Day 89

Today is Sunday (actually Palm Sunday). Had a nice morning at church followed by a celebration birthday lunch with some good friends. I had a really nice time. Ironic that they gave me a summer Vera Bradley purse. Here I am training for the 3Day event and I got a new purse. Getting a purse isn't odd, but the ironic part is that Vera Bradley (the designer) puts a lot of her profits into breast cancer research. Very admirable in my opinion. We're all doing what we can for the cause with the tools we have. Doesn't matter how big or how small ... it's about being productive and making a difference.

We had our first 3Day team meeting yesterday to review some stuff for our upcoming team fundraiser on April 24th. Mostly everyone seems to be enthusiastic and excited about the event. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a good event with a good turnout. The team spirit is definately there!

Day 45

Today is the first 'official' day of my 3 Day 24-week training schedule, although I've been 'pretraining' for about 6 weeks. Last week I attended a 'Getting Started' meeting and discovered that if I follow the mileage of my training schedule I will have walked 544 miles in preparation before the 3Day event. Pretty cool. That doesn't even include the 50+ miles I did in pretraining. I suppose after 24 weeks 60 miles won't look so bad (at least that's what I'm hoping). Of course that'll all be in 3 days, completely different scenario, I know.

Day 42

Today was another BUSY day. I'm wrapping UP a big project at work and I had to take my daughter to her high school orientation this evening. I was able to send out a few emails this afternoon for potential silent auction donations for our upcoming team fundraiser in April.

Saturday I plan to walk at the mall with my sister and another teammate, Stafanie (who just joined our team this week). For now I seem to be the common denominator of the team (my sister, a fellow church member, a lady from the community that I haven't actually met yet and another woman I met at the Getting Started meeting). I'm anxious for all of us to get together soon to not only talk about the upcoming team fundraiser event but also for everyone to get to know each other a little.

This is all very exciting ... working on fundraising, beginning my 'official' 3Day training this weekend, and meeting new women who all share a common goal.

ALL IS GOOD!

Day 41

Today was a snow day for many people, including my daughter ... but not for me. Although, having so many people off of the road made my drive to work much easier and a lot less stressful. That was a good thing.

Today I received 2 donations toward my 3-Day goal. I've now raised $1,150 of the required $2,300. That's very encouraging. I'm working on a personal fundraiser at Buffalo Wild Wings for March and as a team we'll be having a silent auction/bake sale in April. I feel confident that everything will come together for all of us. I truly believe that it's our turn to do something positive and help to make a difference.

My official 24-week training will begin this weekend. I've got my shoes, my water bottle, my Ipod charged, and my schedule ... so I guess I'm ready for the next phase to begin.

Day 40

Last night I went to a 3 Day Getting Started meeting. It was awesome. I went to one last year, but it just didn't feel like it was the right time for me. This year the event seems to be 'calling' me. I take that as a sign that it's the right time. The meeting last night was even more inspirational and motivating than when I went to one last year. I met some nice people, got some questions answered, and couldn't wait to move on to the next part.

My donations have been coming through nicely. I am up to a little over $1,000 (not quite half way to my goal). I do have 2 fundraisers in the works and a lot of people who haven't responded to the emails and letters yet, so I'm feeling good about everything, all things considered.

Day 37

I took my daughter walking with me at the mall this morning. Apparently it'd been a while since she'd done some 'consistent' walking ... after 2 miles she was like "don't we get to sit down and take a break?" We took a short one and got back at it for another mile and a half. Next weekend I'll walk with my sister and we'll get more mileage in. I still managed about 15 miles this week, which isn't bad considering I had a really long week of late nights and projects.

I did have to return my new tennis shoes, though, last night. I think I got a defective pair. So I went to a running shop and got a new pair. Tried them out this morning. My feet did OK, but my legs were a bit tired.

Other than that, things are progressing along. I'm up to about $920 so far in my fundraising, which is just plain AWESOME!!! And I have 2 fundraisers in the works. I'll let you know once the details are all ironed out, but one will be in March and the second one in April.

Day 35

Yesterday was a long day at work. Got to work an hour early and then took my daughter to a youth event in the evening. By the time we dropped her friends off I didn't get home til nearly 10pm. I must not be quite as young as I used to be (or at least not as young as I think I am ... in my mind, that is). I did walk 2 miles yesterday (kind of a cumulative walk). I have done some great networking though this week. Through the 3 Day site (share list), I was able to contact 2 women in my area. One is willing to do some training with me, and the one the other is going to join our 3 Day team (and walk together once a week). Changing the routines up and walking with different people on different days I think will go a long way toward keeping the training from getting monotonous.

Day 30

Well I'm 30 days in to my journey. Time sure seems to fly by fast. My official training will begin in 2 weeks, but I've been walking and getting ready (& getting organized). My fundraising is in gear and I've been amazed at the response so far. People are VERY generous and supportive. I even had one person who said they weren't able to donate financially but offered to supply a few items if I had an auction or fundraiser. People are just AWESOME! Support comes in many shapes and sizes. Prayers, especially, are HUGE!

