I will not wear a fanny-pack

Okay, so there's a lot of opinion about what type of bag to carry on the 3-day.  The overwhelming suggestion - a fanny-pack.  Really?! Seriously?! What the heck is flattering or the least bit attractive about a fanny-pack?!  I won't be the first one to tell you, it's not a fashion show.  Although you'll likely see a lot of getups, men in fabulous bras or just overall draped in pink.  Pink hair, pink wings, pink boas - you name it you'll see it. When it comes to the practical, realistic, real stuff? You're not seeing fashion - it's all about comfort and being practical.

You won't see a lot of people wearing back packs, the only ones I saw? The Men With Heart.  They carry a full back pack - full of all the goodies you can want or need on the walk.  They carry because they are not only there to walk and raise money, but they are there to support the women walking - by carrying extra supplies or singing a fabulous songs.  The state house recognized these awesome men recently and I say it's about time.  They are an awesome motivator, supporter and an overall inspiration to anyone within shouting distance of the walk.

So what's that photo above you ask?? Well that is what EMS calls a waist pack.  So there, I refused to wear a fanny-pack and well I didn't....exactly....  Overall it held what I needed and I barely noticed the thing.  It's important to train with whatever you plan to walk with and I found the 'waist pack' to be just the thing for the big event.

Oh Deer!

I'm back on the trail! If you look closely you can see one of the perks of the trail, a little doe staring at me.  I saw one just like her last year on a drizzly day too.  It's a beautiful place to train for the big event.

It's been a very busy month at work.  I work at a college and Saturday is graduation.  This week has been full of celebrations and year end events so it has been tricky getting in the miles.  Tuesday morning I logged 8 miles before work! "How long does it take you to do that?!" people ask me.  Well I'll tell you, quite a bit of time! If I can average 17-18 minutes a mile I'm doing well.  Keep in mind it's important to stop, stretch and grab a snack every so often.  Today I walked another 8 miles and broke it up by enjoying a PB&J next to a pond.  It isn't hard to do this when you have such beautiful scenery to distract you.  Of course audio books on the iPod help a lot too.

I'm almost half way to my fundraising goal with just two months left to go YIKES! Lots more training to get to only 35 miles logged so far.  When I reach 100 I get to break in my new sneakers, can't wait.

Where the heck has she been!?

Okay I’m back. I took a small vacation to my couch with a box of Kleenex for the past several days.  I haven’t had a cold in YEARS and this stupid thing knocked me silly. I didn’t want to go to the doctors but I finally dragged myself there only to have them minimize my misfortune as the ‘common cold’. Really? There was nothing common about sleeping 13 hours at a time and being unable to walk in a straight line, ah well.  I’m on the road to mending and finally made it to the gym this morning.  I haven’t walked any further than the kitchen in a week so it’s time to get back to training!  I hear we will have some beautiful weather this weekend and I’m looking forward to getting back on the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail soon!

Free massage? Yes please!

Now, I consider this spring weather! Sunday I went to the Kickoff Training events sponsored by New Balance.  Can you believe I actually won another 1 hour massage??  This here is one lucky (soon to be pampered) lady.  A lot of people showed up for this event, sounds like we will have a lot of company on this walk in July.

Above is a shot from the 2010 walk, my walking partner Christina, I and the New Balance shoe – sporting non other but New Balance shoes love it!  Looking at the absence of sweat and the fact that we still have smiles on our faces I would say that this is earlier on Day 1 (pre-blisters and ankle injuries).  That was the easy day.  We were running on little sleep and pure excitement!  

As of today my fabulous donors have brought my fundraising totals up to $600 wahoo!! At this rate I’ll make my $2300 goal in no time. I’m starting to get super excited and anxious for July to get here already!  Thanks again to my friends and family for their continued support.

THE shoe

I’m a woman and I love shoes – more recently though I love sneakers. This stinky shoe I’m holding up is my favorite of all time. I walked 2 of the 3 days in this shoe and on the third - at the end I cried because all I wanted was my flip flops.  You should have seen me, a grown woman looking at her husband, “but where are my flip flops?!”  His response, “they are in the car” (pointing across a soccer field). “NOOOOO, I can’t walk another step in these I just want my flip flips!!!” Apparently 60 miles and the longing for breathable shoes not rubbing against your 7+ blisters turns a (relatively) sane woman into a tantrum throwing toddler.  Despite my inability to control normal emotions that day my loving husband had me sit while he retrieved my sandals.

Even though I hated this shoe at the end I love where it got me. It is a super pair that I will often wear and I will definitely go with New Balance again.  This Sunday New Balance will be holding a shoe clinic for 3-Day participants and I will be turning up for a look at what they have in stock for me this year.

By the way, these sneakers are at the outlet in Lawrence at a price that’s a steal! I scooped them up and will be sporting the very same sneakers I love to hate again this year!

My recent distraction

I’m finally settling back into the office after a few days of fun and a trip south.  I had the opportunity to visit some family with my grandmother for a few days.  It was an amazing trip because Grams got the chance to meet her youngest great grand daughter for the first time!  Right there in one room was 4 generations of fabulous women – how many people are that lucky!?  I for one am grateful to witness such an amazing thing.

Training season is getting close so it better stop snowing out there! April 3^rd will mark 16 weeks until the walk – it’s that close!!  I for one will be kicking it off in style at the New Balance store in Burlington for the kickoff event, shoe clinic and training walk.  For those of you that are thinking about joining in on the fun come on down! Last year I won a gift card for a free massage just for showing up – not too shabby.

Volunteer Break

What a day! I visited the MSPCA in Methuen with a group of fantastic people from NECC.  It’s still a bit chilly here and yes it even snowed a little on us.  This little guy is Billy (get it Billy-goat ha!) and I had the pleasure of taking him on a walk.   Billy is only 8 months old, full of energy and LOVES to pull you along as you walk; I think he’d make a great walking partner if it wasn’t for his constant desire to stop and eat dead leaves.   He’s up for adoption but needs a good home with a goat proof fence to keep him out of trouble.  Nevin’s Farm is a great facility with loads to do and loads of eh, um….how to put this delicately well, poop. We shoveled a lot of poop and then some more – but it’s a job that needs to be done and we were happy to lend a hand.

If you’re in the market to adopt a friend they’ve got them all birds, cats, dogs, pigs, horses and yes even adorable little goats! They also take donations, funding of course but also blankets or towels for the little critters to cuddle with.  Check out Methuen MSPCA to see how you can lend a hand!