Marathon Weekend

After walking 15 miles Saturday I walked 11 miles Sunday for a total of 26 miles this weekend. Just like they run in a Marathon! Sat was my great walk, wonderful company and great scenery.

Sunday was not as glamorous. My usual route is down Morrissey Blvd in Dorchester past things like Jiffy Lube, Gas Stations, etc. unlike the beautiful things I saw on Sat. But I can do it in my sleep so it's easy to bang it out by myself. And I had a Baby Shower in the afternoon so I had to start early in order to have time to walk 11 miles and still make it to the shower on time.

The walk was fine and as I came back into the building a neighbor was walking in with her Sunday Globe. She asked me if it was hot walking and I said "I'm always hot walking" When she heard I had walked 11 miles she said "really?" I said "yes" and she turned back around and said "Did you really say you just walked 11 miles???" "Yes" "Good for you" said in a voice of amazement. I think she was probably looking at her copy of the Globe thinking that in the time I'd walked 11 miles she'd probably had some coffee and dressed to go next door to pick up the paper from the corner store. Heck, sometimes I'm still amazed about the distances I walk and then still go do other things like attend a Baby Shower. It's better I don't think about it and just get it done! And then go to sleep as soon as possible!

Can't wait to see Jeff and Liv's cute little baby due in August!

Training Walk #2

Saturday I led my 2nd walk and I think it was a great success! There were 8 of us in total and everyone walked about the same pace so we stayed together for all 15 miles. That is actually quite a miracle to have 8 strangers stay together that long! And to top that off, everyone seemed to get along well and throughout the day I think pretty much everyone spent some time talking to every other walker.

I actually knew half of the folks ahead of time which definitely helped me remember the name. There was Donna and Jeff my old next door neighbors from ages 5-8. Their daughter Missy and I are still friends, so we've seen each other periodically over the years, but probably haven't spent that much time together in over 2 decades! Then we had Cecelia, my walking buddy from last year. Caroline, my new Southie walking partner that was laid up with a sprained ankle for a while. Then 3 new 1st time walkers, Eileen, Cheryl and Melissa (Caroline's friend). What a great group!!!

We started in Southie, walked to the North End (you can't get there once the shops open or during lunch time or you'll loose all your walkers to the lure of the N. End!). We walked through the Haymarket Farmer's market and stopped to buy fresh peaches and apples. Yum! What a treat to have some fresh fruit while we walk! Then through the Public Garden and Boston Common. We all stopped at the South Station food court for lunch and a little break. And then treated our fellow diners to quite a show as 8 people changed their socks right in the middle of the food court! Heck, this time of year it's all about taking care of my feet above all else! Then we walked back to Southie and around Castle Island. Even managed to stop at Mr. Frosty for an ice cream cone to enjoy during the last mile of our walk. Overall, a really scenic route I love and I think everyone enjoyed!

2 Shockers - Caroline just finished rehabbing her ankle and had previously only walked 5 miles at one time. Yet she managed to walk 15 miles Sat! The other shocker is that Donna showed up looking perfect - full makeup, hair, everything. That's not surprising, but the fact she looked just as immaculate AFTER walking 15 miles was shocking! If I even start THINKING about walking 15 miles I'll start perspiring, but not her. Wish I was that lucky!

Thanks everyone for a really enjoyable walk!!!!

Chaperone

A month ago I met Emily through the infamous 3Day Message Board. She's only 15, turning 16 this week, and she's participating in the 3Day! Isn't that remarkable at such a young age?! She signed up to do the walk with 2 friends who are both 18 and therefore could serve as her chaperone during the event. You have to be 16 to walk, but if you're under 18 you need a fellow walker to be your chaperone on the event. Anyway, her two friends "flaked" as her Mom told me, so Emily needed a chaperone in order to still participate. Or course, I volunteered!

Emily lives about 3 1/2 hours away in NH, so we've been emailing during the last month. This weekend her family and friends were heading to Great Woods for a concert so we took the opportunity to meet up yesterday. What a great family! We chatted for about 45 minutes and I showed them my scrapbook (still had it in the car from the Expo). I'm so excited to be walking with Emily! If she's doing this at 16, you can imagine the wonderful things she'll be up to as she gets older! Go Em!!!

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! :-)