10 Day Forecast - hhmm...pretty please don't rain on my parade!

Actually first things first - I WILL be blogging from Boston!  Don't know if there will be many posts and how detailed they will be but as a way of keeping my supporters in the loop I'm going to turn to this blog as one of those tools.  So a short blog 34 hours before takeoff for the first of three walks this year!!!  Two and a quarter days of sight seeing before the first 20 miles are tackled on Friday.  I have a very full sight seeing itinerary and can hardly wait to get to Boston to get this show on the road!!!

I just looked up the 10 day forecast for Boston...intermitent showers all week - 87 seems to be the average high temp...BUT 40% chance of rain for Saturday (aka Day Two of the walk and always the hardest...21+ miles and exhaustion is at its peak!).  The walk goes on rain or shine...so I guess it's a really good thing that I packed two emergency ponchos as a just in case item...now trying to think of a way to keep my shoes dry while out on the course.

Inspiration...

There is a walker that's part of the 3 Day Walk that is absolutely amazing! Her name is Barbara Jo Kirshbaum and last year she walked her 100th walk and surpased the million dollar march for fundraising!!!! I'll mention that she's over 70 years old. Barbara Jo walks multiple 3 Day Walks and multiple Avon 2 Day Walks each year. The San Diego walk is considered her "home walk" and all of the money that she raises for the Susan G. Komen Walks goes into the San Diego pot. We'll see her on our walk...she's a bit of a legend. If you need a little extra inspiration peruse her website (link is below)...and if you want a good cry watch her YouTube clip (there's a link on her website to it). I also like looking at her journals from the past years...they litterally give me chills.

http://www.bjkcounselor.com/

One In, One Out and Two Goldstars!!!!

So we've lost a team member...but for such a good reason!!!! I am SOOOOOOOO excited that Carrie is pregnant. Gosh I can HARDLY wait to be a "real" aunt!!!! I am so very very very fortunate to have a gaggle of wonderfully magical "littles" in my life (the little cousins...my cousins children - and a few very close friends that have children) and to most of these kids I'm Cousin Kate or Aunt Kate. Every time I hear that it warms my heart...but, wow it's 10-fold to know that I'm going to have a niece or nephew. I'm blown away by how much I already love this new little!!! It's crazy...for those of you that are moms (or my sister) I'm sure you're thinking to yourself "oh just wait until it's your actual child"....I can't even imagine.

So it is with joy, excitement and gushing love that I say goodbye to Carrie as a walker - she's still going to try and be there with us for the walk...cheering not walking.

And with additional joy and excitement I welcome my Mom, Sally MacAllister to our team!!!! This rockstar of a 59 (on March 19th) year old is in for her second round of 60 miles. With her she will also be bringing 6 or 7 of her lovely friends. We are going to have a great full team this year!!!!

One of the things I love about this walk is that is brings all backgrounds and ages together. 59 is nothing when you're with 4,500 new friends!!!!

Speaking of rockstars....Jill and Sarah you absolutely get the GOLD STARS for fundraising!!! I'm so impressed and so proud!!!!! Wow wow wow!!! I hope that you have been pleasantly surprised by people's generosity to this cause. Keep going...you truly are making a difference in your community and our world!

I've got LOTS of energy and happiness running through my body today so you'll have to excuse me for all of the exclamation points and gushiness...but I warned you ahead of time - I like the rah rah (and the patriotism...that's for you Carrie ;)

Make a difference and make it last!

My 2009 Walk Motto...

I have a personal motto for the walk this year...and given the fact that the walk isn't until the end of November I think it's safe to say that it's my personal motto for 2009. Before I reveal my motto let me be honest and say that I didn't come up with it myself.

Last month I was mesmorized by the 60 Minutes piece on "Sully", the pilot that successfully landed the plane in the Hudson. Towards the end of the interview Sully's wife was reading letters out loud that strangers had sent in thanking Sully for his heroic efforts. One of the letters really stuck with me - the writer said "In saving the lives of the passengers on that plane and your crew you may have saved the world. For none of us know what greatness can come from a single individual or from that individuals future generations - so in saving one you may have just saved the world."

So THAT is my personal motto for the 2009 3 Day Walk...if my efforts of fundraising and raising awarness in my community can save just one person's life then I may have just "saved the world"...and WOW does that feel good...no not good...GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good Morning 3 Day Walkers...

So I lagged the last week on my blogging...still new to this so I'm working on making it part of my daily routine. I got an email from fellow walker and cousin (oh wait, Jill I really can call you a Fellow Walker...I'm laughing out loud right now at my joke...I must be a low blood sugar moment...non family members who are reading this Jill's last name is Fellow) telling me to get back on track and start blogging again.

When I got that email this morning I looked down at my 3 Day Blog List and the first thing that poped into my head was "GOOD MORNING 3 DAY WALKERS!!!" For those of you that have already walked the San Diego course you know what this is from...and for those of you that haven't it's something to look forward to.

I'll give you a small hint...there is a guy and his young daugther that are out on the route all three days at various points cheering all of the walkers on. The Dad is called Smile Guy and the daugther is Little Grin. If memory serves me correctly this will be Smile Guy's 10th year and Little Grin's 6th year (she's been out there every year since she's been born). It's always so inspiring to me to see families getting involved in the event...Smile Guy's wife walks in the walk and is a part of a team called Smile Guy's Girls (currently they are in third place for the most funds raised for the 2009 San Diego Walk).

Oh so many wonderful things to look forward to!

How long is my walk?

Carrie turned me on to the Google Pedometer during training last year and it's a tool I've incorporated into my life: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/ I love using this site as I tend to walk a different pace each day so just using time out on the road isn't really an accurate representation of the miles I train. I recognize that this can't be exact but it sure seems darn close (side note, I don't use the calorie counter because I think it's based on running not walking).

A lot of times I use this site to map out a walk as having the birds eye view of a map helps me to figure out how to avoid deadend streets (I train almost exclusively at the beach and there's quite a few streets that I think will be through routes and end up being dead ends).

Enjoy!

Sidelined, but not out of the game...

For the past month or so I've had terrible pain on the side of my calves every time I take a brisk walk. Last week it was getting progressively worse and I couldn't walk a block at a brisk pace without having a terrible strain/pain in my legs. In the past I've had this pain but as long as I stretched for a good 15 minutes (yes, 15 minutes...feels like an hour) before my walks and then stretch for another 5 minutes about 5 to 10 minutes into my walk. These techniques weren't working this go around. I googled all kinds of things to see if I could figure it out but wasn't all that lucky...because I was ruling out that I was having shin splints (as it was the sides of my legs that hurt not the front). I went to the doctor on Friday and guess I should have read about shin splints because in fact I have anterior shin splints in both legs. There is a band that runs between our tibula and fibula and I've strained that band (it always feels like there's a rubber band in my leg that's pulled as tight as can be and it's ready to snap at anytime). The doctor's term for it was Anterior Shin Splints.

The good doctor gave me a prescription for an anti-inflammatory that I take twice a day for 30 days and advice to give the walking a rest until Wednesday (along with lots of stretching). I didn't listen to the not walking part...I walked Saturday and yesterday (just under 3 miles) and it felt pretty good. The gym classes don't seem to bother it so I'm hoping I'll be 100% back to normal very soon.

Back out there "pounding the pavement"...which is SO much easier on the knees then concrete sidewalks.