A Little Insane

I did my best to gmap our walk:

Day 1 - 26.2 miles

&

Day 2 - 13.1 miles

As Annie said, "That's a little insane." I concur.

for Nancy

I just got the email (below) from a friend and former landlord. In just the time I started this walk (February) to now, her sister was diagnosed and died from breast cancer:

Molly... Are you still walking? I am sticking $100 in the mail today and I can send more if you need it to make your goal.

My sister (my only one!) died March 13th of complications in the lungs from stage 4 Breast Cancer. It was sooner than we expected. But at least she was spared the pain, because it had gone to her bones.

Please say her name when you walk ....Nancy.

She was only 66 and gave so much to her student as a Professor of Education at Catholic University. Such a waste. I hope they find a cure soon.

P.S. I have a buyer for the house. It will be an end of an era, because my sister helped me find and buy it.

Please consider clicking here to donate to the Avon Foundation. The walk is this Saturday and Sunday and we will be walking for Nancy, and for all of the other women who have fought breast cancer.

$30,000 and counting

We've surpassed the $30,000 mark! Check it out!

Congratulations Shalini, Kay, Abby, Lilly, Liz, Oriana, Lucy, Meredith, Annie, Alison, and Amber... and me!

Let's begin the countdown... 5 days to go!

Blame Liz!

Here's some inside scoop:

When times get tough with training or fundraising, the ladies at NARAL Pro-Choice America liked to target their frustration on one person. Named Liz (last name withheld). Because she's the reason we signed up for this walk in the first place. And she's the reason Amber will now dye her hair pink. And she's the reason I have a permanent blister running the length of my heel. And she's the reason Lucy's knee hurts. And she's the reason Shalini's knee is effed up. And she's the reason we're all in a mild debt (walking isn't cheap!). I could go on, but I won't. You get the point.

No! Blame Liz!

But, Liz is also the reason our team was able to raise $27,372.04 AND COUNTING... so yeah. We blame Liz, but really we're thanking her.

Thank you Liz!

The Oasis

Wow. I've never been so happy as I was at 1:30 on Saturday. At around mile 12 of our 20 mile walk, there it was: Liz's parents house.

The "moderate" incline to get to this Oasis was about as moderate as John McCain- which is to say, not moderate at all. But it was well worth the short hike.

A bathroom, water, Gatorade, sunscreen, and more awaited us. Let's talk for a moment about the spread: hummus, bread, olives, pita chips, fruit salad, sandwich fixins'. It was pure heaven.

Thank you so much Laura Stone and Ezra Levine.

Getting back on the road was another story, but somehow we managed to pry ourselves away. Once again, my post-walk state makes me an evangelist for those special blister band-aids. I love them!

Super Long Saturday Walk!!

Before this past Saturday, the farthest I had walked was 11 miles. We met on Saturday morning at 9:30 (ish) in Dupont Circle, fanny packs and all, and headed out towards Virginia. We were thrilled to have a new walker, Diana Schrimpf, to keep us entertained. We were doing great until we hit the Tidal Basin and the 14th Street Bridge and had no idea how to get Virginia (see, Virginia's crazy!). Finally, after a couple of phone calls to Heather Sullivan, we made it down south. The bridge was a loud and scary, but we made it because we are tough.

Once we crossed into Virginia, we only had about 6 miles left to get to our halfway point!! We stopped near some flag-football games (or rugby to some people) and stretched out our already aching legs. YIKES STRIPES!!

Anyway...so we hopped onto the trail that would take us by the beautiful river and onto Old Town Alexandria. Right before the airport we heard canons. No joke, we heard canons. I suppose it could have been other loud booming noises, perhaps associated with the nearby planes, but I suspect it was actually an approaching pirate ship. Seems more likely to me anyway.

Blah blah blah...we get to Old Town. We ate a yummy and very necessary lunch at La Madeleine. It was hard to get back out there after our lunch break, but we felt nourished, hydrated, relieved (bathroom-style) and icy-hotted. Additionally, we were in Virginia, we had to get out.

On the walk home, we were a little bit more separate, achy and wet because of the icnreasing rain. We all made it home and to work on Monday. I'd say, all in all, a great walk!

better late than never

Look Amber, I'm blogging!! I have been meaning to blog about our 16 mile walk last Sunday since...ok Sunday. So here we go....

