The Atlanta 3 Day Tweeps Training Walk!

One of the greatest things about the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure is the community of people that are involved in it.  3 Day people are optimistic, supportive and wonderful.  And that spirit of community expands far beyond the 3 Day event itself.  This past year, I have met so many great 3 Day walkers and crew members through Twitter.  Chatting with these great ladies and men is like getting a hit of 3 Day spirit every day.

Recently, a number of us Atlanta "tweeps" (or people on Twitter, for the uninitiated) got to chatting and we decided to meet up for a training walk.  We all decided to head up to the Silver Comet Trail this past Saturday for a nice nine mile walk between the Floyd Road and Mavell Road trailheads.  Due to scheduling conflicts, many of the ladies were unable to join us.  However, there were four of us that braved the rain and made it out on Saturday for our walk: myself (@kscincotta on Twitter), Julie (@knittingbagel), Lilly (@gphigirl) and 3 Day newbie Pam (@lilshadetree).  And of course, we were joined by a famous guest for our walk: Mug (aka @3DayMug)!  

After a few weekends of long solo training walks, it was a very nice to have some people to talk to.  We had a great chat during our walk and had a lot of fun, even though we had to dodge a few rainstorms along the way.  A little ice cream from the Silver Comet Depot post-walk and some incredibly nice gifts from Lilly rounded out an excellent morning of training.  It was truly the best way to spend my last weekend of training before the Boston 3 Day for the Cure in a few days!  Thanks ladies!

You can check out more of my photos from our training walk in this album on my Picasa page or in the slideshow below.  Enjoy!

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The Last Hurrah of Training!

This past weekend was my last big weekend of training prior to the Boston 3 Day for the Cure which kicks off in less than two weeks!

While this weekend wasn't quite as intense as the 18/15 walks I documented in this post, it was still a lot of walking.  The 24 week training schedule recommended walking 18 miles on Saturday and 8 miles on Sunday.  However, because I can't seem to calculate my route mileage accurately and because I was a little behind on my weekly training miles, I ended up walking 21 miles on Saturday and another 12 miles on Sunday. 

For my 18/15 weekend (which was actually 18/18), I spent the first day walking on a peaceful trail outside of town and I spent the second day on my own personal walking tour of Atlanta.  This weekend, I flipped the plans a little bit.  On Saturday, I completed part 2 of Kristen's Epic Walking Tour of Atlanta and on Sunday, I headed out to my other favorite out of town place to walk, Stone Mountain.  And of course, I wouldn't be me if I didn't bring my camera along with me!

During Part 1 of Kristen's Epic Walking Tour of Atlanta, I walked through Downtown Atlanta, Pemberton Place, Centennial Olympic Park, Midtown Atlanta, Piedmont Park, the Virginia Highlands neighborhood, Atlantic Station and Georgia Tech.  While I certainly covered a lot of the city on that walk, I still had a lot more to see, especially over on the East Side of the metro Atlanta area.  So for Part 2 of Kristen's Epic Walking Tour of Atlanta, I decided to start and finish my walk at Candler Park, a small park near the neighborhood of the same name.  From there, I headed north on Clifton Road through the Candler Park and Druid Hills neighborhoods on my way up to the Emory University campus.  Even though I've been a graduate student at Emory for far too many years, this was the first time I've ever taken pictures around campus.  And it really is a beautiful campus, as you can see from my pictures.  I also took a short detour up to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) which is right next door to Emory.  Unfortunately, taking pictures of the CDC is apparently a major no-no, which I learned from a rather irate security guard.

Following my trek through Emory, I headed back south down Clairemont Ave and into the City of Decatur.  Decatur is the county seat for Dekalb County.  It used to be it's own city but as Atlanta as grown and spread from Fulton County into Dekalb, Decatur has sort of been swallowed up.  So now it stands as something of a small city within a city, full of great shops, restaurants and historical sites.  I had a lot of fun wandering through Decatur since I don't get over there nearly enough.  After I left Decatur, I headed back west along Ponce de Leon Road (the primary East - West road that connects Atlanta to Decatur and beyond) until I hit the PATH, a series of paved paths throughout Atlanta.  From there, I followed the PATH back into Candler Park for a much needed rest.

