13.1

I made it to the halfway point. Yay!

I have a ton of photos but can't seem to post them to the blog from my phone so they'll come later.

The route so far has been scenic for sure, going up the west side of NYC through Riverside Park, then across 72nd street to 9th Avenue and down 9th onto Bleeker, through Chelsea, the meat packing district, soho and then across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Lunch is just past the bridge and that's where I am now. Things are going slower than I expected - big bottlenecks of people at the start and crossing the bridge definitely slow things down!

I feel ok and hope the remaining 13.1 for today goes smoothly!

Thanks for all of the texts and FB posts, I truly appreciate the encouragement and support!!

Logistics & FAQ

As the walk quickly approaches I've had a lot of questions from friends and family about logistics and am happy to answer, as talking logistics is (dorky) one of my favorite things! 

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. I learned last time that's not especially helpful, since you won't have the full context of the route, but... the offer is there. 

You can also text me for updates, or check out social media. I'm sure I'll be posting to FB and instagram as I go. Last year I did a blog post at the half way point and then end and I plan to do that again as well. 

What is the route?

They don't tell us the specific route, there is a general map but it is missing lots of detail. We begin and end at West 57th & 12 Street at Hudson River's Park Pier 97. On day one we walk up the west side, along the Hudson up past Columbia University and into Upper Manhattan. Then we head back down, still on the West Side, through mid-town and into Lower Manhattan where we cross the Brooklyn Bridge into Brooklyn and then return on the Manhattan Bridge. From there it's up through the East Side of the city to Randall's Island, in the East River, which is where Base Camp 39 is. We start from Randall's Island on Day two and circuitously make our way back to Pier 97. Here's the link with the map if you 'd like to check it out. 

Are you doing this alone?

I am. My friend who walked it with me last year thinks I'm crazy to be doing it again. I agree. I do have a wonderful friend and former coworker Nicolette who is traveling to New York with me. She'll meet me at a few of the rest stops and walk along with me a bit, as the course is all open and on public sidewalks. She'll also be at the finish line on Sunday. I know I'll have a lot of support and cheers from far away, but it's SO nice to have someone who is able to be present!

Do you have to carry your own food? Do you take breaks?

As I learned last year, you are definitely well fed during this event. There are rest stops every 2-3 miles, some with just water and others with snacks. They have these great graham cracker pb&j sandwich things they hand out that are SO addictive. Lunch is set up at the half way point on day one and is a sandwich, fruit, chips, cookie bagged lunch. In terms of breaks, last time we did 30 min for lunch and no more than 10 min at any of the other rest stops. That will likely be the plan I try and follow again this time. 

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

I looked back at my time stamped photos from last year and we finished at 5:30. I'm not sure if I'll be faster or slower since I won't be walking the whole thing with a friend. I do think the fact that NYC isn't hilly will increase my pace some. Those crazy DC hills, especially by Sibley Hospital, certainly slowed me down last year!

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

Based on last year I'm expecting to cross the finish line on Sunday between 12:30 and 1. 

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. I'll be staying at a hotel and taking a shuttle bus back and forth between there and Base Camp on Saturday evening/Sunday morning. 

Will you get to do anything fun in NYC? 

Well, we get into the city on Friday mid-day so I'll have a bit of time to be a tourist, and we are definitely planning for a yummy meal on Friday night. Nicolette leaves on Sunday late afternoon and I'm staying until Monday as I didn't think my muscles would like it very much if I sat on a train for 3 hours shortly after finishing the walk. If, and it's a very very big if, I'm feeling up to it I plan to get last minute tickets to a show Sunday night. It's hard to imagine spending 3 nights in NYC and not seeing a show, but.... sleep and not moving may win out. 

Can you believe you've raised so much money?

No, I am pretty blown away. When I set my stretch goal of $3600 it seemed possible, but still like a stretch. So to have met and exceeded that a few weeks out from the event, and now to be closing in on $4,000 raised. Wow. I'm thrilled. 

And, eager to get to see how much more I can raise between now and Sunday. So, if you haven't given yet, now's your chance... Stacy's Donation Page

Will you do this event again next year?

No. Absolutely not. I am done! I love the cause and raising funds for it, but committing to that much walking... nope. Not happening. Ever again. And I'd really like everyone reading this to hold me to that this time!!

But, you could do it in Chicago! Or Boston! or Santa Barbara! 

Nope. No. Not Happening.


Thanks again for all the love and support!

One Week!

