increase so that by the time I get through with this initial burst of travel I’ll be able to join in on some of those walks.

Thanks for reading and for your support!

Way Past Time for an Update

I intended to update this about once a week. I’ve started drafting a few updates, but haven’t gotten one all the way to the starting gate. So this evening I’ll just ramble a bit about the last three weeks and the weeks to come. Consider this a wade into my Stream of Consciousness (grab a life jacket).

Soccer pre-season has arrived. I volunteer with my son’s soccer association—currently sharing the role of Team Manager Director (“Team Mom Boss”) for the Rec side of things with another woman. I’m also the Team Manager for my son’s team this season (at least I don’t have to track myself down to give myself the uniforms—if only we had any!) The weeks leading up to the start of the season are usually busy, but our state organization has a new on-line registration system that wasn’t quite as ready-for-prime-time as would have been optimal. I’m downhill in the line of people that depend on these systems to do things such as register people, let them pay, produce rosters, uniform orders, etc. Anyway, Soccer is taking more time and effort and attention than it ought to.

How does this relate to my Walking? On one hand, I’ve got more stuff to “do” on weekends and evenings so getting my 3-4 days of walking in has been more of an effort. On the other, I have calculated the “how many times around the field makes a mile” for all of the fields at the main soccer venue and also measured the .6 miles around the parking lot (both of them). For anyone reading along from the team, it’s 4.6 times around field 3 and 6.3 times around field 8. I’ve got the others if anyone wants to know.

About the Walking. While the walking as been more disorganized that I would like, I must say that I can really tell that my endurance and breathing are better. I walked through some really dreary weather and some awful head and chest cold symptoms the last week in January. I’ve also walked during freezing weather (but not actually in the rain). I can keep up a snappy pace for a mile or two and actually carry on a conversation. My natural walking (and talking) pace is pretty quick and I have to remind myself that it’s about the distance, not the speed. In some ways, training for this walk has taken away the “I’m doing it for the exercise” or “cardiovascular benefit” or “weight loss” pressure. Those are natural benefits of this walking, but training for this walk also gives me permission to stop, slow down, window shop, watch a basketball game/soccer practice, for a few minutes and then continue. I don’t have to hurry. I just have to Do It.

A New Balance/Professional Fitting Endorsement. “Do It” sounded like a lead in for a Nike commercial. But I’ll take a moment to rave a bit about my shoes. Several years ago, after spending at least an hour, at least twice a year in various shoe stores, trying on 6-10 pairs of walking/sports shoes, I found that New Balance seemed to be the brand that most often felt good on my feet. (I’ve owned other brands that I loved, but NB seemed to win more often than any other brand.) My podiatrist also mentioned the brand when we went through the insert/orthotics heel spurs/plantar faciaitis rounds a few years ago.

So…. I’ve found myself in recent years just grabbing the on-sale pair of NB’s in size 7 and been pretty content. In the 3-Day website information and in my orientation, they recommended being fitted professionally. New Balance happens to be a national sponsor of the 3-day and we happen to have a NB store here in town. So, I was fitted and bought a pair of shoes that is easily twice the price of any pair of sports shoes I’ve ever bought (I’m not much of an athlete so sports shoes are just casual shoes mostly). It was a bigger size (longer and wider) than I would have bought based on “feel” but not only have my feet been happy during walks, I’ve not worn my orthotics (prescribed but not custom) at all and I’ve had no foot problems at all.

My Sister. She’s had quite the emotional roller coaster. In the early days it seemed as if this was going to be a shock, but require a relatively short treatment and recovery period. As the weeks have progressed, she’s learned that while the initial cancer was removed, the cancer she had, combined with her own medical profile requires very aggressive treatment. The cancer itself is not the hardest part (all of the symptoms have been from the treatment) but the emotional topsy-turvy of the prescribed treatment. She had the potential of chemo clearly in her sights through her second oncology visit. After being told “no chemo” during that visit, she let herself relax and congratulate herself on not having to deal with that whole physical ordeal. A few days later, her oncologist called back to apologize for the previous conclusion, but after reviewing profile results, chemo was part of the recommended recovery. The initial chemo session also resulted in a recommendation of a longer series of treatments than shared previously. So…she’s in for 3 different stages of chemo that will extend over the next year. Radiation won’t happen until the 3rd stage. She’s also dealing with “what will Kaiser pay” when it comes to “leading edge” drugs and potentially astronomically cumulative treatment co-payments.

Keep Walking. I’ve decided that October and 60 miles is too far away. The 3-Day organization doesn’t really start to provide any structure and support to people that sign up this early. I’ve decided that I need to find “events” to walk in that provide shorter term goals. I don’t want to have any stringent fund raising requirements, but the 3-day seems to be unique in that regard. The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life is in April. The Susan G. Kohman Race for a Cure 5K is in May. The Peachtree Road Race is in July. I haven’t committed to anything yet, but I think that’s my best bet. March of Dimes has a fund raising walk. If you know of a walk, let me know. If you’re a part of a team that will tolerate “loafers”—(walking without fundraising), let me know.

