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.