When Amber told me the route, I was pretty much convinced we would be walking until Tuesday afternoon. But, alas, she was right on the money with the mileage.

We started our stroll along Rock Creek Parkway (which I'm vetoing from here on out) all the way to the Capital Crescent Trail. I suggested walking along the canal which was a great idea, until the trail ran out. But don't worry, the helpful construction folks posted a sign reading "use other side." Except the "other side" was across the canal. Oh snap! We climbed over the fence, walked dangerously close to lots of traffic, and ended up back on the trail. Good times.

Fast forward through 7 miles of the Capital Crescent trail. Other than seeing lots of springer spaniels, nothing much to report.

We stopped in Bethesda, where I was highly dismayed by their lack of passover options. Even the amazing bagel place was closed for Amber and Shalini's long awaited PB & J. Re-energized from our snacks, we made amazing time back to Connecticut Ave. Despite Amber's haiku to the L2 we did make it all the way back to Cleveland Park.

Stay tuned for info on our 27 miles of walking this weekend!

Haiku

At the end of our 15 mile walk on Sunday, I composed this Haiku about the L2 bus line. The L2 bus route ran right alongside us for approximately the last 3 miles of the walk. It was so tempting when it went by. Luckily, when the moment of truth came, my fellow walkers were there to keep me going.

L2 I love you
Please come and get me right now
I want a ride home

I invite the other walkers to submit their poems.

Sister Study Opportunity

A message from Sister Study: WE NEED YOU NOW MORE THAN EVER to help us recruit women just like you! The Sister Study needs a total of 50,000 women by the end of 2007. We currently have 33,000 women enrolled in the study which means we need to recruit 17,000 more women by the end of this year. Our most successful method of recruitment is through word of mouth, so this is where you can play a pivotal role today.

Through your personal participation in the Sister Study, you are making a tremendous contribution to breast cancer research. But we have another important request. Please forward this email to other women, friends and family members who may be interested. Or give them a call or a brochure about the study (call 1-877-474-7837 for brochures). If each current participant in the Sister Study helps us recruit one other woman this year, we will reach our goal and complete our recruitment phase on time! Remember, breast cancer affects women from every walk of life, so we need women of all backgrounds, occupations, and ethnic groups to join.

For women who have received this email from a Sister Study member :

You may be eligible to join the Sister Study if -
Ø Your sister (living, deceased), related to you by blood, had breast cancer
Ø You are between 35 and 74 years old
Ø You have never had breast cancer yourself
Ø You live in the U.S. or Puerto Rico

To join today or learn more about the Sister Study, visit the web site http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=jpnhc5bab.0.dtl8c5bab.ecmkb5bab.11645&ts=S0231&p=http://www.sisterstudy.org/ in English or http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=jpnhc5bab.0.etl8c5bab.ecmkb5bab.11645&ts=S0231&p=http://www.estudiodehermanas.org/ in Spanish. You may also call 1-877-4SISTER (877-474-7837), English and Spanish. All study materials are available in Spanish. Deaf/Hard of Hearing call 1-866-TTY-4SIS (866-889-4747).

picture pages, picture pages

Many of you have asked to see our pictures, so here are some more of them...

(the NARAL Pro-Choice America crew)

(Lucy, Meredith, Amber, and Shalini... with a tray of ab-fab baked goods)



(Amber's hair so far... reflecting the NARAL Pro-Choice America fundraising total)

Things are heating up as we're about 4 weeks out... stay tuned for more information!

This just in

Reporting live from the scene of the bakesale - there are reports that we have almost sold out!

We went door-to-door for the afternoon sugar rush and the sweet treats were flying off the platter like hot cakes!

We're Avon girls and it's cookie time!

**hopefully you will recognize that line from the critically acclaimed movie, Troop Beverly Hills.

It's bake sale day today at NARAL Pro-Choice America! When deciding our fundraising options for the walk, we decided that the bake sale is a tried and true way to bring in the dollars. And right we were.

The day is only half over and we have sold out of several items. The cash jar is over-flowing with donations. We are well on our way to turning Amber's hair pink!

