Post-Walk Happenings

August 26th, 2010 | Posted by john in At the Walk - (1 Comments)

The walk is over. You’ve done 60 miles, you’ve got the shirt to prove it, so what happens now? The answer largely depends on what type of person you are and how you feel after the walk. This week I’m going to write about what you might think about doing, what to plan and what not to and also some hints for the family of walkers on what they can do to make transition back to non-3-Day life easier.


Walker Plans

I’m going to start by saying that it is probably a good idea to not have any solid plans for after the walk. I didn’t really think about this until this year because I had never taken the time to plan anything. But this year, Jen Hammel, who has shared her 3-Day moment on here, had a fund raiser at a pub that sounded like a lot of fun. I made plans in advance and really wanted to go. In years past I hadn’t had many issues with injuries so I figured that it wouldn’t be a huge problem. If you read my 3-Day recap for the Boston walk this year then you know that I developed a case of painful shin splints. At the end of the walk I just wanted to spend some time with my wife and have a quiet dinner with just the two of us.

Really, I have found that the best plans are made with your team during the last five miles or so of the walk. That way, you know pretty much how you are feeling and can make the appropriate choice. By doing it then, you still have enough time to discuss exactly what it is that you want to do and get word out to friends and family that you want there.

All that being said, there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to go home and crawl into bed after the walk. It’s a tough event and no one will fault you with wanting to take the night off.

So hopefully by now you’ve gotten through the night let’s touch briefly on Monday. If this is your first walk, I would seriously consider taking Monday off of work if you go to work. As I said above, you don’t really have an idea how your body is going to feel after the wall, so plan for the worst and hope that it feels better than that. If you really feel good, you can always go into work anyway, but you don’t have to. I won’t tell anyone you feel great.


For Family

Hopefully as a family member you also read the walker section of this post as well, because a lot of it still applies. I know that for the first year that I walked in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day For the Cure, my wife wasn’t sure what to do when I got home. She went to a site online and found some suggestions that she thought sounded very good to help take care of someone who just walked 60 miles.

I really appreciated the work that she put into it and there were many things that she did for me that were great. There were also several things that weren’t for me. I think the key thing here is to use some sense. Things like getting the house clean for when they come home is a no-brainer. Maybe your walker likes hot baths normally, now might be a good time to offer to run a bath.

I think that the key thing is not necessarily providing everything that a walker could possibly want, I think it’s more offering to do the things that you think they will want.  I know that as a walker, while it’s nice to be pampered after the walk I also don’t want to be treated like an invalid.  My wife has done a really good job of striking that balance.  I’ll say that there is not specific formula for all walkers since we are all different.  With that being said, here are some things to keep in mind with your walker:

  • If they want to go to bed when they get home, it’s not because they don’t want to spend time with you.  They have just had a very long three days and were most likely sleeping on the ground during it.
  • If they are willing to stay awake with you, invite them to talk about the 3-Day.  Personally, I could probably talk about it until I’m blue in the face but I don’t want to overwhelm my wife with details so I try not to talk about it a ton unless she asks.  Even doing that, I probably still talk about it too much.  As a supporter, don’t take all this talk as something that you’re excluded from.  Quite the opposite, all the experiences that we talk about for the 3-Day wouldn’t be possible without the help and support from our family and friends, you’re a part of it and we want to share it with you.
  • If you have kids, be prepared to relate all the details of their lives over the past three days.  This is pretty simple and I think goes without saying, but we miss the whole family while we are out walking.
  • I think I can generally say that all the walkers and crew would love a massage.  If it’s possible, talk to them about the possibility of scheduling a massage for them a day or two after the walk.  Then schedule it and pay for it so that they don’t have to do anything other than show up!
  • This last one really isn’t necessarily post-walk, but it is important.  Come to closing ceremonies.  Bring your family and friends to closing ceremonies!  Bring their family and friends to closing ceremonies!  Bring all those people to the cheering stations!  Your support is a huge thing to help us get through this, having you there is amazing!

So to sum up, for walkers don’t plan until the end of the walk.  This is one area where failing to plan is not planning to fail, it’s just practical for what you’re going through.  Family of walkers: show your support and run things by your walker to see what they want to do and don’t take offense if all they want is to curl up in bed!

 

Why Leanne Johnston Walks!

August 25th, 2010 | Posted by john in Interviews - (2 Comments)

Leanne Johnston is a veteran walker and 3-Day for the Cure online ambassador had this to share about why she walks. After watching why she walks, you should go check out her web site at: http://leannethewalker.com.

 

Mail Call!

August 17th, 2010 | Posted by john in General - (2 Comments)

When your friend or co-worker or loved one is walking or crewing on the Susan G. Komen 3-Day For The Cure and they get to camp, there are several things kind of like you get at home. There’s a lounge with a tv. There’s a dining tent where people cook food for you and provide you with entertainment when you eat. There are foot massages and back massages. Port-O-Potties, a sea of pink tents. You don’t have all this stuff at home? Well, chances are that even though you might not have most of these things at home there is something at camp that can help remind your walkers of home. A post office.

That’s right, a post office that you can write to your favorite walker at. Send them a message about how proud you are of them. Or send them a message to joke around. The important thing here is letting them know that you’re thinking of them, because I can guaranty you that they are thinking of you.

Now, you may be thinking to yourself that if you’re close family with your walker that you shouldn’t send them mail because you’re going to see them the day before the walk and also when you come to the cheering stations. You are coming to the cheering stations, right? From the perspective of a walker, I can say that it’s fantastic to see everyone at the cheering stations, it is a real boost to help you Keep Going®.  That’s the key phrase, Keep Going.  When you’re walking and still moving, a lot of the soreness and pain that you can potentially feel is held at bay by the fact that you’re moving.  Plus the adrenaline and seeing the cheering stations and everything about the event.  When you get back to camp, you stop moving.  The soreness and pain that was held at bay all through the day (at least partially!) comes back and it’s really nice to have a letter from home to remind you of why you’re doing this.  It’s like a mini-cheering station just for you.

