This One's For "The Girls"

I passed the100 mile mark! 22 miles logged this week pushed my total training to 106 miles!  The 22 miles took 46,417 steps (in 2 states!) bringing the total steps taken to 223,331.  That is a lot of stepping!  With 102 days until the event, I am feeling energized and focused. 

The fundraising keeps coming along!  I received donations this week that pushed my total to $1415!  One of the reasons I decided to participate in the 3-day is because the lives of my friends have been and are being affected by breast cancer.  Pat Munchick is the mother of my former roommate and wonderful friend Jill.  Pat is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer in Ohio.  A generous donation from the Munchick family put Ohio on the map and was a reminder of how desperately we need to find a cure.  I received a donation from SC colleague Dr. Jenny Bloom to honor her friend Cathy Schachner. My miles this week were motivated by Cathy’s and Pat’s fight!   My cheerleader and dinner party favorite, Maegan Gudridge, also made a gift in recognition of my efforts.  Thanks to all of these ladies!

This week Meredith and I represented the New Kids on the Walk at the 3-Day Expo.  The Expo is one of those “you had to be there” experiences, but I am going to do my best to point out the Headlights, eh, I mean highlights.  In addition to learning how to pitch our tent (see my tent mate Meredith and me modeling the pod that will be home for us on Friday and Saturday night of the walk), we attended sessions on Blisters and Blister Care, Fashion Dos and Don’ts, Stretching Techniques, and Life on the 3-Day.  We heard from many former walkers and physicians who offered useful strategies and techniques to ensure that we get the most from our 3-Day experience-and that we are prepared both mentally and physically to succeed. 

Beyond getting our learn on about the physical challenges, we learned that participants in the 3-Day walk have a culture all their own.  This was evidenced by the 1,000s of references to Ta Tas!  Warning: This blog is about to become PG-13…I’m taking you folks to 2^nd base! 

3-Day walkers celebrate The Girls in every step they take.  Starting with FLAIR!

FLAIR is the process of showing your love for The Ladies by accessorizing in shades of pink and with any symbol of breasts that can be imagined!  Our fashion leader referred to them as Jugs claiming that larger jugs would need to be held up with a sports bra of the larger persuasion while those who sport the synthetic jugs could get away with a sports shirt and built in bra.  To this statement, all of the BC survivors cheered-loud and proud of their synthetic jugs. I should mention that the woman who was leading the session was wearing a beaded necklace with a large set of breasts that blinked red lights-you can imagine where-and smaller breasts all around the necklace. 

Other references to Hooters were made when discussing the process of decorating our tents.  It is important that we decorate the tent in a unique fashion so that if we leave the tent in the middle of the night we can find our way back among the sea of 1500+ identical bright pink tents!  This session leader shared that her team often fastened red balls to the top of each tent in their row so that, from an aerial view, the tents would look like a line of perky Bazookas.  

If you are keeping score, that is 7 slang references so far.  Hang in there, I have more!  The best t-shirt we saw was being worn by a woman who, I must admit, was sporting a perky Rack.  It read:  “No they aren’t real.  The real ones tried to kill me!”  PRICELESS!  I wish they had been selling those.  I would have gotten one for my friend Jan. 

Participating teams take advantage of the opportunity to publicly display their love for breasts.  Clever names in the Atlanta walk include:  BUST a Move;  Baby Got Rack; Boobapalooza; Chest-Nuts; Headlight Honeys; Hugs for Jugs;  Just a Couple of Boobs; Momma’s for TaTas; Mommies for Melons; and Saggy Maggy and the Perkettes!

I realized this weekend that the 3-Day walk, more than anything, is a celebration of life!  For 60 hours, and 60 miles, I will be a part of a community of 3500+ women and men who are dedicated to finding a cure for Breast Cancer.  Those of you who donate to the Komen Foundation will join me on this journey.  While we continue to work toward finding a cure, we will celebrate the memories of those who have lost their lives to this disease, we will celebrate for those who are fighting today, and we will celebrate for those who will be affected in the future.

