Calendar Countdown

I know, I missed taking note of an important date on the calendar last weekend...April 19th - exactly five months to go until the 2008 Twin Cities 3-Day. (insert either cheer or yawn here, whatever your preference) Well, I think we'll all survive. But for those of us who keep track of such things, the updated countdown stands as follows:

21 weeks remaining...or...
148 days remaining (man, that still seems like a long time!)

I had to admit to some friends earlier this week that I'm still not in "real" training mode yet. I just can't put on that horrible waist pack or begin keeping track of how many miles I'm walking...and I still need a new pair of shoes. One of my 3-Day teammates, Maria, sent me an e-mail, saying that she has already bought new shoes herself, but also hasn't started training either. Maybe sometime next month...

Good news: It was sunny and 74 degrees yesterday in the Twin Cities. I took a walk, wearing a t-shirt and shorts, the first time for that in 2008.

Bad news: It's going to be 50 degrees and raining today..and for the next three days.

Neighborhood Cleanup

I have a standard route that I walk through my neighborhood, which I've measured to be exactly four miles. Not that the distance is all that important; it's just a good length for a walk, as it takes me a little over an hour. I've walked it countless times, not only for training – at the moment it's still a bit soon to be in "official" training mode anyway – but also for regular exercise or to just clear my head after a tough day (or night). I often walk on autopilot, without paying much attention to where I am at any given moment.

However, one thing I have noticed (besides the occasional penny, nickel, or dime on the ground) is a preponderance of trash that accumulates on the side of every road along my path. Plastic beverage bottles, aluminum cans, empty cigarette packages (and cigarette butts), fast food wrappers, and so on.

It’s beyond litter. It’s disgusting. Why is my neighborhood somebody else’s garbage can?

A couple of years ago, a friend told me about her weekend with her sons. On a sunny Saturday afternoon, they walked to the park a few blocks from their home to play on the swings and other equipment. They took along garbage bags and picked up all the pieces of trash between their house and the park.

I’d never heard of anyone doing that before. I was most impressed. I’d already noticed the litter on my own walks, so I asked her if she wanted to bring the boys over to my neighborhood. (Since they live almost 400 miles away, she declined.) On the other hand, why didn’t I just do it myself, while I was out walking? Sounded like a good idea to me.

Of course, as with most of my good ideas, it took a while to implement. I’d keep forgetting or I didn’t want to take the extra time or it was the wrong phase of the moon.

Earth Day is coming up on Tuesday, April 22. Normally, I don’t really care. For one thing, I only became aware that there actually was something called Earth Day five or six years ago, and for another, I already turn off unnecessary lights, recycle as much household waste as possible, and avoid throwing garbage in a river or lake.

Nevertheless, I decided that in advance of Earth Day, yesterday and today would finally be the days I would clean up my walking route. I picked up every bottle, every can and every piece of miscellaneous trash in my path. I must have looked weird to people driving by, assuming, of course, that they even noticed what I was doing.

All told, I filled three plastic garbage bags. (If I had made a return trip to one area of my route, I could have filled a fourth. Maybe I'll go back next week.) I brought each bag home and sorted out the recyclables – over fifty plastic bottles and aluminum cans combined and a small amount of miscellaneous plastic. The remainder of the collected waste filled nearly a third of my trash barrel.

Will it make any difference? I don’t know. Maybe only to me, when I’m out walking. At least now I'll be able to see those pennies.

Twin Cities 3-Day Kickoff

This is a couple of days late (sorry)...as most of you know, I've got a busy schedule. ;-)

The Twin Cities 3-Day held a kick-off event in Maple Grove early Sunday morning, with a shoe fitting, apparel clinic and a training walk. FOX 9 News reported from Schuler Shoes for their morning show. Check out the broadcast segment at the link below. My friends from the Hawaiian Ohanas team (and other 3-Day walkers, I'm sure) will recognize a familiar face...great job, Maria!

http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/myfox/pages/ContentDetail?contentId=6293117

FOX 9 also had a segment on their 5:00 PM newscast, showing more footage from the morning's event, including a HUGE group of walkers heading out for one of the first "official" training walks of the year. I almost felt bad about sleeping in on a cool, clear spring morning. Almost...

Countdown...156 days to go until opening ceremonies. (Fortunately, the snow and cold are finally gone for good.)


The journey of 60 miles begins with a single lapse of sanity - Anonymous

Will Walk For...

...yeah, I know that's a cheap joke - but I've been in a creative fog and haven't come up with anything interesting, other than more blather about taking walks in beautiful weather for three straight days, then looking out at crummy weather the following two days.

So I thought I'd share the letter I've sent out to friends and family, asking for their support and donations...

________________________

The snows of another Minnesota winter are melting and the bitter northwest wind is shifting to the south, sure signs that, contrary to popular belief, spring is indeed on its way to the northland.

It is also the time of year when I dig my walking shoes out from the back of the closet and begin my training and preparation for the Breast Cancer 3-Day.

2008 will be the fifth consecutive year that I'll be joining thousands of women (and more than just a few men) in walking 60 miles over three days throughout the Twin Cities. This year, the event will be September 19-21 and once again, the net proceeds will support breast cancer research, screening, and treatment through Susan G. Komen For The Cure and the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund.

I became involved with the 3-Day in 2004, when I walked to support my friend Stacey, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003. Stacey is doing great these days, but I continue to walk in support of the many survivor friends I've come to know, as well as the women in my life who are healthy and hope to remain that way.

I've committed to raise more than $2,200 in donations, so I will need your help. Please click on the link below to go to my personal page and make a tax-deductible on-line donation in the amount that's right for you or to print out a donation form to mail your contribution.

Thank you in advance for your generosity!


Scott
__________________________________


He who is drowned is not troubled by the rain - Unknown

After April Fool's Day

I meant to share this with you yesterday as an April Fool's joke...I was going to tell you that I met a new neighbor while I was out for a non-training walk in the snow on Monday. She doesn't know anyone in the neighborhood, so we went out to dinner for my birthday. Turned out she is planning to walk in the 3-Day too. She's going to recruit a few of her close, personal friends and they're going to join me on my own team, "Scottie's Hotties". I told her about my blog and she gave me her picture to post on it.

Yeah, I know...probably best that I didn't post that story - no one would have believed it anyway! I mean, really...what idiot would have been out for a walk with all that snow coming down?

But it was indeed my birthday on Monday (I'm 42, though by no means a grown-up!) and I did have a chance to spend it with a couple of friends. I'm not telling whom...