I apologize for the lack of an update this week. Aside from walking a couple of times on my lunch hour, I've been preoccupied with dealing with automobile maintenance and being sick.
The auto maintenance isn't really that interesting - new batteries, oil changes, etc. Just things that were a bit overdue, thanks to procrastination. As for the sickness, I felt a cold coming on Wednesday and it hit with full force on Thursday evening, after walking about 3-4 miles with a friend. Fever, stuffy nose, sneezing, the whole shebang. I spent most of Friday and Saturday in bed (and anticipate the same for Sunday).
So I'm taking a weekend off from training - hopefully I'll be able to get back out on the road next week. We're two months away from Day 1, so I can't afford to miss too many more training days.
That's all for now...
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Heating Up
Okay kids, summer’s here, school’s out, and the weather is definitely heating up…and so is my training. Last Sunday, I put in a “quick” 6 miles in the morning before church. Then I did a little “cross-training” – behind my lawn mower! There’s nothing like working up a good sweat to get all the nasty stuff out of the body. Some like it hot and I’m one of ‘em. Good thing, too, since it stayed hot all week.
I walked three times during the during the work week, on my lunch hour with a couple of guys from the office. I don’t believe we’ve ever actually measured the distance, but it usually comes to an hour, give or take a few minutes. We walk pretty fast and don’t take any breaks for such silliness as stretching or resting. Since two of my walking partners are over six feet tall with a stride to match, I’m guessing we put in at least 3.5 miles on our almost-daily outings. In any case, it's been great to be able to do some weekday training, without having to find a way to squeeze it in before work (yuck, getting up early) or in the evening (always plenty of household stuff to do).
Tuesday, I saw my breast cancer survivor friend Stacey – she’s been healthy for more than three years and is doing great. She works in a hair salon and has cut my hair for over 13 years (actually, 17 if you count the years when I lived in other parts of the country and only saw her when I came home for Christmas). I’d offer more detail about our conversation, but it’s a little like going to Vegas…what happens between us, stays between us. I know, it’s rather odd for a salon whose primary customer base consists of gossipy women to allow secrets to be kept. Then again, Stacey always has marched to the beat of a different drummer.
As for the rest of the week, there was more heat and more walking – including a 7+ mile stroll on Saturday morning. One highlight of the week was going to the Twins-Braves baseball game on Thursday night with my dad…and several hundred co-workers. My company bought a block of tickets as part of a promotion with the Twins, so we went. We had a great time, although the game was rather frustrating for eight innings, as the Twins couldn’t do much of anything against the Braves’ starting pitcher. But in the ninth inning, the Twins rallied for a come-from-behind 3-2 victory. Yeah, baby!
That’s all I’ve got for now. I’ll be at it again tomorrow; I’m planning on walking another 6+ miles in the warm and steamy morning sunshine, followed by some cross-training in the afternoon – running around the backyard, chasing my two nieces.
Happy (early) Father’s Day!
I walked three times during the during the work week, on my lunch hour with a couple of guys from the office. I don’t believe we’ve ever actually measured the distance, but it usually comes to an hour, give or take a few minutes. We walk pretty fast and don’t take any breaks for such silliness as stretching or resting. Since two of my walking partners are over six feet tall with a stride to match, I’m guessing we put in at least 3.5 miles on our almost-daily outings. In any case, it's been great to be able to do some weekday training, without having to find a way to squeeze it in before work (yuck, getting up early) or in the evening (always plenty of household stuff to do).
Tuesday, I saw my breast cancer survivor friend Stacey – she’s been healthy for more than three years and is doing great. She works in a hair salon and has cut my hair for over 13 years (actually, 17 if you count the years when I lived in other parts of the country and only saw her when I came home for Christmas). I’d offer more detail about our conversation, but it’s a little like going to Vegas…what happens between us, stays between us. I know, it’s rather odd for a salon whose primary customer base consists of gossipy women to allow secrets to be kept. Then again, Stacey always has marched to the beat of a different drummer.