Call them what you want-they are worth fighting for!  Here’s a few of my favorites.  Feel free to leave a comment with yours!  Don’t worry-it’s totally acceptable for those of us who join the fight to Save the TaTas!

The Girls-my long time favorite

Knockers-the favorite of every boy in my 7^th grade class

Itty Bittys-I won’t call out any members but in college there was a committee…

Boulders-If you have seen Beaches you may recall Otto Titsling and the world’s first Over the Shoulder Boulder Holder.

Boobies-My 9 year old niece recently referenced hers this way

 

 

 

 

 

And we've got another one...

Thanks to Amy Vainieri! She has added Oregon to my list too! Now I am up to 10 states!

Why my husband won't let me go to REI again

First, let me start with my shout outs. Thanks to Ella Weaver, Ansley and Joey Dee, Elizabeth Ricks, my parents, and Alyssa Embree. With all of your help I am up to $725. That is 32% of my goal. Now, while I may not be winning in the amount of donations (yet) I think I am doing great in the number of states represented. I have:

North Carolina
Georgia
Missouri
Wisconsin
Illinois
New York
Virginia
Tennessee
Alabama

That is 9 states (without even cheating by adding states recently visited...cough, cough (Jen))! Way to represent! If you don't see your state represented, I am ready and willing to add your name and state to my list.

As Kim said, we went to a seminar at REI hosted by our new BFF, Jessie. She just doesn't know she is our new BFF. The theme was "The 3-day on a Budget" but we got much more information than just that. She told us things that worked for her and she has now instilled in me my greatest fear - passing out in the shower at the end of the day and being drug out with no clothes on by the paramedics.

Jessie showed us all kinds of goodies...moisture wicking shirts, shorts, socks, Body Glide, CamelBaks, headlamps so you don't lose your flashlight in the port-a-potty, sunglasses cord so you don't lose those in the port-a-potty, sleeping bags, and sleeping pads. She told us the secret that for REI members, you can rent a sleeping bag and sleeping pad and not have to buy them. She even created a 3-day gift registry so we wouldn't forget everything we needed.

Well after the seminar, Kim and I were left to wander around the store. First we looked at CamelBaks and we both got one of these:
Now, let me tell you...my training since with the CamelBak has been delightful. I feel like I am drinking much more water!

Then Kim and I rented our camping equipment. We also bought a camping pillow (Hey - it was on sale). I got some fancy moisture wicking tops that were on sale. I got a pair of socks.

As Kim and I were checking out, we both said that our husbands wouldn't let us play at REI unsupervised again. Little does Ben know that I have my eye on some long sleeve tops, the BodyGlide I forgot to buy, Nuun (a supplement that will replace Gatorade for me and not tear up your stomach), more socks (you need 6-10 pairs for the 3-day) and the most important thing being a 60 mile per hour windproof and waterproof rain coat - last year it was raining sideways and so bad that they were relocated at night to an empty office building. So, this weekend when Jen Latino visits, we are sneaking off to REI with or without the boys!

This Ain't Your Momma's Marching Band

This week, I added a few states to the line up of donors (see Kim’s June 25^th post for the challenge to see who can get donations from friends and family in the most states) and I am excited to introduce them here!   The Glisson and Skipper/Dong families represented the National Resource Center team (SC) with generous gifts.  I also received support from my friends and former classmates the newly married Katie McGee Barras (LA) and Ella and John Weaver (AL).   Teri Carpenter (NC) and Alisa and Pete Liggett (SC) donated this week.  BUT, they both donated the day that they returned from a vacation!  Teri had been on an Alaskan cruise and made a donation upon returning to dry land.  Alisa and Pete unpacked from a 3-week journey all over the state of California and when they did, they unpacked their leftover spending money to the Komen Foundation.  I would like to argue that donations made within a 24 hour period of having visited a state, qualifies the home state OR the visited state for the competition.  Under that policy, my donation line up is impressive:

Connecticut

Florida

South Carolina

Washington, DC (Okay, Virginia but the Gurkins work in DC!)