After a quick sock change, a water bottle swap and some lunch, I was ready to head out again, this time heading west along the PATH.  This portion of the PATH connects Candler Park with Freedom Park, a long park that stretches through some of Emory's best historical sites.  Along the way, I got to stop by both The Carter Center (the home of Jimmy Carter's Presidential Library) and The Martin Luther King Jr Center.  I was also able to detour through the Inman Park and Little 5 Points neighborhoods before returning back to my car at Candler Park.  I particularly enjoyed walking through Little 5 Points, one of the most eclectic neighborhoods in Atlanta since it reminds me very much of Ithaca, New York where I went to college.

All told, this walk encompassed 21 miles and covered a huge swath of Atlanta.  My feet were sore, but I really enjoyed getting to play tourist in my own city for a day.  You can see my photos from this walk here:

For Day 2 of my 21/12 weekend, I headed out to Stone Mountain Park to walk.  Stone Mountain Park is a park around the base of what looks like a giant rock that fell out of the sky.  The mountain itself features a carving of three Confederate heroes of the Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis, General Robert E. Lee and Lt. General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.  The park itself is something of a tribute to Confederate pride (which is always a bit disconcerting for this Yankee), especially within the small village at the foot of the mountain.  For me, though, the best part about the park are the walking and hiking trails that wind around the mountain and the nearby lakes.  For the cost of parking in the park, you can access miles and miles of peaceful trails in a relatively safe setting.  The paved sidewalk around the base of the mountain is a particularly nice walk, stretching just shy of six miles.  Two laps around the mountain this weekend and I was done with my twelve miles!

You can see my photos from my walk at Stone Mountain here:

My feet were pretty darn tired after my walk on Saturday, but I felt great after my shorter walk on Sunday.  No new blisters to report, although I did have my first sunblock fail on Saturday which left me with one sizzled shoulder.  All in all, though, I think I am in really good shape for the Boston 3 Day in less than two weeks time!  I can't wait!

If you would like to see my pictures from this past weekend in non-slide show form (and maybe even leave some comments!), please visit the following albums on my Picasa page:

 

Breast Cancer 3 Day 21/12 Training Walks Day 1

Breast Cancer 3 Day 21/12 Training Walks Day 2

As always, if you are impressed with my training weekend or just moved by this great cause, please consider making a fully tax deductible donation to Susan G. Komen for the Cure by clicking on the link at the top right hand side of the page or by visiting my personal page on the 3 Day website, here.

 

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The 18/15 Training Weekend is Done!

This past weekend was the most intense training weekend on the 24 Week Training Schedule - 18 miles on Saturday and 15 miles on Sunday.  Generally, if you can complete the big 18/15, you should be in pretty good shape to walk the full 60 miles of the Breast Cancer 3 Day.  The 18/15 is always intense, and this past weekend was no exception with temperatures in the 90s and strong beating sun all day.

As always, I wanted to mark my big training weekend with some great adventures, which I used my new Nikon Coolpix camera to document.  They say you should test out all your "gear" for the 3 Day and for me, my camera is a huge part of my gear.  So I used this weekend to really test out my tiny new camera (a belated birthday gift!) while pushing my poor feet to the max!

On Saturday, I decided to walk my 18 miles at one of my favorite places to train - the Silver Comet Trail!  The Silver Comet starts in a NW suburb of Atlanta and stretches along an old railroad bed all the way to the Alabama border.  The trail is paved, smooth and relatively hill free, making it a fairly easy walk with very scenic views.  There are also trailheads every five miles or so where you can refill water bottles, grab a snack and go to the bathroom.  All in all, it is the perfect place to train for the 3 Day!

Pictures from my 18 mile walk on the Silver Comet Trail:

On Sunday, I wanted to satisfy my inner city girl and spend some time exploring Atlanta beyond where I usually walk.  I decided to park down at the Georgia World Congress Center, next to the CNN Center and Centennial Olympic Park and then walk all the way back up to my house in Midtown.  This route, which is primarily along the famous Peachtree Street led me past all kinds of great sites, as you can see in my pictures.  While it seems far when you're driving it, it's actually only five miles!  From there, I did a five mile loop through the adorable Virginia Highland neighborhood, an area I walk in frequently.  After stretching, grabbing a snack and refilling my water bottles at my house, I headed back down to my car.  This time, I followed a slightly different route and detoured through the Atlantic Station shopping district before walking south on West Peachtree Street.  In the end, it turns out that my 15 mile walk was actually 18.5 miles - oops!  Seeings as I have to walk all those miles and more in less than four weeks, I guess it's just as well that I walked those extra miles this weekend.  All told, I had a great weekend of walking and I got to see a lot of this city that I love!

