|
2009
Walk Blog |
09/29/09
Three days and
counting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don’t know
what else to say. I’m jumping out of my
skin with excitement. Plus I hit my fundraising
goal of $5,000!!!!!!!!!!!! Just two
weeks ago I was at $3,710, and now I’m at $5,060!!!! Unbelievable!! I had really given up and thought I would
fall short once again. BUT YOU ALL CAME
THROUGH in such a dramatic way!! You all
are so AWESOME and ROCK!!! My life would
definitely suck without the support of my family and friends. This year has just been perfect for me –
653.9 miles in training and $5,060 achieved in fundraising. After the hell I went through last year, I
absolutely could NOT have asked for anything more perfect and is all the more
amazing when I think of how tough things are out there! THANK YOU, THANK YOU AND THANK YOU
AGAIN!!!!
I also wanted
to note that my team, the Warming Hut Hotties, have
moved into 1st place!!!!!!!
WOO HOO!!!!!! We have
collectively raised over $81,000 as a team!!!! We have 43 people on the team roster, but
some are crewing and do not have a fundraising requirement.
I do hope to
see some of you out there this weekend.
Take a look at my last entry (9/21/09) for links to cheering station,
opening and closing ceremony information.
09/21/09
WOW! So I guess I have been completely
inconsistent on updating my blog this year.
L It has been exactly one month since my last entry
and so much has happened since then!
First off, I survived our rehearsal weekend of almost 42 miles!!! I have surpassed 630 training miles this year
alone (and over 3,500 miles since 2003)!!
I have raised $4,300, and $32,654 cumulatively
since 2003!! I have only four training
walks left, and only one left with my team.
In only 11 days from today, I will be in the middle of Day 1 of my 7th
Breast Cancer 3-Day event. I often
wonder where the time goes??!! But I’m
SO excited, especially after last year.
Even though last year’s event was the first back in SF since 2004, this
really feels like it for me. Here’s some
info about the upcoming walk:
1.
The
cheering stations have been announced!
Just click here
& scroll down the page to find a list.
You will also find info there about Opening and Closing Ceremonies.
2.
Click
here
to find an overview map of our route!!
3.
Click
here
to see how my team, the Warming Hut Hotties are
doing! We’re currently the #2 team for the
SF walk! I’m crossing my fingers we can
overtake the #1 team. J
Hey, you know, the more money that’s raised, the better!!
So here it is,
the 24th of August. In just a
little over five weeks from now, I
will be embarking in my 7th Breast Cancer 3-Day event!! It feels like I just started training and
yet, it has been five months now. Time
marches on….or walks on….at such a
rapid pace it can make your head spin. I
told someone that I compared my involvement in the 3-Day walk to a professional
athlete. You have your six months of
training then the big game. As a 7-year
walker, I am currently in “training camp,” preparing for my BIG game Oct. 2-4. Then I’ll start my off-season when I get to
catch up on all the little things that get constantly pushed aside (i.e., deep,
not superficial cleaning, around the house; SLEEP; projects like scrapbooks,
etc). Everything about the 3-Day is
about commitment, and sometimes sacrifices.
You’ve got six months of training, which can eat up a LOT of time
(especially when you hit the big double digit mileage), and you’ve got to raise
this enormous amount of money…just for the privilege of walking 60-miles over
three days. J
And yet I keep coming back, year after year, because the sacrifices and
commitment are minimal compared to the end result. Nothing I have ever embarked in has equaled
the power, pride, joy, and confidence I feel at the end of a 3-Day. It may be a drop in the bucket, but I feel
like I’ve made a real difference in the fight against breast cancer…that I’ve
made a real difference in the world. For
three days, thousands of women and men come together for one common goal – the
eradication of breast cancer off the face of this earth - and being a part of
that is very empowering.
This is the
progress I have made since my last entry back on July 28th:
1.
