The 3 Day: Week Eleven Progress Report

A little bit of fun...
I came home from Lowe's with a whole bunch of plants this week and... a 3 Day garden flag!


Another bit of random goodness...
I received a very sweet, very supportive e-mail through my blog from an absolute stranger. She's actually a fellow walker and Training Walk Leader in Denver and even though I know walkers from around the country through blogs & twitter, I had never "met" her before. She shared with me her experiences buying shoes for the event and tips for getting started training. She was incredibly kind and supportive of me and my efforts so far and basically told me not to give up on myself (the whole frustration with my feet thing). It was awesome e-mail and I really appreciate that she took the time to reach out to an absolute stranger for a virtual hug like that. Warm fuzzies...


Training
I nearly had a heart attack this week when I saw how much it's costing me to go to the foot doctor. They even charged for taping up my feet at that first visit! It's nuts, but I don't have a choice: I have to get my feet healthy.

That said... I went back to the doctor again this week for yet another follow up. If you follow my blog, you would have seen my announcement earlier in the week (I was too excited to wait for this blog post): at my follow up, the doctor cleared me to start walking again!!! I'm not 100% yet and he wants me to do some physical therapy, but he said that since there's been improvement I can go ahead and start back. He seemed to think that the semi-custom orthotics are working just fine for me for now, too. Obviously, I'm going to take it slow and be smart about it; it certainly wouldn't make sense for me to hurt myself at this point. I'm not going to go out with any goal. I'm just going to go for a walk for as long as it feels comfortable. He stressed that I shouldn't walk every day (obviously) and to include cross training (I would have done that anyway).

I can't tell you how happy and relieved I was when I left the office that day. I literally had perma-grin for the rest of the day. I was so happy, that I actually started to cry at one point. I know that it isn't going to be easy and that I'm going to have to take it slow, but at least now I know that I can do it. I feel strong again. I AM a Pink Warrior.


Fundraising
Four pieces from the Pink Warrior Chain Maille Collection sold on Etsy this week!! I thought it was cool that two of the bracelets that sold will be Mother's Day gifts and the other two pieces are for a fellow 3 Day walker. Thank you so much Blue Buddha Boutique for donating all of the jump rings that made this possible!!!

I contacted some of the very popular handmade blogs this week to see if they might be interested in sharing info about my handmade raffle to their readership. The amazing Tara of Scoutie Girl announced the raffle on her Facebook page. I haven't seen any donations as a result of it but there were a few comments, so I at least know that people did check it out.

Mallory over at Miss Malaprop also promoted the raffle in a post about a fundraiser that she's doing. It sounds like a really amazing cause, so if you're in her neck of the woods please be sure to check it out!

In order to try and drum up some more interest for this last week of the handmade raffle, I'm offering a gift to everyone that participates regardless if they win a prize or not. Hopefully, it will draw a few more donations! We're at $175 raised through the raffle so far, I'd love to get it up to a nice, even $200.

Mileage to date on training walks: 41
Goal: $2,300
Achieved: $2,014 or 88%
Remaining: $286
Countdown: 173 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!!

Don't forget to check out my raffle benefiting the 3 Day!
This is the last week to make a donation in order to enter to win a prize: the drawing is on Friday, May 14, 2010.
Everyone that participates this week receives a gift regardless if you win a prize or not. Details here.