Pictures from my 18.5 mile walk around Atlanta:

After 36.5 miles, my feet were definitely sore.  I have a couple small blisters on my toes (ironically due to some corn protectors I was wearing to prevent blisters in another place!) and one large blister forming on my left heel that is seriously painful.  That blister appears to be forming deep underneath my thick callouses, so I'm pretty concerned about what could happen there.  I'll just have to keep an eye on it as the Boston 3 Day for the Cure inches ever closer!

If you would like to see my pictures from this past weekend in non-slide show form (and maybe even leave some comments!), please visit the following albums on my Picasa page:

Breast Cancer 3 Day 18/15 Training Walks Day 1

Breast Cancer 3 Day 18/15 Training Walks Day 2

If you are impressed with my training weekend or just moved by this great cause, please consider making a fully tax deductible donation to Susan G. Komen for the Cure by clicking on the link at the top right hand side of the page or by visiting my personal page on the 3 Day website, here.

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I Spotted My Training Twin in Atlanta!

I regularly walk past Half Mountain Outfitters in the Virginia Highlands neighborhood on my training walks.  It's always a high point on my training walks because I love checking out all the great gear on display in the windows and daydreaming of the day that I can afford to buy it all.  Lately though, one of the mannequins in the window has been looking awfully familiar...

It's like looking in a mirror!

Shorts and a tank top, Mountainsmith waistpack, pedometer and my exact pair of Asics sneakers...  Turn it all pink and add a bandana and it could be me!  I wonder if they've seen me walking by so often that they decided to pay tribute to me?  

Anyways, I thought it was cool so I thought I would share.  I hope that all the rest of you 3 Dayers stumble upon equally fun things on your training walks as well!

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The Reeves Family Training Walk!

As I mentioned in last week's Week in Review post, I spent Memorial Day weekend in western New York visiting my mom's family.  It was a bit of a whirlwind trip, as we were only in town for about 48 hours.  Needless to say, we didn't sleep a whole lot.  Because of that, I knew that if I didn't plan things out ahead of time, I was going to miss out on some important training miles for the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure.  To make sure that I stayed on track, I decided to plan an official training walk just for my family!

The route that we walked was absolutely gorgeous and we couldn't have asked for better weather.  We walked along the Seaway Trail, a paved trail that snakes along the Niagara River.  We were treated to scenic views of Canada just about the entire way.  Walking along the border of our country was a big change from the steamy sidewalks of Atlanta.  I absolutely loved it!

Hello Canada!

Now, no one in my family besides me is actually going to be walking in the 3 Day.  Unlike me, they haven't been busting toe and tail to get in walking shape.  Because of that, I knew that the 9 mile route that I had planned would be a bit of a stretch for most of them to complete.  So instead of everyone walking the whole distance, we ended up completing the walk "relay style".  Some people started at the beginning and only walked for a short distance, some people jumped in along the way and a couple hardy family members walked the entire distance from my grandmother's house to my Aunt Barb and Uncle Rich's house where the family reunion was taking place.  It was sort of fun walking along the trail and waiting to see who would pop up next!

For the first short leg of our walk, Mike and I were joined by my mom.  Mom is the middle of chemo treatments, so we knew she wouldn't be able to do a long stretch of walking.  However, she was determined to take part in the family training walk, so she walked with us from the Bed and Breakfast in Lewiston where we were staying to Mima's house, which was the "official" starting point for everyone else.  Mom's leg of the walk covered 0.75 miles.

Mom and I during the first leg of the training walk.

At Mima's house, Mike and I met up with my Uncle Sean, my cousin Patty, Patty's husband Konrad and their little baby Jax in his stroller.  I was a bit concerned that people wouldn't have proper walking gear, but everyone came ready to walk, all with their sneakers on and water bottles in hand.  As Sean said, "When someone in this family suggests going for a walk, that means you wear your sneakers!"

