Week 14: Another Eighteen

If you're paying close attention, you probably noticed that I skipped week 13 entirely! Last weekend we were in Colorado, and while I didn't exactly skip my training walks, I didn't exactly finish them either! Thankfully it was an easy week, and I was only supposed to do 10 miles on Saturday and 8 on Sunday. On Saturday we were in Boulder, and we walked about 6 miles during the day, around the Pearl Street Mall downtown and to and from the CU stadium for the KU game. I thought I'd get up early on Sunday and get my 8 miles done, but when we woke up it looked like a blizzard outside! Later in the afternoon Chad walked about 3 miles with me, and then we walked almost another 3 to and from Invesco Field for the Steelers/Broncos game that night. Thankfully, this weekend I was still able to complete my 18 miles on Saturday despite slacking off last weekend!

The 18 miles on Saturday started off with a 1.5 mile walk with the dogs early in the morning, and I definitely had to layer up because it was only 39 degrees at 6:45. BRRR!! After dropping Celtic and Hope off at home, I walked over to my friend Amber's house--almost 3 miles away--and took a short break there before heading out for just over 6 miles. After that, I walked the 3 miles back home, and took another short break before taking the dogs out for another 2 miles, which brought me up to 15 miles on the day. A couple of hours later, Chad and I headed over to a benefit 5K in memory of one of my sorority sisters who passed away when we were in college. I was able to finish my last 3 miles catching up with old friends, which was really nice!

On Sunday, I walked my first 3 miles with my doggy friends at the shelter, which certainly wasn't at the 4+ m.p.h. pace I'd walked the day before, but I counted it anyway! When I got home I took my own dogs out for almost 1.5 miles, and then walked by myself for a very fast five miles. Since I was bored being alone, I picked up the pace and went an average of 14:12 per mile on my last 5. I was pretty sore upon my arrival home, but it was worth it to get the walk over with more quickly! I was telling someone the other day that probably anyone could walk 20 miles in a day if they did it slowly enough; the challenge comes with getting it done fast enough to enjoy your afternoon and evening!

Thanks!!

Earlier this week, we had our fundraiser at Set'em Up Jack's to raise money for our 3-Day team. Between us and our friend Mike (who decided about 2 weeks ago to do the 3-Day in Dallas this weekend), we brought in at least 40 people t0 the restaurant, so it was a pretty good showing! I just wanted to say thanks to all of my wonderful friends, neighbors, coworkers and family members who came: Amber & Jake, Dante, JoAnna, Brenda, Paula & Aaron, Christy & Chris, Joanie & Rory, Ann & Ben, Nate, Linda, Robyn, Faith, Debra and her mom, the Andersons and the Hilliards. Thank you all so much for your support, and a special thanks to Danny, our friend and the owner of Jack's, for his generosity!

The 3-Day Times Newletter

I finally finished and published my one and only newsletter of the year! If you didn't receive a link via email the other night, please feel free to check it out here. There are actually a few bits of information that I haven't covered in my blog yet, so hopefully it won't be entirely old news!

Logo Options

Last week I was working on making a logo for our 3-Day team, despite the fact that I really have no graphic design skills whatsoever. I just thought it would be fun to have something to put onto t-shirts, so that in a crowd of 4,000 walkers in a far away city, people will be able to tell that we’re a team. While none of my attempts at a logo are really that original or exciting, I’d still like some assistance from my few loyal readers to help me figure out which is the best option. So here are your choices:

#1–Pink KU Jayhawks on dark jugs


#2–Pink Jayhawks on lighter jugs


#3–Grey Jayhawk on pink jugs



So there are your choices!! Vote below for your favorite, and thanks for your input!

Week Twelve: Rain Delay and Record Day

This weekend was the most time consuming walking weekend on the entire 3-Day training schedule, and I'm really glad it's over! We were supposed to do 18/15 mile walks back-to-back, and because of the KU football game smack in the middle of Saturday, my plan was to get up super early on Saturday morning and walk around 15 miles before we had to leave for the game at 10:30 or so. At about one in the morning, there was a crazy load thunderstorm that rolled into town. When my alarm went off at 5 a.m., it was still pouring down rain with tons of lighting. I checked the radar and then went back to bed, hoping the storm would be over soon so I could start walking!

