Expo

Yesterday I volunteered at the 3Day Expo....a Pep Rally to get everyone ready for the big event! The Expo is just a wealth of information. There are workshops on training, packing, how to treat your body, how to put up your tent, etc. I was stationed with Yvonne, another walker, at a few tables covering "Finding a Training Walk", "Fundraising" and "Joining a Team." As walkers came over the tables we would talk with them each of these topics and answer any questions they had. I brought along my scrapbook so that was on display as well. I'm happy to report it's still clean and in good condition!

The Expo was a lot of fun and I met a ton of walkers. It's always nice when you see a familiar face on the actual 3Day, so I'm looking forward to having even more 3Day friends during the walk! OOOH, and one other fun thing....They held a raffle at the end of the event for all the volunteers and I won a $30 Gift Certificate to Marathon Sports!!! Perfect timing seeing as I need to buy and break in my second pair of sneakers this week!

No pumice please

I treated myself to a Pedicure and my toes look great! However, when it came time for the infamous pumice stone I had to the tell the woman I couldn't have that part of the process. The pumice is the BEST part of a pedicure as it takes off all the dead skin and leaves your foot as smooth as a baby's bottom. In walk season the last thing you want is soft skin on your foot because it's bound to turn into big blisters on a 10+ training walk. The rough skin is something you work hard to achieve during all your training as a natural protection against blisters. I actually get nervous when I even see a pumice stone!

The woman didn't speak english, so here I am trying to tell her "NO pumice" and taking my foot out of her hand and she pretty much just thinks I'm insane! She had to get an interpreter and then just put the stone down and moved on. I'm sure she's still wondering why I didn't want that part, but if I couldn't explain "no pumice" successfully, how was I going to explain the 3Day?!

Heat Stroke

In case you haven't heard, we're having a heat wave in Boston. Yesterday it topped out around 93 degrees and was very humid. When I walked out the door at 8:30 am for my 9 mile walk the heat and humidity slammed me in the face. I should have known what I was in for....

Last year the 3Day temps were pretty tough - 100 degrees Friday and 93 degrees on Sat. And both days kicked my butt! I was slow and exhausted both days thanks to the heat and humidity. Yesterday was pretty much a flashback to last year.

Although I was walking slower than normal I was doing pretty good until about mile 6. At that point my legs started feeling tingly and I knew I needed some food and gatorade. I stopped at the grocery store at mile 7 to buy a power bar because I just didn't feel like eating the raisins and nuts I had in my fanny pack. Actually the heat and humidity usually takes away my appetite so nothing is tempting. Wish that could happen more often!

After sitting down on a bench eating the bars and drinking some water most of the tingling went away. So I got back and up and slowly started walking the final 2 miles home. It was tough. Every emotion was raw and the heat was really beating me down. I heard someone toot toot their horn in a friendly way, so I dragged my head to look up. There was a nice husband and wife in a pickup truck who smiled and waved at me. I half-heartedly smiled back because that was as much energy I could muster.

I didn't know the couple but this happens every once in a while on a training walk. Someone can tell I'm training for the 3Day (pink ribbon hat and fanny pack must give it away) and they beep and wave to cheer me on. It's always nice when this happens, but on Sunday I was so worn out and my emotions were on edge that I started to tear up. Now it really reminded me of last years walk because I started to cry last year when the heat and exhaustion set in. You know what this means? It's time for everyone to start praying REALLY hard that the temps are a balmy 80 degrees, no humidity and no rain for this years walk! While you're at it, pray for that kind of weather for my training walks too!

1st Training Walk!

Saturday was my 1st time hosting a Training Walk and overall it was a success! There were 8 of us in total and we managed to get in most of the 13 miles before the real heat set in. Thank goodness! We met at the beach in South Boston, and walked into Boston, the North End, through the Public Garden and Boston Common, the outskirts of Chinatown, and then around Castle Island in South Boston. Overall, a pretty good mix of the city!

I handed out directions to everyone, and we started walking. Pretty soon it was obvious that of the 8 of us, we walked at 2 paces: fast and not-so-fast. You probably guessed I was part of the not-so-fast group! I walked w/ 3 others (all 1st time 3Day walkers, although 1 of the women has participated in several Avon 2 Day walks, so I consider her a veteran)!

About 9 miles in, one of the girls I was walking with began feeling "woozie" so I hung out with her for a few minutes until she felt better. It's amazing how quickly that feeling can come on, and how just as quickly it goes away once you eat and drink something. She decided to cut out the last 4 miles, so I walked back with her while the other 2 kept going. Didn't want to lose one of my walkers! Once she was on her way home I finished up those 4 miles without trouble.

