June 2014 Meet-up Round-up!

It’s hard to believe that 2014 is halfway over! Here in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day® world, this means that we’re even closer to the start of the event season, and Komen 3-Day walkers and crew members are busy preparing with training walks, meet-ups and clinics. The 3-Day® will be here before we know it! Take a look at some of our local events from June.

Michigan

Members of two of Michigan’s largest teams, The BC Babes and the Hines Pink Pathers, joined forces to get to know each other a little better on a beautiful June training walk.

Twin Cities

Twin Cities walkers came out on June 28th to attend a Packing Workshop held at TC Running Co. in Eden Prairie. They learned some tips to make their 3-Day camping experience easy, comfortable and fun! New friendships were made, tenting partners were found and all enjoyed some delightful discounts off clothing and gear. They are ready to go!

Seattle

The Komen Puget Sound Race for the Cure took place on Sunday, June 1 at Seattle Center. There were over 7,000 participants this year, and 3-Day coaches Aubrey and Jon saw lots of 3-Day faces there. The weather held out and we had a beautiful event with lots of sunshine and plenty of friends.

Atlanta

Stone Mountain Park – the site of the Atlanta 3-Day Opening Ceremony – was the setting for a beautiful morning training walk. Coach Tara enjoyed some company with a great group of motivated ladies who walk there almost every weekend.

We discovered a new Walk & Talk path and some wonderful new walkers to join us. It was a very humid night, but we all made it and even enjoyed getting some training in on the hills.

Dallas/Fort Worth

Coach Gayla rocks her signature selfie at this Walk & Talk in Richardson.

Eight walkers showed up for a Get Prepped Clinic in Rockwell, hosted by our friends at New Balance.

Nothing could dampen the spirits of Dallas/Fort Worth 3-Day team Pink Soles in Motion, who trained right through the North Texas flooding rains on June 22^nd. On their walk, they met a young woman who was holding a rummage sale to raise money for her friend who was recently diagnosed. It was a poignant reminder of why they walk.

We had a great casual meet-up with new and veteran walkers at The Londoner in Frisco.

San Diego

Thirty-five wonderful walkers attended a Walk & Talk with Cliff’s Crew and friends in Fullerton.

San Diego 3-Day coach Kim hopped in on a training walk in Daley Ranch. As Kim put it, “Sometimes we just want some dirt under our feet!”

We had a great Walk & Talk in Encinitas – gorgeous day, 6 amazing miles and 15 fabulous people.

Bonus Meet-ups!

Chicagoland – As a special thank you for their dedication to the Susan G. Komen 3-Day, coaches Jennifer and Eileen hosted a Chicagoland 3-Day gathering on Thursday, June 5th in Park Ridge, IL. It was a night of fun, friendship and laughs. We had a wonderful time celebrating with our Chicagoland 3-Day community.

Tampa – Atlanta coach Tara ventured further south to the Sunshine State for a Walk & Talk with some Tampa Bay walkers, including members of Team 211. It was a morning walk along the Bayshore with 20 amazing women, and the morning included a beautiful sunrise, muffins, stingray sightings and a surprise birthday party for Team 211’s captain Sylvia—cake included, of course! Tara shared, “This team really is family, and I was so honored to be welcomed in and even invited back. They are working hard to keep the Tampa walkers engaged and excited to make their travels to other 3-Day cities.”

Looking to find a meet-up in your area? Check out the 3-Day calendar of events here.

Tips for Planning Your Own 3-Day Training Walk

All seven of the Susan G. Komen 3-Day® cities are now 24 weeks or less from their events, which means that walkers everywhere have jumped into their training schedules. Depending on where you live, there may be official Komen 3-Day training walks that you can attend (go to The3Day.org/trainingwalks to find one), but even so, chances are good that at some point, you’ll have to initiate some training walks on your own. Here are a few tips for planning a pleasant and successful training walk.

Map Your Route – The 3-Day® suggested training schedule recommends certain mileages, depending on how many weeks you have until your event. Taking a 3-mile stroll around your neighborhood is usually done pretty easily, but when you start to get up into the higher mileages, you’ll want to plan your route ahead of time. There are several websites that allow you to plot out a walking route using online maps – a few that I’ve used are MapMyWalk.com, RunKeeper.com and USA Track & Field. These sites are great because they will track the distance of the route you plan, so you never have to second guess whether or not you got all your miles in, and you can even browse routes that other users have already created. Most of these websites sync up with GPS-enabled mobile apps as well, so you can plan out a route in the comfort of your home, and it will be right there on your phone when you’re ready to hit the road.

