I love that my kids have taken an interest in my walking. They ask me to walk them to school. They give me encouragement when they see me put on my "walking gear". My daughter recognizes the pink ribbon as a symbol of my walking. My son has told me in no uncertain terms that this year I should not skip the last big hill. I may just have to take his advice on that one.
My daughter just turned 5 and my son is 7. They are such a big part of why I decided to walk last year and why I have chosen to do it again this year. They need to see that one person can make a difference in the world. They need to see that with determination almost anything is possible. But more than that, I want them to grow up in a world where there are fewer diseases for them to worry about, and where they never have to face breast cancer themselves or in a loved one.
When I get sidetracked by life (a lot of that has happened this month), I try to recapture my excitement and energy for my walking and fundraising by looking at my kids. We tend to spend our energy on things that we have a personal connection with. We need to see the "what's in it for me?". To a certain extent, this event is a very selfish thing I'm doing. I'm trying to protect myself from this disease. I'm trying to protect my mom from a recurrance of this disease. I'm definitely trying to protect my kids.
I'm reminded of the many children who were out on the route last year, even in the pouring rain, to cheer us on! They brought smiles to my face, and helped to keep me going. I want to protect each and every one of them.
So take a moment to look at the children in your life: Your sons and daughters, your grandchildren, your nieces and nephews, your cousin's kids, the kids down the block. If you can, please help me make the world a better place for all of them by donating to my walk today.
(4/10/11) 3.1 miles in 58 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 71.2
(4/6/11)
Training: 1 hour water aerobics
(4/4/11)
Training: 1 hour water aerobics
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Of Expectations
I am incredibly excited about my newest teammate, Nancy, joining me! I truly hope to be able to help her have an amazing experience with the 3-day this year. I want to be able to answer all her questions, to help her get going and let her have an easier event by having someone with her who has done this before!
But my glee at having a new member join me is tempered this week by the news that my teammate from last year, Joanne, has decided not to walk again this year. I completely understand her reasons and am very supportive of her decision, but I admit I'm sad to know she will not be there with us. A lot of this is just my usual difficulty with dealing with being handed something that goes against my expectations. She had signed up, I expected she'd be there, I envisioned the three of us walking together, laughing together and toughing it out together, and now I need to change that vision. It will be different. Different is good. It's good for me to practice shifting gears. It's something I don't do easily, and therefore, I need lots of practice with it.
This got me thinking that a lot of what happens in training and working toward walking the 3-day can go against your expectations. You might think the fundraising will be hard, and it turns out to be way easier than you expected. You might think the training will be a snap, and find that walking long distances takes more than you thought. You might find the walking to be way easier than you expected. You might think that the fundraising will be easy, and discover that it really is hard work, that it stretches your comfort level but that it is more rewarding than you expected and worth doing. You might, like I did last year, find that part way through your training, you are working with an injury that you're not sure you'll recover from in time for the event. I can't predict your future in preparation for the 3-day, but I can predict that there will likely be things that don't quite go the way you expected them to.
How you shift gears when that happens is a big part of this journey. There is not usually a right or wrong answer. Just the best answer for a given individual. On event there will be things that don't quite go the way you expected. Anyone who walked in San Diego last year will not soon forget the pouring, drenching, buckets of rain that fell on us over the course of day 2. Lots of people didn't expect that when they signed up. Some campers came back that day to find all their gear soaking wet inside their tents. Many of them left camp as a result for that night, although it should be noted that most of them came back to walk on day 3! But despite the hardships that mother nature metted out to us over the weekend, we walked. We raised awareness and we raised funds to beat breast cancer. I personally enjoyed the rain. I danced in it a bit even.
I think one of the harder things would be to be told you have breast cancer. What a life altering, totally going against expectations event that is. And 1 in 8 women will be told that at some point in their life. They have to shift gears in one of the biggest ways possible. Their families have to shift gears as well. Many of those women are lucky and are able to beat the disease (some, it should be noted, due to many of the advances that have been funded at least in part with money raised by Komen). Some others are not so lucky, put up a good fight and then lose their battle. Their families and friends must then make the toughest shift of having lost a loved one to this disease.
I am walking to keep these harder things from happening.
For this week, my mantra is to go with the flow. And here's hoping that all of us have the grace and strength to be flexible with whatever life hands to us.
