Ten Miles!

I did ten miles on Saturday. Woohoo! Four at home with "Leslie" and another six plus at the Lake with my friend, Ang. I have to tell you, I could feel it the last couple of miles! I remember thinking as I got into my car..."and this is only half a day's walk in the three day!" Ugh, I remember THAT pain. It had been a while since I'd done more than six. I don't think I've walked more than six since the three day, actually. I'm still not too worried about long distances. There's plenty of time for that. But I won't walk more than a half marathon until at least mid-summer. I'm trying to focus on building speed in the lower distances. I'll start by going from walking four to six miles regularly to ten. I'll take it nice and slow, then move up to 13.1 (what can I say, I impress myself when I say, I just walked a half marathon!). And at some point, maybe I'll even give jogging a try. But it felt good to get out there and do some serious walking. Anyone else want to join me at the lake next time?

6 Months

Today marks the sixth month anniversary of my Aunt Jil's death. It seems hard to believe that she has been gone that long, it feels like it has only been a few months. I wanted to go out to the cemetery this weekend, but a long lingering illness kept me close to home. Perhaps next weekend. We miss her. So much. Her presence at family gatherings. Her thoughtfulness. Her love. From month 5 to 6 was emotional for me. I remember from my grandpa's death that it took at least 13 months to feel some semblance of normal. I remember that because I'd heard the first year was the hardest but on the first year anniversary I felt even worse. Yet within a month or so, I realized that indeed, it did seem to get easier.

The illness also kept me from finishing my ten day challenge with Leslie. I made it seven days. Took some time off. And am now doing another four miler for my workout, one that is slightly less intense as the other one.

I found some information on "whfoods.com" last week about the benefits of eating at least five vegetables and fruits a day in relation to preventing breast cancer as well as the re-occurence of breast cancer. I'd wanted to make an intelligent blog out of it, but I'm pretty worn out from the past two weeks. Please excuse me for cutting and pasting this information. On the left side of the home page, click on the link for "All About Organic Foods" and then enter in Lentils, or any other foods you want to know more about.

"Americans have one of the highest breast cancer rates in the world. One's risk for breast cancer is related to one's lifetime exposure to estrogen-like substances. These include any of the natural and man-made chemicals to which the body responds similarly (but sometimes much more strongly) than it would respond to estrogen.

"While one out of eight American women develop breast cancer, the rate of breast cancer in Japan is about one-fifth of that in the United States. Researchers attribute much of this discrepancy to differences between the standard American diet and the low-fat, nutrient-dense native diet and of the traditional Japanese diet.

"There is tremendous controversy regarding the role of dietary fats in the development and progression of breast cancer. However, evidence is building to show that the types of fats you eat and levels of other nutrients in your diet may greatly influence how your body processes estrogen-like substances, which clearly affect the risk for breast cancer.

"Breast cancer survivors who eat 5 or more servings daily of vegetables and fruits, and exercise moderately, can cut their risk of dying from breast cancer almost in half, even if significantly overweight, shows a study just published in the June 2007 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

"Researchers at the Cancer Prevention and Control Program, San Diego Cancer Center, La Jolla, CA, enrolled 1,409 women diagnosed and treated for early-stage breast cancer between 1991 and 2000, and followed them through December 2005.

"The combination of consuming 5 or more daily servings of vegetables and fruits with regular moderate exercise (equivalent to walking 30 minutes, 6 days a week), was associated with a significant survival advantage - a 44% reduction in risk in obese as well as nonobese women. If you've been diagnosed with breast cancer, you can greatly improve your odds of living a long and healthy life simply by enjoying a daily half-hour's walk and delicious meals featuring the World's Healthiest Foods."

Above or Below the Neck?

