It’s breast cancer awareness month, and as you may know, Dave and I are walking in our second Race for the Cure on Saturday. I am also working on fundraising for my 2010 Breast Cancer 3-Day next November.

60 miles in three days is a long distance. Trust me, I did it last year. When I signed up the first time, I was more worried about the fundraising than I was the walking. The money actually came in pretty quickly and I got a lot of support. I was lucky to work at a company that allowed me to sell baked goods and openly ask for donations. As we began to train, I became worried about blisters and maintaining my feet.

We were told not to get pedicures because we needed to build up a callus. I get regular pedicures and scrub my own feet religiously. My feet were prime candidates for blisters, bad blisters. After one of our longest training walks, I got a major blister in between several of my toes. I was devastated. It hurt, and took quite a few weeks to heal.

I began looking for solutions. I read message board after message board, and discovered a thread about Injinji toesocks.

Sure they look kind of silly, but do they work?! You bet! I went to my local Luke’s Locker and bought several pairs, and happily wore them on several training walks which ended in blister free feet. They work, because each toe has it’s own space and does not rub against your other toes. They also are made with CoolMax material which pulls the moisture away from your feet. During the actual 3-Day event, I alternated between them and another sock made with wicking material, and even doubled up. I can’t say that I had completely blister free feet (60 miles is a long way to walk), although I didn’t have any between my toes. I had a few on the bottom on my foot, and also on the side where my foot rubbed against my shoe. Still, it could have been a lot worse, and I attribute that to my fabulous toes socks from Injinji.

I wear them anytime I know I am going to do a lot of walking, like the State Fair of Texas last week! Recently I was in touch with a rep from Injinji who provided me with several pairs of socks at cost for review. My feet felt perfect when I got home, were not sore, and I had zero blisters. Plus, I love that they come in pink (and a variety of other colors and styles). You can also choose between crew, mini crew, and micro. My favorite is the mini crew because they are not too short, and not too long. As Goldilocks would say, they are just right.

Now as I prepare for my upcoming walks, I am confident that my feet will be well taken care of. I am now more concerned about making the fundraising limit. Isn’t it strange how things shift?

Would you like to win your own pair of pink Injinji socks (like mine above) to try out? Simply answer one of these questions in the comments (required):

Visit Injinji and tell me which pair of socks on their website you would most want to try and why or Tell me about the worst blister you’ve ever had and how you dealt with it.

If you would like to earn extra entries:
1) Follow me @laurie_pooh on Twitter and send the following message:
I entered to win a pair of @Injinji toessocks from @laurie_pooh: http://tinyurl.com/WinInjinji
2) Subscribe to my blog in a reader.

U.S. and Canada only, please. The winner will be selected randomly from all valid entries on or around October 28. You must leave a comment letting me know your answer to one of the two questions above, as well as additional comments letting me know what else you have done to earn extra entries. Please also use your real first name and leave a valid way for me to contact you should you be selected as the winner. You will have 48 hours to respond to my e-mail before another winner is selected. Good Luck!

Thanks for visiting me from Bloggy Giveaways! Check out more fabulous giveaways on blogs around the blogosphere by following the link above.

Enter to win your choice of t-shirts from Save the Ta-Tas!

Last year Nikki and I walked in the Breast Cancer 3-Day, and this year we plan to participate in several local walks for the cure. I also am still supporting many of the charities who helped us raise money last year, Save the Ta-Tas being one of them.

My giveaway is for your choice of any size or color of the t-shirts on their website.

Entering is easy:

*Leave a comment telling me which t-shirt you’d select if you win for one entry. You can also include the link to the specific t-shirt from http://savethetatas.com
*Tweet about this contest to @laurie_pooh for five entries.
*Stumble this post for five more entries.
*Blog about this contest with a link to this post for ten entries.

A winner will be randomly selected on Sunday, February 1. This giveaway is limited to residents of the United States and Canada only. Please leave your real first name and a valid e-mail address so that I can contact you in the event you are the winner. If you do not answer the question (which t-shirt would you select if you win), or tell me what you did to earn extra entries (along with your Twitter user name, StumbleUpon user name, URL of Blog Post), your comment will be deleted. I want to avoid comments such as “give it to me,” or “I want it,” etc.

One of my very favorite times of the year is Bloggy Giveaways where thousands of bloggers get together and award their readers prizes by simply commenting on their contest post. I’ve won quite a few times, most recently a kick butt towel warmer that has certianly come in handy in the cold winter months. There are tons of prizes from giftcards to beautiful homemade jewelry and bags. There is truly something for everyone. Tomorrow is the official start, so be sure to drop back by and enter my contest. I’ll have a great breast cancer awareness gift for my winner.

Last month I hosted a giveaway for a 2008 Limited Edition Breast Cancer Awareness CHI here and at La Vie de Laurie. I received almost 300 entries, and lots of great comments. Thank you to everyone that came by and left a comment and donated to my Breast Cancer 3-Day walk.

The winner is: Melissa DeLuca!

She said:

I have naturally curly hair and nothing seems to get it straight. I’d love to win. Pink is my favorite color too!

She was contacted earlier this week and has provided me with her address for delivery. It is on it’s way via USPS Priority Mail, and will probably make it by the time we finish our 60 mile walk this weekend. Congratulations, Melissa!

The winner is… Emily Smith!

She said:

I love all the Lean Cuisines in the first tote!

She has been contacted via e-mail for her address and will be sent the multi-colored tote. Don’t forget, you can buy your own Lean Cuisine Breast Cancer Lunch Tote on their website for $9.95. $5 of every lunch tote goes to Susan G. Komen.

Thanks to everyone for participating and spreading the word. Come back soon to see our next giveaway! You still have time to enter our giveaway to win a 2008 Limited Edition CHI hair straightener and bag here.