It’s SPRING TIME! I’ve decided to incorporate my daily commute home from my job into my training. So, every day, rather than taking the smelly, dirty bus home, I change into sweats in a tiny office bathroom stall and head on down through town to a beautiful wooded trail between my office and my home.





Not only do I enjoy patting myself on the back for being so earth friendly but, I also enjoy that time to pretend my phone doesn’t work while listening to the spring birds tweeting, the occasional bike wiz past, and my feet pound the pavement. It is so therapeutic. My walk is about 3.5 miles and on the days I go to the gym after work; it’s a full 4.5 mile walk. I walk every single day, rain or shine. On the rainy days, I accessorize my outfit with a huge pink umbrella which I’d really like a lot of compliments on except there is no one on the trail those days except this guy… otherwise the trail is basically empty on cloudy days, drizzly days, rainy days... Wusses!








Not only has my body adjusted to the daily walk home (that I hope to make a daily walk to and from work) but my soul has adjusted to the daily walk. I spend the entire day longing for the moment when I can slip on my super comfortable pink and gray tennis shoes, zip up my jacket, and walk away every concern I have. My stress melts off my shoulders as I take each additional step. Who knew training could be so wonderful! I’ve become such an addict that on weekends, I insist we walk everywhere. My husband is thrilled. And by thrilled I mean, he hates it. Last weekend, I insisted we walk downtown to go out to dinner. So, of course, I decided to take it to the extreme and walk downtown in HIGH HEELS… 3.5 miles in HIGH HEELS. I do this walk every day and it doesn’t hurt my feet, so clearly it won’t hurt in high heels. I’m not always the brightest. Now my little heels look extra fashionable with a big bandaid on my blister:




Never the less, back to the joys of walking… No longer do I have to look at dirty ice clumps and melted puddles of mud. I now get to see FLOWERS!!!





This week, the trail will be lined with beautiful pink cherry blossoms… I cannot wait! I’m going to spend a few extra minutes diverted in the cherry blossom lined neighborhoods and relishing in the luster of Spring. Thank God for Zyrtec! Now, if only Summer could just take its time on arriving. I’m not looking forward to hot itchy hives, frizzy hair, and stink.

Until then, train on my lovely 3 Day walkers! Enjoy the beautiful sights as nature dresses up to thank you for your magnificent strides for a cure!

Fundraising

Today is March 26, 2010 and I have done little to nothing beyond word of mouth to fundraise for the 3 Day. I feel like a fundraising failure. Next month I start the official 24 week training schedule and, since I’ve been walking 3.5 miles a day for a couple of months now, I’m not too frightened by the training schedule. What frightens me most is fundraising in a downed economy where people, out of necessity, must cling to their wallets. Let’s face it; much of fundraising is having your friends support you as you support a cause. I’ve discussed this with many people and well, people’s faith in me completing the 3 Day is low. Somehow they seem to think some sort of life altering situation or work or life in general will get in the way of me training/walking in the 3 Day. I would like to state, for the record, I’m walking. I’m training like a champ. I’ve put in to take the time off 10 month in advance. The 3 Day is in my calendar and I’m going to put every last effort I have into doing this walk. So there it is: I’m walking.
However, regardless of whether you think I will walk or not, you aren’t donating to me, you are donating to a cause that provides funding to experimental programs that research ways to help so many women and men who are struggling with the unbearable burden of breast cancer. You are funding programs that help families manage the unbearable burden of caring for someone with breast cancer. You are funding programs that build awareness so that other organizations with a lot of money can donate toward programs that help people with the unbearable burden of breast cancer. You are donating to the 1 in 8 women who will need a cure for breast cancer yesterday, not tomorrow. You are donating toward the people I love who have lost so much, who live in fear of a lump, who spend holidays without, who worry for their children, who visit the doctor more than once a year just in case, who live with the unbearable burden of living without… You are donating toward the people I love who fought, won, and bear the scars on their chest of hours upon hours in a hospital bed with a tube attached to a hole in their body. These are the people who made it through the nausea, the stares, the curious questions, and the feeling of the unbearable burden of the fear of dying weighing heavily on their shoulders. You are donating so that they too can go to the doctor and not have the fear of another tiny lump.
I’m not asking for much. Actually, I’d love a ton. I’d love you to open your wallets, shake out the contents, and then grab your neighbor’s wallet, your best friend’s wallet, your sister’s wallet, and your brother’s wallet. I’d love for you to poke your wealthy friend and beg them to throw some of their hard earned cash to this worthy tax deductible charity. I’d love you to get your company to match your donation tenfold. But, what I’d really love is for you to take a moment to care for all those people in your life that breast cancer has touched. No donation is too small. You are right to have your doubts for me to walk the 3 Day. If I don’t raise $2300 by October 8, I don’t walk. The benefit is I raise a great deal of money to a very important cause but I don’t get to walk with thousands of other strong individuals making a statement to the world that we are taking dramatic STRIDES toward a cure to breast cancer.
Finally, if you don’t help me raise this $2300, I also won’t get the chance to wear a hot pink tutu in PUBLIC… as in… the same town I live in… as in… my neighbors, coworkers, friends, husband’s coworkers… NEWS AGENCIES… will not get a chance to see me in a hot pink tutu… IN PUBLIC (autographed copies of photos provided at your request).
So, friends, please consider donating to my breast cancer walk. I will not be the only person who will be forever grateful…