If all goes as planned one week from now I'll be somewhere around mile 14 on the Avon Walk at this point.

I am definitely ready for it to be here, and to conquer it a second time. As of now the weather forecast is looking great, mid 60s, sunny the first day, partly cloudy the second.

And my fundraising has been beyond great. Earlier this week I hit my stretch goal of $3600 and more donations keep coming in. Now $4,000 seems possible, maybe even more.

I've been thinking a lot about where the money goes and how important it is. The Avon Foundation gives significant amounts to research but also to groups who are supporting those currently battling breast cancer. I know I've said it before, but I truly appreciate all of the donations that have come in and am so thankful I've been able to raise a significant amount for such a worthy cause.

I've been getting a lot of logistics questions in the past few days and I'll do another post with logistics answers later in the week so if you have any questions about the event send them my way and I'll include the answers in my post.

7 days to go!

Every Donation Makes a Difference

I'm lucky enough to be "Aunt" Stacy to a bunch of terrific kiddos, the oldest of them being eight year old Annabelle. In her young life she's already had countless fundraisers for school and activities she's apart of and often requests support for those projects.

Last year her grandmother decided to turn the tables and request a donation from Annabelle for a 5k she was participating in. The kiddo rose to the challenge and did extra chores to raise money and donate to her grandmother's walk. I decided to follow in her wise Oma's footsteps and asked Belle for a donation for the Avon Walk as well and when I saw her last weekend she had something to give me.

I've been thankful for and so appreciative of every donation I've received, but I do believe this $3.90 is my favorite.

With the walk just under 2 weeks away I'm $101.60 away from my truly ambitious goal of $3600. I am confident I'll reach that number, and just may exceed it, thanks to your continued generosity and support!

Remembering the Why

In the spring, after I had already made the commitment to do the Avon Walk to End Breast Cancer a second time one of my teammates at work was diagnosed with breast cancer. She's the second person in my office currently battling the disease, and among double digits of women in my life to be faced with it. 

Shortly after she started treatment my whole team got these bracelets, and got one for her. We all wear them often and as of a few weeks ago I've been making sure to wear it on my training walks as well. 

It's been helpful for me to look down and see the visual reminder of why I'm putting in all of this effort and why you, my generous friends, family and colleagues are donating money to the cause. 

This weekend I'm headed to the mountains and will be taking a break from the structured training schedule, but I'm still feeling so confident that I'll be ready to walk 39 miles on October 15 & 16, with all of the encouragement and support from wonderful people near and far and the reminder on my wrist the whole time of my reason why. 

Pushing On!

Yesterday's plan was to walk 17 miles. But somewhere around mile 14 I got the idea that I should do more and ended up wrapping up the day with 19.

Waking along Rock Creek Parkway

There's something about having to cross one of the bridges into DC that makes the walk mentally more challenging, especially at the end, so I decided to eliminate them from the route altogether this week.

I drove in to the city and parked in East Potomac Park and then headed down around Hains Point, along the Tidal Basin and into Rock Creek Park. I've driven Rock Creek Parkway countless times, but had never been through on foot before. It's a really cool space, and I'm sure the trails that aren't along the busy roadway are even nicer. When I exited the park, along the VERY steep hill onto Calvert Street by Woodley Park I was 7 miles in to my route.

The Ecuadorian Embassy at my
half way point... well, what I
thought was my halfway point.

I stayed along Calvert into Adam's Morgan and then over to Meridian Hill Park. This was another area of the city I hadn't spent time in before and it was nice to walk through. There were hundreds of people doing a work out class in Meridian Hill Park which was also cool to see. From there I headed east on W to 14th Street and then down into Logan Circle, where I shifted to Rhode Island Avenue and walked through Shaw, another DC neighborhood that is new to me. Once I reached 7th I headed south, back to Massachusetts and onto a route pretty similar to last week's.

I went a few blocks further into Capitol Hill this time, and ended up walking past Eastern Market where I did a bit of browsing and came up with a few ideas for holiday presents as I walked by the artisans set up there. Yay for multitasking!

I stopped in the Capitol Hill Starbucks for a snack and to refill my water and ended up taking a decent break and reading a chapter of a book on my phone. Once I snapped out of reading mode and realized I needed to keep moving was when the idea of making the walk even longer came to me.

Last year I followed a 16 week training plan and that had two weeks between the two longest (20 & 22 miles) walks. The 12 week training plan doesn't do that, and has me walking 20 miles next week and 22 the weekend after. I decided if I could push on and do 19 or 20 this week then I could make next week a short walk and give myself a bit of a break. The idea of skipping a crazy long walk next weekend was incredibly appealing, so I did some quick rerouting and decided I could do 19 miles.