I
have added an additional 145.6 training miles to my feet, bringing my 2009
total mileage to 491.6. Since 2003 I
have now walked a total of 3,427.6 miles in training!! In addition to such training landmarks as
Vulcan Street steps, Tank Hill and others I listed in my last entry, we have
also now done Telegraph Hill (Coit Tower) and a heck of a climb up Broadway
(over the Broadway tunnel). Through all
of this I am getting stronger and stronger.
This coming weekend, Aug 29-30, we will be doing the biggest test of
all….our rehearsal weekend!!! We will be
doing back-to-back 20-mile walks. I am
nervous and excited about this. I have
not done this many miles since 2007 due to my injury last year, so this is more
than just a test of physical endurance.
It will also be a mental test for me.
However, I’m ready and say, BRING IT ON!!!
2.
I
continue to make progress in my fundraising, but it has definitely slowed down
dramatically. I have received an
additional $200 to bring my 2009 total to $3,240, and my cumulative total since
2003 to $31,594!! With time slowly
running out, it seems obvious that I will fall short of my $5,000 goal once
again. I know someday there will be a
$5K Legacy pin for fundraising in my future, but for now I have earned my 3rd
consecutive $3K Legacy pin. I knew when
I established my goal this year that it would be tough considering the state of
the economy, and though it has been tough, those that have been able to give
have done so generously and I am extremely grateful.
3.
I
will not get my September newsletter out by the 1st of the
month. I will most likely start working
on it now and hope to finish it after our rehearsal. Hopefully, I will get it to the printers by
September 1st and out all of you by the Labor Day weekend.
I guess I can
safely say that I have not been updating my blog on a weekly basis. Life is just too busy sometimes. **sigh**
What can you do?? J
Let me just
summarize some key things that have happened since my last entry:
1.)
I
have walked 68.1 miles in training, of which 52.9 miles were with the Hotties and included Tank Hill, the Lyon Street steps, the
Vulcan Street steps, Land’s End Trail and Twin Peaks. My total training miles this year are now
346.0, and cumulatively since 2003 I have walked 3,282.0 miles in
training!! Now, think about THAT for a
moment…. J
2.)
I
received another $20 in donations, bringing my YTD total to $3,040 (third
consecutive year of earning the $3K Fundraising Legacy pin), and my cumulative
total since 2003 to $31,394!! There’s no
doubt that the number of donations have definitely slowed the past couple of
months. As time marches on, my hope for
reaching my personal goal of reaching $5K dwindles. Right now I’m just hoping I can hit $4K.
3.)
I
attended the 3-Day Expo on July 19th where I met up, and had an
early dinner with, my friends Lisa (participating in her first walk this year
and my tentmate) and her cousin Linda (there for
support).
4.)
The
2010 3-Day series was announced!! The SF
Bay Area is still on the schedule (YEAH!), and the event is going to get a new
name next year: The Susan G. Komen
3-Day for the Cure. I have not signed up yet, but I will most
likely at camp during this year’s walk.
If you register by November 23rd and use promo code POWER10,
you pay only $55 to register ($35 off the regular registration price). Next year will make event #10 for me!!! WOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! I never thought I would still be doing this
for this long, but that is how powerful an impact the 3-Day has had on me.
5.)
I
just sent my August newsletter off to the printers today!! I will also be posting it on the website
soon, but usually try and wait until I get the copies back for mailing to those
I don’t have e-mail addresses for. It’s
a timing thing for me. J
6.)
The
2009 SF Bay Area Breast Cancer 3-Day is only TWO MONTHS
AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The 2009 SF Bay
Area Breast Cancer 3-Day is now just under
three months away!! I can’t believe
it. Only six months ago I wasn’t sure if
I would be able to participate this year, and now I’m almost four months into
training and still feeling good. I pray
this continues and I’m able to walk in my 7th 3-Day with no health
issues.
The last two
weeks the Hotties did not hold any training
walks. So I didn’t walk much
either. In fact, I only walked one
Sunday over the past two weekends. I
felt tired and thought I would take the opportunity to rest up and
re-charge. This past Sat I “walker
stalked” with the Hotties at the
Starting this
coming weekend, the Hotties will be back in business
with walks each weekend. This Saturday
we have a 12-miler planned!! J
Then on Sunday we’ll be walking 12 more miles. After that, I’m going to the Breast Cancer
3-Day Expo at the Sports Basement in SF.