Stay tuned for continued updates on our progress at the end of the day.

B-AN-AN-AS!

I made cupcakes! Banana cupcakes! And, the best part is... people loved 'em!

I shall now retire and become a professional baker. Or wedding planner.

Bare Butts, Squashed Frogs and Coyotes

Annie, Meredith and I walked 11.5 miles yesterday in Rock Creek Park! It was my longest walk yet for this training and the weather could not have been better. I even sported my new fanny pack (which rests on your back, not stomach) with dual water bottles and lumbar support. Loved it.

Beach Drive is closed to traffic on the weekends and makes for a wonderful long trail in use by many walkers, runner, bikers and a few roller bladers.

A few highlights from our time include bare butts, squashed frogs and coyotes. These are some of the many sites you can hope to see if you spend time in this national treasure of a park. Bare butts are most likely to be encountered on the shores of the creek, as small children prepare to frolic in the creek and parents frantically strip them down in hopes of saving their clothes, but not their kids, from creek water.

Squashed frogs, on the other hand, can be found on the northern end of Beach Drive, in abundance as you draw close to the Maryland border. Now, I'm not trying to imply that Marylanders have more road rage problems, but seriously, they have been squashing a large number of frogs.

Finally, as I was researching trails in the park, I came across a notice on the park website indicating that citings of coyotes in the park have taken place since May 2004. We had our eyes peeled and saw many dogs that acted and looked like the wild animals - but no real coyotes. To be on the safe side, we took the park service advice and did not feed the animals.

huzzah

I'm fighting my weekly "it's hot - now it's cold - now it's hot - now it's cold" COLD, so I don't have much of anything to report on the walking front, but I do have a bunch to say about the fundraising.

First of all, though my thermometer doesn't indicate it yet, I've reached my fundraising minimum! Huzzah! I'm pretty pumped about it. I'd be more pumped if my thermometer reflected my victory, but hey- whatever. I'll take it.

The best part about raising this money for Avon's Walk for Breast Cancer has to be all of the kind and thoughtful emails and letters I've received in relation to this walk. It's truly been overwhelming. I mean- I didn't realize just how much this issue touched my closest friends and family members. The personal ties are deeply touching - and I wanted to thank everyone for taking the time to share their stories with me.

In lighter news, the gals at NARAL Pro-Choice America have organized an office-wide bake sale for March 28, so that's something fun to look forward to. Don't worry- I'll be purchasing my contribution at Whole Foods. I wouldn't want to accidentally sideline anyone with my lackluster baking skillz.

Also at NARAL Pro-Choice America: a March Madness pool. We had a record breaking year with over 80 participants and $400 in the pool. Niiiice. Too bad I'm not in the top ten. Either way, 1/2 of the pool is going to Avon, so that's incredible!

What else? I suppose that's all for now.

Keep walking it out...

A nice little Sunday

Sunday March 18th was so many things. It was the day after St. Patrick's day. It was a beautiful sunny day in Washington. It was great day for a walk. With the spirit of Spring in our hearts, Kay and I decided that Sunday was an excellent day for a walking tour of Washington.

Our trek started in Chinatown, moved on to the Senate side of Capitol Hill, crossed to the House side, maneuvered down the Mall to the Tidal Basin across the 14th ST Bridge, along the Potomac, across the Memorial Bridge, up the steps of the Lincoln, down the steps of the Lincoln, along the Mall and back to Chinatown. The adventure was completed a little shy of 4 hours.

Sounds like a nice little Sunday stroll, right?

WRONG!

Around mile 6, we crossed the Tidal Basin and walked up to the 14th ST Bridge and at the same time a cloud moved ominously over the sun. With our hoods tied tightly around our faces, we stepped onto the bridge and into gale force winds. As we walked across the bridge, my hands began to turn a shade of purple, Kay's hair swirled upward around her headband, and the water of the Potomac began to form a rip current that looked a lot like the surf off the beaches of Waikiki. It wouldn't have surprised me to see a few surfers begin to fly down the river. As we walked along, the wind became stronger, and we began to wonder what would happen if a gust sent us flying through the air and into the frigid waters below.... we were cold, we were scared, and then we were in Virginia.

