Hi all you Angels,
You mention the Atlanta 3-Day around these parts and people immediately say, "Are you REALLY going to walk 60 miles in 3 days?". The answer is "Yep, you heard right, we're walking 60 miles in three days." You don't just go out and walk 60 miles though, without a lot of training. When I registered to do the walk, I immediately downloaded the recommended training schedule from the 3-Day web site. It's designed to gradually get your body ready for this three day event. It's a 24 week schedule and has the participants walking 4 days out of the week, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, cross training two days (like swimming or biking, some kind of cardio workout), Wednesdays and Fridays, and then we get to rest one day, Monday.
On the Tuesday and Thursday walks, my two local team mates, Joyce Hurst and Mandi Beal, and I usually go to one of the local parks that have paved walking trails. We generally walk anywhere from 4 to 6 miles there. Then on Saturday and Sunday mornings they meet me at my house, sometimes as early as 5:30, and we drive to some town around the area where there is one of the regular scheduled training walks that we join. Early on in the schedule, these walks started out as 3 and 4 mile walks. Now that we are approaching the 11th week, the walks are up to 10 and 11 miles.
The weekend scheduled walks are designed to give us an idea of what the 3-Day walk will be like, as far as terrain. We aren't on paved trails for these, we are walking city sidewalks which is a completely different type of walk from walking the paved trails. Before each walk the trainers give all the walkers instructions on safety, we're crossing some busy streets sometimes and you have to be aware of your surroundings at all times. Another topic is on proper hydration. Walking the distances we are starting to walk in the temperatures we are walking in, this is very important and will be more so during the actual 3-Day when we do 60 miles.. Every walker is encouraged to carry ample fluid with them to maintain the proper hydration. Usually this is one bottle of water and one bottle of some energy drink like Gatorade or Propel, something to replace the electrolytes. I bought this really neat Eddie Bauer fanny pack that has a bottle that fits on each side and is very comfortable and well balanced. Has a large pocket for carrying extra socks which I'll change at noon each day of the walk, and all the other stuff I might need like "blister kits" and the like. We found out last week that on the 3-Day, this years sponsor in that area is Gatorade, and that is what will be supplied to the walkers at each rest stop, so they recommend that we start carrying that to get use to it. You don't want to drink Propel all throughout your training and then on the first day of the walk find out that Gatorade gives you stomach cramps. We have found out in a hurry that this is not just a stroll we are going on. The third thing they emphasize is stretching. You can't just take off walking without preparing your body, so that means a minimum of about 15 minutes of stretching before we start our walks. We usually stop for a few minutes every three miles and stretch for a couple of minutes again.
Last weekend we drove to Kennesaw Georgia and met up with a group of about 20 other walkers from other teams. We got there around 6:30 am and watched the sun come up while waiting for all the other walkers to arrive. Then we got our instructions, did our stretching, and took off for a leisurely 9 mile jaunt. 
This was the longest walk we had done so far, and it had some of the biggest, longest, hills in it that my team mates and I had come up against so far. I'm proud to say though, the three of us finished the walk with no problems. I doubt that the three of us will ever forget a place called Jiles Rd. We came around a corner, and even though we had been told that Jiles was a real bugger, when we came around that corner and saw the sidewalk seem to go straight up ahead of us, it kind of takes your breath away, even before you start up it. There's a secret to doing these hills I've found out. You look down at the sidewalk a couple of feet in front of you and you just walk. If you don't look up at the hill in front of you, you can convince your brain that you are on level ground. He doesn't really believe it, but it helps a little. Well, the guy that was walking with me, at the time, and I walked for what seemed like about 15 minutes, and the side walk leveled out. I grabbed the Gatorade and took a couple of gulps as I looked at the curve ahead, and said to him, that wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. He smiled at me and said "That was the easy part." We rounded the curve and there was JILES's MOUNTAIN !! LOL Well, it looked like a mountain compared to the small hill we had just walked up. We made it to the top though. My team mates did too. I was so proud of them. We finished the 9 miles in around 3 hours and 15 minutes I think it was.
When you are walking with a group, and everyone is sharing their stories with one another, the time goes by pretty fast, and you don't really realize that you have walked the distance that you have walked. And the stories that are shared are just amazing and so inspiring. Some make you laugh and some make you cry, and some literally break your heart. But if you should start to cry, there's always someone there to take hold and hug you. You would be amazed at what a hug can do for a person. I've become a great hugger and I think we should all do more of it. I think I told you all before that all of the wonderful people that I have met so far on the training walks have become my extended family, my support group.
