Reflections of Family: Those Who Have My Back

Posted By: Michelle Ashcraft

Team NKOTW Around the World
Greetings, and welcome to another weekly edition of Team NKOTW training! This past week found our team training all over the world! Personally I found myself doing 1 walk in Kentucky, 2 walks in Indiana, and 1 walk in Washington, DC … that’s 3 states in 7 days! Shawn took to the beach while Meredith trained in Ireland. (Jealous! I’d love to go back to Ireland. Check out my travels from summer 2008 here.)

I think everyone else took to their home trails while hoping that rain or extreme heat didn’t impede their progress.

Unplugged Reflections
You may remember from a couple of weeks ago that Jenn L. reminded all of us that we should “unplug” every now and then to observe and reflect on the world around us.

Sometimes I eat breakfast for dinner

Posted by: Jenn Latino
I am a creature of habit. Scheduled living is like my vice! It keeps me sane. There are 7 days in a week and I have a “to do” that accompanies each day. I don’t make last minute decisions, I don’t go out after work unless I have plenty of notice and can adjust adjacent evening’s tasks, there is always a guarantee of an evening menu item with chicken on Monday and ground turkey on Wednesday….the list of predictable ways goes on and on. I dedicated a blog to this during the 2009 training so I won’t elaborate much. But, if you are looking for evidence of my habitual ways, visit the August 17th entry: http://newkidsonthewalk.blogspot.com/2009/08/mother-nature-knows-best.html

I am not a boring person, mind you! I do cut loose now and then. When I am feeling really crazy, and I just want to do something wild, I make breakfast for dinner!

Because of my regularly scheduled life, I walk on Tuesday and Thursday at 7pm. Saturday and Sunday training walks begin no later than 7am. This week, I decided to move my Tuesday evening walk to the morning. I didn’t make this decision lightly. I rationalized the change in routine and used the following as evidence that the switch from p.m. to a.m. made sense:

The Power of Walking with a Friend

Posted By: Michelle Ashcraft

For much of my life I have been considered “one of the guys” in the various circles of friends I have found myself in. However, in the latter part of my 25 years of life thus far I have been tremendously blessed to form some of my most powerful friendships with some amazing women that I have met throughout the end of my collegiate career. This blog is dedicated to one of those women.

The Sounds in the Silence

Posted by: Jenn Latino
Training for the 3-Day has been going great! The weather has been on my side, I’ve been able to arrange work and life schedules so that I am walking in the evenings when it isn’t quite so warm, and Riley and Joplin have been great 4-legged partners joining me for every walk so far (which makes for very tired pups☺). I have enjoyed a wonderful line up of podcasts that I stockpiled for the training season. It’s actually quite nice to be back in the routine of regular walks and to reconnect with my podcast friends including Ira Glass from This American Life, Sarah and Katie from Stuff you Missed in History Class, and Brian and Chuck from Stuff you Should Know. My walks are much easier when I have my earphones on enjoying the stories that these folks share over the airwaves. I don’t really think about much while I walk. I just put my sneakers on autopilot and tune in to the stories the show hosts share. Riley knows the 3-mile route so well that she drags me through each turn with great accuracy. Sometimes I realize that we are 2 miles in and can’t remember ever making the first turn off our street!

For my Tuesday walk this week I took on a challenge that was more difficult than the mileage. Dr. Jenny Bloom, a colleague and friend from USC, made a donation last week in honor of her friend, Dr. Sandy Ettema. Sandy recently received a breast cancer diagnosis and on Tuesday, was undergoing surgery-the first step in a 3-stage treatment that will be followed by chemotherapy and radiation. I was thinking about Sandy, a woman I have never met but whose story has touched my heart, all day Tuesday. I decided to dedicate my Tuesday evening walk to her and to do it sans the iPod.

Me vs. Mother Nature

Posted By: Michelle Ashcraft

Today I started my second week of training for the 3-Day. That means I survived the first week of training! While my first day of walking was not nearly as eventful as Jenn Latino’s bomb scare, the week did turn into a nice little competition mixed with a little bit of mental relaxation and a lot of inspiration.

1st Mile Inspiration
Last Tuesday I kicked off my first of four 3-mile walks for the week. All day at work I was excited to get home, put on my new kicks, and take off. I was prepared. I’d visited John’s Run/Walk Shop in Lexington to get fitted for new shoes, and happily told them that I was taking on the challenge of the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure. The saleswoman didn’t seem to know what I was talking about, but seemed supportive of my decision to take on the challenge once I explained it a little further, and told me she would find the perfect shoe for me. Great! She had me try three shoes – two didn’t work, one did. Perfect … I just needed one to work. I walked out of the store with shoes in hand and headed to Target.

Kicking it off with a BOOM! (Bomb)

Posted By: Jenn Latino

An Older, Wiser, New Kid!

May 11th has finally arrived! This is Week 1 of the 24-week training program, and Tuesday is the first walk of the week. 3 miles. Bring it!!

I’ve been looking forward to the start of training and as I have been keeping an eye on the calendar, folks have been asking “Are you going to blog again?” Well, here it is.

Kicking off the 2010 training was a lot different than the 2009 kick off. I didn’t have to go on an adventure to find the right shoes. I just made a stop at Strictly Running last week and said, “I need a pair of Mizuno Wave Inspire 5, size 10.” They told me the 5s were discontinued but the 6s were the same. Great, give me a 6. Make em’ pink. I didn’t have to spend hours driving around the neighborhood, resetting the odometer, making notes of various 1, 3, and 5 mile routes. I already know the routes-the streets have not changed. I got home from work around 5:40pm. By 6:00pm I had my walking clothes on, shoes laced up, dogs on a leash, and we were out the door. Easy!

Taking My First Steps

Posted By: Michelle Ashcraft

Tomorrow’s the big day! On Tuesday I kick off a 24-week schedule for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure with a 3-mile, “easy” walk. “What’s the 3-Day for the Cure?” you might ask. It’s a 3-day, 60-mile walk that I will participate in on October 22-24, 2010 in Atlanta, GA. That’s right, little me – the one who lives by the philosophy “I don’t run unless someone is chasing me” and doesn’t schedule much time for exercise, unless throwing a toy across the living room for my dog counts – is taking on a 60-mile challenge to help cure breast cancer!

So why did I take the plunge?