Germany

North Carolina

Louisiana

Alabama

California

Alaska

I propose a college and university competition as well!  Looking at my donors, there are many schools represented by either a student or staff member (current staff or student status required)!

Kaplan University

University of South Carolina

Florida State University

University of Oregon-Eugene

Louisiana State University

Auburn University

Team New Kids on the Walk is well on their way to achieving our fund raising goals. Our supporters are making a difference, all over the map!

I spent the holiday weekend in Raleigh, which meant a much-needed change of scenery for my training walks and my first visit to the REI store.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with REI (I’m sure it’s an anagram for something though I can’t find any proof of that) let me give you a first time visitor’s perspective.  These retail establishments are the Mecca for outdoor enthusiasts.  They are located only in urban areas, Columbia, SC not included, and cater to the hobbies of a diverse array of athletes.  Upon entering an REI, you will find a rustic motif and the smell of a campsite-they must pump in the scent of burning wood and s’mores like a Vegas casino pumps in oxygen. 

Much like my first visit to the running shoe store, I felt like a complete outsider.  My pink t-shirt, glass pearls, and knock-off designer tote did not scream “Experienced Outdoors-Woman” to the staff at the REI.  I can understand their judgment; I truly was a fish out of water.  They are more accustomed to serving the needs of “real athletes.” 

I have observed in my 6 weeks of athletic training that “those who sweat for fun” tend to stick together in cliques tighter than the Pink Ladies and the T-Birds.  REI is even organized in such a way to condone this type of clique-i-ness.  Boating gear (boats, oars, life jackets) is in one corner of the store; Hiking gear (ropes, carabineers, helmets) clustered in the upstairs loft (Yes, the store has a loft-and no elevator to get you there, just FYI); Camping equipment takes up the back half of the store (tents, other camping stuff…).  This set up ensures that the boaters can easily find one another and stand around and talk boat talk while the hikers talk hike talk and the campers talk camp talk.  I suppose if you are a boater who hikes or a hiker who camps you have some identity issues when visiting REI. 

After taking note of the adventurer cliques, I noticed that the equipment to fit all of my needs was not organized in the same way.  Where is the area for the “Walkers?”  We don’t have a space!  Our socks are upstairs near the shoes-okay, that makes some sense; our hydration packs are with the hiking supplies;  our head lamps are in the camping area; moleskin and other medical supplies are at the front register.  It’s discrimination!  Clearly “Walkers” are not a recognized group of athletes worthy of our own REI zone!

I would like to make the claim that “Walkers” should be respected athletes equal to that of a Runner, Biker, Kayaker, Hiker, Rock Climber, Camper.  Here is my rationale:

1.  Walkers need GEAR; specific items that are necessary to aid in the SPORT of walking. The packing and preparation list that is provided for our team is at least 2 pages long!  Some of the items that may surprise you include:

Scissors-to cut moleskin

Pedometer-to count your steps (I bet you won’t find these in the boating section)

AstroGlide-this is a family friendly blog so I won’t elaborate here

Fanny pack-to hold all the gear and to only add to the public ridicule from other, more recognized athletes

2.  Walkers work as a team.  I have never been a member of an organized sporting group. (It has taken me many years to comfortably admit that the marching band did not qualify for this category.)  But, the NKOTW are a TEAM of women, working toward a common cause, supporting one another, and engaging in healthy competition to whoop up on each other in the Rep Your State competition.  That, my friends, is how athletes work on a team! 

3.  Our success in our sport is due more in part to our passion to succeed than any natural ability.  Anyone can walk! It takes the passion of an athlete to walk 20-45 miles a week in preparation of a 60-mile journey to support the women and men who have been or will be affected by breast cancer.

As we train for the 3-Day event, I am on a campaign to have walkers, worldwide, be recognized in the community of athletes.  We need a place on the Olympic podium! We need our own channel on cable!  We need our own magazine:  Walker’s World!  I am taking up this cause, pedometer on my hip, water bottle in my fanny pack, with a passion and a drive like that of the students in the Great Biscuit Rebellion--that reference is for my SC friends-student activism at it’s finest.

