Tracking our Trek - FAQ

As the walk quickly approaches I've had a lot of questions from friends and family about tracking our progress, cheering stations and just how long it will take.

Here's a bit of an FAQ to help provide those answers:

Does the Avon Walk offer tracking like most marathons do these days?

Nope. But, if you have an iPhone and you really want to be able to see how I'm doing I'll turn on the "share my location" service with you for the weekend so you can follow my progress.

What is the route?

They don't tell us the specific route, there is a general map but it is missing lots of detail. But basically, we begin near the Washington Monument and make our way to Meadowbrook Park in Chevy Chase, MD, but in a pretty circuitous fashion to cover 26 miles. On Sunday we walk from Meadow Brook Park back to the Washington Monument, but it a more direct route.

Are there places where people can come out to cheer the walkers on?

Absolutely. Supporters are welcome to be at opening ceremony, "Base Camp 39" where we'll end on Saturday evening and at the finish line on Sunday. Opening ceremony and the finish line on Sunday are next to the Washington Monument. In addition, there are lots of "Cheering Stations"along the way.

• Cheering Station Locations

It gives general time estimates for "peak viewing times" at each station. 

But how do I know when you'll be walking by a cheering station?

Well, if you are an iPhone user you can ask to track me. Or, just use the general formula that we'll be walking 3 miles an hour, and stopping for roughly 10 minutes to take a break every 6 or so miles. Plus probably about 30 minutes for lunch at mile 13.1.

The first cheering station is near Union Station and is 6.5 miles in to the walk. I expect we'll be going by there around 9:15.

We'll probably hit the Starbucks in Tenleytown (mile 18.4) around 2ish. I will probably be making that my own rest stop and getting a yummy drink from said Starbucks.

What time do you think you'll finish the 26.2 miles and reach Base Camp 39?

I'm guessing Saturday will take us about 10 hours, putting us at Base Camp by 5 pm.

What about on Sunday, when will you cross the finish line?

Accounting for perhaps a slower pace on Sunday, I expect we'll cross the finish line between noon and 12:30.

Are you camping?

Nope. I don't camp under other circumstances so I'm certainly not going to walk 26 miles and then sleep on the ground. And then get up and walk 13 miles. Nope, nope, nope. We will be staying at the event hotel and taking a shuttle bus back and forth between Base Camp and the hotel on Saturday evening/Sunday morning.

Please tell me you are taking Monday off work. 

Yes, I am.

One week to go!

It's hard to believe the Avon Walk is just one week away!

While training has been winding down, it seems like the past seven days have brought a lot of activity related to the walk. I've received my packet with my wrist band and other logistic details, as well as lots of last minute encouraging and informative emails from the Walk coordinators. 

Last Friday I was at Randolph-Macon for an Alumni Board meeting and had two great things happen related to the Walk. First, I found out one of my fellow board members is going to be participating in her first Avon Walk as well! It will be nice to have another familiar face out there for the walk and someone else to chat with as we cover miles and miles. 

The second thing that happened was an unexpected donation to my fundraising. When I got to campus I stopped in the college bookstore to visit Barclay. Barclay's official title is bookstore manager, but unofficially she's an institution on that campus and a must visit person for students and alumni alike. When I got to her office another alum was there, a woman who had graduated about 15 years before me and who I was just introduced to by first name, Kim. Barclay told Kim about how I had been training and fundraising for the Avon Walk and Kim opened her wallet and handed me a $100 donation! 

That example of generosity got my week going, but was far from the only donation I received. In the past seven days I've raised an additional $573, blowing my $2500 goal out of the water and making $3,000 seem possible. Going into this I thought raising the required $1800 would be manageable, but I had no expectation that I'd be able to raise so much more than that. I am so happy to have so many supportive people in my life, willing to provide encouragement to me and funds to help end breast cancer. 

At this point the long range weather forecast is looking fantastic and I'm sure the next week will fly by!

Just how far is 26 miles?

When the walks started getting longer and I started mapping out routes it was pretty surprising how far 26 miles really is. It really hit me when I discovered that places that take me 20 minutes to drive to, without crazy traffic, are only 5 or 6 miles away.

I never doubted that marathon routes are long, but they are usually in a loop so that makes them seem shorter when you are looking at it on a map. So to provide a bit of perspective, I offer up the following points of reference for our supporters.

26 miles (give or take a few tenths here and there) is...