As for the rest of the week, there was more heat and more walking – including a 7+ mile stroll on Saturday morning. One highlight of the week was going to the Twins-Braves baseball game on Thursday night with my dad…and several hundred co-workers. My company bought a block of tickets as part of a promotion with the Twins, so we went. We had a great time, although the game was rather frustrating for eight innings, as the Twins couldn’t do much of anything against the Braves’ starting pitcher. But in the ninth inning, the Twins rallied for a come-from-behind 3-2 victory. Yeah, baby!
That’s all I’ve got for now. I’ll be at it again tomorrow; I’m planning on walking another 6+ miles in the warm and steamy morning sunshine, followed by some cross-training in the afternoon – running around the backyard, chasing my two nieces.
Happy (early) Father’s Day!
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Good News
I should have posted this entry earlier in the week, but it seemed like I had something to do or somewhere to be each evening (very atypical for my boring life) – a softball game, mowing the lawn, dinner with friends, etc. And, of course, there’s this pesky little thing called a job that occupies my days. So it was almost an afterthought when I decided to check up on one of my breast cancer survivor friends.
Regular readers may recall an earlier post in which I wrote about Jill, a friend and former co-worker, who has been fighting breast cancer for nearly two and a half years. Some of you know her personally. Her strength and attitude and faith continue to amaze us all. Each time she gets rid of the cancer, it returns, and she fights it off again. In March, she learned that the cancer had reappeared in the bones of her pelvis, arm and two locations of her spine.
She began another series of weekly chemo treatments, which included an occasional 12-hour “pump”, as she called it. (Sorry, but the visual in my mind makes me chuckle. I'm picturing her hooked up to an antique water pump and the nurses are taking turns cranking away!)
On Tuesday, May 29, Jill had a PET scan to assess the progress and received the wonderful news that there has been “significant improvement” and several spots were “non longer visible”. Ok, all together now…YIPPPEEEE!!!!! Additionally, she will now be able to have reconstruction surgery, so she’ll have nice new boobs for summer. Her husband Keith better keep a close eye on her, as I’m sure she’ll attract all kinds of attention!
Jill’s surgery was on Thursday. She had a little bleeding on her right side, where they chose not to insert a drain tube, so they needed to go back in and take care of that. I’m sure all will be well and she’ll be able to get back on track with her recovery.
Again, that’s why we do what we do. So I better get back out there.
Regular readers may recall an earlier post in which I wrote about Jill, a friend and former co-worker, who has been fighting breast cancer for nearly two and a half years. Some of you know her personally. Her strength and attitude and faith continue to amaze us all. Each time she gets rid of the cancer, it returns, and she fights it off again. In March, she learned that the cancer had reappeared in the bones of her pelvis, arm and two locations of her spine.
She began another series of weekly chemo treatments, which included an occasional 12-hour “pump”, as she called it. (Sorry, but the visual in my mind makes me chuckle. I'm picturing her hooked up to an antique water pump and the nurses are taking turns cranking away!)
On Tuesday, May 29, Jill had a PET scan to assess the progress and received the wonderful news that there has been “significant improvement” and several spots were “non longer visible”. Ok, all together now…YIPPPEEEE!!!!! Additionally, she will now be able to have reconstruction surgery, so she’ll have nice new boobs for summer. Her husband Keith better keep a close eye on her, as I’m sure she’ll attract all kinds of attention!
Jill’s surgery was on Thursday. She had a little bleeding on her right side, where they chose not to insert a drain tube, so they needed to go back in and take care of that. I’m sure all will be well and she’ll be able to get back on track with her recovery.
Again, that’s why we do what we do. So I better get back out there.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Real Training
The garden is planted, the painting is finished, and unless I have a burning desire to advance my career by finding “extra” work to do at home (I don’t), training for the 3-Day has finally moved up the priority list for weekend activities.
I met some of my teammates at Coon Rapids Dam on Saturday morning for a little 8-mile stroll along the Mississippi River. The weather was perfect – temperature in the low to mid-60s, a slight breeze and a partly cloudy sky.
Our group included a few veterans from last year’s 3-Day and a few ladies walking for the first time this year. One of those “rookies” may turn out to be one of the stars of the Twin Cities 3-Day. Nancy joined the team about a month ago and exceeded the minimum fundraising commitment with her first batch of 50 e-mail requests. She is currently the leading fundraiser in the Twin Cities at $8,500 and still counting. Nancy was just surprised as anyone at the response she received from the people she contacted. She learned, as many of us do, that casual friends and co-workers often have their own experiences with breast cancer and they jumped at the chance to support her.
