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Wednesday, March 9, 2011

See Joan Run! Walk! Stumble! - An Avon Walk for Breast Cancer Special Edition

Today I am introducing a new monthly feature called See Joan Run! Walk! Stumble!  This special column will be a running (hah!) account of my uh, "training regimen" as I prepare for the 26 mile Avon Walk for Breast Cancer which will take place on October 15 and 16th throughout the streets of NYC.

In the interest of full disclosure, let me explain that this is not a walk for breast cancer.  It's a walk against breast cancer, so you can feel very comfortable reading about and supporting my endeavors, safe in the knowledge that I am against cancer, not in favor of it.  And, in the interest of further disclosure, I have a personal stake in this - I am an 18 year breast cancer survivor, and I would conservatively estimate that dozens of my friends and family have also battled "the beast."

But let's get back to the funnies!  I have "done" this walk before and while I was all kinds of messed up at the end of it, I still have eight months to get myself in shape to a) walk 13 miles on the first day, b) sleep badly that night (because I'll be obsessing over how much the hotel room costs) and 3) get up and do it all over again the second day.  And I'm going to take you on the journey to the finish, if you'd like to come along (personally, I wouldn't come along, but that's because I'm bad company, a miserable tipper and whine a lot).

Here's a photo of me in the 2008 Avon Walk for Breast Cancer:



So, yesterday was the official start of my "training regimen." I changed out of my "work outfit" (jeans and a sweatshirt) into my "work-out outfit" (jeans and a sweatshirt).  By then I was so exhausted I wanted to call it a day.  But since I have a goal to achieve, I pressed on through the pain and "felt the burn."  (Never mind that the pain and the burn occurred on my way down to the basement treadmill, when I stumbled over the cat and fell into a simmering pot of chili ).

I will not complain. I will walk until my knees hurt.  I will walk until the blisters on my flat feet split open and start oozing Diet Coke.  I will walk until the next corner, and the next, where I am bound to find a Starbucks and a wireless connection - the only "carbo loading" I need before a race.


Until next month's update, if you'd like to read my story and perhaps make a contribution to the cause (not for the cause, but against it), or just learn a bit more about breast cancer or the Avon Walk, please click through to my personal page.  I promise I won't hit you up again for another month.

5 comments:

  1. Kudos to you! Walking 26 miles? Amazing.

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  2. You reminded me that I need to get in training for this year's ACS Relay For Life!

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  3. Congrats for beating the beast and walking the walk!

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  4. Joan Oliver EmmerMarch 10, 2011 9:03 AM

    You know, it's tiring to walk 13 miles on two consecutive days but not impossible. Thanks for your encouragement!

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  5. Congratulations for beating breast cancer...and congrats ahead of time, for that long-ass walk you're planning. I will be putting up a donation for this great cause.
    Terri

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