I am volunteering at the Expo and am meeting up with some friends too
(one walking for the first time and the other there for moral support). I can’t wait.
Things have
slowed considerably on the fundraising front.
Since my last entry I have received $60 dollars more in donations for a
total of $3,020 for 2009 and $31,374 cumulatively since 2003. Past experience tells me this is about the
time I hit a lull, before things pick up closer to the walk. I hope this is the case once again, but admit
that I don’t think I’ll hit my personal fundraising goal this year either. L
As friends,
family and supporters, there are many things you can do to show your support in
addition to a monetary donation. Please
click here
to go to the 3-Day website to read more (including being able to send me cards
and letters once again!!) on what you can do.
Thank you always for your support.
Here we sit
near the end of not just another month, but half way through the year as
well. Wow, does time fly. My journey to event #9 is going well thus
far. I have raised $2,860…only $2,140 to
go to reach my personal goal. There are
approximately three months to go before the event. I am remaining hopeful, but realistic about
reaching my goal. I will never give
up! J
My training has
been going very well. I am actually
starting to feel like my old, pre-injury self.
The hills and stairs we walk in our training are getting easier (they
will never be easy). I sometimes feel stiffness in my back, but my
leg is holding up so I take this as a good sign. My chiropractor continues to work with me to
manage my back, neck and feet. I have
completed 14 weeks of training for a grand total of 250.8 miles. I did not get all my walks in this week due
to work commitments, but otherwise I’m very happy with my progress. There will be no Hottie
training walks over the next two weeks, so I have to be disciplined to get it
done by myself! Oh boy. I haven’t done a long, solo walk in a while
now so this will be a challenge! The
I have sent my
newsletter off to the printers this past week and should have it back
tomorrow. I hope to get it posted to my
website in the next day or two and have the snail mail version out to those
without internet.
I’ve come to
the conclusion that I will be updating this blog when the mood strikes me. J
Don’t know how many people read it anyway, so I don’t think there are
droves of people out there waiting for my every word. Who knows?
Maybe I’m writing this to myself.
J In any case, I have now raised $2,740 for
this year’s event! I still have $2,260
to go to meet my personal goal of $5,000 and I’m hoping that with four months
to go I may get lucky this year. I guess
time will tell.
The real story
for me is my training. As you all
probably know, I had an injury last year that prevented me from training. It was only in March of this year that I was
able to begin walking again. The first
couple of months I made steady progress, but was definitely not myself. My pace was off. I felt off-kilter. However, in the last few weeks I have been
getting my strength back and feel fairly close to my old self. Proof of that were my two training walks this
weekend. I’m feeling stronger going up
hills. No, I am not going to run up the
hill and be the first one to the top, but my endurance is getting better and
some of hills I did a few weeks ago, are easier now than they were. We even did the Land’s End Trail today that
includes a set of stairs. I think I only
stopped once to catch my breath, maybe twice, going up. I stopped much more a few weeks back. These are all great signs! As long as my back continues to hold up, and
everything else stays healthy, I’m crossing my fingers for a tremendous
training season and event this October.
Please continue to keep me in your thoughts and prayers. After last year, I can’t tell you how much I
need a good year.
Some Event info
has been announced. It seems we will be
starting and ending at the same sites this year as last year. Opening Ceremonies will be at the Cow Palace and Closing Ceremonies will be
at the Marina Green. Woo hoo!!!! I will definitely give you more event info in
my newsletter as I learn about it myself.
06/03/09
I guess I’ve
not improved my promptness of updating this Blog, since it has been a month
since my last entry. What are you going
to do? I continue to make solid progress
in all areas, and really don’t have much to complain about. J
Fundraising: Since my last entry, I have raised $365 which
puts me above the 3-Day required minimum!! WOO HOO!!! I’m also less than half to my goal!! With four months to go until the walk, the
odds are more in my favor to reach my personal goal of $5,000 so I can finally earn that Breast Cancer 3-Day
$5K Fundraising Legacy pin. I’m keeping
my fingers crossed and (as always) am considering other ways to fundraise
besides by normal methods (ie, fundraising letters,
personal spare change jar, donation box at family business and recycling). If you have any ideas for new and fun,
fundraising, please let me know!
