The 3 Day: Week Six Progress Report

Training
Well, last Monday I went back to New Balance and my buddy Ken wasn't there. The woman that wound up helping me said that they only have one other shoe that has more cushioning than the one I already had. It didn't work. I wound up returning what I had and going to Fit2Run. They had me in easily six different shoes. The only pair that felt like they might work, they didn't have in my size. I walked away with nothing, feeling very frustrated, and in pain. I never in a million years would have thought that finding proper fitting, comfortable shoes would be the hardest part of doing the 3 Day.

I decided to give my feet a bit of a break this past week in case I did do something to them and instead spent some time cross training. I focused on doing Pilates to build up my core and leg strength; and yoga to stretch and strengthen everything. One day, I did venture a very short walk that was less than a mile: my feet were hurting. Thing is, for all I know this is a normal part of my feet getting used to endurance training.

I was talking to my mom and she told me a story about when I was a kid being fit for shoes. Apparently, even then I was a hard walker or, as I like to say, I walked with a purpose then, too. I'm going to start walking again this week with a pair of sneakers that are in my closet that I find comfortable. I'm going to start small and only do a mile at a time. Maybe I did too much, too soon.

Scott had suggested checking out the new Sketchers Shape Ups. I hadn't thought it would be a good idea because I'm not looking to get a workout out of my training walks per se (they supposedly really work your core & lower body), but rather something supportive that will keep me walking for up to 20 miles per day. I was also concerned about feeling secure on them since they do add some height and I don't want to worry about rolling an ankle. But I was just talking with one of the guys at work who is seriously accident prone and is on his feet almost the whole day and he highly recommends them. I'm seriously starting to reconsider. Any feedback is much appreciated.


Fundraising
The amount of people that offered to donate items for my raffle blew me away! I thought that if I was lucky, I'd get maybe ten or a dozen... I have 25 individual (some items are in sets) and amazing pieces!! I'm going to work on getting everything organized this week and hope to have the raffle live by Monday, April 12, 2010. I will, of course, post here about it so make sure you come back and visit or subscribe to my blog so you don't miss it! And tell your friends about it, too. Thanks! I hope the turnout for tickets is as good as the item donations!!

In the midst of organizing my raffle, I also contacted a couple of farmer's markets about setting up a booth or table with all of my fundraising goodies. I haven't heard back from them yet, though.

My third fundraising project of the week was to get some pictures of the first few pieces from my Pink Warrior Chain Maille Collection. I succeeded in getting the pictures, but unfortunately that's as far as I got. This week was really busy at work and also at home as I was getting the house ready for my mom's visit. I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get this stuff listed yet, but felt a little better when I found out that I already have one of my co-workers interested in one of my Pink Warrior bracelets.

This week's extra special surprise donation came from a woman that I knew when I was still touring shows. She was my presenter in a few different cities, so we actually got a chance to get to know each other. I haven't spoken to this woman in about eight years and she was kind enough to make a donation to support me and to support the cause. Warm fuzzies.

Mileage to date on training walks: 41
Goal: $2,300
Achieved: $1,120 or 49%
Remaining: $1,180
Countdown: 208 days until the event!

If you're enjoying keeping track of my progress, please consider supporting me in my effort to eradicate breast cancer. No amount is too little or too much. Thank you!!