Hi Everyone! We would like to thank Karen and Leah for meeting us last Saturday at Luke’s Locker for our first training walk! It is so much easier to get motivated when there is a group of people to talk to and enjoy the miles with. It was a pleasure to meet you two and we hope we will see you again soon.

Nikki and I will be attending the Dallas Training Kick-Off Event bright and early on Saturday morning at New Balance. We are hoping to be among the first 100 there because those people will get a goodie bag. I love free stuff, but I am so not a morning person.  Think we can make it by 8:30 AM?  Here’s hoping!

We also want to plan a clinic and training walk with Patton, the Luke’s Locker manager, within the next few weeks. He is so awesome and supportive, and we would love to introduce him to other walkers so that they can feel his contageous and upbeat personality. He is truly awesome. As soon as we nail down the details, we’ll post the official walk here and on the message boards. Happy Walking!

Hi 3-Day Walkers! If you are local to the Frisco/McKinney/Plano area, I hope you will join me for our first official training walk of the season. I was contacted by one of the the 3-Day Field Coordinators and asked to be the official training walk leader for one of the outfitters– Luke’s Locker. I will be responsible for hosting two training walks per month to and from their Plano Location near the Shops at Legacy.Nikki and stopped by on Sunday and met one of the managers and I left him my business card. Our first walk will be next Saturday at 11:30 AM. We will meet, sign wavers and stretch before walking about 5K around the area. If you are local and are able to make it, please go to the Frisco/Plano (Shops at Legacy) Training Walk page to RSVP. Hope to see you there!

Frisco/Plano (Shops at Legacy) Training Walk
This will be approximately a 3-mile walk. There are sidewalks most of the way, but you may have to walk on grass and cross streets a few times. We are walking around the outskirts of the Shops at Legacy, so there are bathroom break opportunities along the way if needed. This is a loop, so you can do more miles if you would like. We will meet outside of Luke’s Locker at 11:30 am. We will stretch, sign waivers, and start walking at approximately 11:45 am. Please be sure to bring a snack, water and sports drink.

Walkers receive 10% off their purchase at Luke’s Locker. The store has also offered to provide water and sports drink for all participants. We will also have special goodie bags.

On Sunday Nikki and I walked a little over 2 miles near the Shops at Legacy. It’s a nice area, but it was hot! I bet it is going to be even hotter on June 7 which is the North Texas Race for the Cure. That event will also take place in the same neighborhood. I might sign up and do it by myself since Nikki will be out of town… unless anyone wants to join me?

We walked by the local Cold Stone Franchise, which sounded so good. They were doing some pretty good business too. We also decided we will return next weekend and pass out our business cards. We are in the process of collecting donations and items for our raffle/auction that will take place at one of our events this summer/fall. We already got a wonderful basket from Save the TaTas, and would love some gift cards or merchandise to local stores. We are also going to be offering corporate sponsorships. We will wear your company’s name on our shirt during our training and the 3-Day in November. If you are interested or know someone that might be, please contact me. My information is in the sidebar.

Is anyone else wondering how we can possibly walk 60 miles in three days?  I ponder this on the way to the office (it’s a 14.6 mile drive from Plano to Addison) every day.  I think to myself, “How can we possibly walk this and then some, three days in a row?”  Our “Walker’s Handbook” advises us not to start training until we are 24 weeks from the event, which means we can officially get started at the end of May.  It’s April already!  So, with all this major training just around the corner, it’s time to get moving a little…  Laurie and I decided to clock the mileage at a Plano area Park. 

We have actually walked these trails before, but we wanted to be sure about the distance we were travelling.  Once formal training begins, we’ll need to stick to a schedule, with predetermined mileage for each walk at a 15 minute per mile pace.  Thanks to the technological wonders of Laurie’s footwear, we were able to determine that we had walked 4.5 miles from start to finish in about an hour an a half.  That’s with some stops to enjoy the day of course!  The weather was great, and the scenery was nice too.  There are several routes to choose from, including some that have great bridges likes this one:

The Monarch butterflies are migrating now, so we got to see lots of them along the way.  Unfortunately, none would pose for a picture.  All in all, it was a great work out, and it proved to be challenging, but definitely possible.  We’ll keep working our way up to farther distances at a faster pace.

Since this walk was such a success, Laurie is planning another one for next weekend at another local park.  This time, we plan to invite other walkers and we’re increasing our distance a bit.  Stay tuned for details!

I discovered some cool trails in my neighborhood. They are not completed yet, but it appears they are getting geared up to have a little workout trail with different stations. There are a bunch of little signs up with different activities, such as jumping jacks, stretches, pull ups etc. There is also a pulse station and benches throughout the trail.

I think it is a little under a mile. I walked it, and then went back and around the new street that is being built behind us. I think it will be nice when they finish, and I am glad it is there. I was gone a little under an hour and logged about 2 1/2 miles, so that’s not too bad.

Nikki and I took our first (of many) training walks yesterday. We started at 4 PM around the trails in her neighborhood and returned 5:15 PM or later. Her boyfriend, Craig, thinks it’s 3-4 miles. That’s the recommended amount that the 3-Day says you should start out with, so I’m happy with our preliminary walk. I was sweaty at the end, and my back hurt, so I think we did good.

Next time I will have to remember to wear my Nike + shoes so that I can track our walk with my iPod. Sadly those shoes are not as comfy as my New Balance ones that I work out in everyday. I also ordered a new pair of NB online, but I’m not quite sure how they are going to be when walking large distances. They seem a little bit thinner than my trusty “old” pair. I am sure that we will go through quite a few pairs this year getting ready. You may have also noticed we posted some pictures. We did a few self-portraits on the trail. Aren’t we cute? I am sure that we will be taking lots more photos leading up to November.

I also volunteered to lead training walks in my community. Those official walks begin in May I believe. There is also an official kick-off walk at the New Balance store in Dallas. We will probably be participating in that as well. If anyone is interested in joining us for some non-official walks before then, please contact one of us. Our e-mail addresses are in the sidebar. Happy Training everyone!