18/11

Don't worry - this is not a post about math and does not involve converting fractions into mixed numbers. You were scared, weren't you?

These 2 numbers signify the mileage I covered, respectively, on Saturday and Sunday. And this isn't even as far as I was supposed to walk. I was supposed to walk 15 on Sunday. Yeah, my legs didn't get that memo and decided to go on strike at about mile 10. After a little pep talk, I managed to get one more mile out of them in order to get home and not be stranded on the Silver Comet Trail. Good times.

I'm a little discouraged that this was only 29 miles in 2 days and I actually have to walk 60 in 3. Something's not quite adding up. Here's what I'm hoping. The walking will be a bit more spread out during the actual event rather than me busting a move trying to get it done in the fastest time possible, thus leading to the feeling that I have dislocated my left hip. The adrenaline pumping and encouragement of other people being around me will also help, so I am not solely relying on Peaches and Herb's "Shake Your Groove Thing" to help me go those last few miles. This is what I'm hoping.

But apart from the end result of bathing in a vat of Myoflex and feeling like I broke myself, the awesome thing about this weekend was the weather. It was such a beautiful weekend and that really did motivate me. Fall is in the air everyone, and I, for one, cannot WAIT. For a lot of the miles I walked, I thanked God for the beautiful sunshine, slight breeze, fall smell, and general gorgeousness of His creation. It really was more of a blessing than a curse to have walked all those miles this weekend. Hooray for fall!

Walk...Don't Run

Not that any of you, dear readers, necessarily need tips for walking, but in my extensive travels around Cobb County, GA and around the track at CNN Center, here is what I have learned:

1.) You will get blisters, no matter what. But double layer socks help tremendously. I heart them.
2.) Say what you will about the fanny pack, but it is invaluable on walks for many reasons. Not the least of which are the holsters on the side for my 20 oz bottle of water and my 20 oz bottle of gatorade. That's right, I have holsters. I'm a walking cowboy. AND, there is a zipper pouch for my granola bars and my cell phone, should I get abducted. I still look like a total dork, but I'm a total dork with food, water and a wireless phone.
3.) The iPod shuffle is totally awesome. It's tiny and clips on to my shirt and holds an entire audiobook. Which brings me to my next point...
4.) Audiobooks rock. They make the time pass so much more quickly than when I'm just listening to music. So far I've listened to: The First Assistant, Shopaholic and Baby, and now I'm listening to The Jane Austen Book Club. Score!
5.) When it is 100 degrees outside, it is definitely worth it to walk 140 laps around the indoor, 1/10th of a mile track at the gym. You may get dizzy and nauseous, but you will not be hot my friends.
6.) Long distance walking is a lot harder than I thought it would be. You think you're just going out for a stroll and 3 1/2 hours later, the 14 miles you just walked have totally kicked your butt.
7.) It's a lot harder than I thought, but it's a lot easier to do it when you have a cause to walk for and a friend to walk with.
8.) X-Factor Gatorade is delicious!
9.) Stretching really is important.
10.) Even though I can walk 14 miles, I still feel like I'm going to hurl after trying to run even half of one. Go figure.

I'm sure I will learn a lot more as my training continues and will write more as I learn. Be sure to stay tuned for more on my exciting Breast Cancer 3 Day journey! Only 2 more months to go.

A Walk to Forget...err Remember.

In October I'll be participating in the Atlanta 3 Day Breast Cancer Walk and so I've been training for the past oh, 3 weeks I would say. So far it's all been roses and sunshine, minus the getting up early every morning, but the roses and sunshine went out the window this Saturday. I don't know if it's because I'm old or my body's getting used to it, I'm walking incorrectly, or d.) all of the above. But, I am currently experiencing what I will call a "belt of pain" that is aptly named because it sits pretty much where a belt would. My abdomen and lower back are not friends of mine right now. This could be due to the fact that I walked 5 miles on Saturday and then went to a wedding where I danced, in HEELS, for about 2 hours. It's like I was asking for muscle pain. But I think it's my body getting used to walking/cross-training everyday, so I'm hoping that eventually this will get better. I've also considered that I might need to do additional stretching or perhaps crunches/back exercises and perhaps that will help. I love crunches about as much as I love the CW though, which if you know me, is not very much (darn you CW for canceling Veronica Mars! A plague on your network!!).

Anyway, I'll be sure to keep you updated on the state of my "belt of pain". I know you are dying to know. So far, Myoflex and Aleve have been my BFF's. Oh, and if you, my faithful readers, know of anyone who would like to donate to my walk in October, consider this a shameless plug for that because I'm including the link to my website below. I'll be walking 60 miles in 3 days, in honor of my grandmother.

http://www.the3day.org/atlanta07/jburns

PS - I particularly enjoyed this picture because of the lightning bolts. I think it really captures the pain this woman must be enduring. And because maybe it will make you think I'm as muscular as she is.

Namaste

This is what we say at the end of every one of my yoga classes that I have been taking for a little less than a year now. It's an hour of much needed peace in my day and I love it. I always feel like a new person when I walk out of there and about 10 feet taller too. I'm slowly getting some of my flexibility back and it's made me much more aware of my body and each individual muscle and joint. I'm much more aware when something is off now. It's pretty cool. And one of my new favorite smells is burning sage - it immediately makes me feel calm.

I wish I was able to go more often to this class. Work gets so busy and I often feel like I don't have the time. I think I need to make a point though of carving out the time. Things will not collapse at work if I am not there for an hour. I just need to keep telling myself this. My instructor talks about how important it is to make time for yourself, so perhaps I will make this one of my New Year's resolutions. Can you make New Year's resolutions after the New Year has already started? I'll just call it a resolution, minus the New Year's.

Also, I just found out a friend of mine who takes this class with me just realized we were saying "Namaste" at the end of class and not "Have a nice day." I laughed long and hard about that one. This is the same friend who also thought the Beatles song "Can't Buy Me Love" really said "Cat Puppy Love". I get a lot of laughs courtesy of her.