• The distance from the house where I grew up in Finksburg, MD to the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, via Greenspring Avenue.
• From Dewey Beach, DE to the Inlet in Ocean City, MD
• From the National Mall in DC to Potomac Mills in Woodbridge, VA
• From Randolph-Macon College in Ashland to Chesterfield Town Center in Midlothian
• For my colleagues in Kansas, it's from the Overland Park office to the Kansas City Airport
• For Mary's JMU friends, it's from the JMU campus to Staunton Mall

And that's just what we'll do on day one. 

Training Tools

Long before Mary and I started training for the Avon Walk our friends Sarah and Brandon started using products from the company AdvoCare, a health and wellness company with a wide array of fitness and weight loss products. They quickly turned from just being happy consumers of the products to part-time sales people.

Mary tried AdvoCare first, and while I was slower to come along, I gave their products a shot as well and come training time I actually placed a second order.

I'm a bit of a skeptic, but when I'm out there walking and walking and walking and walking, I decided it was worth a shot to see if there were products that could help me recover better and give me more energy. And while I haven't done a scientific study, I can say for my long walks when I've used AdvoCare products I have felt better during and after than on the ones when I didn't.

Products We Use: 

Spark: A sugar-free energy drink with lots of vitamins and minerals. Mary drinks this every morning instead of coffee. We both drank it on Saturday, when we did our 22 mile walk. Mary had it before the walk and again around mile 17 and I had it at mile 17 as well. Shortly after we drank the Spark we were walking faster than we had been all day. I even texted Sarah and a few other friends to tell them that. It wasn't until much later that I thought about the fact that Spark probably had something to do with our sudden burst of speed.

Catalyst: An amino acid dietary supplement that repairs and protects muscle and help with strength and endurance. Mary and I have both been taking this regularly during training and feel like they help reduce the soreness felt the day after a long walk.

Meal Replacement Shakes:   These aren't part of  our daily routines, but Mary and I both drink the AdvoCare Meal Replacement shakes, and for me they've been helpful during training. On several occasions when I've been on a long walk I've taken one along as something to "eat" during the day. You just mix it with water and it's a pretty yummy shake, with lots of protein, fiber, calcium, etc.

Helping The Cause

While both Mary and I have gotten a boost in our training through AdvoCare products, Sarah and Brandon recently offered a boost to our fundraising as well! If you are interested in trying AdvoCare and order through their site between now and May 1, they will donate all of their proceeds to our fundraising efforts.

You can find out more about the products at their website: www.AdvoCareCollins.com and contact them with questions via email address at livebetter@advocarecollins,com. or call Sarah at 804-357-7245. If you decide to place an order just be sure to say you were referred by us and reference the Avon Walk.

We Can Do It

Ready to begin our 22 mile training walk on the
Boardwalk in Bethany Beach

Yesterday Mary and I walked 22 miles. This morning we got up and could still walk.

I think those two things combined finally leave us with the confidence to believe we really can complete the Avon 39.

We did our long walk at the beach, starting in Bethany Beach, DE and making our way south into Ocean City.

Thankfully my mom was around to chauffeur us to a good starting point, and walk with us for our first few miles, pick us up at the end of the 22 miles and buy us yummy Mexican take out for dinner.

Today we were both sore, but not in pain and started our day walking the length of the Rehoboth boardwalk before heading home.

We both know the Avon 39 will be tough, but so are we!

Clockwise from top left: Our  boring view for the first several miles of Coastal
Highway through Delaware; Arriving in Fenwick Island and a return to
civilization; Entering Maryland - 7.2 miles in to the walk; at the Inlet in Ocean City,
about 17 miles in. 

22 miles

Today Mary and I will walk 22 miles in our longest training walk yet.

We are at the beach and will be walking from Bethany to the inlet in Ocean City and then back up to 83rd street.

Insanity.

Wish us luck! And keep supporting our insanity with donations!

Walking, Walking, Walking

Last weekend Mary and I set out in Richmond for a 20 mile walk.

Mary & I all smiles at mile 13.5. Of course, the smiles were
because we just had a  yummy break at Sugar Shack. 

Let's let that sink in a moment.

20 miles.

It was cold (feels like temp of 25-35 degrees) and long, but we survived.

We were both sore, achey and pretty much miserable afterwards, but we survived.

The next day I was supposed to do five miles, but that wasn't really happening. I was feeling much more pain than sore and made it two miles, with quite a limp, before realizing that anything more wasn't a good idea.

Luckily by Tuesday I was feeling better and got my 4 mile walks in both Tuesday and Thursday.

Today I ended up joining a group walk, for the 10 miles my training schedule called for.

Yup, 10 miles. A nice, easy day.

Tomorrow is another 10 miles and then next week is the longest training walk on the schedule - 22 miles.

The Avon Walk is less than a month away now, and happily, I'm feeling prepared.