WEBC Wrap-up

By the numbers:

4,616 = walkers participating this weekend
$11.6 million = total money raised to end women's cancers for the Princess Margaret Hospital
$37,561 = money raised by Team Harlequin
$1,510 = amount I raised through the very generous donations given directly to my campaign
$255.58 = funds raised from donations from the Kensington Market Community
$34.68 = price of the awesome dri-fit Team Harlequin T-shirt we wore
3 = times I used a port-a-potty on my 1-day +30 km walk
10 = hours it took me to complete the walk
4 = ibuprofen tablets I took within a 24-hour span
17 = hours it took to get the stiffness out of my legs


Highlights of the walk:

It was way more than 30km. After the first 4km, the sign said: "30.43 km to go!" and 4 km later, at the next stop, it said "30.4 km to go!" So I probably walked closer to 40 km that one day.

The route takes you through several residential neighborhoods, and people tie pink ribbons or decorate their properties, or sit out on the porch and say thank you and cheer you on all along the way. A number of them lay out spreads of cookies, fruit, snacks, water, chocolate and more. One house handed out little cups of beer. After 28 km, it was the BEST. BEER. EVER.

You wouldn't believe the vast array of people who turn up at these things just to give you high fives and cheer you on. There was this woman on a motorcycle who'd had a mastectomy and way wearing this leather metal-studded one-boob bra who was right in there, all smiles, her hog decorated with boobs and bras.

Lunch was a box set of grilled chicken, pasta salad, a dinner roll, and a lemon tart, plus some Lipton Green Tea drinks. It didn't matter if they didn't taste perfect--at that point, ANYTHING tasted good.


The route:

Starting at Exhibition Place, through Princess Gates, along Lakeshore Blvd., north along Parkside (next to High Park) and then through some residential streets, through Bloor West Village (why we had to walk along the busy Bloor Street stretch from Keele to Humber River, I really don't understand) and then a whole bunch north...I got lost since we doubled-backed a few times. We crossed Islington several times, in fact. We ended up at Downsview Park.


The day:

Hour 1: WOOOO!! YEAH!!! BOOBS!!!!! WE CAN DO THIS!!!! WOOOOOO!!!

Hour 1.5: Wooo! Wooooooo!

Hour 2: *Stark silence as the realization of how long this walk is hits*

Hour 3: WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE OUT OF GATORADE AND PEANUT BUTTER? *eats bagel dry, downs water, regrets the bloating combination*

Hour 4: Shoulda stopped at the last convenience store for Gatorade...I'm drowning in water, but I'm STILL THIRSTY.

Hour 5: Terrible hunger pangs lead to discussions about food. *Word games to pass the time commence to distract us from hunger*

Hour 6: Lunch! WOOOOO!!!! YEAH!!!! FREEBIES!!! WOOOO!!! BOOBIES!!! YEAH!!!

Hour 7: Are we there yet? Oh, God, Are we there yet? *cries a little*

Hour 8: You said it'd be 4 more kilometers FIVE KILOMETERS AGO!!! WHY ARE YOU PLAYING WITH MY MIND???

Hour 9: Support SUVs (of shame) start to look really appealing. Thinks driving one is the better option. Someone in a swank neighborhood hands me a Rocket Popsicle. I am rejuvenated.

Hour 10: WOOOOO!!! WOOOOOOOOO!!! I'm done! Oh, thank you, jeebus, I'm done!!! *hips collapse, calves seize, spine accordions, pass out on ground*


Overall:

This was a personal endeavor for me, and of course it was important. But I'm not sure I'll do this again next year simply because hitting up my friends and family for that kind of money regularly is draining. Maybe in another year's time I'll do it. I will, however, continue other fund-raising efforts in order to help those members of Team Harlequin who do this every year. They are inspiring and awesome.

For a more interesting (and invariably more emotional) rundown of the WEBC from someone who walked the (omigod, how she did it, I will never know) 2-day walk, go to my pal's blog at RockItLoveItLiveIt.worpress.com.


Short segment featuring a few of my co-walkers on CTV News here. (Go to Sunday, September 13, and start the clip at 11:47)


Thanks again to everyone who supported this fantastic endeavor! If you're interested in signing up for next year, go to www.endcancer.ca.

30 km might be easier if there was lots of shopping on the way...

Since I've been sick with laryngitis, I haven't been able to do my usual workout, but I got back into training for the big Weekend to End Breast Cancer walk today, and boy howdy, gravity and my weak stomach were really trying to take me out. Did 14.31 km in about 5 hours (with lots of shopping and a couple of quick bathroom stops.)

Found that the khaki shorts I was wearing--casual things I got at Bluenotes--were a little too long and didn't give me much in the way of comfort for a walk this "intense". So I stopped at Old Navy and picked up a pair of teeny-tiny running shorts for, like $7.25 (they had a 50% off summer hot picks sale. Woot!) I even got the matching running bra top so that I'll be forced to work off some of my gut before I can wear it in public...which will likely be never.

