Oops!!

Yes, I walked the 3-day successfully and OBVIOUSLY forgot to post my final blog of the experience!! I have no idea how I did that. I guess I just overwhelmed and was busy catching up on all the work I had been neglecting while I was training. Oh, and then a few weeks later I found out I was PREGNANT!! So needless to say, I had other things on my mind ;)

I promise I'll go back and write about my experience - it was AMAZING. We walked the first 18 miles in the pouring rain, 2nd day in drizzle and mud, and the last day was perfect.

I even made the channel 2 news!!! Go me!

Anyway, I'll write more later, just realized I never posted my final blog so I felt the need to post this "coming soon" message...

Thanks to everyone who donated and supported me!! I love you guys!

17 days till the 3-day!

Well, I meant to blog about it right after we did it, but we successfully completed our 15/18 mile back to back. Yes, I know it was supposed to be an 18/15 mile back to back, but we had to re-arrange the days to accommodate the most amount of folks.

We did have a few folks with blisters, a few tired feet, and some aching hips... but we did it!!!! I think we can make it!!

I am proud to say I am DONE with fundraising!!! Thank goodness.. man, was that a feat! I have my tent assignment - I'm in D-5 (whatever that means). We have our transportation arrangements for the morning of the opening ceremonies... and I am VERY EXCITED to say that we will be riding in style in an 18 passenger Limo/Party Bus from Collins Transport!!!!
It is going to be totally sweet!! They even told us we can decorate the windows, but I will see how much time I have on my hands hahaha.

Anyway, that's all for now. Tonight we will... I mean Christi will be doing a workshop on how to pack your bags for the 3-day. THANK YOU Christi for doing this - it will be a HUGE help!

After the 3-day I will be switching my blog over to an "every day" blog so I don't go into withdrawals!!

Until then, check out our 18 passenger party bus which will be departing from Newnan in T minus 17 days...

15miles down... 18 to go

Well we successfully did 15 miles today in about 5 hours. We walked from the Peachtree City Library to Target (which was about 7.6 miles) and then back. We passed Flat Creek golf course and country club, crossed over a little waterfall/creek thing, under bridges, it was beautiful! We had a few blister issues, but overall it was a good walk.

After we got back a few of us went to Johnny's Pizza... and then home to rest before tomorrow's 18 miler. Ok, I'm exhausted... enough blogging.

Here are some pics :)
And again, sorry the walking ones are blurry... it's hard to take them while walking haha

Tyrone Founders Day 5k

Ok - I swear this blog is not ALL ABOUT my 5k's... I'll be posting about a way cool fundraiser we are doing on Oct 1st. I also keep eagerly awaiting the post where I can say that I've REACHED MY GOAL... but that hasn't happened.... yet.

Anyway, back to the Tyrone Founders Day 5k. It was wonderfully chilly this morning. Chris didn't want to get out of bed, but we got there and picked up our LIME green shirts (which I actually LOVE) and then had a chance to do a little mini jog before we lined up. The course was described as "simple" - and then he clarified that "simple" does not mean "easy" and that there were a lot of hills.

We took off slow and steady as always, passed the barefoot runner guy (I still haven't blogged about him... I need to - he's awesome!) and before we knew it - mile 1!! Easy breezy. Then kept on and then mile 2!! Hey, this one is going pretty easy today! After the 2nd mile I started getting warmed up - this usually happens at mile 2 for me which means that I need to be one of those over zealous runners and do the "warm up lap" before I run. Anyway, I started picking up my pace and I swear, before I knew it I was the home stretch!!! I finished in my best time EVER at 26:27!

I've always said I just want to finish in 27:xx minutes and today I crushed that!!! Now obviously to a serious runner that's still pretty slow, but I was totally stoked and finished 2nd place in my age group! (First place was WAY faster than me) Oh and Chris?? He finished 2nd too!! He makes me mad... he never runs during the week and can still kick my butt. Jerk ;)

Well, we went home, changed, and then cut down 2 trees in our front yard. Took 4 hours total to cut them down and drag them to the woods. I'm exhausted and the pizza was great thank you.