(4/1/11)
Training: Walked 2 miles in 36 minutes on treadmill
Total miles walked this year: 68.1
(3/29/11)
Fundraising: $55; Total: $755
(3/28/11)
Fundraising: $20; Total: $700
(3/26/11)
Training: 4.1 miles in 1 hour 22 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 66.1
(3/25/11)
Training: 3.7 miles in 1 hour 12 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 62.0
(3/19/11)
Training: 11.1 miles in 4 hours 7 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 58.3
Fundraising: $60; Total: $680
But my glee at having a new member join me is tempered this week by the news that my teammate from last year, Joanne, has decided not to walk again this year. I completely understand her reasons and am very supportive of her decision, but I admit I'm sad to know she will not be there with us. A lot of this is just my usual difficulty with dealing with being handed something that goes against my expectations. She had signed up, I expected she'd be there, I envisioned the three of us walking together, laughing together and toughing it out together, and now I need to change that vision. It will be different. Different is good. It's good for me to practice shifting gears. It's something I don't do easily, and therefore, I need lots of practice with it.
This got me thinking that a lot of what happens in training and working toward walking the 3-day can go against your expectations. You might think the fundraising will be hard, and it turns out to be way easier than you expected. You might think the training will be a snap, and find that walking long distances takes more than you thought. You might find the walking to be way easier than you expected. You might think that the fundraising will be easy, and discover that it really is hard work, that it stretches your comfort level but that it is more rewarding than you expected and worth doing. You might, like I did last year, find that part way through your training, you are working with an injury that you're not sure you'll recover from in time for the event. I can't predict your future in preparation for the 3-day, but I can predict that there will likely be things that don't quite go the way you expected them to.
How you shift gears when that happens is a big part of this journey. There is not usually a right or wrong answer. Just the best answer for a given individual. On event there will be things that don't quite go the way you expected. Anyone who walked in San Diego last year will not soon forget the pouring, drenching, buckets of rain that fell on us over the course of day 2. Lots of people didn't expect that when they signed up. Some campers came back that day to find all their gear soaking wet inside their tents. Many of them left camp as a result for that night, although it should be noted that most of them came back to walk on day 3! But despite the hardships that mother nature metted out to us over the weekend, we walked. We raised awareness and we raised funds to beat breast cancer. I personally enjoyed the rain. I danced in it a bit even.
I think one of the harder things would be to be told you have breast cancer. What a life altering, totally going against expectations event that is. And 1 in 8 women will be told that at some point in their life. They have to shift gears in one of the biggest ways possible. Their families have to shift gears as well. Many of those women are lucky and are able to beat the disease (some, it should be noted, due to many of the advances that have been funded at least in part with money raised by Komen). Some others are not so lucky, put up a good fight and then lose their battle. Their families and friends must then make the toughest shift of having lost a loved one to this disease.
I am walking to keep these harder things from happening.
For this week, my mantra is to go with the flow. And here's hoping that all of us have the grace and strength to be flexible with whatever life hands to us.
(4/1/11)
Training: Walked 2 miles in 36 minutes on treadmill
Total miles walked this year: 68.1
(3/29/11)
Fundraising: $55; Total: $755
(3/28/11)
Fundraising: $20; Total: $700
(3/26/11)
Training: 4.1 miles in 1 hour 22 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 66.1
(3/25/11)
Training: 3.7 miles in 1 hour 12 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 62.0
(3/19/11)
Training: 11.1 miles in 4 hours 7 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 58.3
Fundraising: $60; Total: $680
Friday, March 18, 2011
It's Supposed to Be Hard
"It's supposed to be hard.
If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it.
The hard... is what makes it great."
I am inspired by this quote. (IMDB tells me it is a quote from A League of Their Own.) It is something I found on the cover of the 60-mile men's Underground Guide to Breast Cancer Walks. If you've thought about walking, I highly recommend this guide. It is incredibly entertaining -- I laughed out loud reading parts of it -- and it has a ton of useful information in it.
I came across it because I was looking the guide up to send to my newest team mate! Today I am very excited to welcome a High School friend of mine, Nancy, onto my team for this year's walk.
I remember when I was thinking about doing this walk for the first time last year. The $2,300 fundraising requirement was my biggest obstacle to signing up. In talking with my friend, Andy, who had done the walk the previous year, she said, "If the thought of raising that much money is the only thing stopping you, you should definitely sign up." The fundraising is doable. The fundraising is more than doable. My friends and family were so generous that I never really had to worry about the fundraising. In fact, they donated enough that I almost could have done two walks last year.
