Confessions

Okay. The latest struggle in the 60-mile walk training is with.....impatience. Something you don't realize until you get out there and start walking is that walking several miles can take several hours. You struggle to find the hours in your evenings or your weekends during which to walk these several miles. You walk 3 or so miles--with 3 or so to go--and you think, "I'll just jog a little here. Maybe just a mile. That'll save me at least 20 or 30 minutes!" Of course, when you're out of shape, like I am, jogging that mile with--still counting here?--2 more to walk afterward can be a bit ugly.

So after the impatience comes the guilt. You think, "Okay. I'm internally whining about how long it takes to walk 6 miles. But why am I walking? I'm walking to help bring an end to breast cancer!! I am such a tool!" This guilt lasts for the rest of the walk. So you're safe until the next walk, when your feet start itching to jog....

The other issue here is the "cross-training" days. Cross training. Sounds vaguely religious. Reminds one of the 90s, when cross-trainers were all the rage. What it really means is that you aren't supposed to do any distance walking on these days (Wednesday and Friday, just in case anyone's keeping tabs). So, what to do? If I give in to Chad, that means jogging with him at a ridiculous hour in the morning. What?? More jogging? Back in '95 I could've handled that, no problem. Now? Not so much. So my other options are:

1. Elliptical at the VTS gym on my lunch hour. Means I go back to work sweaty. Super.
2. Pilates. Using the old DVDs--the ones where I have the instructors' comments memorized.
3. Shiva Rea Trance Dance Yoga. Now this is cool. But it needs to be done in private, because it involves dancing around the apartment with total abandon, and I'm not keen on looking up from my trance-y moment and seeing Chad standing there eating a sandwich.
4. Swimming. Just kidding. I hate bathing suits.

So now is a good time to remind myself why I'm doing this: to help bring an end to breast cancer. Good thing I'm just ONE small part of this struggle. :)
Cinnamon

Celebrate...

It's time to send out an official "whoohoo!" in thanksgiving for all those who've donated to my journey. Thanks to the generosity of friends, some folks I've never met, and my La Luz mafia connections (heh heh), I've reached the 100% mark in my fundraising! I'm very grateful! Now you may ask "why is she using a picture of her 30th birthday cake in this post?" The answer to that very important question is:
1.) I have no pictures of me doing something celebratory on this computer.
2.) Celebrating inevitably leads to cake.

Thank you! Cinnamon

in the beginning

One night a few months ago (sometime in the Spring) Cinnamon and Chad were over at our apartment. Actually, I think it was Easter Sunday! Anyway, Cinnamon asked me if I had heard about this event that she had seen an advertisement for - the 3DAY. She mentioned that she was thinking about signing up but hadn't made her final decision yet. Strangely enough, I had recently heard about the 3DAY while listening to the radio in our truck (which is odd because I usually listen to cds) and I too just couldn't get the 3DAY out of my head.

So Cinnamon and I began to talk about the 3DAY. We were both drawn to participate but weren't sure about the training and fund-raising. $2,200 is a lot of money. 60 miles is a lot of walking. But then we realized that was just it! $2,200 IS a lot of money and 60 miles IS a lot of walking - what an incredible opportunity to make a difference!

We decided to take the plunge. Even though we were both nervous about jumping right in, after tons of emails and phone calls to one another we had officially created the WalkyTalkys.

Now, here we are several months later. While our friends and families have gotten passing emails and updates about our progress, in many ways Cinnamon and I have been living and breathing the 3DAY. We have been walking and walking (and talking and talking) and each working to raise $2,200 ($4,400 total). What a wonderful experience it has been! With only 79 days to go until the 3DAY our excitement is only growing. Thanks to everyone for all of the support you have shown us and the money you have donated to change lives. This is truly an amazing experience.

I Go Out Walkin' After Mid-day

 

I've found a new favorite trail in Glover-Archibold Park, which begins off Canal Road on the Georgetown side of the Potomac River.  The trail heads toward points north, passing through deep wooded glades and following a stream as it winds toward its terminus, what looks like 40th and Upton Streets--although Google maps says it ends at Van Ness.  Whatever. In any case, it is the kind of path on which one passes hikers, runners, and couples following wet dogs holding tennis balls in their mouths.  In other words: perfect!  This Sunday was my 3rd time on the trail and I couldn't resist bringing my camera along.                                                                       

Clearly, I was on the trail alone.  Although my attempts at self-portraiture inevitably fail, it's fun standing by a burbling stream taking pictures of yourself.  Alone.  Not weird at all.