No walking for me tomorrow, but gearing up for our 15/18 back to back next weekend

Cleveland Elementary 5k

Chris and I finished the Cleveland Elementary Curious Trail Run 5k this morning! This is the first race in a series of races I will be doing for the Rotary Elementary School Grand Prix. There are 15 in all, and I hope to do almost all of them... but we shall see!

There weren't many folks there that were our age, so we both proudly walked away with First Place ribbons!! The course was great for the first mile - it was all downhill... but what goes down must come up (or something like that). About the 1.5 mile area it all started creeping uphill and stayed uphill for the entire last stretch. I should have listened more seriously to Melissa when I asked "Is it really that hilly?" and she gave a long pause and answered "yeah... it's pretty hilly". By the way, where were you Melissa?? I needed your claps and cheers hahhaha. Oh, and did I mention it was MISERABLY steamy outside??? I would have been more comfortable running in a sauna! I literally had sweat beads on my shins that would NOT evaporate in the muggy air, but I guess that's TMI.

I have to admit, I was still impressed with my time of 28:42 because:
A. It was hilly and
B. I walked 10.2miles yesterday followed by a 2mile run... I will never do that again before a race day. Lesson learned.

Anyway, it was fun to cross the finish line with my hubby and high-five him as we noted our time and made a b-line for the food and water. They had an amazing array of food and drinks... the best of any race by far. Balance bars (my fav, should have taken more), bagels with 2 types of cream cheese, granola bars, crackers, bananas, doughnuts, red bull, sugar free red bull, 3 different flavors of gatorade, water... I LOVE race food hahaha.

Overall great race. Wish more folks would come out to support the Elementary Schools... maybe I can con my friends into doing some with me. Now the question is: 15miles or sleep in tomorrow.. hmmmm

Pink Road Id is HERE!

So - I started the morning with a 6.2mile walk with Kelli & Becky... and then Becky and I continued on 4 more miles for a total of 10.2! And then, yes, call me crazy - but I jogged an extra 2 miles! It was a great day for being outside, but started getting a little hot towards the end.

Then, I came home to find my PINK ROAD ID WAS HERE!!! Ok, you first have to know that I've been waiting for MONTHS for the pink id's to become available, and I somehow managed to snag one before they were sold out again. (Ok, that's not completely true, but I dont want to let out my secret. Lets just say that the Road Id Folks are TOTALLY cool!!!!)

Anyway, I'm posting a picture of the pink version of the road id.. it's not mine because I haven't snapped a photo yet, but you will find me in it all the time. I freakin love this thing. Not only does it look totally cool, but it's functional too. Well, functional in the case that I drop dead in the middle of a 5k.. or the 15k I just signed up for in October!

Anyway, signing off for the night. Got the Cleveland Elementary 5k in the morning!

4 new friends and 15 miles...

So today we had a 15 mile walk scheduled... Walkers included Mary Ann, Joanne and me.. then we had some new friends join us today!! I met Melissa online on the 3-day forum, and she invited her teammate and another friend from another team! I LOVE making new friends - the more the merrier!! The 15 miler was great. We did the 10k loop (with the bonus mile added in there) then across the bridge over 54 and did the Toga Trot course... then back to the library and around the lake. We stopped a few times for blister prevention, water breaks, and potty breaks, but we made AMAZING time!! We were haulin!!

Right at the very end of our 15 miles we had a gal stop us and ask if we were doing the 3-day... turns out she is walking too!! So of course I invited her to our training walks, and just like that - we made another new friend - Robin! She was walking with her daughter Grace who I am SURE is glad we came along... now she's off the hook as a walking buddy haha.

Four new friends and 15 miles.. all in 4 hours. Can't beat that!

Mary Anne, Amy, Shannon, Melissa & Joanne -
We didn't meet Robin till the end, but she will be here next time!

TO-GA, TO-GA, TO-GA...