Not everyone has it easy as I did with fundraising. Some people really struggle to raise the money. Some people wait until the last minute to try to raise it. But they get creative and they do it. Or they pay part of it themselves. Because this is important.
Some people struggle more with the walking. It's hard to find the time to do the training walks. It's hard to find the right terrain to prepare you for what the route will actually be like (unless you happen to live near the route, which I don't). Injuries can happen. Life can get in the way. But we train. We find the time to get the gear that works for us. We figure out what problems we will have when walking. And when the time comes, we walk as much of the 60-miles as we possibly can.
Nothing about this is easy. It is an event that is supposed to be daunting when you are thinking about doing it. But it's nothing like what those who face breast cancer and their families and friends go through. It is a way that those of us who feel helpless in the face of this disease can say, I'm not just going to sit by and do nothing. This event is big and bold and amazing and scary and ... well, hard.
(3/18/11)
Fundraising: $120; Total: $620
If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it.
The hard... is what makes it great."
I am inspired by this quote. (IMDB tells me it is a quote from A League of Their Own.) It is something I found on the cover of the 60-mile men's Underground Guide to Breast Cancer Walks. If you've thought about walking, I highly recommend this guide. It is incredibly entertaining -- I laughed out loud reading parts of it -- and it has a ton of useful information in it.
I came across it because I was looking the guide up to send to my newest team mate! Today I am very excited to welcome a High School friend of mine, Nancy, onto my team for this year's walk.
I remember when I was thinking about doing this walk for the first time last year. The $2,300 fundraising requirement was my biggest obstacle to signing up. In talking with my friend, Andy, who had done the walk the previous year, she said, "If the thought of raising that much money is the only thing stopping you, you should definitely sign up." The fundraising is doable. The fundraising is more than doable. My friends and family were so generous that I never really had to worry about the fundraising. In fact, they donated enough that I almost could have done two walks last year.
Not everyone has it easy as I did with fundraising. Some people really struggle to raise the money. Some people wait until the last minute to try to raise it. But they get creative and they do it. Or they pay part of it themselves. Because this is important.
Some people struggle more with the walking. It's hard to find the time to do the training walks. It's hard to find the right terrain to prepare you for what the route will actually be like (unless you happen to live near the route, which I don't). Injuries can happen. Life can get in the way. But we train. We find the time to get the gear that works for us. We figure out what problems we will have when walking. And when the time comes, we walk as much of the 60-miles as we possibly can.
Nothing about this is easy. It is an event that is supposed to be daunting when you are thinking about doing it. But it's nothing like what those who face breast cancer and their families and friends go through. It is a way that those of us who feel helpless in the face of this disease can say, I'm not just going to sit by and do nothing. This event is big and bold and amazing and scary and ... well, hard.
(3/18/11)
Fundraising: $120; Total: $620
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Why am I Walking?
I will be walking another 60 miles this year!
Why am I walking? And why in the world would I walk 60 miles in just 3 days?
*Because my mom is a breast cancer survivor and I cannot begin to express how much it means to me that she beat this disease and is still with us to enjoy her grandkids.
*Because 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer in their lifetime.
*Because every 69 seconds, someone, somewhere in the world, dies of breast cancer.
*Because the two biggest predictors of whether a particular person will get breast cancer are being female and aging.
*Because men do get breast cancer too!
*Because I want to spare the families and friends of all those women and men the tough road of having a loved one with breast cancer.
*Because my mom is more likely to face breast cancer again because she has already had it.
*Because my own risk of getting breast cancer is greater because my mom has had it.
*Because I want to live in a world where my daughter and my son do not have to worry about getting breast cancer or watching people they love struggle with breast cancer.
But I cannot get there, I cannot walk, and we cannot find a cure for this disease without your help.
Please take a moment today to donate to my walk, to help find a cure and to save lives.
Do it now, while you're thinking about it!
Thank you! Your support is greatly appreciated!
Margie Dowens
-----------------------------
You can donate by going to http://www.the3day.org/goto/margie_dowens and clicking on the bright pink "Donate to Margie in 2011" button on the left side of the screen and donate using a credit or debit card.
