Walking Time is Nearly Here!

Well, just a couple of things left do and then California here I come! I can’t believe it’s the first full week of November! I know I’ve said that every month, but it’s still true. So, where do we stand?

Friday I took the last of the pop cans to the recycling center. I can’t begin to tell you how sick I am of aluminum cans! The final tally was 85 pounds of aluminum for $55.35. Yea!

To date, I have officially raised $2, 865 in donations. There are still a couple of pledges outstanding, so I may very well reach my goal of $3,000. I have until December 9th to pull them all in. My team, The Breast Defense League, has raised $110,000 so far. Amazing! I will get to meet most of my team for the first time Thursday evening when we gather to have a pre-race carbo-load dinner.

Most of my gear is gathered, I just need to pack it all in my bright blue duffle. There was a last minute snafu (isn’t there always?)….my furnace decided to completely up and die. And not in a good way (meaning, fixable). So, in the midst of everything else that’s going on, I had to take time out today and arrange to have a new furnace put in. I mean, Jeremy can put on a sweater, but I don’t want to come back next week and find a couple of kitty icicles lying on the sofa!

I Have A Camel Back!

No, I don't actually have a giant hump on my back, it's a backpack that has a 2 liter fluid bladder. I don't have to carry bottles of watter, I just sip from the giant straw attached to the bladder, completely hands free!

I had been wanting one, as my two-bottle fanny-pack, fully loaded with two bottles of water (46 oz), is very heavy on my hips. However, I had decided to wait and get one for next year (yes, I'm already planning to do this again next year!). But Saturday my darling friend, Nikki, presented me with one and it is so neat! I'm beside myself with joy! And her sister, Danielle, had sent me "race finery" to wear at the event.....pink crown (that says Princess Pixie), a pink scepter, boas, pursette and flip flops! I'm so over the moon with excitement. I can't wait to get this party started. Thank you both, Nikki and Danielle, I loved everything!

"What we have here is a failure to communicate".....Cool Hand Luke, 1967

I know, I know, it's been a long time since I've posted. My pc at home finally took its final swan dive. And I really don't have time to think about getting it up and running before I leave for San Diego in 2 weeks. So, I will try to get into work early every day and get everyone caught up to where I am. Yikes! It's only 18 days until the walk begins!

Walking, Walking, Walking

I think facing my first 15 mile walk has been my most daunting challenge to date. I didn't get out as early as I had planned, because, quite frankly, my dears, I wasn't prepared. My pack wasn't ready, my food and water weren't prepared, even my clothes hadn't been cleaned. These I had to do before I took the first step out of the door. I ended up getting on the road about 9:30 am.

And it was the first day of fall, and it was gorgeous! Maybe just a tad bit warmer than I really like, but hey, I'll take it. I brought my camera, and took some photos of my sights along the way.

I've lived in the Westerville area for nearly twenty years, and actually worked at the Friendly Ice Cream that opened there in '74. But I've never got out and explored. Like the sign at the Stoner House, I've passed it I don't know how many times, but never stopped and read it. It was part of the underground railroad!

I got to Max & Erma's at 8 miles and stopped there to have my lunch break. I got the half sandwich, and salad combo--turkey club (yes, I was good and took off the cheese) with a field greens salad, that had roasted tomatoes and balsamic vinegarette. It was soooo good. And it was very relaxing to sit in the coolness in the dimly lit restaurant. I was facing the Nutts sign and it just struck my funny bone.

After I finished my lunch I hit the pavement again. On Cleveland Ave. I passed a farm (yes, we have farms in the middle of Columbus!) with a huge field of corn waiting to be harvested. It would have been perfect if Ray Liotta, as Shoeless Joe Jackson had emerged, looking for a game.

Then it was back to downtown Westerville, and then west on Main towards home. I stopped at Astronaut Grove, a memorial to the Challenger and it's lost crew. It's a beautiful little park.

Nearly home, I stopped to stretch at the little bridge that goes over the creek. This little swamp looked so pretty, and you'd never know there were houses on either side, and the elementary school in front.

I was so relieved to walk through my front door! I walked in at 3:3o pm, 6 hours after I left. Actual pavement pounding was 4 hours 59 minutes. Not bad, about 3 miles an hour, though those last three miles were slow and really killed my average.

So, what makes up that 15 miles? Well, according to my pedometer, that's 39,906 steps and I burned 1,548.5 calories. That's right, 15 miles only burns 1548.5 calories. That will certainly make me think the next time I order the Flourless Chocolate Cake at Claddaugh!

My Hero!

Yea! Jeremy! He brought my pc back to life. And we didn't have to spend a dime to do it. It's so nice to be able to sit down at 1:43 am and type an entry.

Against The Clock, Tick Tock, Tick Tock

Now that my distance walks are improving, I really need to start doing some timed walks, to get my speed up. This isn't a race, but I don't want to be the last one to straggle into camp each night because I'm so slow. So, last night, on my mid-week short walk, I did 3.64 miles in 61 minutes, which is about a 16.75 minute mile. That's down from my last timed walk of an 18 minute mile. On Friday, my 10 mile walk was an average of 21 minutes a mile, but that also included stopping for traffic signals. My goal for the 3 Day is to average 18 minute miles for each day. I have a lot of work to do!

Under The Weather

Yep, my PC went belly up over the weekend. I've had a problem with it since I've had it, but Jeremy has been able to do patches on it and keep it afloat. Now it looks like I will have to have Windows XP reinstalled, but I don't have the disk. So, until I am able to procure one, I will have to do my updates before work, or during lunch. Hopefully it won't take long and I'll be back to my midnight blogging!