Chris and I did the Toga Trot 5k race today in Peachtree City! It was the inaugural event so it was fun to be part of the first one! Chris and I wore togas, but there were only about 10 other folks sporting them. Hopefully next year more people will wear them because it's FUN!! The course was pretty good... it stayed on the golf cart path for almost the entire race just finishing up in front of the Phi Mu headquarters. There were quite a few hills - not quite as bad as the Newnan races I've done, but they were hills for sure. My finishing time was 28:24 and I finished 2nd in my age group! Another little plaque to hang on the wall.. hmm I think I need a trophy room hahahaha.

After the Toga Trot I headed back to the yard sale.. oh yeah, I forgot to tell yall about that. So my friend is getting married in October and is raising money for her honeymoon - so I joined up with her garage sale and had a garage sale to raise money for the 3-day. I got about $100 and it was just mostly selling little 25 and 50 cent items, so I can't complain!! Friday was the busiest day - Saturday was slow and then it rained, but hey, $100 is $100!!!!

Toga pics (provided by www.simphotos.com) soon to come...

15 Miler

Well, I did it. I completed the 15 mile training walk!!!

It was me (obviously), Linda, Linda's friend Lisa, Val and Mary Ann... Ok, well Val had to cut the walk short so she could make breakfast/brunch... but the rest of us walked it out and did 15 miles.

I'll have to admit, it was loooong.. and I was walking in Chris's cheap crappy size 9.5(in men's) shoes. Why???? Because my shoes are too small and my favorite running store moved, so I couldn't get new shoes last night. I figured for a long walk I'd rather have shoes a little too big than too small. They actually worked ok. No blisters, my feet ended up swelling enough to fill them up (shut up.... no big foot jokes). We stopped at Rita's to get an Italian ice and then headed back on the cart path. Once we came back to the parking lot we realized we had only walked 13 miles so a little disheartened, we had to keep on walking another mile up and then back a mile for a total of 15... but we made it :)

Tomorrow Chris and I are heading to City Sports in Atlanta to exchange his Newtons due to a slight engineering problem... and also to get me some new walking shoes!!!

I'm also eagerly awaiting my pink Road Id. The website said they will be ready on Aug 30th... it's the 31st.. tick, tick, tick...

Guess that's it for today... I'll post a pic of my new shoes when I get them.


Yep, it's blurry because I was walking...


I tried again... Way to take up the entire pic Mary Ann haha. You look like a cheerleader ;)

If I'm on the ground... step over me.

So I haven't been running at all in the past month - and only walking a little (so much for my 800miles before the 3day) so when the Sunrise on the Square 5k came up... I was a little unprepared to say the least. I did my crash runs the week before...
1.5 miles Sunday - thought I was going to throw up
2 miles Tuesday - thought I was going to pass out and then throw up
3 miles Wed - Actually made it without thinking about throwing up
Break Thurs
3 miles Friday - Didn't feel like throwing up until the near end
5k Saturday - Side stitches, thoughts of barfing, lots of hills... but made it through!!

And after all this... I got 3rd place... I was pleased :)
Not to mention - this is pretty much the same course as the Run to End Domestic Violence 5k I did back in May or something - and I ran 32:15 in that race, in the Sunrise 5k I made it in 29:48.. not to shabby.

Now for the frustrating news.
So I've been busting my butt keeping up with running (with the exception of the HOT August month), something I never even thought I could do... only to find out that WALKING is what is messing up my knees and hips!!! Yes, all these years I avoided running because I thought it was screwing my knee up, but no... it was walking. I'm assuming it has to do with the way I heel strike when I walk.

So what's the problem you say? The problem is that I'm supposed to be WALKING the 3-day... and the only way to train for the actual event is to WALK ...
ugh... well whatever, I think I may scrap my 800 mile plan, keep running during the week so I dont feel like barfing at my 5k's... and just doing long walks on the weekend.

15miler tomorrow - I may wear Chris's old shoes cause mine are too small for walking, and Run Fit (only the BEST shoe store ever) moved to Warner Robbins... what's up with that? So I'm seriously thinking about wearing Chris's shoes and bringing backups just in case... I'd rather have banana boat feet than blisters up the ying yang...