If you prefer to write a check you can download my donation form and the instructions for sending in a check at http://www.the3day.org/site/TRGiftForm?fr_id=1627&px=3268870
(3/17/11)
Fundraising: $145 Total: $500
(3/13/11)
Training: 5.9 miles in 2 hours 1 minute
Total miles walked this year: 47.2
Why am I walking? And why in the world would I walk 60 miles in just 3 days?
*Because my mom is a breast cancer survivor and I cannot begin to express how much it means to me that she beat this disease and is still with us to enjoy her grandkids.
*Because 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer in their lifetime.
*Because every 69 seconds, someone, somewhere in the world, dies of breast cancer.
*Because the two biggest predictors of whether a particular person will get breast cancer are being female and aging.
*Because men do get breast cancer too!
*Because I want to spare the families and friends of all those women and men the tough road of having a loved one with breast cancer.
*Because my mom is more likely to face breast cancer again because she has already had it.
*Because my own risk of getting breast cancer is greater because my mom has had it.
*Because I want to live in a world where my daughter and my son do not have to worry about getting breast cancer or watching people they love struggle with breast cancer.
But I cannot get there, I cannot walk, and we cannot find a cure for this disease without your help.
Please take a moment today to donate to my walk, to help find a cure and to save lives.
Do it now, while you're thinking about it!
Thank you! Your support is greatly appreciated!
Margie Dowens
-----------------------------
You can donate by going to http://www.the3day.org/goto/margie_dowens and clicking on the bright pink "Donate to Margie in 2011" button on the left side of the screen and donate using a credit or debit card.
If you prefer to write a check you can download my donation form and the instructions for sending in a check at http://www.the3day.org/site/TRGiftForm?fr_id=1627&px=3268870
(3/17/11)
Fundraising: $145 Total: $500
(3/13/11)
Training: 5.9 miles in 2 hours 1 minute
Total miles walked this year: 47.2
Monday, March 7, 2011
An Out of the Ordinary "Training Walk"
So I'm happy to report that except for the waking up at 5 am part of yesterday, my participation in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, Los Angeles was a fun way to spend my Sunday morning. They told us there were over 8,000 walkers/runners there that day and that they expected that the event had raised over $1 million for the L.A. affiliate. Most of those funds stay right here in Los Angeles.
It was one of the fastest 3 miles I've walked in a while, and it felt good. It's nice to have a change of pace for my training walk! I want to get my more regular walking routine back in place and I'm almost ready to dive headlong into fundraising again. I hope the beginning of your year is going smoothly and I hope you will consider supporting my walk this year!
(3/6/11)
Training: 3.1 miles in 50 minutes at the L.A. Komen Race for the Cure
Total miles walked this year: 49.9
(3/5/11)
Training: 5.5 miles in 1 hour 42 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 46.8
(2/26/11)
Training: 5.2 miles in 1 hour 40 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 41.3
It was one of the fastest 3 miles I've walked in a while, and it felt good. It's nice to have a change of pace for my training walk! I want to get my more regular walking routine back in place and I'm almost ready to dive headlong into fundraising again. I hope the beginning of your year is going smoothly and I hope you will consider supporting my walk this year!
(3/6/11)
Training: 3.1 miles in 50 minutes at the L.A. Komen Race for the Cure
Total miles walked this year: 49.9
(3/5/11)
Training: 5.5 miles in 1 hour 42 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 46.8
(2/26/11)
Training: 5.2 miles in 1 hour 40 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 41.3
Friday, February 25, 2011
The Los Angeles Race For the Cure
A friend of mine signed up to do the Los Angeles Komen Race For the Cure, and she asked me to join her team. How could I say no to that? I figure it's a good training walk (only 5K or about 3.1 miles) and it raises awareness and funds that help people in our immediate area. If you're interested in helping out with that, please go to: http://lacounty.info-komen.org/goto/margie_dowens.
Training for the 3-day is going well, and I've got some fundraising ideas in the works! Thanks for those of you who have supported me so far! It's awesome to have a good start to this journey!
(2/25/11)
Fundraising: $35, Total: $355
Training: 20 minutes on bicycle, 3.5 miles, walked 3.25 miles in 1 hour
Total miles walked this year: 36.1
(2/17/11)
Fundraising: $50, Total: $320
(2/16/11)
Training: 1 hour Aqua Aerobics
(2/15/11)
Fundraising: $120, Total: $270
Training: 2.5 miles in 46 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 32.85
(2/14/11)
Training: 1 hour Aqua Aerobics
(2/13/11)
Training: 6.75 miles in 2 hours 18 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 30.35
(2/8/11)
Training: 2.0 miles in 40 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 23.6
Training for the 3-day is going well, and I've got some fundraising ideas in the works! Thanks for those of you who have supported me so far! It's awesome to have a good start to this journey!