Ang and I were going to walk at the lake this morning, but this stomach thing I've got going on didn't allow for it. I did get in a walking video. I'm done with day 7 of Leslie Sansone's 10 day challenge. I've actually been able to keep up with it despite the ickies. Normally, the rule is (as per Running Magazine) at the neck. Sick above the neck (cold, allergies), you are good to exercise. It is not recommended for illnesses below the neck (chest cold, flu, stomach trouble). But I had started my ten days and wanted to follow it through! Three more to go. And hopefully I'll get back to the Lake with Ang this coming weekend!

Walking in the Rain!

My friend, Ang, and I went for a loop at Lake Murray on Saturday. Three miles (plus a little) in and then back out. Makes for a bout 6.25 miles. We were about 1.5 miles from our cars when it started to rain! There was no choice but to just keep walking...so we picked up the pace again and luckily, it didn't rain for long. It still sprinkled some, but not too bad. It was a great way to get the weekend going!

With fewer daylight hours in the winter and the recent rains, I'm relying more and more on my walking tapes. I decided to give up my gym membership in the fall. I wish I had a treadmill or an eliptical at home, they give such great workouts. But I really do prefer working out at home. It is definitely never crowded at home. I'm not giving up the gym forever, but it's nice to take a break and challenge myself to find other ways of getting exercise.

A few of Leslie's workouts have high impact, boosted walking segments. Translation: jogging in place! "Four Fast Miles" has a ten day challenge with it. If you are trying to break through a plateau or rev up your weight loss, she challenges you to do the workout for ten days straight. I wanted to boost my mileage for this month anyway, since I wasn't able to exercise much when I was sick for so long. So I started today! I'll do a few strength training workouts, too. I got up early to get it out of the way this morning Day 1 down, nine more to go!

Walking the Walk

I was talking with a friend from church last night who has joined up with a group to walk in the 3 day! She's with a team of 15 ladies from our church. It sounds like they are all new to it, except for one woman who walked it a few years back. How exciting! The choir director had told me that usually a few women a year from the 8:30 service choir walk, but I go to the 10:30 service, so I didn't actually meet anyone at church who was going to the 2008 walk.

Oh, and this is too funny. She said that they are going to be staying at hotels nearby, no camping for them! I have to agree. I am just not a camper, so it is a little overwhelming to deal with the camping experience and the 3 day experience. The tents were small. You have to zip yourself in and out every time you want to get in and out while not waking up your tent mate and walking partner. Just getting out of the pup tent in the middle of the night with swollen feet and stiff leg muscles was a challenge. But then you have to find your way to the stinky port-a-potties and figure out where to put the flashlight so that you can find the toilet paper. And find your tent again in the middle of the night. And it was very damp as we were literally camping on the water, it was just a few feet away. Ughh. I chose the 3 day experience over camping! I'll probably just go home each night but I'm totally up for staying in a hotel nearby too!

Bummer Ankle

The walk was an awesome experience. We had a great time and enjoyed it so much. Unfortunately I hurt my ankle in the process. The doctor called it Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome - like Carpal Tunnel - but in the ankle. So I had to rest and haven't been able to exercise much lately. Now I'm doing a series of physical therapy appointments to learn exercises to strengthen the ankle. Given some more time it should be fine.

However, this means no more extreme walking for me. Thankfully it also means no more camping in little tiny tents! So I will be co-pit crew captain with Rae for Team Jil this year! I'm already putting together my list of must-have songs to make a cd to blast at the cheering stations.

Go Team Jil!

Laura

A New Year to Walk!

I've been suffering from a lingering cold but I really wanted to start the new year with a walk. I went to Lake Murray and got in about 5 miles. The first mile, I felt some pain in my left arch. I tried to determine whether it was just pain or pain that would lead to an injury. I'd like to get some more walking in this weekend, and don't want to be sidelined by a limp. It seems like it was just pain that would work itself out and after about a mile, it did. It felt good to walk again, though I can't say I beat any time records! It was great to see so many families and groups of people out walking, riding bikes and jogging. A good way to start the new year out right!