Despite some dedicated internet sleuthing (read: 5 minutes with no satisfactory results) I'm not absolutely certain about the history of this trail.  Clearly the burbling stream might not be potable.  But it's quite lovely--really!

You will love this park.  It's the cleanest "cityscape" I've seen in a while, and it's just the right blend of remote and civilized.  Cinnie likes it!                                                                               

still raising money

As the event draws ever closer I am still working to raise the minimum to participate. $2,200 is really quite a large sum. I have been amazed by the generosity of my friends and family (and even a few friends of friends!) thus far. As of today I have raised $1,140 for the 3DAY! While I still have a long way to go in terms of fund-raising, I am excited to have raised this much. At the moment my fund-raising has come to a bit of a standstill. This Fall when school begins again Cinnamon and I are planning to host a silent auction to raise more money for the cause. As always - we are open to new fund-raising ideas (so feel free to leave us ideas if you have some). The more we money we raise for the 3DAY the better!

Happy Fourth!

All the weather warnings said there was a 50% chance for rain on the 4th. In our experience here in the DC area, that means it WILL rain. Nevertheless, we packed our picnic basket (read: we packed the entire car full of "stuff"), planned a party with friends, and drove out to Gravelly Point. Casey had scoped it out and thought it was an ideal location for watching the DC fireworks. Across the river and sandwiched in between Arlington Cemetary and Reagan National Airport, this riverside park afforded views of the Capitol dome, Washington Monument, and the Potomac, of course. We were good to go until we approached the parking lot at the park only to find it full. Not to be deterred, we parked at the airport, and walked the mile (? I'm going to say mile) to the park, dragging our stuff with us. It only took 2 trips, and it didn't rain until we got the awning up and everything underneath it! Whoo hoo!

Here we are, having survived the trek.

In fact, Chad reminded me that the possibly 4 miles we walked wasn't doing my training any harm. Thanks, Chad. :) Our friends arrived a little later (and a little wetter), but once we got settled and started eating, we were good to go. Ain't life grand?

Here's Casey, husband Chris (right) and Tim, lamenting the rain? Chris looks hungry. Is it me, or is he eating his fork?!?

There were folks cooking out, boats on the Potomac, yummy eats, and lots of laughs. Capping the evening off, of course, were the fabulous fireworks!

A couple of weeks ago our friends the Brauchts arrived to visit from Texas.  Most of my walking was done in their company, with another trip to Mt. Vernon, Old Town, and Georgetown (via a water taxi from Old Town!).  I learned and saw new things, like the somewhat indelicate reason George Washington wanted his horses to jog instead of walk while they trampled his grain. I like to think that my friends did enough walking for me for a couple of weeks!  We concluded their visit with a trip to see the Nationals play!  What fun!
Now that they're back in Texas, it's back to basics with the training.  This past Sunday Chad and I found a great trail near Georgetown in Glover-Archibold Park.  It's very woodsy, quiet, and uphill.  Perfect.  We look forward to exploring more, perhaps this coming weekend.

Starting July off on the Right Foot

In what might be a first for me... I didn't hit the snooze this morning. Instead, I got out of bed, learned the basics of using the GPS, and was out the door for my walk. I had a great walk this morning. It was fairly cool outside and there were plenty of people walking to work so I got in a fair amount of people watching (including someone in a large donut costume). I walked down King Street to the Potomac River and then jumped onto the Mt. Vernon Trail. I followed this along the river until I reached Gravelly Park (aka the park at the end of the DCA runway!) where Chris was waiting to pick me up. Although I had a great walk this morning and kept an average pace of 3.7 (according to my fun new GPS toy) the walk was about 2 miles shorter than I thought it would be! How disappointing. At least I got in a great morning walk and learned to use the GPS instead of trusting mapquest. My training is going really well. Now if only I could keep up with Cinnamon's insane fund-raising...