(2/25/11)
Fundraising: $35, Total: $355
Training: 20 minutes on bicycle, 3.5 miles, walked 3.25 miles in 1 hour
Total miles walked this year: 36.1
(2/17/11)
Fundraising: $50, Total: $320
(2/16/11)
Training: 1 hour Aqua Aerobics
(2/15/11)
Fundraising: $120, Total: $270
Training: 2.5 miles in 46 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 32.85
(2/14/11)
Training: 1 hour Aqua Aerobics
(2/13/11)
Training: 6.75 miles in 2 hours 18 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 30.35
(2/8/11)
Training: 2.0 miles in 40 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 23.6
Saturday, February 5, 2011
This year vs. last year
I need to start working on my Komen fundraising. I just looked it up. At this point last year, I had already raised $2,055!!! I'm definitely not there yet.
I had also walked much farther last year by this time: 44.7 miles. More than twice what I've walked so far this year.
The nice thing is that I still have plenty of time. But wow, by the end of February last year, I had raised the minimum $2,300 needed to qualify me to walk (actually more than the minimum)!
My walking has been going well, I feel good and my foot is not giving me any problems. I am starting to find the excitement I had last year for doing this event again. The walks are peaceful and my two goals for this year are to actually lose weight while doing my training, and to try to increase my walking pace a bit so I don't feel like I'm constantly at the back of the pack in November.
I hope you are excited to see me doing this event again.
(2/5/11)
Training: 4.25 miles in 1 hour 26 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 21.6
(2/2/11)
Training: 2 miles in 40 minutes, 1 hour aqua aerobics
Total miles walked this year: 17.35
(1/31/11)
Training: 1 hour aqua aerobics
(1/30/11)
Training: 5.4 miles in 1 hour 49 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 15.35
(1/28/11)
Training: 4.1 miles in 1 hour 22 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 9.95
(1/26/11)
Training: Aqua Aerobics, 1 hour
(1/19/11)
Training: 2.1 in 45 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 5.85
(1/18/11)
Training: Aqua Aerobics, 1 hour: Yard work: 2 hours
(1/17/11)
Training: Aqua Aerobics, 1 hour
(1/16/11)
Training: 3.75 miles 1 hour 11 minutes
Total Miles: 3.75
(1/12/11)
Training: Aqua Aerobics, 1 hour
(1/11/11)
Fundraising: $150.00, Total: $150.00
Training: 5.6 miles in 32 minutes on bike
I had also walked much farther last year by this time: 44.7 miles. More than twice what I've walked so far this year.
The nice thing is that I still have plenty of time. But wow, by the end of February last year, I had raised the minimum $2,300 needed to qualify me to walk (actually more than the minimum)!
My walking has been going well, I feel good and my foot is not giving me any problems. I am starting to find the excitement I had last year for doing this event again. The walks are peaceful and my two goals for this year are to actually lose weight while doing my training, and to try to increase my walking pace a bit so I don't feel like I'm constantly at the back of the pack in November.
I hope you are excited to see me doing this event again.
(2/5/11)
Training: 4.25 miles in 1 hour 26 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 21.6
(2/2/11)
Training: 2 miles in 40 minutes, 1 hour aqua aerobics
Total miles walked this year: 17.35
(1/31/11)
Training: 1 hour aqua aerobics
(1/30/11)
Training: 5.4 miles in 1 hour 49 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 15.35
(1/28/11)
Training: 4.1 miles in 1 hour 22 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 9.95
(1/26/11)
Training: Aqua Aerobics, 1 hour
(1/19/11)
Training: 2.1 in 45 minutes
Total miles walked this year: 5.85
(1/18/11)
Training: Aqua Aerobics, 1 hour: Yard work: 2 hours
(1/17/11)
Training: Aqua Aerobics, 1 hour
(1/16/11)
Training: 3.75 miles 1 hour 11 minutes
Total Miles: 3.75
(1/12/11)
Training: Aqua Aerobics, 1 hour
(1/11/11)
Fundraising: $150.00, Total: $150.00
Training: 5.6 miles in 32 minutes on bike
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