Sorry, got off the topic for a minute. We'll save the hugging stories for another edition, back to walking. My team mates were here at the house today, we were doing a fund raiser which I'll tell you about later on, and we got to talking about how our bodies didn't feel right. We have become so accustomed to walking, that on a weekend day like today, when we are usually walking, if we aren't doing so, it's almost like our bodies are saying, "Hey, what's going on here, we should be walking...I miss it....I need it." It has become addictive. It's enjoyable too. The three of us have agreed that we have reached a point now that we actually look forward to going on our walks. Come October 13th, the second day of our three day walk, we may be singing a different tune, going "Oh my gosh, what have I got myself into". No, really, I think we will all do well.
You hear stories from other walkers that have done the 3-Day before, and they tell you that either they or someone they knew, at some point during the walk, reached a point where they were ready to give up, that they were hurting so bad or were so tired that they just didn't feel like they could take another step. They wanted to take one of what they call the sweeper vans that come around, and ride the rest of the way in. You CAN do this. You are not required to walk all 60 miles. Then someone would say to them, you see that lady ahead of you? She's a 64 year old survivor. Next week your pain is going to be gone. Hers will never go away. If she can do it, then you can do it, so you walk some more.
There are so many reasons why we walk. I'd like to share a couple of stories from the three day site with all of you. The first is from a lady called Sara Lipman.
Sara Lipman
On May 5, 2005, my mother-in-law, Sue Lipman lost a quiet yet courageous battle with breast cancer. She never wanted me to call her my mother-in-law. She just wanted me to call her mom. While I miss her every day, I miss her most when I see my daughter Claire shop for shoes, chat with everyone everywhere or give me that special smile. These are the days that she reminds me most of mom and when I wish they could be together. I walk to stop the cycle of little girls losing their grandmas to breast cancer.
I am scared of the walk. I am not scared of the miles, I am afraid of the memories. I was there with mom when she lost her battle with breast cancer. She felt terrible that I saw her at her worst and I felt it was a privilege to be with her literally through health and sickness. I learned more in mom's last month than I could ever learn in school. Mostly, I learned that breast cancer is a mean, ugly disease that I truly believe can have a cure. I walk for that cure.
So far, three people want to walk with me and the money is starting to come in already. The more we raise, the faster the cure. I walk for that money, I walk for that cure.
The second one I'll share with you is from a lady in the Atlanta area.
Valarie Cheimis
In January 2006, at 37 years old I was diagnosed with breast cancer. With no family history it came as quite a shock. I have four children and I knew that I had to be here for them. I was going to fight this and win this!! Within a week I started treatment. First was 8 rounds of chemo. While laying bed after a treatment I saw the 3-Day commercial on TV. Maybe it was my "chemo brain" that made me go right to the phone and call. I looked at the dates and my treatment schedule and thought I can do this this year.
So I signed up and joined a team I had never met. I made the right choice. I also ordered my 3-Day Survivor cap. I wore this everywhere during my treatment instead of a wig. It was a constant reminder that I was a survivor.
Things were not as easy as I thought they would be. I could not always train with my team. I did a lot of treadmill training because my white counts were not high enough to be with people. When I was too tired to walk I would go to dinners with my team so that I could meet all these wonderful people.
After chemo was done I had a lumpectomy and lymph nodes removed. This was August - the walk was in October. Things were going right on schedule.The news from the Dr. was mixed. The good was the lymph nodes were clear. The bad was the breast tissue was not. I would need a mastectomy. This was not a bad thing if I would be cancer free, but the timing had me worried. The surgery was scheduled for 2 1/2 weeks before the walk!
I vowed to continue to train and just take things a day at a time. Surgery went well and a week later I was back to walking the treadmill.
My doctors cleared me to walk as long as I stopped if I was tired. I promised I would.
Our wonderful team captain had us prepared for the walk. Karin was our angel. She is a veteran walker that has been through it all.
The walk came and I was ready. My plan was to take it pit-stop to pit-stop. It worked. I was able to walk the whole 1st day all but 5 miles the 2nd day and 3 miles the last day. All this 2 weeks after surgery.
I was so amazed throughout my walk. I was wearing my survivor hat to keep my bald head from getting sunburn. People would see it and come give me hugs. I still have trouble believing that so many people are walking for me and those not lucky enough to be here to wear the Survivor cap. The time these people took to train, the pain in their knees and feet. It is incredible to think that people will do this for strangers. And now I walking for people like me. I am walking so my 2 daughters and these wonderful peoples daughters NEVER have to wear the survivor cap.
These are just two of the many reasons I choose to walk. The main one being, of course, my beautiful wife Joyce. As always, I say thanks again to all of Joyce's Angels, God Bless each and every one of you for your love, your prayers, and your support..
-- Michael