Doing Longer Walks

Thanks to a very generous donor, I have met the 25% minimum for the Avenue of the Vines half-marathon on May 18. Now the training gets serious, with the shoe-fitting, customized training plan, and nutrition counseling. I also still need to contact my co-workers and put up a poster at Curves, to try to raise the next 75% by May 11.

I've upped my weekly mileage to 14, and discovered that the walk around Lake Greenhaven is almost exactly 2 miles - and that I walk a 20 minute mile. I looked at the finishing times of last year's participants, and they all completed the half-marathon in a little over two hours. I estimate that my finishing time will be about 4 1/2 hours - oh, man! I might have the distinction of being the last, the very last, finisher.

I discovered a neat Google tool: pedometer. You enter your zip code, and get a map of your area. Then you double-click on points on the map - and they don't have to be roads ; Google draws your path and shows your mileage. This is a great help when planning routes of a specified length. I discovered the distance from home to the "pillars" on the levee is 1 mile, for example. If you are inclined, you could turn on the calorie-counter, and print or save your route.

Like a River

Way back in the '60s, there was a song we sang in church: "Peace is flowing like a river." That's how I feel when I walk along the levee in the mornings and evenings. This evening after work, I combined my half-hour levee walk with my half-hour Wenzel walk for a 3-mile workout. Evening sunsets are particularly beautiful at this time of year, and the cell-photo really doesn't do justice to the color and the serenity up on the levee.

My training program for the Train to End Stroke half-marathon requires that I walk a progressively greater number of miles each week. This week, I walked 11 miles; next week it will be 12 miles. My supervisors have been very supportive, and have given me day shifts exclusively until the half-marathon on May 18. Now I can participate in the evening training sessions with Team Sacramento, instead of training alone all week.

I've sent out the first wave of fund-raising e-mails and received enough contributions to put me at 25% of my goal already! The next group of letters will be directed toward my co-workers, and the third push will be at my Curves gym, where the manager has agreed to let me post information and a request for donations. For those with a voyeuristic bent, a progress chart is available on my donation page.