33 MILES!!!

This weekend was the infamous Back-to-Back training walks. The training schedule builds up during the last few months to this weekend where we walk 18 miles on Saturday followed by 15 miles Sunday. In theory if we survive walking 33 miles this weekend we should be all set to walk 60 miles starting July 24th. It's always exciting and exhausting.....this year was no different!

There were about 15 of us on Saturday and we had great weather ~ warm, a little sunny, and shockingly no rain. Boston has been inundated with rain during the month of June so it's a shame I was busy walking during our rare dry day! Anyway, we started off and I had forewarned everyone that at the 7 mile mark there would be a MONSTER hill. One of the walkers was a repeat from last year so she knew I wasn't exaggerating. If you know Summit Ave in Brookline you know what I'm talking about! If you're not familiar with the road, imagine a steep incline that goes up higher than your eye can see. Not a fun trip on a good day, but after a 7 mile "warm up" and knowing there's still 11 more miles of road ahead of you it's quite daunting!

BUT, I have it on the route for a very good reason. I tell every walker that when they get to the top of Summit Ave, they'll know they can accomplish the 3Day because such a steep hill would never be included in the official 3Day route. So, they curse me for a few moments when they see the hill, and then they thank me after the 3Day! :-)

18 miles covers a ton of ground - we walked through Southie, Chinatown, Back Bay, Fenway, Brookline, Allston, Cambridge (stopped for lunch in Harvard Square) and then headed back to Southie. Not much of the city was missed!

My usual routine after a big walk is a nice long, relaxing bath before taking a shower. But seeing as my new bathroom is a mess baths are out of the question so I had to jump right in the shower. About halfway through rinsing the conditioner out of my hair disaster stuck. Water started shooting out of the TOP of the shower head, over the shower curtain, and soaking every crevice in my bathroom. This is something you'd want to happen on a good day, but to try and deal with it after walking 18 miles is a bit much. Needless to say I hurriedly rinsed my hair and turned off the water. After drying off the bathroom I had to get ready for my friend Gloria to come over so I chose to ignore the bathroom seeing as there was nothing I could do about it at the time.

Fast forward to Sunday morning....

Woke up feeling achy and tired. Swallowed a couple of aspirin and headed out to walk 15 miles.

All of my routes start in Southie because it was uber-convenient when I lived there. Now that I have to get in my car and drive to Southie I'm HATING those routes! Or at least the starting point of them which requires me to wake up earlier.

Sunday was back to our standard June weather: cold (60's), rain, cloudy. I was there bright and early and no one else was around. Just as I was contemplating bailing on the walk because I get bored walking that long by myself I few people showed up. We were a smaller, heartier group - just 6 of the 15 from the day before came back. Usually people wake up feeling sore and decide to bail on the 2nd day of training. Not me though!

I put on my GIANT trash bag-like rain poncho to keep warm and was off for Day 2! The rain isn't great for walking because people tend to concentrate on that and chat a little less. But I was really impressed with this group of 6. They were all in great shape, chatty, and had a great 2nd day of training. We had all walked together a few times already so it also made conversation easy, and I didn't have to answer as many questions about the 3Day which was a nice little break. All of them might have been doing well, but I was exhausted, and just trying my best to keep up with everyone! Luckily I made it to the end of the route, went home and fixed my shower, and was in bed asleep by 9pm!

Interesting things learned on my walks: I met a woman who went to BU about 10 years before me and lived in my same apartment building. There are only about 40 units in that bldg, and BU is a huge school, but somehow it seems like everyone I meet lived there. Case in point - I met another girl on a walk a few weeks ago who graduated about 2-3 years ago and she ALSO lived in "the Leonards bldg". Small world.

Also learned how to fix my shower temporarily with plumbing tape (not duct tape as I had planned to do) from a walker Sunday. Now I just need to walk with someone who's an expert at refinishing furniture and we'll be all set! :-)