New Cross-training

Wednesday is supposed to be a cross-training day. The first few weeks, Wednesday is a "rest" day. Me? Rest? Never!

Today I did Body Flow, which is a combination of Tai Chi, Yoga, Pilates and a few other exercises as such.

It's very low-key, low impact, not much of a sweat is broken.

I've done the class a few times before. Not a whole lot.

But.
Man...

I. Am. Sore.

I know that's good. And it's good to get different exercises, but seriously... I'm sore!

The stretching did feel really good, though, I will say.

Movin' on up

Countdown: 22 Weeks
Your Training Schedule for This Week:
Monday	Rest
Tuesday	3 miles	Easy walking
Wednesday	Rest
Thursday	4 miles	Moderate walking
Friday	30 minutes	Easy crosstraining
Saturday	5 miles	Easy walking
Sunday	3 miles	Easy walking

So there's the training schedule for this week coming up. I guess each week moves up and up in the mileage. I suppose I'll have to move to a new place--not move-move, but move my walking--so I can do some of these other walks, especially in a flatter area. (Those hills were killer on Saturday).

I've got 3 miles again today, and then I'm sure I'll appreciate the rest day tomorrow.

Tough day

Today I did my first increase. I walked 4 miles. It was tough. It wasn't the length that was touogh--it was the hills. I didn't realize how many hills or how big they were would be on this walk. It was still in my neighborhood, but it's a hilly neighborhood.

Walked for a bit over an hour. I can feel my muscles twitching now and I'm sweating a lot, but it was a good walk. A tough walk, but a good one.

I think I may have to find a different route for my "4 mile easy walk," becuase although it was 4 miles, it was not easy!

Week 23 Training

For those of you trying to keep up with me...

Here's my training for week 23 (we're counting backwards)

Countdown: 23 Weeks
Your Training Schedule for This Week:
Monday	Rest
Tuesday	3 miles	Easy walking
Wednesday	Rest
Thursday	3 miles	Moderate walking
Friday	30 minutes	Easy crosstraining
Saturday	4 miles	Easy walking
Sunday	3 miles	Easy walking

I am so glad that tomorrow is a rest day! I've never followed a "plan" like this before--I just exercise when I can, when I feel like it, when and what I'm up to. And I'm a little glad tomorrow's a rest. And really, I haven't even done all that much yet!

Looks like a few more 3-milers, with a 4-miler on Saturday.

12 Miles

I've walked 12 miles this week. The week of The Walk I walk 65.

Somedays it was a little harder to get out and going. So far I've done the "out and back" walks, meaning I walk half my miles and turn around. I like that. If I can make it to my turn around point, I have to make it back, right?!

For some reason today was a hard day to get motivated--sort of. I think I wanted a lazy Sunday, but am also far from flat out not doing a walk. I also realized today why they say it's is important to have and to know where "rest stops" are along the way. I have my camelbak with water, pockets of snacks...but no bathroom breaks along the way. At least not this route, so far. Yes, I realize the importance of that now.

Been good so far.

I'll keep ya posted!

6 miles so far

I've done 6 miles this week. 3 on Tuesday, 3 today. I did the same route.

Today was much easier, but I think for several reasons. Tuesday, I hadn't worked out since Saturday morning. Today, I worked out (walking) 2 days ago. And yesterday I was on my feet a lot. And it was much cooler today. And it was a familiar (repeat) route.

Been good so far.

Tomorrow is "light crosstraining" for at least 30 minutes. Saturday and Sunday are both 3 miles.

It's been fun to have my Camelbak. I like having the water right there. And lots of it. For those who don't know, a Camelbak is a backpack that has a big water supply in it. There's a straw (basically) on it, that allows you to get water as you need it. There's also pockets for my phone; for snacks; and later on down the road, for jackets or rain gear.

When I do my longer walks, I need to be sure to go to places that have bathrooms somewhere along the way.

We're not "supposed" to train with headphones, for safety reasons. But I can't imagine the longe walks (alone), not having the company. I'm thinking of getting an MP3 of sorts that I can put books on.

Google Pedometer

Google has a new pedometer type of thing. You plug in a route (that's the hardest part) and it will calculate how many miles you've walked. It also measures elevation and even calories burned (one of my 3 mile walks will burn 356.7408582860328 calories!).

I've been playing with it this morning, mapping routes in my neighborhood. I've mapped one 3-mile walk, but will need to find a few more so I don't get bored!

Monday (tomorrow) is a rest day, Tuesday will be my first 3-miler. That will be easy. We'll just see how it goes after having several in one week.

Raising Money

Raising money was easy. There are special rewards (like a pink lanyard) if you raise X amount of dollars in the first X amount of days. I did that. Easily. I woudly wear my pink lanyard!

Walkers must raise $2200 in order to walk. That was easy for me, too. I set that as my original goal, and hit it. Pretty quickly. So I changed my goal to $3000. And then I hit that (thanks, mom!)


I've met some of the other Austin walkers. Some said they've barely started thier fundraising. One woman is walking, partly to work on her fundraising skills (there's more to it than that, yes). I sort of want to brag how easy it was for me to raise money, but I also want to be a bit humble about it. But, I'll yell it out, it was easy! I sent three (I think) varieties of emails to different groups. And the rest, as they say, is history.

I knew it would be easy. I just didn't know how easy!

I hope the walking training will be just as easy!

Training starts this week

May 14th. That's the day I've had in my mind for awhile now. May 14th. The day my "official" (suggested) training starts.

Part of an email I got today, courtesy of The 3 Day:

Countdown: 24 Weeks
Your Training Schedule for This Week:
Monday	Rest
Tuesday	3 miles	Easy walking
Wednesday	Rest
Thursday	3 miles	Moderate walking
Friday	30 minutes	Easy crosstraining
Saturday	3 miles	Easy walking
Sunday	3 miles	Easy walking

Technically, Monday is a rest day. But Wednesday there will not be much time for the working out stuff, so I may have to switch that around. Three miles all this week. That'll be easy. I have a few routes in the neighborhood that are about 3 miles each.

I'm ready for it.

I think this weekend I'll look for a camelback and pretty soon I'll look for a new pair of shoes. Or two. I also got myfree order of Thorlos socks. They're supposed to be great for the walk. They're really thick and fun. I think I'll try them out and I may order more.

I think this week it will start to sink in how real all this is.

I'm ready for it.