Saturday, March 5, 2011

Just Going for a Little Walk...

Ok, as most of you know, I am an ambassador for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure.  I am very passionate about helping to find a cure for breast cancer and raising awareness in the process.  With that being said, we all have to start somewhere.  My journey started with just going for a little walk.  Saying that you are going to walk 60 miles and actually walking 60 miles are two totally different things.  So, where do you begin?  Not everyone is in shape and ready to tackle those 60 miles ( YET ).  You have to make a commitment.  To do a little each and every day, to get you ready for those three days.  Now, I have met some people that never trained or prepared themselves for those three days.  All I can say is, if you really think that you can walk twenty miles on day one.  Then, sleep on the ground, in a tent ( air mattress or not ), get up on day two and walk another twenty miles.  ( Repeat the sleeping arrangements from the night before ) then finish up the 60 miles on day three.  Well, then you are better that I am!  I will tell you that I trained for six months.  Some days harder than others, but every day I did something.  I did really well walking in Cleveland.  Was I sore?!?  ( Can I say, He- double hockey sticks ) YES!  Even with all my training I still felt like I got hit by a mac truck!  Would I do it again YES!!!  To be exact 3 months later.   I drove to Washington DC to do it all over again.  I changed some things, but another 60 miles lay before me.  I will tell you that walking in DC was much more of a challenging course than Cleveland.  ( In my opinion )  So, if you are going to walk in DC my sincerest advice is to train on hills!  If you can find a ( Small Mountain ) feel free to train on that, multiple times!  I loved the scenery an all the amazing people that I met walking in DC, but it was rough.  I'm not going to lie to you!  I did end up getting blisters on this walk, and losing multiple toe nails, but nothing that would keep me from finishing.  So, where do you start?  When you sign up to walk in the 3-day, you are offered a wonderful ( FREE ) service called the virtual trainer.  If you sign up for this service.  Every week you will get an e-mail out lining their suggestion for what you should do for your training.  It also includes other helpful tips.  I found this to be really helpful as a first timer.  I sometimes changed things up, because I felt like doing a little more, or I would change my day off from training.  I also found as time went on that I kept a record of what I was doing and how I felt during and after the training.  It may take a little more time and effort on your part, but on days that you are feeling a little less than motivated you can go back and look at your progress.  We all have to start somewhere, even if it is just going for a little walk.  So, do a little bit each and every day. Before you know it you will be at the opening ceremonies of the 3-Day and you will start your Amazing journey...

1 comment:

  1. They did find every single hill in the DC area, didn't they?!?! Haha! Keeping a record will also amaze you! You won't believe it when you reach 100 and 200+ miles walked - IN LESS THAN A YEAR! Great advice!

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