{I once had a student in a leadership class that I was teaching tell me that she admired me because there were at least 100 causes that I would throw myself in front of a bus to fight for.  I hope that her analogy was just in admiration of my passion for many causes and that she recognized that I wouldn’t really throw myself in front of a bus.} But I will stand up and WALK!

This weekend I will be in Atlanta visiting Kim and Meredith so we can attend the 3-Day Expo (like an orientation for all of the October walkers-excuse me, athletes) and the three of us plan to visit an REI.  We will walk in, heads held high, confident that we are athletes!  We…are…Walkers! 

Note to my fellow athletes and teammates:  After I train this weekend in Atlanta, that will bring the number of states trained in to 3:  South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia!  I challenge the other NKOTW to train in as many states as possible before the October event!  See…competition!  Athletes LOVE competition!

The training load was light this week.  Athletes have to take a break to celebrate the holidays!

Miles this week: 15  Steps taken: 31,473

Miles so far: 84  Steps taken: 176,914

Until next week, keep on steppin’! 

*The dreadful evidence of my days in the marching band. I'm on the right, the short one.

Mail Call!!!

Here is a chance to send some support and well wishes our way DURING the Big Event! There’s nothing like a letter from a loved one to inspire you to keep going. You can write a letter to us, which 3Day volunteers will deliver to us on the event at the Breast Cancer 3-Day Camp Post Office.

Send letters to:
Breast Cancer 3-Day Camp Post Office
ATTN: (ENTER THE NAME OF YOUR FAVE NEW KID HERE!)
#370
880 Marietta Hwy. Suite 630
Roswell, GA 30075

Envelopes only, please. No boxes or large packages. Mail must be postmarked no later than October 13th in order to ensure delivery at the Breast Cancer 3-Day Camp Post Office. Any mail that is not retrieved by the participant will be destroyed.

We realize that we are only walking for 3 days but would LOVE to hear from you!
Thank You in Advance & Happy Walking!
Love, The New Kids on the Walk

Riley and the Flying Squirrels

*Addie and Riley-they look too precious to be fierce!  

Goodbye June!  The first entry on my walking log is June 3^rd.  I can hardly believe there is already one month behind me and only 116 days till the main event!  This week I was thrilled to receive 6 donations made to the Komen Foundation in support of my efforts.  Special thanks to the Connolly family from Connecticut, my sorority sister and long time confidante Angie “Hooch” and partner Kim in North Carolina, and a wonderful collection of colleagues from USC including Viki Fecas, Dottie Weigel, and Karen Pettus.  I also want to recognize the Gurkin Family (who welcomed their +1, precious Clementine, just last week) for putting me over the $1000 mark giving me just the motivation I needed for the long weekend walks. 

Thanks also to Katie and Adrienne, two friends and co-workers who joined me on my Thursday night 5-mile trek.  I may have bribed them with dinner and a bit of vino but they were champs hiking in the heat and through the sand-my first “off road” adventure. 

It is summertime, which, in the Latino household, means a stream of visitors-mostly of the canine variety.  Many of my friends take advantage of the summer months to squeeze in a family vacation and since Riley loves a play date, Camp Jenn is wide open!   Joplin kicked things off arriving on Memorial Day weekend and staying until the first weekend in June when I returned her to Raleigh and picked up Addie.  Addie had a two-week stay that ended the third weekend of June when I returned her to Raleigh and picked Joplin up for Round 2!  She will go home the weekend of July 17^th just in time for the arrival of Cookie, who has a reservation beginning July 23^rd.  The revolving door of doggies means lots of fun for Riley and a variety of walking partners for me!

