Week 3

Today's walk was 5 miles. All week long as I was doing my training, I kept thinking about how long a 5 mile walk was. Part of me thought it was a lot and another part felt it would be no problem. I felt I needed some focus, so I bought a book and tape on sports performance. The book's introduction was about Lance Armstrong. I knew that he was a super sportsman of Tour de France fame, and a survivor of testicular cancer, but I had no idea how much more he had overcome (as if that wasn't enough). That short reading helped to put things in perspective! I did this morning's walk with no problems. Once again, the stretches really made a difference.

Week 2

This morning we (FBF) walked 4 miles. I got up at 5am in order to give myself enough time do stretching exercises and eat. We were scheduled to meet at 6:35am, and although I should have had plenty of time. I still ran late. The stretches took about 20 minutes but they were well worth doing. I made it to our home base, Velocity Sports, with 5 minutes to spare. I started out walking with my friend Barbara, but as she will be the first to tell you, she is very slow. So I caught up with another lady who was not too far ahead of me and walked with her for the rest of the 4 miles. This was Bobbie's 2nd year in the group. We made great time, getting back in 72 minutes, finishing with an average of an 18 minute mile. After our morning seminar, I felt a bit faint. I attributed it to the fact that I had only eaten fruit for breakfast and then got too much of a sugar burst from the homemade power bars that I had made and eaten after the walk. I recovered and learned a lesson - more carbs before the walk. I left that morning very excited. Everyone was friendly and supportive and it felt great to go the extra mile, literally and figuratively!

Some History

I did not wake up one morning and decide to walk in the Marathon. In fact it was really the last thing on my mind. My friends Susie and Harris had tried unsuccessfully to get me involved with their walking/running group, Fort Bend Fit. It's celebrating its 6th year, has over 400 members (www.FortBendFit.org) and is part of a larger, national organization called USA Fit. Its main purpose is to provide training and support for its members, most of whom plan to walk or run the Houston Marathon. When my friend Jacque decided to join the group, I made the decision to do it, too. Jacque was planning on running the Marathon, but I thought it would be a good way for me to have a training program that would help me continue with my weight loss and keep me in shape. Little did I know the addictive nature of this group and these activities and that it would become much, much more!

The season started on Saturday, July 16th. Everyone met at the parking lot of Velocity Sports prepared to start our run/walk at 7am. There are 5 different groups divided by pace. The Purple Group, which I'm in, is designated for walkers only. When I arrived, I was surprised and excited to find out that there were a number of people that I knew. Many of them were walkers, too. On this first day I walked with my friend Candy, who after hearing about the training just the night before, decided to join me (She has since joined the Katy Fit group which is closer to where she lives). We walked the 3 miles and it felt great. For many of the newcomers, 3 miles was the most they had ever attempted. The enthusiasm of the group was contagious. After each walk/run, the coaches present seminars that are relevant to the training. The seminar that day was on hydration. I learned a lot and left, looking forward to following the coming week's training schedule and to the challenge of the next Saturday walk which was to be 4 miles.

WELCOME TO MY ODYSSEY

I'm really glad that you have decided to follow my progress as I work towards achieving my goal of walking in the 2006 Houston Marathon. It's not that what I am trying to do is so remarkable - over 18,000 people completed last year's race by either walking or running. It's just that I have come a really long way (and still going) on my road to fitness and want to let others know that they can do the same thing. I also want to keep our friends, family and clients informed. So if you're reading this, it means you are interested, and I thank you for that! Although the official start of Marathon training began on Saturday, July 16th, I had been preparing for a month prior to that. The prelude was the FCCA 5K run/walk. It was 3.2 miles and I had been working my way up to 3 miles, 3 times a week on the treadmill at the gym. How and why I decided to do this are questions worth answering, so if you're interested in that story it's on the left under my before and now picture.