3-Day Challenges

[qos]

The biggest challenge of preparing for the 3-Day isn't the fundraising. I've been blessed with extremely generous donations from some prosperous people around me, as well as many smaller donations.

It also isn't the physical effort of the training walks. Those are manageable, especially when I pace myself and when I walk with a friend.

The biggest challenge is the sheer amount of time it takes to walk 3, 4, 5, 10 miles.


At three miles per hour, the minimum avereage speed for the event -- and the speed at which my own body does best right now, the shortest of the training walks takes an hour to complete. And that's just the walking time. That doesn't cover whatever time it takes to prepare or the shower and cleaning up afterward. It doesn't cover driving to sites where I can do the longer walks outside. And the walks are getting longer as the days pass.

Each additional mile is less time that I have to spend with my daughter, to take care of my house, to do creative work, to enjoy sleeping in on weekend mornings with my loves. And that's hard to deal with.

As the minutes tick by, I find myself thinking of what I could also be doing besides putting one foot in front of the other and I start increasing my pace to cut down the time I spend walking -- which results in too much stress on my knees and arches. Not good.

On the other hand, last night, a_belletrist and I went to a Focus Group meeting, which is an informational meeting for new walkers, and it was quite inspirational. I'm glad I'm involved in this event. It's huge, and it's important, and it's life-changing.

But it also demands a certain degree of sacrifice to participate. You really have to give yourself over to it for several months of your life, not just the three days. A journey of 60 miles begins with thousands and thousands of steps in training walks.

I'm glad I'm doing it.
I just need to figure out how to allow my life to be transformed in a way that allows me to also continue to devote the time I want to to the rest of my life.

And I need to find some way of including my daughter more.

Insights and suggestions are welcome.

Comments

[bookchick.livejournal.com]

It's not much of a help, and the walking is going to be boring, but does the college near you have an accessible track? Would the Daughter be open to 'being Mom's coach' a couple of times a week, and the two of you could head over to the track and make it a bonding time as well as a training time?

[qos.livejournal.com]

I've been trying to think of ways to include her. I hadn't thought of her being my trainer. . .

And you and I need to get together to walk too, yes??

[bookchick.livejournal.com]

Probably because, secretly, you know what a drill sargeant your daughter could be as a trainer ;>. You could end up with charts all over your house...

Definitely - although June is when things will finally let up around here (fingers crossed). May is filled with adoption process, work projects for me wrapping up, and David's class.

[royalbananafish.livejournal.com]

Hm... Maybe you can get your daughter (or others) to walk with you sometimes? Maybe you can find some books on tape at the library (or interlibrary loan) that you've wanted to read?

Three MPH is a respectable speed, especially when you'll need endurance too, though I'm sure you'll also get faster as you get stronger. I've found that I go faster when with friends or when listening to music. At this weekend's Vancouver Discovery Walk festival, my 21k (13 miles) time was about 4 hours. And afterwards I was TIRED.

I'm still not sure whether I will be able to join you, since the employment situation is still a big giant unknown. I will at least write you a check, even if it is a little one, once I get my finances more figured out.

[qos.livejournal.com]

I did get some digital books, but the first time I tried to load them on my iPod it ended up needing to be completely rebooted. I need to try again and see if there's actually a link between the two events.

L&L walk with me when possible, or workout in the same room when I'm on the treadmill. a_belletrist and I are going to try to get together more often. It's kind of tough when our residences and our work locations are all so far apart. There is no convenient place to meet -- but that means we're just going to have to put out a bit more effort.

Would love to have you join us if you can, and of course a check would be welcome at any time.

[wlotus.livejournal.com]

This may be a situation where the only solution is to spend less time on those other things. Things will be unbalanced, but it is only for a little while. I believe big goals will often require one's life to become unbalanced for a bit, in order to do the work required. Then when it is over, life goes back to normal.