Those little reminders....

Every so often, we get a poignant reminder of exactly why we walk. In the past two days, it happened twice. And with a big fundraiser scheduled tonight, the timing was almost unbelievable.

First up: Home Depot
Stef & Kraig stopped at Home Depot to pick up canvas belt  thingy-ma-bobs for our fundraiser tonight ... something to put our raffle money in, instead of fanny packs. They got up to the registers, and were flagged over to an empty one by a cashier.

The cashier asked if they were doing a fundraiser (buying six of these things must be a dead giveaway!). Stef explained that we were doing a fundraiser for the 3-Day for the Cure, a walk for breast cancer. The woman then told Stef that her sister recently died of breast cancer, leaving behind a 16-year-old daughter, who is now living with her 16-year-old cousin and uncle. And oh, by the way, that 16-year-old cousin's mom died of breast cancer too.

And today, we met Jacqueline.

Stef, Kraig and I did a 10-mile training walk today. There's a five-mile loop right around the neighborhood, but we needed to get in a little more to make it an even 10 miles. So we walked through the neighborhood a little. We got to the corner of my street and Stef says, "eh, that's good." Nah. I said we could probably get the full 10 miles in, if we went around the corner and down the next street. We're slogging along (that last mile is a beast) when we passed an older woman who was gardening.

She saw the three of us walking, wearing our bright pink shirts. She smiled and said, "Cancer walk?" We smiled and Stef said we were training for the 3-Day for the Cure. We walked past her a little, and she said, "I was just diagnosed with breast cancer this week."

We put the brakes on. Seriously? We just randomly walked down a street, and came across a woman who was just diagnosed with breast cancer. The amazing part was her attitude. She got a little teary when she started telling us, but she was so confident. "I'm going to beat this," she said. "I'm not going to let it kill me. I'll die of a heart attack instead."

We'll try to keep walking by Jacqueline's house, to see how she's doing. We may never see her again, but she'll be in our thoughts and prayers as we're training, and as we're walking. She's a fighter. I don't know if she'll win her fight. But I know without a doubt, that she is the reason we are walking: So someone's grandma doesn't have to hear those words, "you have breast cancer."

Five in Five? Bring it!

I love trinkets. And challenges. I'm a bit competitive, in case you hadn't noticed. So when I got the email today from the Komen folks, challenging 3-Day walkers to get five donations in the next five days ... I'm all over that.

So how about it, my friends and family? How about it, my college and high school friends? How about it, colleagues? 

Surely there are five of you out there who would be willing to make a donation between now and 11:59 CST on May 21? Any donation at all. And easily done online through my 3-Day fundraising page.

What's the reward? A spiffy beaded thingy-ma-jig (pictured at right) that I'll get on the walk. Woo hoo.

Seriously though, the reward is huge. Immeasurable really. The reward is being part of an effort to end breast cancer. Being a part of the largest non-governmental funder of breast cancer research. Being part of something big. Something bold. Remember: I'm walking 60 miles in three days. Can you make a donation to support that?

A wee bit like childbirth?

I've decided the 3-Day experience is a little bit like childbirth ... you sort of forget stuff. Conveniently.

Like the 'hotspots' after a long training walk. Or the feeling of, "I need a protein bar or I'm going to pass out," during a walk. Or waking up with sore body parts that aren't normally sore (the balls of my feet?).

With just 15 weeks to go (100 days tomorrow!), training is picking up a lot. We walked 8 miles on Sunday at Stony Creek Metropark (an awesome 3-Day training spot, since it's a six-mile loop), and got in a quick 5 tonight. But it's that point where five miles is "quick" .... a big change from just a few weeks ago.

We have 24 miles to get in this week, and I'm grateful for every one of those miles. Because it's those miles that are going to help build up the callouses on the balls of my feet. It's those miles, and the 24 miles next week, that will help toughen the inside of my heels, which are a little tender today.

That was a hard thing to remember on Monday, when I woke up a little stiff... the training isn't just to make sure I can actually walk 60 miles in three days. It's to make sure that my body is ready to walk it, and my mind is ready to enjoy it. That's why we set a goal to train 585 miles over 24 weeks -- so that we have the callouses to make it through 60 miles in three days.

So goodbye pedicures. And hello training... I forgot how hard you were!

Chugging right along

This week marked the start of our 16-week countdown ... for 'normal' folks, 16 weeks is a long time. Heck, that's four months.  For the 3-Day walker, that's about the time you start to realize you've got some work to do! Fortunately, "Team Toucans" is well on its way...