Lose Inches - Support the 3-day!!

Newnan's Total Solution is Fund Raising with Body Wraps to support the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-day!

Buy one regularly priced BODY MELT BODY WRAP to support Breast Cancer & we will give you one BODY MELT BODY WRAP FREE to say thanks!

Total Solution for Women is happy to donate a portion of ALL body wrap purchases in August 2008 to this worthy cause.

We are busy gearing up for the August 2008 Body Melt Body Wrap fundraiser to benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Fund. We will gladly donate $10 to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Fund for each regularly priced Body Melt Body Wrap purchased thru 8-31-08 plus give the supporter one Body Melt Body Wrap for free to say THANKS! That's a $79 value! We also sell the Body Melt Body Wrap in packages ranging from $299-$999 which brings the cost of the Body Melt to as low as $29 each depending on your chosen package. Total Solution will gladly donate 10% of the purchase price for any Body Melt Body Wrap package purchased during this fundraiser, as well.

For more information please visit the Total Solution Website by clicking here: http://www.totalsolutionforwomen.com/3day

More walking... more friends

You're welcome gals... for taking a picture of your butts ;) Hey, this was my view so may as well share it with the world! These are a few more of my new friends from the "Dairy Queens" - another group in PTC walking the 3day. They are some SERIOUS walkers doing major hill work (8+ miles of hills - and I mean uphill the ENTIRE way), long walks, and they are notorious for their Saturday morning 11 mile walk to McDonalds!! I have yet to do the McD's walk... but I will soon.

Thanks Michelle for heading up these walks and letting me tag along!!

New Walking Buddies

I walked 10.5 miles with my new walking buddies Linda and Joanne! They are the gals that I met at the Expo and they are loads of fun to walk with! Saturday it was just me and Joanne (and Emily) because Linda had to help her son move in Atl... but we decided to make it an every Friday/Saturday event. As I mentioned before - Linda is a 1 year breast cancer survivor - and when we were walking Friday I learned a lot about chemo and stuff! Very informative!
And I am determined to figure out how Joanne keeps her hair perfect while walking 10+ miles...

Linda (left) and Joanne (right) on our 10.5 mile walk on the PTC golf cart paths.

3-Day Expo

My new friend Becky and I went to the 3-day expo in Altanta today. I met Becky through another local team and we had a blast! They had a few different vendors including Big Peach Running Co, REI, and New Balance. Our first stop was Big Peach where we got to try on a pair of shoes and they video taped us walking. I was told I was an over pronator, but found out I was somewhere in between a neutral foot and an over pronator.. hmmm maybe I need new shoes hehe.

Checking my arches...






After a few stops at some of the other vendors - we headed upstairs to the first two seminars: "Event 101" and "Camping & Packing Essentials".

Event 101 was basics of the 3-day. They covered camping, walking, rules & regs, etc.


The second workshop was called "Camping & Packing Essentials" and this one was really good! A husband/wife team put on the workshop - the wife being the "how to pack" and the hubby being the "how NOT to pack"... it was pretty freakin funny. I'd much rather pack like the hubby. He pulled out clothes on a hanger, duct taped toiletries, a big air mattress, 2 bottles of wine and a bottle of vodka... my kind of packer ;)


After this workshop we headed back down to see if we won anything in the raffle.... of course we didn't :( We picked up a hand full of pink chapstick and then headed over to the camp section to check out our weekend accommodations and check out a tent construction. Tents aren't too bad... we talked to a veteran walker who strongly recommended we purchase cots to sleep on inside the tent. I think I may take her up on that recommendation.
(and no - I have no idea who this is in front of the tent - I just would have felt weird if I asked her to move so I could take a pic of the tent hahaha)


Our next stop was the Remembrance Tent where people could sign in memory of someone who has passed away from breast cancer.


We stopped for a quick pic...