After about 30 minutes of fighting the wild wind and prayers to God reminding him that we had in fact made it to church that morning, we crossed the 14th ST Bridge.

I can honestly say, that I was never happier to be in Virginia.

golf-claps

cha-ching, cha-ching

(That's the sound of Oriana and Lucy meeting their fundraising goals!)

Way to go, girls!It looks like the rest of us are well on our way to our individual $1,800 goals... to find out which ones, you'll have to check out our individual fundraising pages (links located in the right side blogroll)!

Back in Action

So Amber called me out. Well, me and everyone else who hasn't blogged in a while. So I figured it was time to step up.

I have two things to blog about today! The first is meant to have you take pity on me. Last week, it was cold. We had a few people signed up to walk after work and one by one, everyone bailed. So being the hard core (cough cough) person I am, I decided to go it alone. That's right. Right about now you should be thinking about that opening scene of Bridget Jones' Diary where she is crying and singing "All by myself, don't want to be all by myselffffff anymorrrrrre." Ok so maybe that is a little dramatic. But I did walk all by myselffff for 4.3 miles. In the cold.

Alright, enough feeling bad for myself. My next walk was much more fun! Molly, Lilly, Charlotte and I took a little mini-break in Miami for the weekend. We enjoyed a lovely walk, in the sun, on the beach, complete with an 8th and Ocean photo session and Tastee Delight! By far one of my favorite walks so far. Not just because I wasn't "all by myself, anymorrrrrrrrrre!"

Airport Training anyone?

I just wanted to drop a quick line about my airport training experience. Last night, I flew from DC to Cedar Rapids, IA for work. I was supposed to connect in Detroit and get to IA around 8 pm.

So I coast on into to Detroit to find out that my flight has been cancelled and there are no other Cedar Rapids connections from Detroit. This means I get to spend a lovely 3 hours in the Detroit airport, followed by a flight to Minneapolis and then a flight to IA.

So, what better way to pass time than to train in the airport. That's right, me and my backpack made our way around the Detroit airport in style. By my calculation it was only about a mile and a half of walking - but it helped pass the time.

Of course, the Minneapolis flight was delayed too, so I got a quick training session as I RAN like hell to make my 10:20 flight in the C concourse after arriving at 10:10 in the F concourse.

I made it, but my luggage did not. So I crawled into bed at 1 am after brushing my teeth with the free hotel toothbrush that is about as soft and smooth as sandpaper. Cross your fingers that my luggage comes in today, so I can spend some quality time with the hotel treadmill in my workout clothes tonight and do some real training.

We are on the team!

Molly just taught me how to blog! I feel so technologically advanced now. Phew. Anyway, Oriana, Alison and I are now officially part of Team Pink is the New Avon Walk! Now we have enough people to have a group tent and at least somebody will be getting a hat. Thankfully, Molly said that if she doesn't like it I can have it.

Yesterday Alison, Lucy, Molly and I went on a walk after work. We went through Georgetown, around the U St. area and back. We tried to beat the time that Lucy and Molly had on their last walk, but it took us just a little bit longer. I blame it on the snow still covering the fancy shmancy streets of Georgetown. We also stopped at Cake Love to peer in the windows--mmm. That will have to happen on our next walk. The only other exciting thing was what happened outside of the Hilton on Connecticut...I'm pretty sure Lucy and Alison would rather forget about that though.

On a totally separate note, Duke is playing Maryland tonight. Go Duke!!

best bathroom ever, moderate incline, wind, oh my!

Last Saturday, we had a record number of participants in our weekend group walk of 7.1 miles. Those in attendance: Lucy, Lilly, Shalini, Amber, Molly and Annie. I know I personally enjoyed (finally) meeting our Charlottesville, VA member Lilly... and it was great to see Shalini kicking all of our butts on her first group walk. Well played, Shalini my friend.

The walk started off poorly for me. I had to go to the bathroom more than I had previously thought, and that made for an interesting 2.2 mile journey to the Chevron bathroom. Yes, a gas station. But, no joke - it was the nicest bathroom I'd been to in a long time. And yes(!), I include those bathrooms in private homes. Chevron really knows how to do it up. Golf claps!!