More Soon. I’ll try to update more often. I haven’t tried to figure out how to make commenting easier and I doubt I’m going to figure out the subscription thing. In the meantime, I’ve started to collect “supporters” (supportive emails and contributors) emails and may just send out an “I’ve updated” email based on that. If you don’t get that email and want to—let me know. If you get that email and don’t want to—let me know that too.

Milestones

When you register for the 3 day you get a lanyard and plastic sleeve into which you’ll eventually insert your official walking credential. Along with it are stickers and a training insert so that you can track your milestones. ( It’s kind of like girl scout patches, but instead of a brown or green vest or sash, I’ve got a little plastic badge-holder-thingy.) So far, on the back, I’ve got 5 stickers—
1. I’ve read the hand book
2. I set up my HQ—fundraising website
3. I’ve connected with my coach
4. I’ve gotten my first donation
5. I’ve raised my first $500

More stickers come with more walking and fundraising milestones. (There are 16 total.)

Here are the ones I’m still working toward:
· Attend a Focus Meeting. This is the official kick off meeting for registered walkers. I’m in the early stage of registration so they haven’t offered these sessions yet.
· Matching Funds. Several people from work have contributed to my walk. I’m going to apply for Reid Elsevier matching funds on their behalf. I’m also asking others that have contributed to find out what their employers require and I’ll be happy to do the paper work.
· Meeting the minimum $2200 fundraising goal. I’m close to halfway there. I’m astonished. I’m sure the last half will be tougher, but the early responses have been VERY encouraging.
· Hammer… For the life of me…I can’t remember what earns me this sticker. I’m sure it has something to do with “tools” but I’m not sure how and if I’ll get it.
· Training Walks. There are 5 stickers earned for doing endorsed training walks—my 1st TW. My first 5 Mile TW. My first 10M TW. My first 20 TW. And my First back-to-back long distant walks. Kind of like the focus badge…there are no training walks yet so I’m willing but unable.
· EXPO. I think this is a mid-year event where all the sponsors show us their stuff and the 3-day staff are more focused on retention of registration vs. recruiting.
· Check-in. This one doesn’t happen until shortly before the event. It is the ultimate “I’m Ready!” commitment. It means that I’ve paid my $90 non-tax-exempt registration fee. I’ve got a minimum of $2200 committed in contributions. And I have prepared my body to walk 15 – 23 miles per day/

Thanks to Joan Lazar for helping me understand that my blog wasn’t making it easy for you to leave comments. I’m also trying to figure out how to let people subscribe to my blog. If you have any helpful tips or hits on that topic, LET ME KNOW!

Still walking, walking, walking….

Becky

Baby Steps

I’m taking baby steps and progressing nicely.

I’m Walking. My walking goal is to walk 3-4 time a week. I’m starting at one mile and planning to increase my distance and pace slowly. I’ve been at it now for almost two weeks and am enjoying checking out the local tracks and trails. I’ve walked 3 park tracks and the mall and learned that four laps around my office is about a mile. My distances have been 1 – 1.5 miles and after walking the mile at work today, I was ready to keep going (but didn’t). In addition to the “official” walking, I’ve spent more time than typical on my feet—wandering through stores and shops. The first couple of times, my feet complained after I finished walking, but since then, I’ve not had any problems. I also went shopping with Jennie last weekend and was pleased to note that I didn’t have achy feet that usually come from following her from store to store.

I’m Fundraising. The $2200 commitment was the scariest part of this for me. But I’ve starting asking—mostly sending emails and I’ve told anyone that will stand still long enough to listen that I’m walking. I’ve still got some groups of people that I intend to ask that I haven’t tapped into yet, but I’m pleased (and amazed) to be over $800. And I’ve heard some amazing stories from people I know--about their own cancer experiences, their family members and friends, and even walking experiences in the 3-Day and other benefit walks.

I’m Blogging. I’m throwing this into the Baby Steps Topic because at least one of my friends was disappointed that I didn’t have pictures and I had a rather blah profile and no nifty bells and whistles. That’ll come. I grabbed a template and did good to figure out how to set up a couple of links. (I’ve added a new one that is a video about the 3-Day experience.) Maybe I’ll make it a goal to do at least one “new” thing to the site each time I post.

A Baby Step Request for You. So far, everyone is silent. I’m waiting for someone to break the ice and actually comment. Just so I know you’re out there—send me a comment. Or better yet, each time you come to visit me here and read a new post, share my site with at least one other person that might be interested in walking or donating. Your motivational and monetary support are essential to my not only making it to the finish line, but getting to the starting line.