Sunday, February 6, 2011

60 Miles in 3 Days...Can I Do It?

A picture of me with my late grandmother,
Avelina Antonia Vibar-Provido (1930-1991).
Those of you that follow my private Twitter account (@VelociMellie) or my Facebook might know that I have decided to take on a challenge--I decided to sign up for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure™, taking place in October in Philadelphia.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with the walk, it entails walking 60 miles (roughly the distance between Atlantic City, NJ and Philadelphia, PA) over the course of three days and camping out each night with thousands of other men and women fighting for the same cause.  The net proceeds from this event are invested in breast cancer research and community programs with the hope of decreasing breast cancer incidence and mortality in the next decade.

As someone that has had various friends and family members affected by this illness, it was really important to me to be a part of it.  At the present time, 1 in 8 women are diagnosed with breast cancer.  When you think about it, that really could be anyone.  It's not just an illness that mostly older women get, either--more and more younger women around my age and even men are being diagnosed.   I just feel that it is so important to work towards improving treatment, finding a cure, and aiding in detection and prevention.

I attended a Get Started meeting in the city last Wednesday and it was certainly an emotional experience for me.  Suddenly the things I complain about seemed so small and inconsequential.  For example, some days I wake up tired or I don't feel like going to work or class.  But you know what?  I'm sure someone with cancer didn't feel like having the illness, but it happened.  And I'm sure that chemotherapy and other treatments are no walk in the park, but they endure it.  It is really touching to hear about people with illnesses that don't let it ruin their lives and it is really motivating to see the fighting spirit that is in each one of us.  60 miles in just three days is hard, but it's just a couple steps compared to the journey that cancer patients and survivors have to make.

I have currently committed to raise at least $2,300 in donations by the day of the walk.  At the moment, I haven't gotten much response, but I'm hoping that by the end of February, I can have at least $250 in there to get me going!  I'm determined to meet my goal at the least and exceeding it would be a dream come true.

While I do have financial goals involved in this race, I also have some physical goals attached to it.  60 miles in three days certainly did not sound like an easy task.  Since the race is in October, I thought I'd use the long time in between as an opportunity to train and prepare myself.  It's not "just walking"--it's involves stamina and endurance.  I'm proud to say that I'm eating much better than I did last year and I am also getting lots of regular exercise.  At the end of January, I had dropped nearly 15 pounds!  It's exciting to see my endurance build and I know that if I keep my way on this path, I should be able to last through these 60 miles.

I'm really looking forward to this walk and I hope all of you don't mind me talking about it every once in a while, haha.  I'm looking to make one post at the end of each month with my progress.  If you're interested in participating, please visit http://www.the3day.org/site/PageServer?pagename=homepage for more information.  If you're feeling gracious and would like to make a donation or would like to see the personal page I have set up, please get in contact with me and I can provide more details.  Thanks for reading the post and joining me on this journey!

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