After some much needed Chevron time, I was back in the game... and nothing was going to stop me. Not gale forced winds, not shoes that were 1/2 a size too small, not shin splints, not calf aches, not a lack of a camera, not runaway tires, not the super speed runner (the ladies know who I'm referring to), and certainly not our moderate incline that capped off the 7.1 miles.

I think I can... I think I can... I think I can...

After some post 7.1 mile stretching (did I mention we walked 7.1 miles?) it was time for the Chipotle reward... waiting for us mere steps across the street. I dare say Chipotle has ever tasted so good.


.THE END.

Head to Toe

Well, my toes will feel a lot pressure in this 39.9 mile walk, so to make it a full body commitment, I am adding my hair into the mix. I will dye my hair BRIGHT pink if my co-workers, friends, and family help me - and my team - surpass our fundraising goals. The more money I get, the longer the hair stays pink.

So, if a great cause and some inspirational stories aren't enough to get you to give -just think about the hair!

A big thanks goes to Bryce, my hairstylist at Bang Salon and Spa, who will be taking care of the hair free of charge. Thanks Bryce!

It's true, I walk fast

Today, I am celebrating a number of things. 1) Kay, Amber, and I completed a very long walk yesterday 2) Kay and I completed that walk at 11 am despite our champagne celebration for a friend's new job the night before and 3) I found my keys this morning (which has nothing to do with the walk). Yesterday, however, Kay and I left Van Ness and proceeded to Woodley Park where we met Amber for our training walk. According to Google Pedometer (my favorite walking invention), in total, Kay and I walked 7.4 miles! We think that our walk to and from Woodley Park was about 4.5 miles. Previous claims aside (ie that I walk "like being chased by the mafia") the full walk was completed in 2 hours which was impressive. Despite our impressive distance and speed, the most exciting part of our walk was watching hordes of middle school children flock to the DC Goth Festival in one of Woodley Park's classy hotels. I especially appreciated the women with the Samurai Swords.

In her honor...

So, I thought it'd be nice to share with you all the story of my grandmother's breast cancer experience, since, after all, she's one of the many women we'll be walking for!

My mom's mom, Ruby Sperling, is better know to me as "Oubu" (pronounced ooo-boo). And as the eldest grandchild, I take full credit for this nickname. My family tried relentlessly to get me to say "Ruby" when I was learning to talk, but it just wouldn't come out right. Who knows what sort of sounds did come out, but I guess the most decipherable was "Oubu", so that's what they went with!

Oubu was 39 when she forced her doctor to take the lump in her breast seriously. After insisting on being referred to a surgeon, surgery was scheduled to have the lump removed. After a radical mastectomy (they removed the breast down to the rib cage & lymph glands under her arm) they took skin from her upper thigh & grafted it over the area. She was in the hospital for about a month due to complications, inculding blod clots in her leg. She was finally released from the hospital after being told her left arm would eventually swell to be larger than the right, and that she would never be able to lift her left arm higher than a 90 degree angle. But she was stronger than they imagined- that doctor wouldn't believe his eyes if he had seen her lifting her beautiful baby granddaughter (me, of course!) up over her head 20 years later!

It's truly amazing how far medicine has come since my gradmother was battling breast cancer, but we still have a long way to go! So ladies... let's walk it out, walk it out...

...the enchiladas that never were...

So, I meant to blog about this on Monday night, but I was in a "mood" by the time I got home, and opted to instead write it Tuesday when I got home.

Well... Tuesday, the federal government closed @ 2pm due to the snow and icy road conditions, and I seized that opportunity to get tanked. No need to say more.

And, well, here we are on Wednesday... and I'm finally writing about what I should have written about Monday.

So, I'd like to give myself mad props for doing two "big" walks in a row-- Sunday's 5.2 miler with the ladies and Monday night's 4.4 miler with Annie. I'm most definitely a rock star! Or at least, I felt like one, until my journey home.

Let me set the scene: It's cold, blustery even. My nose is running. My butt is a tad sore from yesterday. Annie, bless her heart, walks like she's being chased by the mafia - and my legs were working double time simply to keep up. So, I'm tired and hungry and imagining a steaming hot plate of enchiladas. Yum.