I typically drag Riley-well, she drags me-and whoever else comes running when I pick up a leash, for the first 3 miles of my walk.  This is a win-win situation since they get the exercise they need and it gives me a stretch break/pit stop part way through my walk.   We knock out the first 3 miles; return home, tongues dragging the ground (theirs and mine); throw a few ice cubes in their water bowl; a quick drink of water for me; and I’m back out to finish my walk. 

If only it was that easy!  Those of you who know Riley know that she has the strength of an ox!  She is 75lbs of pure muscle.  I’m certain she could tow an 18-wheeler out of 10 feet of mud with the right incentive dangled before her.  And, nothing gets her going like--a SQUIRREL! 

Riley and all of her friends seem to share my hatred of the neighborhood sprinklers (see last week’s blog) and when we they see a spray up ahead, she dodges the water with the agility of a chameleon (Wikipedia says that the most agile animal in the world is a chameleon-I would have guessed a cheetah or fox).  But see a squirrel and same dog that spends hours laying on the AC vent in the house, moving only to allow her opposite side a turn at the personal cooling system, is off from 1.5-60 miles per hour in less than 1 second!  It is my biggest fear, and my loudest warning, that she will one day drag my precious dog sitter, Spencer, (who weighs 100 lbs dripping wet) to his death!  My notes for him always include, “Enjoy your walks, and remember to HANG ON!”

After two years of walking Riley, I have developed a survival strategy-I work diligently to see the squirrel first! I am much like a super sleuth, scanning the environment with every step as we approach a wooded area…scan left, scan right, scan high, scan in the shrubs (Mission Impossible theme song playing in my head).  This is the only way I can win!  Grandma Linda got Riley a leash with two hand loops, one close to her collar, and if I see one of these frisky critters first, I grab the lower loop, plant my feet firmly on the pavement-all weight on my heels, and hold on for dear life while she barks and lurches forward with a furry-fury!  This usually goes on for 5-10 seconds until the squirrel finds refuge in a tall tree and, feeling defeated, Riley returns to her sloth like pace, forging ahead on the sidewalk.

When traveling with two dogs, this is further complicated by the extra leash. I am sure I look like a marionette puppet operator.  (This is not what I meant by my childhood dream of joining the Von Trapp family Lonely Goatherd production). With an extra dog on our walk, I often end up straddling a tree, one arm stretched out to the far left, one to the right, and the dogs impossibly tangled together somewhere in the middle.  I notice that some of my neighbors linger outside, pretending to tend to their flowerbeds or sweep the front porch in hopes that “that girl with all the dogs” will come by and give them a show!  Every once in a while I catch a glimpse of someone peeking out of their dining room window.  I’m sure they have a video camera poised and waiting for me to walk by.  One day I will see myself on the “Funny Videos” show (Go-Go always called them the “Funny Videos” show whether it was the Bob Sagat version, the new AFV, or the Animal Planet edition) in the “Animals Misbehaving at Human’s Expense” segment. 

On our Saturday morning walk this week there were 4 squirrel “episodes.”  The chaos of the final sighting ended in Riley and Joplin successfully dragging me, heels firmly planted, using every muscle in my arms and back to hold on, for at least 6 inches.  The bottom of my shoes, my precious training kicks, have a worn area from the friction of the pavement against rubber.  I’m certain that smoke flew from beneath my feet.  After that, we went straight home and I finished the walk solo.    

I’m sure that this will somehow prepare me for the 60-miles that are ahead of us in October.  When Kim, Jenn, and Meredith try to keep a pace that is beyond what I prefer to walk, I have full intentions of hooking them to a nylon leash and pulling back with a hearty “Whoa!” 

I wish you all a great week.  Enjoy your walks, and remember to HANG ON!

Love,

Jenn

This weeks total miles= 20  Total steps= 41,525

Total miles so far=69  Total steps= 145, 441

Congratulations are in order!

The New Kids met some major milestones this weekend! Congrats to Jenn Latino who is off to a GREAT start toward her fundraising goal and crossed the $1000 mark! Mere & Kim both met the $500 mark on Saturday, and the whole team has raised 26% of their team goal! Thank you to all of our contributors!