Pounding the Pavement

I've been able to knock out a couple of pretty decent training walks in the last couple of days. Hubby and I walked over 5 miles at Lake Hodges yesterday, and I finished up the day with over 7 miles on my pedometer. We got up super early this morning, met up with one of my team mates Jill, and got an 8 mile walk under our belts before 9am! It took us exactly 2 1/2 hours to the minute. That felt really good!


I find these training walks are good for me in more ways than one...of course there is the health aspect of them. (This morning so far I've walked 17,708 steps, of which 17,330 were aerobic steps. That was a solid 150 minutes of aerobic walking, meaning my heart was pumping nice and hard.) But I also find that these walks are good for my mind and spirit. I find myself thinking less and less about how far I am walking, and more about the reason I am walking, and those I walk for. I walk, of course, for my Mom, a 24 year survivor! I thank God every day that she was one of the lucky ones that beat this horrible disease. I walk for my Aunts Evelyn and Henrietta, also, thankfully, both survivors. I walk for my friend Anne who is currently battling...I walk for my friend Dave's Mom, who just recently was pronounced cancer free....I walk for these women and so many, many more who have survived, and battled and are currently struggling.


And I walk for Dena, who wasn't as lucky.... She lost her battle this past February. She was robbed of the long healthy life she deserved. Her family was robbed of the years they should have had together. Cancer sucks, it really, really sucks. For some reason Dena has been on my mind a LOT lately. Maybe it's because I've had more time to think of her along my training walks...maybe it's because I knew the Boston 3 Day would get underway this week and I know she would have been out there cheering the walkers on. Maybe it's because sometimes I just need a little nudge to get myself out of bed at the crack of dawn, get my shoes on, and get myself walking. Sometimes I feel like Dena is my nudge. This morning I woke up at 4:50am - exactly 10 minutes before the alarm was set to go off....and Dena was the first person I thought of. My mind went to Boston, and I thought "It's day 2 for the Boston walkers...the 3 hour time change means they've got 10 minutes left to get out on the route." I thought of the excitement they must be feeling, and of the long day they have ahead of them. I thought of the pride they must be feeling and the sense of accomplishment...it's a big, overwhelming feeling. It is life changing.

In 4 months that will be me, and my team mates. Out there, pounding the pavement for 3 days and 60 miles - feeling the pride and accomplishment that only someone who trains and works so hard to do something like this can understand and appreciate.


And I will have Dena with me for every step and every mile, nudging me along the way, reminding me why I walk.


I walk because I can't walk away.

Bridge over Lake Hodges

Break time at Lake Hodges. The arrow shows where we started.

Downtown San Diego, just before sunrise.

We are obviously going the right way!

Back at our starting point on Harbor Island. We walked to where the pink arrow is pointing.