And then off to our last two workshops, the first being "Dress for Success". A rep and fellow walker from REI talked to us about what gear is essential and recommended. She talked about clothing such as undergarments, socks, shirts, shorts and rain gear as well as shoes, camel backs, croakies (sp??), and sandals. Not sold on the sandals.

Finally, we sat in on the "Training Tips and Tricks" workshop which talked about what to eat/drink while on the walk and on training walks, blister info (including how to prevent blisters, care for blisters, and dealing with blisters), what to pack in the notorious fanny pack, etc.

All in all it was a very informative Expo. It was so much fun and when we were making our final pit stop before the trip home - Becky met a few local gals in the bathroom - Linda and Joanne!! One is in PTC and the other in Fayetteville. I think they are going to do some training walks with us!! We found out that Linda is a one year survivor who had a double mastectomy and now has newly constructed tatas!! You go girl!!

Sports Auction

Thanks to Christi for the idea and Susan, Brandi and Melissa for hosting - We were able to have a sports memorabilia silent auction at the Atlanta Auto Auction.

A few of the girls helped to collect and encourage bids on sports items autographed by players of all teams and types. Overall we did pretty good. A special thanks to Radtke Sports for donating the items on consignment - www.radtkesports.com.

100 Days Till...

This past Thursday marked 100 days until the 3-day!! Joan organized dinner at La Parilla to mark the date and it was super fun! We actually had a good number of our group members there. Some weren't able to make it due to babysitting issues, anniversaries, etc... but maybe one day we can all get together!!!

The photo taken was before Jennifer Estrada and Lani Wenson got there ... but they were there (oh - and I was taking the picture - that's why I'm not there hehe) !!

Another 5k - Another Trophy

And yes, I AM bragging!! haha. I convinced my mom, sister and brother to all do a 5k with me in Loganville (Walnut Grove 5k Breakaway). I thought I had my dad convinced to do it too, but no such luck :( Hopefully he will do the one in September.

But back to the story... So we all woke up and went to the race. This is my mom's first 5k, so she immediately was intimidated by the "snobby" runners who were all stretching in their short shorts and running pre-race warm-up laps. I kept telling her it's not about everyone else, that finishing the 5k would be a great sense of accomplishment and just to focus on HER race. So we go pick up our t-shirts which are TOTALLY cute by the way, toss them in the car, and line up.

The race begins and my brother actually kept up with me for the first 2ish miles!! I was impressed!!! Caron wasn't far behind either! I cross the finish line first at a time of 28:09!! That's my best 5k time yet! Shortly after Tim crosses, and then I jog back to where my mom is... passing Caron along the way who was on the last little stretch to the finish line. I found my mama and walked the rest of the way to the finish line with her! She had HER best time yet of 46:30 - not too shabby for walking most the way!!

The times were posted and I got 1st place in my age group!! Woo Hoo!!! My brother got 1st place in his age group (and 2nd, and 3rd... haha he was the only one in his age group) and my mom got 3rd in her age group!! My sister just barely missed the cut... but there were a lot of gals in our age group!!

Anyway, the trophies are TOTALLY cute bobble heads!! It was a fun weekend and now my mom is HOOKED on 5k's (I knew she would be) Our next family race is Sept 20th in Loganville... maybe Dad will be there and make it a TRUE Bell family event!!
More photos will be posted on http://btp.smugmug.com
Look for the Walnut Grove 5k Breakaway

Peachtree Road Race 2008

How did I forget to blog about this???? Am I losing it?? (Don't answer that)
So I'm backdating this post a week..

On July 4th, My sister, brother, husband and I all did the 39th Annual Peachtree Road Race - aka "The World's Largest 10k". Chris and I kicked off the weekend by getting a hotel room with our friends (Swifty and Lynzee) on July 3rd so that we wouldn't have to drive to the race in the morning. Chris and I headed to the Peachtree Road Race Expo which has a lot of exhibitors of race stuff. It was a lot of fun. My favorite booths were (yep, gotta plug them cause I think it's important)