Day 28

Today was a good day. I received a few new donations. I've now reached 23% of my 3 Day fundraising goal. It gives me a boost that if I keep at it, I'll be able to reach my goal and therefore be able to walk in the event. I can't imagine how I'd feel if I couldn't raise enough and couldn't finish what I'd started.

My REAL training will begin in two weeks. I feel like I'm in good enough shape now from my 'pre-training' that I'll be able to get started ... then the walk increases are gradual each week. I don't feel quite as scared and intimidated now, but ask me again in 2 months ... lol.

Day 27

There wasn't much to report yesterday so I figured I would spare you and wait til this morning. Yesterday was just a usual day ... full day at work ... dinner ... and an evening of running around (last night was a music rehearsal for my daughter's upcoming solo & ensemble performance - it's her first one so she's a bit nervous still). My real training will start in about 2 weeks, so I'm just making sure that between now and then I'm getting my stamina and motivation up to scale - because I know that's when the REAL work will start.

My donations for the 3 Day are coming through a bit at a time. I'm up to $450 which I think is just awesome. Every time a donation comes through it reinforces for me that I've made the right commitment and someone else out there believes in what I'm doing.

Day 25

I made it to the gym after work tonight ... did some treadmill & stationary bike ... did a few machines ... and crawled home. Hoping for a good night's sleep tonight. I know it's early yet, but have only had 7 donations for my 3 Day goals off of 100+ emails. I did mention in my fundraising email, though, that I'd prefer to complete my fundraising by May 1st so that I could concentrate solely on training after that. It may be too early for many to think about donating and it's definately too soon to send out reminder followup emails. Hopefully this weekend I will get started on my mailout letters (those contacts that I have that do not have computer access). It's all part of the process and needs to be accomplished methodically and one step at a time.

Day 24

Today is my rest day. Last week I logged in 19.1 miles of walking. It was a lot, yet not even equivalent to one day of the 3 Day. That's why I'm pre-training for my training. I've got a long way to go, but I'm progressing. Thanks for evreyone's support. I couldn't do it without you.

Day 22

Yesterday was another of those long, busy days - but in a good way. I have a friend who thinks they're ready to sign up and join our 3 Day team. That will mean our team of 2 has increased by 50%. Not bad. I've had a few donations start to come in. It's wonderful how supportive people are when they realize the work you plan to put in for the cause. I'm finding that this whole 3 Day undertaking is no small thing. Training and fundraising and creating awareness all take a lot of dedication and commitment ... two things I don't take lightly.

Yesterday I knew I would be busy and not have the time to take a 'real walk' (all at one time), so I decided to wear my pedometer for the day just to see how much walking I would do in the course of a busy day. I surprised myself ... nearly 4 miles. That helped me to feel a lot less lazy or guilty when I actually went to bed for the night.

Day 16

It's a busy Saturday today. Took my daughter this morning and we both got haircuts, then headed over to bring my mom lunch & a cupcake for her birthday. Now I'm sitting at a computer at the library while my daughter prepares study guides for her midterms this week (she's a 9th grader).

I'm going to try and make some progress on entering my email addresses in to the 3 Day database (for my participant page). I going to get started on phase 1 of my fundraising campaign. Phase 2 will involve prepping for the first outside fundraising event. The nice thing about having an event is not only that it raises more money in a shorter period of time, but more importantly it brings people within your community together and creates awareness. It's a win-win situation.

Day 15

Wow, I can't believe that we're already half way through the month of January. Not alot of spare time for walking today, so I decided to wear my pedometer. I've walked nearly 2.5 miles so far just doing normal stuff today. How awesome is that?

Don't think that I wasn't productive though. I did speak with a manager of a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant today about doing a fundraiser for the 3 Day. All I have to do is fill out a form & pick a date ... once it's approved (in about 2 weeks)they'll send me a computer generated flyer with all the information on it. I email it out, hand out paper copies, put it on MySpace or Facebook and I get 20% of ALL revenues that whole day (the customers have to bring their flyer). All they ask is that you try to distribute at least 250 flyers. You know that old shampoo commercial don't you? ... 'you tell 2 friends, and they'll tell 2 friends, and so on and so on and so on'. You'd be surprised how quickly the word can spread. All you have to do is have people download their flyer or have them make more copies and hand them out. Now all I have to do is pick a date! What do you say? Are you getting hungry?

Day Six

As you can probably tell, today I 'tweeked' the colors and layout of my blog. I hope this is a bit more user-friendly. I also think the colors are more soothing; as much as I like pink the last format was a little overpowering.

There is one other new thing on the page tonight ... thanks to a co-worker I have a link on the right hand side that will connect you directly to my 3-Day participant page. It will also allow you to make a donation. You may not know this, but each walker in the 3-Day event is required to raise a minimum of $2,300 before we can actually participate in the walk itself. To some people that may sound intimidating, but I have a HUGE amount of faith in what all of us can accomplish for this worthy cause. Where I'm intimidated is with the actual training and 3 days of walking a total of 60 miles. I keep telling myself that if I can beat cancer and come out of it on the other side, then I have more fight in me than I give myself credit for.

I welcome your encouragement AND anyone that may want to train and walk with me. Even if you don't want to walk in the event, I'd love the company on my walks.

Let me know what you think of the new format.