·
$
2,540 Total Amount Raised thru
·
$ 0 Amount
Still Needed to Reach the 3-Day Min. Requirement ($2,300) J
·
($2,460) Amount
Training:
Though I still haven’t found that consistent training groove, I’m happy
with my progress. I have to keep
reminding myself that I just started walking again in early March and that
these are my first training walks in a year!
I’m still doing well and my spine injections are continuing to hold
(knock on wood). I even survived my
first ascent up the
I am walking
more and more with my team, soaking up the
Wow! I have certainly been poor at updating my
website this year. I don’t even know
where in the heck April went. I’ve made some
great progress in fundraising. My
training has been a little more erratic, but there have been reasons for
it. With that said, let me break down
where I stand.
Fundraising: Superb!
I said it in my last entry, but I’ll say it again: I have the most amazing supporters! Because of my supporters, I am only $175 away
from the minimum required to participate.
I’m also less than $3,000 away from my personal goal! Finally, I (we) have raised $30,479 since 2003 for the breast cancer cause! WOO HOO!!
Keep those donations coming! J
·
$2,175 Total
Amount Raised
·
($175) Amount
Still Needed to Reach the 3-Day Minimum Requirement of $2,300
·
($2,825) Amount
Still Needed to Reach my Personal Goal of $2,300
Training:
As I stated previously, my training has been erratic so far. The last two weeks of April I had
back-to-back business trips to Texas.
The only walking I got done was 3-miles on the hotel treadmill. I wanted to do more, but I just can’t stand
the treadmill. On Good Friday, I came
down with the stomach flu. I had
diarrhea. I vomited. I had a fever of up
to 102, and was very tired. On top of
all of this, there has been some rain thrown into the mix. I’m really hoping that things begin to
normalize in May and I can get into a training groove. However, even though my walking has not been
consistent, I’ve still made it up to a 10-mile walk. J
04/07/09
I can’t believe
that spring has sprung and that it is almost Easter. That wise adage the “old” folks used to tell
me when I was a little girl is so true, time does go by faster the older
you get. It’s enough to make your head
spin. J At
any rate, I have been making positive progress in my journey to my 9th
event. I’m so happy about this, and will
keep my fingers crossed that this continues through October.
Fundraising:
What can I say? I have the most amazing supporters. Many of you have been there for me every
single year. I can’t tell you how much
this means to me. I’m thinking of
acknowledging you folks some how, because this shows how dedicated you are in
this cause. We have formed a partnership
over the years – I walk and you contribute.
Of course, this is NOT to take away from everyone else! I didn’t know some of you when I first
started, and I know that some years are more difficult than others
financially. I wouldn’t have had the
successes I have had without ALL of your support! This is a simple fact of life. I think this is why those that have sponsored
me every year are so amazing. Anyway,
here’s where I stand in my fundraising as of today:
·
$1,175
Total Amount Raised
·
($1,125)
Amount Still Needed to Reach the 3-Day Minimum Requirement of $2,300
·
($3,825)
Amount Still Needed to Reach my Personal Goal of $5,000
Training:
The big question mark for me this year is training. I know it’s still early…very early…but so far
things are going well. I have completed
two full weeks of training for a total of 38.5-miles. My longest walk so far this year is
8-miles. You can see specific details on
my training page. On April 5th I joined my team, the
Warming Hut Hotties, for our first training walk of the season. It was 6-miles and, in true Hottie fashion, included two hills. On top of this I also continue to go to P.T.
once a week, and I hope to resume going to Curves this week or next (hope they
still remember who I am!).
Whether
training or fundraising, I’m just taking each day as it comes. I know that it will all work out some how,
some way.