Claudia is another one of our new teammates. She has taken her training very seriously and we spent much of the training walk talking about how much training I’ve done in previous years – number of weeks, amount of miles, other cross-training, etc. It reminded me of the first year I participated in the 3-Day. I trained a lot and still wasn’t sure if it was enough. The actual event that year wasn’t exactly a breeze for me, although I didn’t spend any time at the medical services tent. I told Claudia that the two most important things required to minimize pain and discomfort, while maximizing enjoyment, are shoes and socks. Granted, I put in a significant amount of training over each of the past three years, but last year, I found the right shoes and socks (for me) and avoided blisters, throbbing feet and other injuries that are waiting for anyone crazy enough to try walking 60 miles over three days…not to mention several hundred miles over the previous four or five months.
I walked again on Sunday morning with two of my teammates. This time, the weather was cloudy and cool. It had rained a couple hours before we started and it looked like it could rain again at any minute. Fortunately, it held off, but I’m sure it was enough to encourage others to stay in their warm, comfortable beds. The three of us enjoyed a good 6-mile walk; nothing too strenuous, yet it was enough to move forward in our training and remind our bodies that this weekend walking thing will continue for the next 11 weeks. Except for those days when I have a tee time!
I didn’t consider staying home, not since I spent Saturday evening going up and down a step ladder, painting my kitchen. I was determined to put the little demons of procrastination in their place (at least for the time being) by finishing that project and giving myself a “free” Sunday for morning walking…and afternoon relaxing, i.e., “watch TV and take a nap on the couch”.
P.S. In case you’re wondering, I put in two hours of couch time this afternoon and then dragged myself upstairs to write this.
I met some of my teammates at Coon Rapids Dam on Saturday morning for a little 8-mile stroll along the Mississippi River. The weather was perfect – temperature in the low to mid-60s, a slight breeze and a partly cloudy sky.
Our group included a few veterans from last year’s 3-Day and a few ladies walking for the first time this year. One of those “rookies” may turn out to be one of the stars of the Twin Cities 3-Day. Nancy joined the team about a month ago and exceeded the minimum fundraising commitment with her first batch of 50 e-mail requests. She is currently the leading fundraiser in the Twin Cities at $8,500 and still counting. Nancy was just surprised as anyone at the response she received from the people she contacted. She learned, as many of us do, that casual friends and co-workers often have their own experiences with breast cancer and they jumped at the chance to support her.
Claudia is another one of our new teammates. She has taken her training very seriously and we spent much of the training walk talking about how much training I’ve done in previous years – number of weeks, amount of miles, other cross-training, etc. It reminded me of the first year I participated in the 3-Day. I trained a lot and still wasn’t sure if it was enough. The actual event that year wasn’t exactly a breeze for me, although I didn’t spend any time at the medical services tent. I told Claudia that the two most important things required to minimize pain and discomfort, while maximizing enjoyment, are shoes and socks. Granted, I put in a significant amount of training over each of the past three years, but last year, I found the right shoes and socks (for me) and avoided blisters, throbbing feet and other injuries that are waiting for anyone crazy enough to try walking 60 miles over three days…not to mention several hundred miles over the previous four or five months.
I walked again on Sunday morning with two of my teammates. This time, the weather was cloudy and cool. It had rained a couple hours before we started and it looked like it could rain again at any minute. Fortunately, it held off, but I’m sure it was enough to encourage others to stay in their warm, comfortable beds. The three of us enjoyed a good 6-mile walk; nothing too strenuous, yet it was enough to move forward in our training and remind our bodies that this weekend walking thing will continue for the next 11 weeks. Except for those days when I have a tee time!
I didn’t consider staying home, not since I spent Saturday evening going up and down a step ladder, painting my kitchen. I was determined to put the little demons of procrastination in their place (at least for the time being) by finishing that project and giving myself a “free” Sunday for morning walking…and afternoon relaxing, i.e., “watch TV and take a nap on the couch”.
P.S. In case you’re wondering, I put in two hours of couch time this afternoon and then dragged myself upstairs to write this.
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