Catching Up

I need to catch up with the training schedule.  One of the things I learned from my adventures on the 3-Day last year was that you have to do things at your own pace and you have to be OK with walking faster/slower than others.  I've got short legs.  I trained last year, but even so, my best speed walking (when fresh and not worn out) is about 3.7 miles per hour.  My average speed on my longer walks is right around the 3 mile/hour mark.  On day 3 last year, I'm sure I was going even more slowly than that.  Compared to some others who do the walk, 3 miles/hour is slow.

This bugged me last year.  I had a tough time watching people pass me over and over.  I had a tough time being told over and over as I made it to a rest stop that the "caboose" (a woman on a bike that they don't allow anyone to fall behind) was only 1/2 hour behind us.  Like my patience, my ability to accept the pace that I walk is something I need to work on.  I need to just be where I am in the pack and not let it get me down.  I guess I have some innate competitiveness that makes me want to be able to go more quickly.  I hope to be able to let more of that go this year and be more accepting of myself.

The 3-Day is NOT a race.  Let me repeat that.  The 3-Day is NOT a race.  You are not allowed to run it.  You must walk.  You are allowed to go the pace you go.  If you fall too far behind, they shuttle you ahead.  If you wear out, you do not have to do all the mileage.  The amazing thing is that so many of us feel a need to do as much of the mileage as we can.  For some, that's all 60 miles.  For others, they may need a break here and there.  Some walkers are in the middle of treatment for breast cancer, and do more than some of us who are not.  Others do as much as they can.  The 3-Day celebrates and works with the individuality of each walker. Each walker gives as much as he or she can.  It is an excercise in putting my ego on the back burner and being a part of something bigger.

My teammate last year, Joanne, and I walked at about the same speed for most of it.  On day two, she was suffering badly from blisters and had slowed to a crawl and we split up late in the day.  On day 3, I had my breakdown a little over 1/2 way through that day's mileage and was walking very slowly and we split up.  We had agreed ahead of time that we would not go into the holding area without the other one there, but it was OK for us to go our own pace.  So we went at our own pace and caught up with each other at the end.

This year I have a different teammate: Nancy http://www.the3day.org/goto/Nancy_Springer I'm so proud of the job she has done on her fundraising so far!  I hope that we get to walk together as much as possible, but I know she's quite a bit taller than me and probably has a longer stride than I do.  If we need to split up at any point it is OK with me.  It's not like anyone walks alone on the route.

So my goal is to get back on track with the training schedule and try to catch up with it, but I will listen to my body and go my own pace.  I think it's a good exercise for me.

(7/20/11) Training: 1.6 miles
Total miles walked this year: 101.1
(7/16/11) Training: 1.9 miles in 39 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 99.5
(7/11/11) Training: 1.0 mile in 16 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 97.6
(7/9/11) Training: 1.0 mile in 24 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 96.6
(6/18/11) Fundraising: $35, Total: $1,800.00
(6/13/11) Fundraising: $10, Total: $1,765.00