• Newton Running (www.newtonrunning.com) - more on this later
• Bondi Bands (www.bondiband.com) - you can see my bondi band in my pics! I'm getting a TON more because they are totally awesome!! I got the "performance" because it wicks away sweat. Mine had a pink crown on it, and I'm getting one that says "I run so I can eat". LOVE that one. I dont know what the rest will be.... hmmmm
• ING Marathon / Half Marathon (www.inggeorgiamarathon.com)- I registered to win a free race number and got a free wicking shirt... I love free stuff!
• I can't remember the booth name - but I got 2 shirts and a sports bra from them. LOVE the sports bra!!!!
• And Atlanta Foot and Ankle Center (www.atlantafootandankle.com) - they gave out this TOTALLY cool card thats the size of a credit card and has a chart of race times that breaks it down by minutes per mile. It's hard to explain but it's cool. They also gave out this great book on foot and ankle stuff and running.
  
• Oh and I have to plug my Jelly Belly booth (www.jellybelly.com) - love me some jelly belly jelly beans!! They gave out free sport beans. Gotta love that!

Ok - so while we were at the Expo - Chris and I tried on these TOTALLY AWESOME shoes by Newton Running. They have mastered the art of developing a shoe that is as close to barefoot running as possible. You know what?? Maybe I should make this a separate blog. In the meantime, check out www.newtonrunning.com. I got the Newton Motion shoes... and I swear they are the best shoes I've ever owned. But I'll report on them later.

Now back to the race... So we wake up race morning... Caron and Tim meet us down there (our hotel was right in front of the Marta station) and we headed to the start line. Chris and I were in Group 2, Swifty and Lynzee were in group 6 and Caron and Tim started in group 8.




Chris and I started right at 7:30 - and off we were! We jogged the whole way (saving up our energy for the end of the race, which was a new finish this year. Lots of hills at the end) Before we knew it, we were done!! We finished in 1:03:16 - and I know we could have made it in under an hour if we knew the finish wasn't as bad as we thought!! We were conserving the whole race! Next year we are going to try to get in a time group (we have to pre-qualify with a 10k time of under 50min)

We waited for Caron and Tim to finish then headed back to the hotel. We showered, sported our new Peachtree Road Race T-shirts, and went to Dantana's to eat (amazing food), and then napped before the fireworks at Lenox.

Overall it was a great 4th of July weekend!! If you have never done the Peachtree, I STRONGLY recommend it!! Even if you have to walk the whole way... I mean heck, I did last year!! They have people of ALL fitness levels - 55,000 people that is!! It is truly the most fun race ever!!
See ya next year at the start line!

Pink Pepper Spray!!

We are all in our training mode which means long (and potentially dangerous) training walks!! I just completed a 20 hour unarmed self defense class and definitely feel more confident... but I dont intend for anyone to even come close enough for me to badly injure them because of my NEW PEPPER SPRAY!!!

My instructor sells pepper spray that is about 2.5 times more powerful than the ones you can buy online and in stores with 5.3 million SHU (a habanero pepper has about 200,000 shu... and I said 5.3 MILLION) and the best part is....

He said he would order PINK PEPPER SPRAY CASES for me to help raise money toward my 3-day goal!!!! They are going to be so cute - and kick butt at the same time!!

Anyway - wanted to see if anyone was interested in getting one... I'm trying to decide how many to order. I need to see about shipping costs - hopefully shouldnt be too expensive... maybe a dollar or something...
but the cost of the 11gram pepper spray with pink case is $16 (and if you run out of spray or want backups you can order just the spray off his site)

The picture to the top right is what it will look like (kinda - I had to photoshop in the color because he is getting them custom made for me) and the picture below is the actual color of the pink leather!



Shoot me an email if you would be interested in getting some! pam(at)pilotdesigns.com

You know you want it...

My friend/fellow TX 3-day walker is giving away an ipod nano (yes, a pink one) if you donate to her fund, comment on her blog, or post a link to the contest! So, I recommend you DO IT!
A $5 will get you 50 entries, yes I said FIFTY....

Here is the link: http://our3day.com/2008/06/05/enter-our-june-giveaway

Donate, comment and tell your friends.