Not gunna do it: A long-winded rant

Okay, so I've resigned to the fact that I'm not going to walk this week. Or not like the big huge walks. And that crushes me. ... it really does.

I went back to RunTex b/c they called and said my shoes were in. They weren't at the store they were "supposed" to be at, but the guy who helped me before was. I told him of my ails and he seemed pretty perplexed as well. Shouldn't be that new shoes could cause shin splints, and maybe it was something else?

I told him it was new shoes, old route, familiar street surface...What's wrong with me?

I had to walk up and back in a bunch of different shoes, with inserts, without... Up and back...New shoes, no shoes, pants rolled up. (He said my left was definitely stronger, so it was odd my left was bothering me.)

So he made me return the other shoes--even though they were so cute. And the second pair was the same kind, which I already paid for and crap! I have to find that receipt. So what a mess. I hope I can get the right shoes! I'm down to like 5 weeks.

Anyway, all that to say I'm going to take it easy this weekend. And, really, it does kill me not to be able to walk. But I know in the long run, that's all for the better. I've gotten lots of emails from other walkers (yes, friends and parents have said it, too, but coming from my cohorts who Get It seems different). Really sweet, nice, supportive emails.

I figure if I can rest this week, as I have (only like 2 miles the whole week), tomorrow and maybe even Sunday, I'll be good. Or maybe a light walk Sunday. Or something.

I know it'll all be fine. Really, it will be. It's just tough. And great. And life-learning experiences.

Mom told me how proud she was of me--made me cry--and then said that if I didn't walk, that if I only made it 10 miles, that would still be okay--cried harder. Because, as someone in an email said, it would be a bit disappointing not being able to walk the whole thing. I know it's okay not to, but it would be disappointing. Mom did say, though, that if I needed to, I could be like Rosie Ruiz and get on the sag wagon up until a mile before the end.

Anyway, although slightly disappointed not to walk a bajillion miles this weekend, I am looking forward to sleeping in. No alarm. For the first time in a long time.

Shin splints

Last Sunday, I had to do 6 miles. I did it in my neighborhood, since it was such a small amount. Part way through, though, my shins started hurting.

Yeah, I think I got the shin splints. Just in one leg, though. And not that bad...

Couple thing against me--new shoes and lots of hills. Two things people asked me about when I told them of the shins. I really hope it's not the shoes. I just got two pairs of the same shoe. Almost out of desperation. I need to break in my new shoes, and there's a HUGE walk this weekend, so I felt like I had to get the shoes this past weekend.

I've been icing it some, and wore an ACE bandage for about 2 days. I feel better now. Will do lots of stretching before my 6 miles this evening. I want to gear up for Saturday, but I also know to take it easy.

I really do think I am lucky enough to have a mild case...especially after some of the horror stories I've heard about.

Hopefully next time I write about my new shoes, it will be with praise and adoration and not of "These stupid shoes ruined me!"

Wish me luck!

Words of Wisdom....

If you think about it twice, you better go.


Truer words have not been spoken.

What a relief!

Today we walked 10 miles. Met at the Randall's and walked to Town Lake, did a short loop and walked back. We were relieved--relieved!!--to only have to do 10.

Last week was tough; next week will be even harder. I'm nervous about it. But, the thing is, I know I can do it. I can't use the excuse of "I can't," since I already have. (Next week is 18 and 15).

But that means a new sticker! I'll just keep that silly little sticker in my mind!

It was a nice walk today. It started cool, and stayed relatively cool most of the walk. We were also in a lot of shade. And the non-shaded parts were under 9:30 sun, not 1:30 sun. Also, it was less than 4 hours, not just under 7.

Today was good. Hopefully enough of a boost to keep me going for next week!

Accountability

These days, now that school has started and the miles go up (on weekdays, too), it's sometimes hard to get out and get going. .... I've found myself calling or instant messaging people, basically telling them to tell me to go.

I know I need to, I know I'll feel better if I do. (Even though I sometimes get discouraged with the hour and a half to two hours of my precious weeknight gone.) But sometimes I need that extra little push.

So, thank you to my friends who know when I need you to say "Go! You'll be glad you did!" and when to say, "It's okay to take a break this time."

Some of my friends....

A little far away, but the 8 that did the 18 on Saturday....
Left to right: Barbara W., Karla, Barb, Gina, Erin A., Jessica, Maria, and Kim is "the lone shortie in the front"

Check this out!

This looks much worse than it really is. ... It's really my only one, too, which is a really good thing at this point. If you want a closer look, I'll gladly take you up on a foot massage! (I think it's basically a blister under a callous.)

