106 days to go...

I just got back from a 4-mile walk that put me over the 150-mile mark. I'm actually at 151.51 miles...23.31% of my goal. I'm actually 20 miles ahead of the schedule I have set up for myself...I have slacking time built in. I'm hoping to not have to use it, though. This is the week when the training really starts pushing it. The weekday walks will still be between 3 and 5 miles, but the weekend walks start at 8 miles this Saturday and 6 on Sunday. Next weekend is 10 and 6. It just keeps going up and up from here until I hit 18! Now, according to my physical therapist, you never actually train at the mileage you're planning to do (for instance, someone training for a marathon never actually gets up to the 26.2 miles...just close). Apparently, this is to prevent overuse injuries. Originally, I had planned to work up to 25 once a week towards the end, but I'm considering just actually sticking to the plan for now. Weight Watchers update: I've been on Weight Watchers for 4 weeks now and have lost 23 pounds!

131 Days to go...

I've almost completed my 5th week of training (the 3-day training runs from Monday - Sunday). So far, I've logged 72.99 miles...over 1/10 of the way to my 650-mile goal. According to the 3-day training guide I should have in 73 miles by tomorrow, so I'm a little ahead of schedule. I sprained my ankle a couple of weeks back, but a fabulous pain-killer and lots of ice only kept me laid up for a couple days. I am doing physical therapy, however, since this is the 4th time in a year that I've turned the same ankle and I'm figuring exhaustion during the 3-day may cause me to turn it again...so I'm working on strengthening that ankle.

Not much else to report..except that I started Weight Watchers about a week and a half ago. I haven't been back for a weigh-in yet, but I figure I've lost about 10 lbs so far! :)

Day 1

167 days to go...

OK...it's been a while, but I finally have stuff to report. I officially started training today with a 5-mile walk around Valley Forge Park. I met some very nice people that are also participating in the 3-day. I'd put their names, but since I can't remember all of them, I'd feel bad just putting some of them...so I won't. I have raised $708 to date, with about $353 pending in matching gifts from Quest Diagnostics.

My training goal is to walk 650 miles between now and the end of the 3-day. I'm going to try to post some sort of meter that keeps track of that on here. Another part of my training goal is to lose weight. I don't have a specific amount by a specific time in mind yet, but I will attempt to post weekly pictures starting today. No...I will not be posting my weight...at least not at this point...the pictures should tell the story well enough.

Training for this week will be 4 days @ 3miles each (Tues, Thurs, Sat, Sun) with 30 minutes of cross-training (I'm going with Dance Dance Revolution because it's too fun!) on Friday. I'll actually be walking 5 miles on Saturday with my training team so that will be a total of 14 miles in the next week, putting me at almost 3% of my goal.

OK...time to figure out how to put a slide show on this thing!

235 Days to go...

Sorry, there hasn't been too much to update until now. I started a Survivor Pool at work on Thursday and by Friday night had collected $275 ($110 of which will go towards the walk and will be matched by my company. I'm really hoping to get my official fundraising (not including what's been promised...in other words, what is actually recorded on my 3-day website) to $500 by the middle of March. Then I'll get some special kind of lanyard to wear on the walk. I'm pretty sure I'll make it. Once I get the $110 in and that gets doubled, that will bring the total to $430. Dawn has also promised a weekly donation, which looks to be pretty sizeable seeing as there's 34 weeks 'til the walk! Thanks, Dawn! My sister and I bought some Valentine's candy last night and she's giving that to her cousin, Joey, to give away for donations at work (so as not to completely gouge the people that I work with!). Also, in March, we will be selling Irish potatoes. Not sure how much for how many yet, but I'll post it as soon as we figure it out. I'm also knitting some scarves to sell...they're mostly pink...and very soft. I'll post a picture on here as soon as I get one completely finished.

That's it for the fund-raising so far. As far as the training...well...I'm going to go out and get new sneakers and socks in a few minutes (as soon as I'm done posting this). Official training starts April 23 with a day of rest! Then it's 3 miles 4 times that first week. It increases from there each week. Until then, I'll be working my way back up to 3 miles comfortably...seeing as what seems most comfortable right now is my couch!

Thanks to all who are supporting me in any way they can!

242 days to go...

I sent out 58 e-mails yesterday requesting support for my sixty-mile journey. In under 24 hours, I've received $410 (actual & promised) donations. Thanks to my brother Mac, the Johnson Family, Sandy Good, Dick Rusbuldt & Dick Upp for your support! I'm now at over 16% of my goal of $2500 in less than a day!

243 days to go...

This is my first post. I don't have much to report on yet. Right now I'm working on my first fundraising e-mail. In the future, I'll be putting up pictures, posting invitations for fundraising events. Please keep checking in to see what I'm up to!