Recruit Some Buddies – If you’ve registered to walk in the 3-Day with friends or family members, great! You have training partners at the ready. But often we hear from walkers who don’t have anyone to train with, and that requires a little bit of creative thinking to solve. For instance, say you have a 12-mile training walk to complete. It might be a tough sell to get one of your non-3-Day friends to go hoof that whole distance with you. But could you get 2 friends to each walk 6 miles with you? Set up your route so that the halfway point is back where you started, and let your friends “tag-team” in and out. Friend 1 will be back at her car and free to head home while Friend 2 is just meeting you, ready to attack the second half of the walk.

Motivate with Music – Have you ever been walking and heard a song with a tempo that matched your stride perfectly? I found a really cool website called Jog.fm which organizes thousands of songs by beats-per-minute, so you can find tunes that fit your pace. You could make a whole playlist of songs that will keep you moving at the speed you’re comfortable with. (Note: For safety reasons, the 3-Day recommends that you do not walk with headphones/earbuds, because they limit your awareness of your surroundings. However, since most mobile devices have built-in speakers these days, you can safely rock your walk with tunes to keep you moving.)

Pack for the Trek – We recommend that 3-Dayers wear a pack of some kind when walking; waist packs that hold one or two water bottles and hydration backpacks are the most popular styles. Training walks are an excellent time to get used to how your pack feels, so you’re not wearing it for the first time on the 3-Day. For your training walks, you’ll want to carry with you whatever you might need: bottles of water and/or sports drink, snacks, sunscreen and lip balm, foot care items, extra socks, your phone, ID and some money. I like to plan stopping points into my longer training walks (Starbucks, anyone?), but in the event that I’m walking someplace without a lot of on-route stopping options, it’s good to know that I have one I need right there on my fanny.

Know Your Limits – Ideally, your 3-Day training will work up gradually, and your body will respond positively to the increase in miles with no issues. But we all know that things happen. On the 3-Day, you’ll have sweep vans available to pick you up if you need to quit, but when you go out for longer training walks and you find you’re just not ready for the distance you’ve planned, have an exit strategy. Make sure friends or family members know where you are and will be willing to pick you up if necessary, or be prepared with the number of a cab company (or Uber/Lyft services, if you have those in your area), just in case.

Remember that your Participant Center has lots of training resources, and your 3-Day coaches are always there if you have questions.

Dr. Sheri’s Warm Weather Training Tips for the 3-Day

The 3-Day blog is excited to welcome back Dr. Sheri Prentiss, the National Spokesperson for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day^®.Dr. Sheri is a physician, as well as a breast cancer survivor and a 3-Day walker herself. She joins us today to share some warm weather training tips to keep you in tip-top shape along your training route as you prepare for an amazing 60 miles.

As I continue my training efforts for the upcoming Komen 3-Day season, I personally am reconnecting with nature, body and mind. I’m invigorated by the sights, sounds and scents of summer and am grateful for life, health and a chance to win what I feel may be the biggest fight ever fought – the fight to end breast cancer.

Training for your 3-Day event means you, too, will be spending more time outdoors! Now is a great time to review a few tips to help keep you safe as you train and soak up this summertime weather.

Protect your skin. Wear a high SPF sunscreen and don’t forget the back of your neck, the tip of your ears and your hands. It’s always a good idea to wear a hat to protect your scalp from the sun, too. Also, look for a route that offers both sunlight and shade. Keep as cool as you can during your training walks by always choosing to walk on the shady side of the street where you have a choice. But use caution, as going from shade into sun you may not see road hazards as well.
Wear light-colored and lightweight clothing that is made from moisture-wicking fabric; this keeps moisture away from the skin and dries quickly. This also includes moisture-wicking socks to help prevent blisters.
Prior to going outdoors to begin your fitness regimen, pay attention to the weather forecast and heat alerts. Take extra precaution and check the weather conditions so you can be best prepared for rain, heat or humidity
Up your intake of water. If you’re walking, you need more than the standard eight ounces of water eight times a day. Take a reusable water bottle with you on your walk. Alternate drinking salt-replenishing sports drinks and water. Also be sure to bring along salty snacks for those longer training walks.
Once you are started and you can feel the temperature rising, pay attention to your heart rate. Your heart rate will naturally rise one beat per minute for each degree above 77F, so while you may not be going faster, your body is already working harder and producing more internal heat so it will have trouble dispersing. Hot weather is no time to set a pace record. Slow down to a pace that doesn’t leave you purple in the face!
Don’t keep walking once you are nauseated, dizzy, feeling faint, experiencing gray-outs, headache and/or muscle cramps. Seek shade, sports drink, and call for help.