Fundraising: We passed the $10,000 mark in our team fundraising efforts! As of now, we're at $10,350, which is 75% toward our overall goal. And Julie & Jenn reached their fundraising minimum.  We made a serious dent in our fundraising with the Tiger's game Opening Weekend, when we raised $1,000 by staffing a concessions stand with 13 of our friends and family. And coming up, we're hosting "Tickled Pink," a night at Go Comedy to see their improv show, "Allstar Showdown." We still have tickets available! We bought out the house, so there are only 100 tickets to be had. Right now, we have about 20 or so left, so if you're interested, let one of us know!

Training: Here's where we're chugging right along. I'm at 109 miles logged so far ... a little below this time last year, but at 85% of the recommended training miles to this point, I'm OK with that. We're getting close to the weather breaking for good, so I'm hopeful that life will slow down just a tad to allow me to walk a little more. Actually, just waiting for it to get warmer (and lighter) in the mornings would be helpful ... getting in Thursday night walks (average 5 miles) is difficult with the kids' schedules.

And with that, we're chugging right along. We're making progress with fundraising and training. And counting the weeks. Just 16 weeks.......

The best things come in small packages

And today, that's "Zac and Jake."  Two young boys I've never met.

I got a call from a friend on Friday morning. She was watching her young nephews (Zac & Jake, who I think are like 8 and 10), and they were watching television together. A commercial came on for the 3-Day for the Cure, and she told them she knew someone who was walking in the 60-mile event. They asked a few questions (What's it for? She's really going to walk 60 miles?) and went on with their day.

The next morning, before they left for school, the boys came out to Carol with an envelope. "This is for your friend, Auntie. We want to help her."

Inside that envelope (marked "Auntie's friend") was a note from Zac and Jake, along with several one-dollar bills and a pile of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. Zac and Jake made a donation to the 3-Day for the Cure, for a grand total of $8.64.

Their thoughtfulness just blows me away.

Thank you, Zac and Jake, for the reminder that it's not how much you donate to a good cause... every single donation makes a difference, and giving what you can is what makes a difference.

And thank you, to Zac and Jake's mom and dad. For raising two thoughtful, generous and kind boys. May they continue to surprise and delight those they meet throughout their lives...

Yay Team!

Kraig made a great discovery the other day ... on our 3-Day participant page, there's a list of "Top Teams" in terms of fundraising.

Look closely ... on the far left side ... look at the list of teams .... see it? zoom a little ...

It's Save the Toucans!

That's right ... with $7,281 raised for the Michigan 3-Day for the Cure, our team is on the Top 10 list for the event right now! We're at 53% of our goal (raising $13,800), and among the top 10 in Michigan ...

Coming from a team of two from last year to having six people this year has been a ton of fun. It's really different, but it's the little things like this that are just so exciting.

I don't know how long we'll stay on the list -- there are teams with dozens of people that walk in the 3-Day -- but we're there right now. And that's exciting. I'm so proud to be part of a great group of people who are doing wonderful things and really making a difference in the effort to fight breast cancer.

One down, 23 to go ...

I realize that in the "real world," 24 weeks equates to six months, which is half a year. Which is a long time. In my pink bubble, however, 24 weeks starts the countdown ... and it flies by.

Some background: Having a "successful" 3-Day event (which means no blisters, no injuries, no whining) requires training. When Julie & Jenn were considering whether to walk this year, we talked about what sort of commitment it was. I couldn't say it enough: The fundraising isn't hard. It's not easy, but it's not hard. But the training ... that's hard. And yet I think it's the single most important piece of having a good experience.

The training isn't hard because of the actual, physical walking. That's probably the easy part. Training is hard because it's a lot of time. You have to make the time to walk four days a week. And some weeks, that's hours of walking. It's hard to adjust an already busy schedule to fit in walking, and it can be stressful. For example, "walking days" are Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Emma has gymnastics on Thursday, which makes it nearly impossible to walk on Thursday night (it's only a 45-minute class, which isn't enough time to get to the gym and back, and it's not enough time to walk the neighborhood by the gym). Yet it isn't warm enough in the morning yet to go out early. Argh, you get the idea.

But the training is also where I found joy in the 3-Day. I loved having the structure that forced me to exercise. I loved walking with Stef and chatting along the way. I loved getting outside and seeing the bunnies and deer. I loved meeting new people on training walks and learning more about them and why they walk. I loved training.

So this past week, when the email popped into my inbox to let me know that my "Personal Trainer" was ready to go, it made me smile. Getting my Daily Mile account all set up made me smile (you can see my tally of training miles on the right side of the blog). And gearing up to go walk this week made me smile.

Now if we can just get it to be a little less windy, walking outside will make me smile.

And that was a really long way of explaining: One down, 23 to go.