Once More with Feeling

Weekend of September 11

Part 1
I was out on the trail at 6:15. It was still dark and a little scary. I was wearing black shorts and a dark blue shirt. The only thing that made me stand out in the dark was my white shoes and my pasty legs. If I walk this early tomorrow I need to remember to wear something white.

I was shocked by the number of people who were already out on the trail and of those how many were on their way back. I have enough trouble getting up at 5:00 am. I can't imagine getting up any earlier. Talk about scary.

I was at the 2.6 mile point before the sun was above the horizon and at the 3.5 mile mark before it cleared the trees.

The bayou was very high. The depth stick in the side channel marked it at 7 1/2 feet deep. I can only imagine how deep the main channel was. It didn't occur to me that it would be so high. We hadn't had any rain since Thursday. I didn't think how long it would take for the run-off to hit the bayou. I'm just glad it wasn't over the banks.

I had decided to walk 10 miles again this week. I made about 8 before my right knee started hurting again. Apparently that is my limit for that knee. The last 1.3 miles was miserable. I was hobbling up and down the hills and it really hurt. But I made it back to the start of the trail. When I got home I rested for about an hour and a half with an ice pack and it seemed to be okay. Weird. I ended up checking out several stores in the afternoon before I ended up at the drug store to purchase a knee brace. I got the one with the most support and I hope it will help me make it further.

Part 2
No big surprise - I didn't walk today. Instead, I slept (which helped a lot) and let my knee rest. I had more than enough to keep me busy at the house and the only time I stepped out was when I took out the trash.

We'll see how next week goes.


P.S. Thanks to everyone who responded to my last post/email. I was able to add $350.00 to my donation from the raffle tickets and bracelets that everyone got. Thanks to everyone and remember there are still some of both left available. If you can't make it by, give me a call or an email and I'll be happy to work with you. Remember - anyone donating $100 or more gets cookies or pecan bread - your choice.

I still have a way to go ($430.00) so any help you can provide is most appreciated.

Thanks again.

Down to the Wire

September 7, 2010

I'm down to the wire and have only 39 days left to reach my fund raising goal before I make the walk. I need your help.

If you are following my blog and haven't yet made a donation, now would be the time. Anything you can do to help support my walk is most appreciated. This is a chance to help work toward a cure for a serious disease that effects thousands of people - both women and men - every year. Please take this opportunity to make a difference.

Just click on the DONATE NOW link on the left of this posting. Make your donation and make a difference.

I'm walking 39 miles in two days in order to bring attention to this cause. I'm also writing this blog. Both of these activities are far outside my comfort zone, so you can see how important this is to me. Please help.

I'm close to the end of my training period and I need to come up with some new ways to gain your interest. I'm pulling out all the stops. Starting right now I'm adding some incentives.

First, I'm holding a raffle for a quilt I made myself. The raffle tickets are $10 each and I'm only selling 50, so there is good chance for you to win. If you're interested, please send me an email or post a comment to the blog and I'll get back with you. Here is a photo of the 60" x 74"quilt.

Second, I'm selling some of the bracelets that I've made this year. I have mostly beaded bracelets with crystals, but I also have some with leather and wooden beads. I'm selling them for $15 each - much less than you would pay if you bought them in a store. You can see them by dropping by my office.

Third, for anyone donating $100 or more, I will bake cookies (brown sugar refrigerator, snickerdoodles or chocolate chip) or pecan bread and honey butter. For those of you who have already made a donation of this size, I will follow up with you. I don't want to penalize you for supporting me early.

I hope this makes you think about making a donation. Again - it is as simple as clicking the DONATE NOW button on the left side of this page and making a donation. I am counting on you to help put me over the top.

Labor Day

Weekend of September 4

Part 1

I got out to the trail early and it was cooler than it has been since April. It was only 78 degrees when I got out of the car. The sky looked overcast and that held for most of the morning. The humidity was also lower, so I was looking forward to the walk.

It is very odd that there has been loads of heavy equipment working on the draining ditch that feeds into the bayou since early June and suddenly, there are orange construction signs up notifying us of "Trail Work Ahead." I wonder what caused them to put these up after all this time. It simply boggles the mind.

I expected that there would be fewer people out this weekend due to the holiday. Most of the regular walkers and runners were on the trail at their regular times, but there didn't appear to be as many cyclists as usual. The Kay Fit groups were out, but they were much smaller - only

3 - 6 people in each group. They weren't nearly as intrusive as they have been simply because their numbers were so limited. It was a nice change.

As usual, there were quite a few people out with their dogs. One man was particularly interesting. He was walking the cutest little pomerian puppy who was mincing as she troted along side him. She was obviously a very young dog and her short little legs were moving very quickly to keep up with her owner. He, on the other hand, was about 6' 4" and had to weigh about 260. It was a very odd picture.

My daughter, Ashley, called me yesterday to tell me about swimming with the whale sharks at the Atlanta aquarium. She was really excited about it and was so glad she did it. Her enthusiam made me feel like I needed to push myself on my walk this weekend. When I hit the 3.5 mile mark, I just kept walking and ended up going a full 10 miles. The last leg of the outbound walk is between Dairy Ashford and Eldridge. I don't really like that part of the walk (I had only done it once from the other end). It is very flat. I think to keep it interesting they decided to make the trail weave back and forth for no apparent reason. It is also very flat and fully in the sun. In addition to all of that there were way too many people running and cycling and more walkers than I usually see all weekend. They were loud and moved fast, passing on whichever side they encountered the least resistance. It was very unsettling. I like this trail because it is so quiet and I can spend some time thinking. That wasn't possible on the last leg of the walk. Oh well, I guess that is the price to pay to add the distance.

I felt pretty good about the walk. I was holding up well - no heavy breathing, not too much sweat (there was a nice breeze all morning). Then, in the last 1.3 miles, my right knee started hurting. It started when I jogged down a hill. I thought going downhill faster would be easier - no fighting gravity, etc. Unfortunately, I screwed up my knee and by the time I got the last leg of the walk it was hurting pretty badly. It wasn't quite the way I had planned to end the walk. By the time I was in the car and on the way home it had started swelling. I'm not sure how it will go tomorrow.

Part 2

The alarm went off early on Sunday and I got up. My right knee was not cooperating. I had iced it most of the afternoon and kept it elevated. It was still swollen when I went to bed so I was careful to keep it elevated while I slept. Since it wouldn't hold my weight without it being extremely painful, I decided it was a bad idea to walk today. We will see what tomorrow brings.

Part 3

I went to a lunch and a show on Sunday. Walking around the theatre district wasn't making my knee feel any better.

I got up early and got out to the trail at 6:40. I only planned to walk 3 - 5 miles. I was hoping that the shorter walk would be kinder to my knee than a longer walk. I got to the 2.5 mile point, but knew I didn't dare go any further if I wanted to get back to the care without pain. It was giving me some problems up and particularly, down the hills. It wasn't too bad and I was handling the limited pain pretty well.

On one of the downhill treks, I heard a pop and grinding sound from my right knee. I was worried that I had done something really bad. Luckily, the sound seems to have been an indication of my right knee cap shifting back to its original place. I guess alls well that ends well.

I have only 39 days left until the walk! I still have over a thousand dollars to raise. For those who have already donated, I appreciate it. For those who haven't and still want to, please click the "Donate Here" link on my Blog Site at BlogSport.com. You will also be getting another email asking for more assistance. I will be raffling off a quilt I finished today as well as selling some jewelry to bring in more funding.

I hope you are enjoying the blog and that I will be hearing from you soon.

Sleep now.