A lot of people don't really understand why I'm training the way I am. They don't have a concept of what 30 km is to walk.

Well, here are some examples of 30 km walks, mapped out via Google Earth:

• If you started at Exhibition Place and headed north via the most direct street route, you could walk to Vaughn Mills/Wonderland in 30 km.
• If you started at the bottom of Yonge Street and kept heading north, after 30 km you'd be in Richmond Hill, just north of Gamble Rd./19th Ave.
• If you were to drive 30 km on the 401, you could start at Yonge and 401 and end up at Brock Road in Pickering.
• If you were to travel 30 km on the TTC Bloor/Danforth subway line, you could start at Kipling station, ride all the way to Kennedy station, and continue on the Scarborough LRT to Ellesmere station.

So yeah. I'm training. Good thing shopping is a good incentive for all this exercise.

OW...

Did the dreaded walk from work to home today.
That's roughly Don Mills/401 to Christie/Dupont.
Mapped out my walk on mapmyrun.com:

I walked a total of 16.86 km in 4.5 hours (including rest stops).

And now I know: no matter what gear you have, after a certain point, it doesn't matter. You're still fighting gravity and your own (i.e. my own) decrepit body.

You win again, gravity. Curse you, decrepit body.

Save me, ibuprofen, save me!

These Shoes Aren't Made for Walking

Me out having dinner with two close friends, both of whom are avid runners:

Me: Yeah, so I'm thinking about getting new shoes for the 30k walk in September.
Friend 1: Don't you already have a pair?
Me: Yeah, but when I walk in them, my feet get really, really hot, after, like, 1 km. And when I take them off afterward, steam comes out of my shoes.
Friend 1: That' not good. But it'll take some time to break in new shoes.
Me: I know. The ones I have are pretty comfy. I mean, I put in two pairs of insoles inside them...
Friend 1: O_o WHY would you do that???
Me: Cuz' I don't have enough bounce in my step. And I felt like I was leaning backwards all the time.
Friend 2: That's not right. Those shoes aren't right. You're not supposed to do that.
Me: ...Yeah...well...I guess...

You'd think that, having worked at Foot Locker, I would have clued into the whole these-shoes-aren't-good-for-running thing. I actually have another pair of running shoes from those old days which I wear at work, but they're boys' size 6--about half a size too large and not great for long- distance anything. They're great for standing in, and for short jaunts, and they're damn snazzy; but not so good for much else.

So I went out today and bought new shoes. Nothing fancy--these New Balance WT460GPs were on sale ($59.99), and they fit. I've never been one to spend a lot on running shoes. The sales guy told me off the bat to put the Nikes down, despite my long-standing success with them for comfort, since I was doing a long-distance walk. As it is, these seem to be comfy enough, and give me the necessary support on the outer edge of my feet since I tend to supinate. I'm testing them around the house as I write this.

I also splurged on some fancy double-layer anti-blister socks (no, not the rainbow ones in the picture, though wouldn't THOSE be AWESOME?) as recommended by many of my colleagues who have done the 60k walk before. Interestingly, the sports shop had a pair that cost $1 extra and had a pink ribbon on them. I didn't buy those. I'm going to be surrounded by enough pink that day (it was unavoidable with my shoes). No need to remind myself why I'm doing this with socks.

On the fund-raising front, little sister Jenny has informed me that my cousin Kan is brining in a whole bunch of clean, still-in-good-condition garbage cans that her company is getting rid of for some reason. They're going to sell them at the hardware store (CAAM United Hardware, 160 Augusta Ave. in Kensington Market, celebrating 25 years in business!) and donate the proceeds directly to my campaign.

I asked her to give the project a classy, marketable name like Trash for Titties, or Cans for Cans.

Okay, maybe not.

More details to come!

WEBC Walking Update

Walked home from Pape Station today, which amounted to just a bit over 7 km in my effort to train for the WEBC. I haven't decided if my running shoes are the right ones to wear yet, though. They served me fairly well in Vegas walking up and down the strip, but I feel like I need more spring in my step. Maybe a few extra insoles will help.

Got my first call from my walking coach today, and received a package from the WEBC people with a pair of pink retractable earbuds I can use to listen to podcasts with. Pretty nifty.

Thanks to a lot of generous donors, I'm up to 62% of my fundraising goal, but I want to raise as much as I can. I've been toying with the idea of getting some custom magnetic poetry made up with romance words to build Harlequin Presents-esque titles. The only problem is that the minimum order would be, like, 500. I don't think I can sell that many...or have the funds to cover that amount. I could use some of them to give away as gifts/promos, etc. But I'm not certain this is the way to go.

Thoughts? Suggestions?