Day 149

It's the start of a beautiful Memorial Day weekend and the weather looks great. My 3Day training is on schedule. I walked 5.5 miles last night after work. It was a bit warm (ok ... HOT), but thank goodness for the Macomb Orchard Trail and the occasional shady spots.
Tomorrow I'll meet up with some other walkers and do 12 miles at Stony Creek in the morning(2 laps around). I'm dreading the bit of hilly surfaces, but also looking forward to the challenge. 99% of my routes on been on sidewalks and trails ... all flat. Time for a new challenge.
After the walk my weekend TO DO list will begin. Putting down mulch, mulch and more mulch at home. Planting some flower pots ... basically gearing up for summer. Bring it on. Hopefully after the next 3 days, I'll acquire a little bit of color and my legs won't look quite so pale in my walking shorts.

Day 147

The weather this week has been a bit hot. Michigan always seems to be one extreme or the other. Hard to believe that just 3 1/2 weeks ago I did a 10 mile walk on a Saturday morning when it was 37 degrees, drizzling and had 35 mph winds. Last night's 4-mile walk after work was 86 degrees. I must tell you though, it sure was a nice breeze when the bicycling group of 20+ bikes went by us on the path all at once! It's important to look for those little positives.
The first 1/2 of last night's walk felt a bit challenging with the heat. Even though I stretched beforehand, my muscles just didn't feel loose enough. Fortunately the 2nd half of the walk I felt better. Maybe I didn't drink enough fluids during the day. I don't know ... alot of this is still a major learning process for me. I'm also working on buying some proper shirts with 'wicking'.
As they say 'proper training is everything'. In my case, it definately is.

Day 142

Wow ... it's been 142 days since I started this blog to document my 3Day journey and now we're less than 90 days til the actual event itself.

My fundraising is going wonderfully, so much better than I could have ever anticipated. I am still completely amazed as to how the cause touches so many lives.

My training is on target as well. I've been consistent with my walks and am meeting so many new people in the process. It's definately a win-win situation. Don't get me wrong ... the idea that I'll be walking 60 miles in just 3 days still intimidates the 'you know what' out of me, but I'm getting stronger every day which only increases my confidence. (Thank goodness for that.)

My best approach remains 'taking it one step at a time'.

Day 138

It's Monday and the start of a new week. Met my walking goal for last week which was good. But this is a new week. I've been taking the occasional Friday off in order to get a couple of longer walks in. When possible I prefer to take care of my longer walks on Friday & Saturday so that I can have my Sunday off. Beginning in mid-June I will have every Friday off of work for 12 weeks (cutbacks ... Ugh). I'm going to make the best of my time off and get those longer back-to-back 3Day training walks in. I'm still not sure exactly how other 3Day walkers handle it. Trying to be a wife and a mother, work full time AND meet the training schedule has been a little trying at times to say the least. Maybe we should have made our team name 'Wonder Women' ... I figure I need to be Wonder Woman to get it all done without something suffering for it (like my family). Although this past weekend I DID make it to the grocery store (finally) and I baked cupcakes. I think I may be back in their good graces, at least for a little while. Good thing Kroger had Betty Crocker on sale this week. I'M STOCKED!!

Day 135

It's a BEAUTIFUL day today. Got a 10.6 mile walk in this morning since I took the day off. Hope to walk at least another 6 tomorrow. My shins held up pretty good today, nothing that stretches didn't work out for me. The weather was perfect (low 60s, sunshine & blue sky) - gotta love it, especially after the all the rain we've had this week. A little anxious to see how I'll hold up once the heat of the summer comes. I suppose the trick will be wearing the right clothing and staying hydrated.
I'm a work in progress and trying to listen to all the helpful hints I'm getting and then just going through the process of seeing what works for me. But so far, no blisters! I feel VERY lucky.

Day 130

So I did it. I survived my first 'longer' 3-Day training walk. I admit I was more than a little nervous. Saturday I walked with a few other fellow 3-Day walkers and walked 10.5 miles ... my longest single one yet. Just to make things interesting it was 47 degrees, drizzling, and had occasional wind gusts of up 35+ mph. A friend told me later that we should have gotten credit for at least an additional 2 miles since we were fighting the elements most of the time. But the good news is 'I did it'. No blisters and no leg cramps. Overall, a good experience. I'm anxious to get a few more under my belt. I figure that every longer walk I accomplish my confidence level should increase by at least a notch or two. The real test will be when I can get in the longer walks back to back. Weather permitting I'm hoping to do that this coming weekend.
A big thanks to Chris, my training walk leader, for setting these walks up. I'm not sure that I'd have the motivation or discipline to do them on my own. The bonus is that I'm meeting so many new people. It's been both fun and exciting to hear all of the stories about why each person has taken on this challenge.

Day 126

Good morning everyone. I feel optimistic that this week my 3Day training is starting to get back on track ... but ask me on Sunday after my first 10 mile training walk. I was able to take a 3.6 mile walk last night with Chris (my training walk leader). Once again the weather was beautiful. Not sure how I keep getting so lucky, but you know the old saying about 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth'. Thursday night I'll meet up with Chris and a few others to to a 5 mile walk. The in between days are just 2's & 3's to stay loose. Wow, I actually sound like I know what I'm talking about (lol).

Donations are still trickling in a little at a time. I got a nice one yesterday that I needed to mail in. I continue to be completely amazed at the generosity and support that people have shown toward myself and the breast cancer cause.

Day 123

Overall it was a productive week. Got the last of my auction item donations mailed in to the 3Day to be processed and posted. Now I need to send some thank you letters out to my bakers and auction item donors. The event was good, but a lot of work.
The good news is that I was able to clock in 20.5 miles this past week in walking. I took a vacation day last Friday and was able to meet 2 other women (one of them a fellow 3-Day walker and survivor) for an early morning walk. Got 6.5 miles in for the morning and another 2.5 in the afternoon and evening. Come the middle of June I will have Fridays off of work and will finally be able to get back to back days of longer walks in. Right now it's been difficult to accomplish that with my daughter's school events, work schedules and family obligations. I'm hoping that if I get the mileage in during the week in increments whenever I can now, that if I can finally do longer back to back days every week for the 8 weeks prior to the event that my body will be accustomed enough to the length of the walks. I keep telling myself I need to do more than I am, but at the same time I'm doing the best that I can while still keeping up with regular reponsibilities.
I'll just continue to take it one step at a time.