The only problem on my 1st ever Training Walk? I had a wrong turn listed on my directions! WHY?!??!?! I had worked so hard to make sure everything was right because the last thing I wanted to do was send someone the wrong way. Unfortunately my worst fear came true! Here's what happened....

I had printed directions and last week drove with Keysha to make sure they were correct. I made those changes at work, photocopied the directions so every walker would have a copy and was all set. On Friday night I decided re-format the directions so they were cleaner to read. I fogot the updated set up directions was on my work computer, so when I re-formatted using the file I had on my home computer the error in turning wasn't fixed. So, I got the 4 fast girls lost! Luckily they were familiar with the city and only walked about 1/2 mile before they realized I must have done something wrong and they turned around and got back on track. I can't even imagine how horrible it would have been if they didn't realize I did something wrong! Sorry girls! When you sign up to walk 13 miles in the heat, you sure as don't want to walk 14 miles!

Hopefully my next Training Walk is error free! Or perhaps it was a freudian slip and I didn't want to get lapped by the fast walkers? Just kidding! :-)

Finally we train!

About 6 weeks ago there was a post on the 3-Day Message Board asking if anyone wanted to train in South Boston. I naturally replied YES!!!! Caroline lives a few blocks away so we made plans to meet up. It was a comedy of errors - we were both waiting for each other on different city blocks, To make matters worse, I didn't have my cell phone so naturally we each thought we had been stood up! Luckily we realized we were just directionally challenged and made plans to walk the following weekend.

Then more misfortune intervened....

Caroline twisted her ankle playing softball and has been busy going to Physical Therapy ever since. Having an ankle/leg injury is my biggest worry so mentally I could feel her pain! Luckily she has rehabbed like a champ and tonight we finally we met up for a 3-4 mile walk. The weather wasn't great - foggy and damp - but we were troopers and went for it. Great lady, and the miles flew by in no time! Hopefully she'll have her ankle brace off soon and be back to 100%. And luckily it happened early in the training program so there's plenty of time to get up to speed and ready for the 60 miles in August!

Training Walk Leader

In case you haven't figured it out, I walk A LOT! And one thing I know for sure ~ it's more fun to walk with people! So, I decided to become a Training Walk Leader so I could post training walks on the 3-Day website and invite others to join me. Anyone can become a TWL, you just need to read the handbook, attend a Conference Call on your role and then you're ready to post a walk!

After doing all the prep work, I've spent the last week coming up with a 13 mile route for Sat. A "good" route just means there are bathrooms and places to get more drinks every 3 miles or so. After mapping the route out online, I drove the route with my Little Sister Keysha last night. She was a HUGE help as a navigator and writing down notes about bathrooms and mileage markers as we went. Thank goodness she was with me!

I've posted the walk on the 3-Day site and invited some folks who live in the area, so it should be another great walk meeting some new folks! One thing I've learned ~ you can never go wrong meeting new 3-Day walkers because they are a kind, good-hearted bunch!

ps. This picture is of the small "Legacy Pin" I'll receive for my efforts as a TWL. Legacy Pins are a BIG deal on the 3-Day and people like to collect them! My theory has always been "less is more" but I will attach the pin to my lanyard I wear around my neck with my ID on the event. Who knew the 3-Day had jewelry?! :-)

Pub Crawl

After walking my required 7+ miles this morning, I met up with my friend Suzanne for "Dot Day." Dorchester is the town next to South Boston (where I live) and unbeknownst to me, they have their own celebration every year called Dot Day, complete with a parade and appearances from the Mayor and Governor! Suz's friend Tracy has a bar in Dorchester along the parade route, so she has a party there to celebrate. A group of 18 met in Quincy and took a chartered bus over to Peggy O'Neils for the festivities. I couldn't join them on the bus because I was busy walking, but I managed to meet up with them later and even squeezed in another 3 miles of training!

Seeing as they close off a bunch of roads for the parade, I drove to my local Stop n Shop, parked my car, and then walked 1.4 miles (in the 85 degree heat) to the bar. Tracy had closed off the parking lot, and set up a band and tables in the space, so it was a regular old block party right in the middle of the city. What a beautiful day for it! Not to mention Tracy is one of the only people left on earth who has any Strawberry Blonde beer in stock, so I got to enjoy my tasty strawberry beer, out in the sun, while listening to the band! Not to mention, I added another 3 miles roundtrip to my training. I don't think it's possible for a day to get any better! :-)