I proudly declare that I will cab home, rather than wait on a bus... but, with my dwindling funds in mind, I decided to wait for the bus. Besides, there was a gaggle of people already waiting, so I felt like the next bus was just around the corner... um, WRONG!

I waited for the bus, any bus, for 45 minutes... and while a stronger person would have thrown in the towel and taken a cab, I did not. I felt like I had something to prove. What- I'm not exactly sure.

So I waited 5 minutes more... 10 minutes more... 15 minutes more, until I decided to just walk. Which felt awesome because my muscles had totally frozen up in the interim between walking and waiting. As luck would have it, a bus did come, and I was able to hop on at the next stop.

Buuuuuuuuuuut, it was one of those accordion buses, and I was caught in the center-- literally smack-up against my fellow passengers. I didn't care, though, because I was warm! And going home! To eat! And thaw out! And watch The Hills! All very important, exclamation-point warranting things!

Clearly, as my luck that night would have it, I was unable to get to a door in time to get off the bus... for the next two stops. And so... I marched my sad, sad self home...

... where I made a sad, sad salad (not enchiladas), and went to bed before The Hills because I was too exhausted to keep my eyes open.

Those feeling sympathetic are invited to express said sympathy with a donation :)

Should we go around it?

That was the question of the day today on our first official training walk. Liz, Molly, Amber, Meredith and I walked a fabulous 5.2 miles around the Mall braving the cold and tourists. We knew the loop around the Mall would leave us in the 4 mile range, but no one had checked if that included going around the Lincoln or the Capitol. Solution? Go past the Lincoln, around the little fountain in front of the Korean War Memorial (complete with tourists staring and possibly pointing), and go around the Capitol (it's called Capitol Hill for a reason people.)

Along the way, we completed our civic duty for 2007 and placed a call to 311 to alert them to a trash can fire on the mall. After several minutes of back and forth as to the location of said trash can (Lucy: "It's in front of the Air and Space Museum on Independence" 311 lady: "Ma'am I need a location" Lucy: "umm I'm not sure how much closer I can get you") I decided I was done with trying to be a good citizen. Unless you count raising $1800 for breast cancer being a good citizen - OH SNAP!


In other exciting news, we convinced Meredith to join in Team Pink is the New Avon Walk! So we have now doubled our team members and Molly is getting close to her free hat! Speaking of Miss Jackson, I must thank her for the lovely shout out.


That's all for today...now go donate!

Whoa

I can't believe I signed up for this. For those of you that know me, you know that my sister and brother-in-law are the crazy athletes of the family. And Jeremy has his black belt. I think I excel more in the craft arena. But, I guess it's finally my turn. I'm hopeful that I'll make the full 39.3 miles!

My main concern right now is getting some fancy socks.

Duke

I know this has little to do with the Avon Breast Cancer Walk in that, well, it has nothing to do with the Avon Breast Cancer Walk... but I couldn't resist.

Today, "Pink is the New Avon Walk" team member Lucy just got into Duke for grad school! Can I get a woot woot??!!

Congratulations Lucy (Liu)!

get it together, Jackson!

Hi everyone... it's me, molly. AKA Diet Coke Girl. If you don't know why, then you must not know me very well.

Anyway, I wanted to write my first blog post to commemorate the fact that I finally set up my personal donation page (holla). Next task, fixing the team page for "Pink is the New Avon Walk." That will have to happen post-LOST watching.

In addition, Liz, Lucy, and I finally sent out an email to colleagues at work, and we're already off to a great start. It's really quite touching- and telling. Breast cancer really does affect us all.

I promise to be more entertaining in the future, but I'm sick with a really nasty cold, so that's all for now.

It begins...

The Pink Is the New Avon Walk adventure of 2007 has officially begun...I have a webpage! Head on over here to view my progress (ok, so not much in that category yet) and more importantly, to donate!

I've done two training walks in the past two days (woot woot) and Molly and I have one scheduled for Wednesday. I'm getting myself some new shoes at Fleet Feet tonight (10% discount for Avon walkers!) Check back for amusing stories as we wander the streets of DC for the next 3 months.

In the mean time, be the first person to donate on my web page! The race is on. Ready? Get set. GO...