I heard ACL! .... or at least a sound check

Today was tough, yes, but not as tough as yesterday. Today was a mere 12. (Supposed to do 13, but we were all more than okay with only doing 12). Started with 8 of us. We stopped for a bathroom break (I think there was one bathroom I didn't stop at. ... That's what I get for drinking more than 100 oz of water!), and some who had to get to getting went on.

Four of us had a nice walk. We took it easy, walked slower at times, rested lots. Walked a bit more speedily toward the end. We all hurt. We empathized and sympathized with one another. We talked. But not nearly as much as we did yesterday. We just didn't have it in us.

I think I realized we had truly lost it when Karla and I about bust a gut at our shadow puppets. The sun was bright behind us. We had super long fingers, which soon turned to dogs and butterflies and swans.

My blister/callous thing is better. Still pretty gross looking, but not as bad as it could be (knock on wood). I started with a sore ankle. It's a weak ankle anyway. When my toes were going numb, I decided it was okay not to wear the brace anymore.

As we neared the end, we could hear some of the ACL stages prepping. First we heard the Star Wars theme, followed by the Chariots of Fire theme. We got a burst of .... something ... and were able to make it a few more feet without collapsing. Our dogs truly were barking.

I'm pretty wiped today. It's 7:00 and I think I could go to bed for the night. ...

So, I've done the hardest part. Our longest training is 18 miles. I've done that. Now I know I can do that. There's no turning back now. ... Here we go!

Today was hard.

I'm gonna go ahead and say it. Today was hard. Today it was suggested we walk 17. Because of where we met, we either had to do 18, or less than 17. I feel like once you get that high in numbers, why not walk 18?? We did.

It was tough.

I hurt.

Something's going on with my toe. It's like a callous over a blister. After the walk tomorrow (13), I'll work on doctoring it up. Maria gave me a pumice-pop-vinegar-Neosporin trick to try. It's mainly bothersome right now.

10 people and 1 dog started the walk. The dog wasn't going to go the whole walk (which I'm glad that poor thing didn't have to!) and his owner and her friend stopped at some point.

It was a good group. There was awhile that I was the slowest one in the gang. There were times, fairly early on in our 6 hour walk that I didn't know how the hell my body was going to go on.

There were times I was closer to the front--never as far up as the power-walkers Karla and Barb, but they had stuff to do. There were times that I felt pretty good.

There were times it was super hot, sun beating down.

Today was the first day in a while that I really felt like I was training on a different level. Even when I bumped up to 11 or 12 miles, that didn't feel awful. It was tougher, yes, but not like this. This really felt like something different.

But, if I've done this, I can do it all. During The Walk, we may or may not walk 20 in a particular day. Eighteen is the highest we go during training. I can't go back now. I've done it all.

Course the trick now is doing this three days in a row.

Not that that will be a problem.

Today was hard, but I'm proud. I'm proud that the 8 of us did it, all at our own paces. We cheered each other on, we encouraged each other, we walked side by side.

And the migas tacos and black beans and avocado and fruit and coffee and hibiscus mint tea sure were delicious. Thank you, Kerbey. I ate every single bite.

The Car

I really need to blog about today. There's stuff to process. But before I take my nap, have you seen how close to the end that car is? (That little ticker thing at the top?!)

How awesome is that?!

Sick....

I must be sick...in a weird sort of way I'm looking forward to walking 17 miles on Saturday!! Is that crazy or what?!

I talked to Jody today and we talked about how we may not always enjoy the working out part, but it's the being done part that makes us feel so good. I think that's part of why I'm looking forward to Saturday's walk. To say, "hey, I walked 17 miles today!" (Now give me that second bowl of queso).

And I'll be walking with these women I've really gotten to know and like, which always makes the morning go better.

And the funny thing? I'm not worried that I can't do it. I know I can.

What a change of attitude from a few weeks ago. Even Debbie said something about my short email about how great my attitude was. I'm glad it showed through in even an email. I'm so glad I took that Saturday off not long ago. I've also been a bit softer on myself when missing a work out. I try not to miss a walk day (hence making myself go today), but I've realized it really will be okay if I miss a workout. And, well, really it's fine if I miss a walk day, too.

Mama didn't raise no quitter!

That time I had to walk my mileage on the treadmill, while Kimberly was getting harassed by her trainer, I wanted to give up. She got next to me--it was only like 5 miles I had to do--and wouldn't let me quit. "Mama didn't raise no quitter!" she told me. Not that it was hard. It wasn't. I was just bored. I was sick of the treadmill... It was the middle of the afternoon, there wasn't much people-watching and only court shows with people yelling at each other were on the TVs I could see.

Well, I had that mantra in the back of my head today as I wanted to give up. It wasn't too hot (in fact it was nearing cool), I wasn't bored (I had my talk radio on), I just wanted to be done. ... Also, I thought my bladder was going to explode. I had already mapped out my 6 miles. I thought about fudging.... but knew I couldn't.

