Tag Archives: meet the coaches

Meet Your New England 3-Day Coaches

Coaches Tisho, Meredith and Sharyn

We’re back from the Labor Day weekend with a burst of excitement…because we’re heading to the East Coast for the New England 3-Day, which starts tomorrow! We have an amazing route planned for 3 days of fun and family, and no one is more excited to welcome you to the Pink Bubble than your New England 3-Day Coaches! If you haven’t met them yet, you soon will. But before we all pack our bags, we wanted to introduce you to the team who has been preparing for this weekend for more than a year.

Get ready to meet Coaches Tisho, Sharyn and Gina, along with our Event Production Manager Meredith!

Meredith, who created our amazing route, “is dedicated to her job and her responsibilities like no one else” Coach Sharyn knows, because they used to volunteer together at Get Started Meetings.

That may be because Coach Sharyn has been a long-time 3-Day advocate and inspiration. She is “passionate about this cause and truly invested in the spirit of the 3-Day,” according to Coach Gina. Coach Sharyn is a newer addition to the team, but Coach Gina loves how Sharyn “ensures our walkers know her personally and enjoy every step of the 3-Day.”

Gina knows just how much the personal touch can make a difference. As a breast cancer survivor, she is the epitome of dedication, and Coach Tisho says she also “has this amazing strength and resiliency that you don’t immediately expect from that sweet smile.” Coach Gina works tirelessly with our Crew and volunteers to bring all kinds of spirit to our new 3-Day location.

Philly walkers will know full well how Coach Tisho knows her job inside and out. She helps walkers, and her fellow coaches like Sharyn, to “answer the tough questions and is always perfectly professional in her responses.” Plus, she “gives her all (and then some!) to make sure our walkers are supported, loved and successful in their 3-Day journey,” according to Coach Gina.

Coach Gina (left)

You could not ask for a more dedicated and excited group of women to support you during your 60-mile weekend. And what a weekend it will be! There is so much to look forward to on the New England 3-Day route, and the coaches have their favorite spots:

  • Seeing every part of the city of Boston. From heading north to Bunker Hill, west to Cambridge & Newton, south to Jamaica Plain and east towards Castle Island! We will take you through the whole community!
  • The Cambridge Graffiti Wall is the only place in the greater Boston area where graffiti artists can paint without fear of being arrested. Not only is the art interesting but the alley itself with its beautifully colored roof is just visually stunning.
  • The Boston Public Gardens with all the natural beauty and the Swan Boats.
  • The historic sites in the Charlestown community.
  • The Seaport District. We get to walk along waterfront for parts of all three days!
  • The Lawn on D, where our Finish Line Festival takes place, is a super cool venue that just invites celebration and fun!

You can also look forward to experiencing our hotel camp, and new camp programs. Coach Tisho can’t wait for some of her past Philadelphia walkers to be a part of the hotel experience again. She recommends really relishing in all the amenities that our host hotels have to offer.

In addition to that, all of your coaches really want everyone to take their time and enjoy the whole 3-Day weekend. When we asked them to share advice for participants, they all said almost the same thing:

  • “Don’t just rush through your day and the task” ahead, whether that’s walking, setting up a pit stop, handing out legacy pins in camp or victory shirts at the Finish Line Festival. These are three days you will never get back and they are magical. Take time to really look around at all that is happening and the incredible impact we are making.” – Coach Tisho
  • “Savor the moments, every step, each interaction, because as the saying goes, ‘It’s the little moments that make life big.’” – Coach Gina
  • “Don’t hurry through the day. Enjoy the people you meet along the way. Ask questions of the solo walkers you find yourself beside and ask them their story and always, always approach a stranger with a smile!” – Coach Sharyn

Thanks to your coaches, you’ll be able to enjoy and celebrate our return to New England with an amazing weekend of 3-Day fun. What are you most looking forward to for this weekend? Tell us in the comments! It will be here before you know it!

3-Day Prep: How Your 3-Day Coaches Can Help

Let’s hear it for your 3-Day coaches! This group of amazing people are working all year long, all across the country, to make sure that the 3-Day is the best experience possible for you. This time of year is especially important, as we gear up for our first 3-Days of the year (only two weeks until Michigan!). If you have any last-minute questions or want to hit a new goal, now is the time to check in with your coach.

If you haven’t met or connected with them yet, don’t worry! You can find their contact information and lots more fun 3-Day treats on their Facebook pages:

If you’re not sure just how your 3-Day coaches can help you, well that answer is simple: The possibilities are endless! Here are just some of the topics and tips that your coaches are here to assist with.

Safe and Useful Training

Everyone should train for the 3-Day at their own pace, and in their own way. We have plenty of resources like our 3-Day Training App and local training walk leaders, but no one knows more than your coaches. Many of them lead training walks throughout the year, and you can find those on our website. They can also help you plan your own training walks and make sure you are preparing safely for your 3-Day journey.

They also have some seriously great training playlist ideas that you can check out HERE.

Hitting Your Fundraising Goals

If you need a little last-minute help to hit your 2019 fundraising goal, the coaches have seen it all and are ready to share. They get to see all the best fundraising ideas that teams and individuals are using across the country and are here as a resource. If you don’t want to send another email reminder, they have another idea! If you’re uncomfortable asking people for money in person, they have your back there, too! No matter what kind of fundraiser you are, they will help you make the most of your skills.