Hopefully my couple of short paragraphs have made you say, “Great!  I’m going to write a letter!  Sign me up!  Uhh, where and when do I send this letter?”  So the good news is that you don’t have to do a whole lot of hunting for the address in some ancient address book.  All you have to do is go to the 3-Day web page (http://the3day.org) and click Get Involved and then Spectator Info.  Select the city that your walker or crew is participating in and on the resulting page you should see an address to send your letters to.  If you read through this information you will also have a date that you have to send your letter by which is usually at least a couple of weeks before the event.  Please remember to plan ahead!  One last thing.  You may not see the information on there yet for the city that you are sending to.  The 3-Day does not release this information too far ahead of time, if you don’t see the information, check back about a month before the date of the walk.  This will give you enough time to get the address as well as put it in the mail.

So you’ve sent your mail and you feel great about doing something that will give them a boost at camp and maybe you’re wondering if this is something that you can keep doing.  Well, does your walker or crew belong to a team?  If so, consider writing the teammates a letter.  If you’ve already done that and are STILL wanting to write more letters, then I can suggest looking on the 3-Day Tweeps web site here: http://3daytweeps.com/meet-the-tweeps/.  This is a group of people on Twitter who have a virtual team that they give each other advice and support on their 3-Day journey.  If you’re looking for someone to write a letter to, check them out, they are a great bunch of people.

The last little bit I have to write about is directed to the walkers and crew.  Hopefully your friends and loved ones have seen this post and decided that they will send you a message.  Don’t do what I did in Boston earlier this year and forget to check the mail!  You’ll feel pretty bummed afterward that you didn’t check it and if someone asks if you got their letter you will feel even worse.  So make sure you check the mail to get your mini-cheering station!  You never know who might mail you!

 

Interview With Britt From The Speed Gamers

August 11th, 2010 | Posted by john in Interviews - (Comments Off on Interview With Britt From The Speed Gamers)

I was able to do a short interview with Britt LaRiviere of The Speed Gamers. We talked about what they do to raise fantastic amounts of money for charities, how they got started, upcoming marathons that they have planned and of course, the ghost pepper milk shake.

 

Keep Going With Balance

August 10th, 2010 | Posted by john in Uncategorized - (6 Comments)

I’ve come to realize lately that I need to somehow tap some of the Keep Going® spirit of the Energizer® Bunny.  Let me assure you that even though I am the Keep Going Blogger, this is not a shameless promotion.  I find that Keep Going is a perfect term reflecting the state of mind that I need to be in right now, but over the past couple of weeks have found it a little harder to maintain.

As many of you know, I’m walking in two 3-Day for the Cure events this year and they are pretty far apart.  Over three months apart if you want to get down to it.  As my fund raising is more than done for both walks, it would be easy enough for me to just coast to the next event.  I could stop fund raising and I could probably greatly reduce my training and still do alright.  On the surface, that seems like it wouldn’t be a terrible thing, I have set my goals and achieved them.  That’s a good thing, right?

Over the past couple of years I’ve listened to a lot of stories about how people have fought breast cancer and sometimes won and sometimes lost their battles.  I hear these stories and am brought to remember why it is that I walk and do the fund raising.  I have said before that I walk for my wife, so that she never has to fight breast cancer, but I also walk for all of these people that have shared their stories with me.  These stories keep me going and make me want to continue on with what I’m doing without a break.  Maybe you feel like this too.

But if I were to do that, it wouldn’t necessarily be super great either.  I mean, what good is working so that my wife doesn’t have to fight breast cancer if I don’t get to spend any time with her?  I love walking in the 3-Day and I love what good Susan G. Komen can do against this disease, but I love my family too.  This is where the balance comes in.

A good friend of mine named Dale Chiapuzio told me a while ago about a running discussion that he has with his son.  His son just went to college this year and before he went Dale told him, “If you want to party that’s fine, you’re going to college I expect you to party some.  But don’t overdo it.  The same thing goes for studying.  Study so that you can get good grades but don’t study so much that you become a hermit.  Life is all about balance.”  And it is a balance.  If you do one thing too much it will always be to the detriment of others, no matter what part of your life it is.

That’s why when I haven’t done training walks for almost two weeks after the Boston walk I’m not concerned.  I’m taking my son to an amusement park this weekend instead of walking, but on the flip side of that I just sent out invites to a charity poker tournament that I’m doing at the end of the month to help my sister with her fund raising.  I know that I will get back into training soon enough, but I need to remember to enjoy the time I am taking off instead of stressing about how many miles I have walked.

I’m not saying that you should stop whatever you are doing in your efforts for the 3-Day, quite the contrary!  Keep doing this immensely good thing, I wouldn’t have it any other way.  I know that there will be months where it seems like there ar more training walks and fund raisers than regular life, and occasionally that’s ok.  There are some of you that will want to do more than one event a year, some that may want to do more than 5.  I’m not going to say you shouldn’t do that, you’re awesome for doing so much in this battle.  That being said, regain that balance where you can, don’t stress about missing a training walk every now and then.  It’s ok to take a little bit of time off, we’re all in this together and one of us will jump in and fight for you while you maintain your balance.

Remember, you’re walking for all those embraces, anniversaries, and other cherished moments with loved ones.  Keep Going so that you can still have those wonderful moments with loved ones in years to come.  Keep Going with balance so that you can enjoy those moments right now.