So I didn't.

So, there. I did my "requisite" 6 miles today. Whew. And, honestly, 6 miles isn't that bad. I just wanted to be home. And now I am...

Oh, and PS

One of the most delicous things about walking so much is the amount of food I can eat on those days I walk so much....and still be hungry! It's kinda fun, knowing that I really can justify the amount of food I eat on those days.



Oh, and for those who care, I have managed to empty my Camelbak bladder on a few separate occasions. My Camelbak holds 100 oz.

An easy 8

Saturday was an easy 8. Eight is easy?! Yes!! It's so funny to me how 8 miles now seems easy. That walking 8 miles--almost 3 hours--is a relief to me.

Of course it was hard to get up Saturday morning, but I'm so glad I did. Walked with a great group--including a few power walkers who I gladly let speed on ahead of us. I stayed among the same few people during the walk. Laughed a lot. I think we're pretty damn funny.

We passed a large group of walkers. Although I never played soccer, I know the tradition at the end of passing each other, slapping hands, saying "good game, good game." ... Only a few joined in with me.

There were also lots and lots of runners, obviously training for something. We were able to ask a few different groups what they were doing. They were training with Austin Fit, all walking different mileages. We encouraged them along.

Carla, who has been on the Crew before gave us lots of tips and suggestions. We're all talking about what we still need to buy and what we still need to do. Carla said she bought a big huge ziploc type bag at Wal-Mart. I'm sure I need one, but secretly the only reason I want one is to be able to zip-lock the HUGE baggie-zipper thing. My fingers are literally itching to zip it!


Lisa is one of the women I frequently walk with. She's on the team, Candy's Canes. Her good friend, Candy, has been cancer-free about a year now. She lives in Dallas, and was down for the weekend. At the end of our walk (and before a few others had to do another 9 miles), she stopped us and said some very nice things. She said something like, "I know that all of you have your different reasons for doing this, but thank you for doing this. It really means a lot that you are walking, no matter what the reason is. I know we all have our own reasons, and you need to know you are doing a good thing. .... " Something along those lines. It was a very nice thing to hear. I'm so glad she said it.



Today Amanda and I walked/hiked at the Greenbelt. Didn't do the 6 I was "supposed" to do, but it was a nice walk. It was nice to see some new scenery, including a nice stream and some small hills and lots of trees and a bit of seclusion.

Next week things get really rough. We're slated to walk 17 miles on Saturday and 13 on Sunday. We're trying a new route on Saturday. I think it'll be a bit rough, but we're meeting at a grocery store--a good place to stock up on electrolytes. I also bought some Clif bars at Costco today.

It's September. That means the walk is next month. That's scary and exciting. Yes, I'm a bit nervous. ... But also so way like totally excited.

Only 9 miles

This weekend, the miles go down. I think it's 9 and 8. Two weeks ago, I did 15 and 10.

Funny how now, as opposed to long ago, that 9 seems easy! Especially on the tracks we do. The hills around my house are hard. Makes the long, flat trails (even of 9 miles) seem easy!

I hit the wall...

Since the end of May, I have walked some sort of mileage many days. While in Singapore, I didn't do tons of walking. Some days I slacked a bit. Most days, though, I was "on."

Sometime last week, I hit the wall. I was already feeling like I couldn't do it. Even Saturday, I asked MJ how to deal with the mental frustrations. She didn't have much to offer on that, as we started discussing what to do when you get home. The cold bath was helpful.

I was tired and sore after the 24 miles in two days, but I was surprised by my recovery.

Sometime early last week, VM emailed to say that the new meeting time would be at 6:00 a.m. 6:00!! I almost freaked. I hit that point of, "oh, my, gosh, I can't do that!" I didn't want to not walk, but I almost felt like I just couldn't. I have a long-ish commute to get there anyway. And that time after the first week of school just was not going to be any fun.

I talked and talked with people. I think I needed to hear it was okay not to go. One day. One day, people. That's it.

J from work is doing the MS150. The first time he trained, he said he was going to follow the schedule. His friends laughed and said 'have fun.' He didn't follow the suggested schedule.

I've realized I don't have to, either.

I woke up at 7:00 on Saturday, said a "thank goodness I haven't been walking for an hour," and went back to sleep.

I did get up on Sunday to walk. We met at 7:00 at Town Lake. It was a nice walk. An easy 11 (how funny that now 11 can be easy!).

I did walk yesterday, I did my cardio today, and I may or may not get to walk tomorrow.

And I'm okay with that.

Ketchup

I've got a lot to catch up on here... And I will.

I created this blog to have a venue to talk a bit about the emotional stuff that goes along with this walking business.

I need to do that a lot.

(just don't have the time right now!) I've got important thing to do like get ready to go play BINGO!!!