Walking by Jefferson during the last LONG mile

Back down Pennsylvania, past the White House and down 17th to Constitution and then on to my bestie Lincoln who I seem to walk by on a very regular basis these days. From there it was just over a mile back along the Tidal Basin to my car.

And yet again, the last mile was ROUGH. I really do think it's completely mental. I'm moving along at a decent pace, with sore feet but not terribly so and then I realize I only have a mile to go and my feet hurt SO much. And my pace slows down. And it's hard. Really hard.

But then I'm done! And back to my air conditioned car where I can sit and not walk.

Once I got home I rested for a few hours, but then actually made it back out later in the evening to visit some friends at their house and then get some errands done at Target. I was happily amazed that I was mobile and not really in pain last night!

Today's plan called for 9 miles, but improptu free Redskins/Cowboys tickets called for a revision! I got up this morning and did a short, 2ish mile walk just to make sure I really could keep walking. My FitBit unfortunately was left behind so I didn't capture how much walking I did today at the game but between the parking lot and the long hike to the upper level I definitely feel like I got a good bit of walking. And again, I feel good. Not even sore!

I am definitely so much more confident about this event now. And I'm really happy it's 2 weeks before I had to attempt another super long training walk!

Nice Day for a Long Walk

This weekend I was supposed to do 15 miles yesterday and eight today. Yesterday I was in Richmond for an Alumni Board meeting and it was NOT a nice day for a a long walk.

I decided early in the week  after seeing the forecast the 15 miles was happening on Sunday and this is the route I ended up settling on:

This time I decided to take the bus to Crystal City and then join the Mt. Vernon Trail there. This was a good way to eliminate some of the boring trail walking! I took the trail to Memorial Bridge and then crossed into DC and basically played tourist. I went past the Lincoln Memorial (twice today!), down Constitution to the White House, over through Chinatown and then down Massachusetts Ave past Union Station and into the Capitol Hill neighborhood. From there I came down Pennsylvania, to Independence and over to L'Enfant Plaza.

The weather was SO nice, with a breeze that made it difficult to keep a hat on, but felt great. And while the sun was out it never really felt too hot as I was making my way around the city.


For the first 9 miles I kept myself entertained by tracking what I was listening to starting when I started walking and taking a screen shot of the song playing at each mile mark. Here's my diverse collage of songs:

I was actually feeling great, making good time with very few breaks and with no pain (thanks Advil!) when I reached L'Enfant Plaza, about 9 1/2 miles into my 15 mile walk. But I was still SO happy to have company meet me there to finish the walk! Last night I was pleasantly surprised to get an offer from Mike to join me for the second half. I didn't make him do quite that much, but definitely appreciated the offer as I knew the last few miles were going to drag for me and company would make them so much more tolerable!

Mike and I set out from L'Enfant Plaza over the Case Memorial Bridge (395 by the 12th Street Exit/over the SW Waterfront) and into East Potomac Park. We went along Ohio Drive back towards the Tidal Basin and walked along the water down towards the MLK Memorial and then made my second trip of the day to Lincoln and then down along the reflecting pool to the WWII Memorial. I took a break in the shade on a bench for a few minutes while Mike took in the Memorial, then we continued on, up past the Washington Monument and down Madison Drive along the National Mall.

Still smiling, while the wind whips my hair around, at mile 13 1/2. 

 At this point I was definitely starting to move slower and feeling the effects of the Advil wearing off. We walked to 4th street and then followed it over to Independence and started making our way back to the car. My knee was starting to hurt at that point and my feet were definitely making their presence known. I definitely believe that there's a mental element to the struggle at the end too. Just knowing there's only a few blocks to go tends to make them feel SO much longer.

In the end we returned to L'Enfant at 2:15, exactly 2 hours after Mike met me there and 5 hours and 45 minutes after I set out for my walk. I'm definitely happy with my pace, which was clocking at just under a 20 min mile for the most part, and the limited number of breaks I took (4 total, 2 around 10 minutes, 1 a lot shorter and 1 longer).

And I feel pretty good now, a few hours later. I'm a little hobbly, and my feet hurt a bit, but, I'm about to head out and run some errands and the fact that I can do that feels great!

Last weekend I was feeling pretty apprehensive about the Avon Walk and if I was going to be able to do it again. But today, my confidence is back and so is my optimism!