When I woke again at 6, it was still pouring and thundering, as it was when I finally got out of bed at 7:45. I called the local rec center to see if a treadmill was available and headed across town, where I started walking on the treadmill by 8:30. In a 55 minute period, I walked a very quick 4.3 miles, which was far cry from the 15 miles I had planned! I rushed home to get ready for the game, and then after a couple of long rain delays, didn't get home from the game until after 5 in the evening. I headed straight out to finishing my walking, looping back to the house every few miles to chat with my brother, who was in town from LA, and my mom, who was visiting from Topeka. I eventually finished my 15 miles (counting the 1.2 miles we walked to and from the car and the stadium) at 9:30 that night.

The bummer about finishing so late was that I had to get up at 6 the next morning to do my 18 mile walk with Vikkie in Kansas City. I drove the 45 minutes to her house, and we got started just after 8 a.m., but without the recovery time I was pretty much sore as soon as we started! We walked through some beautiful areas of Johnson County, knocking out our 18 miles with an average pace of 14:53 minutes per mile, not counting our two breaks of about 15 minutes each. We were done by 1 p.m., but I was pretty much spent the rest of the day! I'm so glad we have only one walk of over 10 miles left on the training schedule, and only 3 more weekends of training! YEA!

Good Food for a Good Cause

Next Tuesday is an important night you should mark on your calendar. On Tuesday the 23rd, we're having the second annual Breast Cancer 3-Day benefit night at our favorite restaurant, Set'em Up Jack's. Our friend Dan who owns Jack's has offered to donate 25% of each food and drink bill during the evening to the 3-Day, provided the patrons bring in this flier and give it to their server.

So, if you're looking for a good excuse to not cook dinner next Tuesday, come to Jack's for a great meal that will help a good cause. It should be tons of fun! We hope to see everyone there!

Easy Week Eleven

This last weekend was such a nice break from the long walks of the last few weekends. We only had to do 10 and 8 miles on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. I walked a couple of miles with my dad, who is visiting from Ohio, on Saturday morning, and then the remaining 8 miles with my loyal walking partner Amber. It was remarkably humid for a fall morning in October, but we had an enjoyable walk none the less.

On Sunday, the dogs and I took a 5 mile walk despite getting sprinkled on a few times, and then after dinner my dad and I went out for another mile and a half. In my final 1.5 miles, I practiced my speedwalking--it's much easier to walk quickly when you don't have to carry on a conversation! Plus, when you're alone with your thoughts and it's dark outside, you want nothing more than to get FINISHED with your walk!

I'm going to try to increase my mileage a little this week to prepare myself for next weekend: our back-to-back 18/15 walks! It's going to be a big time commitment, one that I would prefer not to have next weekend since my brother's coming to visit!

Week Ten: 30!

I was a little nervous about last weekend's walk because of the incomplete weekend before, but I managed to get my training miles of the weekend completed without incident! Saturday was a great day for walking with beautiful weather, and my friend Vikkie and I started out from our house just after 7 a.m. and walked the almost 3 miles to my friend Amber's house. We took a 6-7 mile loop around various neighborhoods, returning to Amber's house for a short break, complete with snacks, a change of socks, and a little Bodyglide on the feet to prevent blisters. After filling up with water, Vikkie and I were off again, heading out for 7-8 more miles in a route that ended up back at our house. We made one other snack/rest break at a playground, but for the most part we kept up a terrific pace, finishing 17 miles just before noon. Our average mile pace was 14:49, which means we were walking fast, as usual. I'm pretty sure I can't keep that pace up for 3 days, but at least the first day we'll be in good shape for getting done quickly!

Sunday I was scheduled for 13 miles, and after walking the dogs just over 2 miles in the morning, I had to break for church and lunch with friends. I resumed my walking at the Humane Society with the residents there, but only got about a mile in because I had so many pictures to take. My friend Heather and I met up on campus late in the afternoon and took an almost 6 mile journey around The Hill, but it was dark by the time we finished. I still had about 3 miles to go when I got home, so I took the dogs back out for a late night stroll and ended up at about 12.5 (recorded) miles for the day.

As Heather and I were walking she asked me if I preferred to walk in the morning or evening, and I told her I preferred morning just because you never know what your day might bring that will ruin your evening walking plans. After walking late into the evening on Sunday, I realized that I also didn't like evening walking because I'm just so tired by the end of the day! I was pooped Sunday night! Of course, it might have been the 17 miles the day before!