Happy New Year! Now, put on your 60 mile game face!

I went on a walk on New Years Day 2010 and thought about how much 2009 kicked me in the butt mentally and physically. I thought about how I spent days upon days feeling sorry for myself. I decided I needed a reality check. I then thought about a powerful lady I knew who struggled and lost her battle with breast cancer. She always maintained a positive tough attitude despite every single struggle the disease threw at her. I sat with her while she laughed through chemotherapy, joked about her nausea, and actually asked me about my problems as she sat in her hospital bed. After she passed away I walked my first Komen 3 Day for a Cure with my sister and friend Laura. That time, I wanted to walk for the men and women I knew affected by breast cancer whether it was struggling while a loved one was afflicted by the disease, or losing someone to the disease, or actually fighting the disease themselves. This time, of course, I want to walk for the same reasons as last time but, I also want to walk because the people affected by breast cancer don't just need their loved ones to support them, they need millions of strangers to also take a stand and not let the lack of a cure pass by without notice. I want to walk for people stronger than me. I may not be able to cure breast cancer. I may not be able to make the struggle better. But, I do know, I can walk 60 miles, knee braces and all, to take a stand and raise a ton of money for people who deserve millions upon millions of people taking a notice. (Did I mention I am going to have to share a tiny tiny tiny tent with a stranger and I'm not really comfortable even hugging relatives... Sacrifices, people, sacrifices!)

On to the physical motivation... This weekend I purchased key items for the next 10 months of training.

Items purchased:

1. The best best best lumbar pack (they wouldn't embarrass you with calling it a "hip pack" or a "fanny pack"... thank god): the Mountainsmith Tour Lumbar Pack. I had this for the last 3 Day I did and I loved it! The padding in the back is like a hug for your lower back and makes carrying 2-32 oz water bottles on your hips feel like a second skin. It also helps that it has wide straps around your waist so there's more support for extra heavy stuff in your bag. I also took my last lumbar pack touring in London and still felt hip (clearly b/c its sporty and has an added shoulder strap for when you may be embarrassed and need to do a quick wardrobe change). Why I am not just using my last Mountainsmith Lumbar Pack? Oh, because I left it on a live stove (mind you, I was in college) and it melted. Genius.

2. The number one consumer reports pedometer. I'll have to report more on this later as I haven't tried it yet but, I've read you can clip it to your sports bra (thus no horrible rubbing on your hips when you are on mile 16 in 89 degree muggy heat) and still get accurate results. I'll be the judge on this one, consumer reports!

3. Also, Asics Gel-Trabuco 12 WR sweet awesome fierce shoes! I'm not going to lie, while the shoes were hugely comfortable and not very heavy (huge plus on mile 19) the bonus factor had a lot to do with how fantastic they will look with black tights and a hot pink tutu. I swore to Andy I would wear the hot pink tutu on the 3 Day if (1) I raise enough money ($2,300... holy crap!!) to actually participate and (2) [Easy part] I have trained enough to actually get that tutu over my hips!

I hope you guys follow me, support me, have fun with me, and, of course, donate to a hugely important cause.... http://www.the3day.org/goto/jennyobrien