Growing Your Team

There is still time to add more team members to your 3-Day squad! Your coaches can help you recruit new team members or can connect solo walkers with other teams in their area. No one walks alone on the 3-Day, and your coaches will make sure of that.

Especially for our 3-Days with outdoor camps in Seattle, Dallas/Fort Worth and San Diego, adding new team members means you get extra fun on the 3-Day! If you add two first-time 3-Dayers to your team, you’ll qualify for one of our epic slumber party tents at camp. ? (This offer expired on 7/1 for the Seattle 3-Day, but Dallas/Fort Worth and San Diego 3-Day participants have until 8/30 to recruit those walkers and earn your slumber party.

Preparing for Your 3-Day Weekend

Many of our coaches have walked the 3-Day in the past (or are walking this year!) and so have great tips for the actual 3-Day weekend itself. From recommended shoes and fanny pack choices, to ideas on how to prep for a little liquid sunshine, they have a wealth of information to share from all their past 3-Days as a coach, crew member or walker.

Pep Talks and Fun Tips

Anything else you need? Random questions you might have? Reach out to your coaches! They are here to help and have a seemingly unending amount of 3-Day knowledge that they want to share. All you have to do is ask ?

Coach Heather’s Mom is One in a Million. She’s Also One in Eight.

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As we approach Mother’s Day, we have a special guest post from Coach Heather, sharing her own family’s breast cancer story. This year, her mom will be celebrating Mother’s Day for the first time as a breast cancer survivor, and Coach Heather is sharing their journey together to remind us all the ways breast cancer can affect any one of us. We all think our moms are one in a million, but when they also become 1 in 8, everything changes.

 

Truly, never did I think that the 1 in 8 would be my mom. There has been zero history of breast cancer in our family. But sure enough, on the afternoon of February 18, 2019, she received the call with me by her side. I didn’t even have to ask…because I already knew. I could tell by the expression on her face. She had breast cancer.

The call came five days after her annual mammogram. In those five days she had two mammograms, an ultrasound, and a biopsy. They weren’t messing around…bam, bam, bam. This was all taking place in the hospital where she spent 37 years of her career and she had her “people” all around her.

Even after the call, we were in shock. Wait, what? Breast cancer? She had had no symptoms, no lumps, nothing that would ever concern her or lead her to believe she was at risk. She immediately started looking to blame this on something that she had done. Maybe she drank too much wine, maybe she consumed too much caffeine. She needed an explanation.

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Now, after some of the dust has settled, she is far more educated and realized that regardless of whether there were symptoms or not, she WAS at risk merely because she was aging, and because she was a woman. Sometimes, there is no explanation or logic.

The day after she heard her diagnosis, she left for a scheduled vacation. While I had the opportunity for the news to sink in and the chance to be angry, sad, and feel the roller coaster of emotions, she had to remain calm and cool because she didn’t want to put a damper on the vacation for those she was with. At least until she came home.

One week later we had a 3-hour appointment at the Cancer Center at Henry Ford Hospital in Macomb. We were so nervous, knowing that once this train left the station, it was rolling and there was no going back to life “before cancer.”

So, like we do in most situations, we walked through those doors optimistic, joking, and ready to tackle whatever came next. We met a wonderful surgeon who really laid it all out there. My mom had invasive ductile carcinoma, Stage 1, with a tumor smaller than a pea. A lumpectomy was discussed and the treatment plan that the surgeon, oncologist, and radiation oncologist laid out was far better than we originally thought.  The surgeon said “We caught this early. You are not going to die from breast cancer!”

Cue the BIG sigh of relief! But Mom still had so much ahead of her.

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The next week we walked back into Henry Ford for what Mom kept calling “three procedures.” We arrived at 8:30am for her 12:30pm lumpectomy. Prior to the actual lumpectomy, she had wires inserted to act as a roadmap for the surgeon, took a quick trip to nuclear medicine where she had dye injected into her nipple to further direct the surgeon to the location of the tumor, and then finally went into surgery. It went as well as it could go, and we were on our way back home by 3pm.  Mom felt great by 5:00pm, ready to eat Chinese food, and only needed two Aleve per day for the next few days. She was very lucky, and we knew that.

Outside of the breast cancer diagnosis, things have gone as well as they can for someone dealing with this life changing news and journey. About a week after the lumpectomy, Mom’s biopsy results came back with clean margins and no trace in the lymph nodes. Great news! Oncology testing results showed that chemo would not be necessary. So, a month of radiation and then five years of medication would be coming next.

heather

My mom is all about positivity but still knows that her life will never be the same. The days of reading breast cancer books, really “hearing” commercials related to breast cancer, checking labels for soy, and frowning on the red wine she used to love, are the new normal now. She doesn’t want to do anything to contribute to the development of another estrogen-induced tumor.

To say she is and was scared is an understatement. But much good has come of this as well. She is far more concerned about taking care of herself in regards what she consumes, her exercise regimen, and health in general from this point forward. She is also determined to share her story in hopes that her friends will understand the risks, re-evaluate their daily behavior, and (most importantly!) get their annual mammogram. As we always hear, and as Mom has learned, early detection is key.

I am part of a group of 9 women who have been friends since high school and in recent years, as we rapidly approach 50, I often wondered who would be the 1 in 8 to get breast cancer. Knowing the statistic that 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, I was prepared that surely it would be at least 1 of us. I just never thought it would be my mom. But breast cancer can affect any and all of us. Now she’s not just one in a million. She’s also 1 in 8, and she is never going to quit.