Steph's Breast Cancer Awareness Blog 10/21/2010

60 miles and Pink Glove Dance

Check out my friend, Steph's, blog of the day! I LOVE it, Steph!! Thanks for writing a great blog today and sharing how breast cancer has affected your life and your loved ones. I can't wait to honor those individuals who have been touched by cancer - with my "I'm Walking For..." t-shirt (two weeks and counting - woohoo!!)

EVERYONE remember - October is Breast Cancer Awareness month...DO YOUR MONTHLY SELF BREAST EXAMS! Early detection saves lives :-D Thank you, that's all I have to say about that.

Team training.....

Well, here they are....the world's best training team!!

Yep - these are my cheerleaders and walking buddies - Mike & Lisa! They have stuck it out through thick and thin!! They've split some of my high mileage walking days up between the two of them (so I could get in 8-10 miles). Sometimes they've biked the miles with me. They've juggled the kids on days when it was too hot to take them on the trail. Whatever it has taken, they've done it!

Last week I located a local walking team that gets together on Saturdays, so now I can give Mike & Lisa a break and walk with that team to get in those higher miles. (BTW, if you didn't know, Lisa recently withdrew from the Komen event because of a conflict in her schedule.) It's okay, though, as she has committed to "keep-on-a-walkin" those 5-milers with me and we've had so much fun!

So with 8 weeks to go, I am getting REALLY excited! I have almost reached my fundraising goal - Hooray!

Thanks to everyone for your encouragement, love and support!!....more news soon....

Whew.....that went quick!

Wow, I just realized I haven't posted to my blog in over two months! Where did the time go? Where did my whole summer go! Oh, yeah, I remember - training, cleaning, training, homeschool preparing - oh, and training! Haha!! That's it in a nutshell.

So, here I am with 10 weeks to go until the big event!! I walked 24 miles this week and have a 30 mile week ahead of me. I am half-way to my fundraising minimum (yippee) and have been desperately trying to get my Estate Fundraiser launched. I hope to have it up next week if all goes as planned (fingers crossed :-)!!

Here are a few pics to make you feel like you were "with me" the past few weeks during training. I hate the treadmill so I have braved the heat and even walked into the night with my trusty partner, Lisa, just to complete our mileage. I even added a pic of the temperature gauge in my car on the way to go train - I can't wait for FALL!!

So, that is all for now...I'll try not to wait 2 months before my next post - - deepest thanks to all of you who have already contributed, and for those of you who have committed to donate! Be blessed ~

Officially announcing....

I will be walking 60 miles in honor of my mother, Dee!

I am so excited to not only announce this walk, but also launch this special video on YouTube, Facebook and Blogger today for my upcoming cancer walk in November. Most of you know my mother lost her battle with breast cancer in 2007. But what many people don't know is that I made her a special promise - that my family and I would get a hold of our health once and for all!! So I chose a big event....to honor that promise in a BIG way!

I have spent countless hours putting together a 2 page letter and dvd to mail to all our "snail-mail" friends, as well as an create an electronic version to email to everyone else! (Thank God I had some help from some wonderful people....you know who you are! :-)

I hope you enjoy this video! Please contact me directly if you did not get a letter, would like to donate or know more about what I am doing....

Making amends

This week I made a video for my oldest brother. Sadly, he and I have not spoken to each other since 2008. I recently tried to reach out and make some sort of amends, but to no avail.

My continuing prayer is that he can find true joy in his life, work through the grief of losing our mother and find it in his heart to forgive, not only himself....but others. And, I hope he knows how much I love him!

Brrrrrr! A blustery day for a walk....

So, we decided to get an extra day of walking in on Sunday and knew it was going to be really windy. My adorable and very "southern-blooded" children, decided the only way they could BRAVE the blustery 50 degree weather and 30 mph wind - was to suit up in their snow/ski gear. At first, I thought this was utterly ridiculous and protested. Then, I figured, "hey, whatever it takes....as long as we get a walk in today".

They suited up, we loaded up....and here's what it looked like getting off the starting line:

We did really great the first 2.5 miles, as there was only one small section that had a tough headwind. On the way back however......a lot of complaining ensued as we took the bantering wind on directly.

The last mile we had to get really creative just to get everyone back to our vehicle. Needless to say, I think Mike and I burned a LOT of extra calories. We took turns biking children 1/4 mile then walked part way back to get another kid and bike them 1/4 mile. The kids also took turns walking their bikes too. The wind was just a killer. All in all, we made it! And, everyone still had a smile when we got to the truck!

Team training....

I have a lot of people ask me, "how do you make it work to get out and exercise when you have 3 kids"? My answer is, "we get real creative!" Some days it's bikes and roller blades, other days it's dogs on leashes. Whatever it takes....we make it work.

I made so many excuses for so many years why I couldn't exercise. Then one day when not long after we had started training/walking & running last September, I saw a man who had lost a leg and was on his custom bicycle for paraplegics. As he cycled past me in the opposite direction, pedaling with his hands, I thought, "wow, if he can get out here and do this with a physical limitation - shame on me for making up excuses like 'I'm tired' or 'I didn't get enough sleep' or 'what if one of the kids tires out and can't make it' - NO MORE EXCUSES!"

So, with a made up mind - this family has spent the past 6 months dedicated to exercise and taking care of our heart, lungs and bodies. Yes, Mike and I have given a few piggy back rides to kids, had to pull a rollerblader (huh-humm, Emily) back to the truck 2 miles away and even pedaled a kid or two on the handlebars of their youth-sized bicycles all the way back to the starting line to get to the bathroom in time. But, you know what....it's been worth it! What better way to spend time together and take care of this "vessel" that God gave us, and - oh, by the way, that you only get ONE of!

So I encourage you....find something you can do together. Make it fun! Commit to it - and do it! Maybe you'll cut out a movie night and go for a bike ride instead. Or, plan a vacation spot based entirely on the hiking trails that surround it. Get outside, move, breath and feel better.....

More to come....from team "Moving Forward" (also known as the Naz Fam!)