I have
officially begun my journey to the 2009 3-Day walk. The fundraising letters have been sent and I
have already received responses. I have
slowly been walking a few times a week, building my mileage. I started my official training this week and successfully
completed a total of 20.2-miles. All of
my walks have been on flat ground so far.
I have not been given the green light to tackle hills by my therapist
yet. Today I did my second 6-mile walk
of the weekend – my first b2b. My leg is
bothering me some, so maybe I wasn’t ready for a b2b yet. I’m resting tomorrow and will see how I feel
on Tuesday before I decide whether to walk or not. I’m not going to push myself this year. I did that last year and what did it get
me? Besides it’s early – very early – in
the season. I have more time to rest
myself now.
03/08/09
Well, it has
been just over two weeks since my second back injection. I’m feeling pretty good. My pain is not 100% gone, but I’m feeling
better than I have in a long time. In
fact, I went for a walk for the first time in six months yesterday
morning. I was a little apprehensive,
but the day was glorious and calling me.
I walked a little…no pain. I
walked a little more…no pain. In the end
I walked for 40 minutes (though I promised my therapist only 15 minutes-sorry)
without pain! I haven’t walked without
pain in almost a year! I was
thrilled. This little moment gave me
hope for the upcoming year. I’m going to
walk a little bit as often as possible, a little farther each time, until I’m
ready for full training mode. I’m going
for my follow-up visit with Dr. Chen tomorrow.
Because I still get some leg pain once in a while, I want to see if he
says to keep doing what I’m doing, or if he thinks I’ll need a third shot. I have my fundraising letters all ready to
go, I’m holding back until I feel comfortable that I’ll be able to get training
in earnest again. J
02/15/09
Anyone that followed my journey last year either through my
newsletters or here through my website, know the challenges I faced. I was not able to train from June 7th
on. I had what was thought to be a
hamstring injury. I did physical
therapy, acupuncture and chiropractic.
Though the pain was not as intense by event time, I was still in
pain. I had worked too hard, however,
not to participate so I did walk in the 2008 event. I walked a total of close to 25-miles, which
when I consider that I was not 100% healthy and had not done one training walk
in three months prior, is really amazing.
When the walk was over, I was anxious to rest and get
strong. Unfortunately, six months later
I found myself still enduring pain in my right leg that was at times only
annoying and at other times so intense I could do nothing but sit or lay down
(and many times cry). It was in December
that I asked my chiropractor to order a MRI for me. Shortly after I discovered that my problem
was not my hamstring – it was my back. I
have spinal stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal and
nerve-root canal) and a bulging disk that is pushing against my nerves on the
right side. I can’t tell you how happy I
was to have a definitive diagnosis, but I wondered what this would mean for me.
On January 13th, I went to see Dr. Shabi Khan, an Orthopedic Surgeon. He said that the fact that my pain seems to
be mainly in my leg and not my back, I would make a good surgical
candidate. However, before undergoing
surgery, he suggested a spinal injection first – something more invasive than I
have done, but not as invasive as surgery.
Dr. Yung Chen, a spine & musculoskeletal medicine specialist, is in
Dr. Khan’s office one day a week – the day I was there – and Dr. Khan asked him
to come see me. Two days later, on
January 15th, I had my first fluoroscopy guided diagnostic and
therapeutic (SNRB) selective nerve root injection by Dr. Chen. Although this first injection has done
wonders for me, it has not taken all my pain away. Therefore, I am going in for another
injection this coming Thursday, February 19th. I am hoping that this second injection,
combined with my new physical therapy prescription, will offer 100% relief so I
can train and walk this year.
Injections are not a cure.
How long they last is different for everyone. For some people, the benefit of the
injections lasts for years but for others it could be only weeks or
months. I am hoping I am in the first
group.
I am feeling better than I have for a long time – almost
normal again. I am hoping that I will be
able to begin my training in March. I
will begin my fundraising at that time too.
I want to be a fully functional member of my team, the Warming Hut
Hotties, this year. I want a successful
and pain-free year. Please keep me in
your thoughts and prayers that this will be so.
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