Sisterhood of the Decorating T-Shirts!

The goal with team t-shirts was to have them to walk in the Race for the Cure 5K on 11/1. Our T-Shirt guy moved his shop last month and his new place wasn't wired correctly so he had to fly some repairman from Atlanta to rewire his dryer. Needless to say, he got behind on his orders so the shirts weren't ready for this weekend. We'd wanted to decorate/personalize our shirts anyway. I bought some green shirts from Michaels and we all contributed crafty materials. Sadly, the bedazzler hid itself but we still had many fine decorations to work with. Laura, Mylinh, Amy and I got together last night and had some fun making some pretty amazing shirts!









Since this is the second time this year that Laura, Mylinh and I have gotten together to make shirts for an athletic event, her husband has nicknamed us the "Sisterhood of the Decorating T-Shirts." I love it! And I can't wait to wear them tomorrow. I'm so excited for the 5K. We have to get up at the crack of dawn early--at least tomorrow is when our clocks fall back an hour so we'll get a little more sleep. I'll post pics of the 5k tomorrow!

Whew! What a crazy couple of months!

I can't believe how long it's been since I've blogged. It's almost overwhelming! Training got pretty intense in August and September, and I was pretty much sick the entire month of October (not exaggerating). I'm worried about the impact of taking a whole month off of training so close to the event. But I'll do what I can and enjoy the walk no matter how much of it I walk versus riding the sweeper van! Quite happily, I've raised all the money and have even started my 2010 account. Kim raised the minimum, too, and is generously putting her excess donations into my 2010 fund!

The walk is less than three weeks away! I will try to post some photos from the time I wasn't able to blog but I will at least stay up to date from this point on. Tomorrow's the Race for the Cure 5K and I cannot wait to experience that. You should see our Team Jil shirts!

The Agony of De' Feet!

Everything is not the same as it was in training last year. My body is just responding differently and my feet are kind of freaking out. I'm walking faster than I did last year, walking in the heat much more than I did last year, and my feet are swelling much sooner than they did last year. I'm trying to stay patient and figure out what will work this year. So far, it seems to be nightly ice baths and sleeping in compression socks that keep my feet from being the stay-puff marshmallow feet! Yep, I'm sporting some sexy compression socks this year. Check them out!



I am still getting the same blisters this year. Go figure.

T Shirts, Get Your T Shirts!

Last year after closing ceremonies, my parents and I stopped for Mexican food and they immediately started talking about "what we are going to do next year." LOL, no rest for the weary! One of the things they talked about most was having a team t-shirt. We also talked about team names and as the months went by, we concluded that the 2009 team should be named "Team Jil" in honor of my aunt. And even though pink is considered "the" color for breast cancer awareness, we decided the shirts should be green.



So after months of discussion, we are proud to officially announce that we will be selling Team Jil shirts. They will be offered in green (in a unisex, regular t-shirt style) and white (available in ladies sizes only with a scoop neck) with pink lettering. The front will be simple. A breast cancer ribbon and our team name. On the back, we are selling advertising space for corporate sponsors. Team Jil T-shirts will sell for $20 a shirt.

I can't tell you what it meant to see the same, faithful cheerleaders out, every day, time after time, cheering us on. The "TAG team", "Hakuna Ma Tata's" (with their 'free hugs' and "Body By Three Day" girls were special stand outs. I know that Team Jil will go along way in encouraging weary walkers with their eye catching shirts and crazy cheers. I can't wait to see Team Jil out there in our matching team shirts!

Hot, Hot, Hot!

It has been HOT HOT HOT in San Diego County these past few weeks. Summer took a little while to come but now we're all living for air conditioning! Last summer, I was not as good about training in the elements. If it got too hot, I just headed for the gym. And I avoided rain at all costs.

The weekend before the three day last year, it was freakishly hot. In the 90's, I believe. Had it been that hot the next weekend, I would have been in trouble. Even though I slow down in the heat, I'm trying to carefully make headway in my walking habits. I join Boob Camp Bekki's group even if it hasn't cooled off by our 6:00 PM call time. Bekki is very careful and keeps us from doing too much (going too long, doing too many hills) in the heat, but even what she plans for us is more than I tried last year.

As for training while walking in the rain, well. It might be awhile before I have to worry that! In the meantime, I know how to keep hydrated (plenty of water plus Gatorade to replenish electrolytes) and it never hurts to pick up a slurpee help cool off after a walk! 7-11's now offer Crystal Light flavored slurpees, all that icy goodness sans the sugar and calories. Woohoo, now THAT is a treat!

Thanks for your support!

Thank you so much to everyone who came out and gave their support Thursday at Fuddruckers! It was a blast to reconnect with old friends. A group of Sandburg PTA moms made it for lunch and then people trickled in and out the rest of the day and evening. I got to see friends from high school and some of the youth I used to work with when I was involved with youth ministry...all grown up now.






Fuddruckers' staff were amazing! Even the regional manager made it out to our event. His boss, one of the VP's, had heard about our fundraiser while surfing online. WOW, did we get the word out! We raised just over $100 in ribbon and raffle ticket sales. Fuddruckers had contributed two VIP meals for two--very nice! I hope we can make our Fuddrucker's fundraiser a yearly tradition!


I enjoyed taking the weekend off of fundraising planning to have some fun, but I kept up with my training all week and weekend like a good 3 day walker! Now it's time to spread the word about our Pat and Oscar's fundraiser coming up in three weeks and our team garage sale that we are holding at the end of August. We're also still working out the details on the team T-shirts. And walking...walking, walking, walking! 3 Day walking is not for the faint of heart!

T Shirts, Garage Sales, Breadsticks and Burgers, Oh My

Whew, there's a lot going on these days with fundraising efforts and now training is starting to kick it up a few notches. Kim and I still finalizing plans for the spaces we'll offer on the back of our team t-shirts (and I'm waffling...should the shirt color be green, or pink, or white?). "Screen Print Guy" (aka the awesome Tom of Precision Screen Prints) wants us to make more box-like shapes than the rectangle shapes I'd originally came up with. I'm starting to plan the "One Woman's Trash is Another Woman's Mammogram" Garage Sale (we're looking for donations!). Pat and Oscars is on for August 13th--Kim is the restaurant-fundraising-contacting QUEEN. There's a lot going on and I'm looking forward to just hanging out tomorrow night, making the rounds through Fuddruckers, thanking everyone who can make it. Will I see you there???