Sean and Konrad pushing Jax in the stroller (L) and Mike and Patty (R)

We were joined by my Aunt Nancy on our way up to the Seaway Trail from Mima's.  Nancy ended up walking with us for a little over two miles before turning around to head back into Lewiston to pick up her family for the picnic later.  So we figure Nancy walked about 5 miles round trip.  We were trying to convince her to keep walking with us and have her family meet her at the end, but to no avail.  Unfortunately, that meant no pictures of Nancy on our walk.  Next time!

Pit stop to check on Jax and get some water.

After a quick pit stop, we continued on our way.  Sean and Konrad decided to be total boys about the whole thing and speed walked the rest of the way to the end with Jax.  We didn't actually see them again until we finished the walk.  I think they ended up finishing about 30 minutes before the rest of us.  They said they were feeling pretty good afterwards but I suspect they were feeling it the next day.  Nine miles is a long way!

Shortly after Sean and Konrad took off, Patty, Mike and I were joined by my Uncle Rich.  We didn't actually know that Rich was planning to join us, so that was a great surprise!  We figure we picked up Rich around Mile 3, so he ended up walking 6 miles total.  Our walk ultimately took us into the cute village of Youngstown where we found my Aunt Pam waiting at a cafe table for us.  Pam was probably just over a mile from the end of the route, so with her walk out to meet us, she did just over 2 miles round trip.

Pam and Rich walking in Youngstown.

The very last walkers to join us were my Aunt Barb, my cousin Jenny and her 13 month old son Dane.  Barb has had some issues with her feet recently, so much like my mom, she knew she couldn't walk for very far.  So while Mom took the opening leg, Barb took on the very last leg.  Apparently they weren't satisfied with how far they had walked, though, because they kept walking after we headed inside!

Aunt Barb, Jenny and Dane.

All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend the morning!  I got to get in my training miles, I got to catch up with my family who I hadn't seen in years and Mom's family got to show their support for her.  It is amazing to have this kind of support from my family - it meant more to me than they can possibly know.  I can't wait for all of them to come out to Boston in July for the actual walk.  Seeing the mass of pink stretching for miles and miles is really a sight to behold.  And now, they are truly a part of the 3 Day family!

Thank you Reeves family!!  See you in July!!

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Dekalb - Adams Relay for Life

This past Friday, my husband Mike and I had the privilege of taking part in our second Relay for Life event in just over a month.  Our first event was at Emory University and this event was at Adams Stadium in northern Decatur, with both events benefitting the American Cancer Society.

Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back.

The event itself started at 7pm, kicking off with a Welcome Ceremony and a Survivor Lap.  Unfortunately, because Mike got out of work late, we got to the site a bit late, a situation that was only compounded by lack of parking.  Despite the fact that there were storms and rain in the forecast that night, there was a huge turnout for the Relay, I think even more than was expected, given the parking situation.  Regardless, we were late and missed the Welcome Ceremony and Survivor Lap.

While we missed the Survivor Lap, we did arrive in time to catch the end of the Team Lap.  It was great to see all of the different groups represented on the track, especially all of the school groups.

The Autotrader (L) and Montgomery Elementary School (R) teams during the Team Lap
Following the Team Lap, everyone settled in for a long night of walking and celebration.  Compared to the relatively small and quiet event at Emory, this event was a walking party.  There were so many people there!  The track was absolutely packed while we there, with everyone rocking out as the DJ played some great tunes.  It was such a different atmosphere than our previous Relay for Life experience at Emory!
The track was totally packed with Relayers!

Because there were so many teams and because the individual teams were so large, there was a lot more activity going on around the Relay during the event.  There were a number of huge tents, many of which were hosting their own onsite fundraising events.  There was face painting, bake sales, raffles and all kinds of goodies for sale.  The was also a jump house, a wall climb, a kickball tournament and a whole host of events that served to keep everyone entertained and to help raise money for the American Cancer Society.  We even saw a live Bingo tournament!  It really was like being a part of a really large festival centered around raising money for a great cause.

So many tents, so much to do!
Of course, my very favorite feature of any Relay for Life event is seeing all of the luminaria.  I love being able to read all of the names and messages surrounding the track.  Seeing all of those individuals candles is always very moving for me.  As the American Cancer Society says, every candle has a name.  Thinking about all of the those families that have been affected by cancer in some way is just incredibly humbling.  It's such a powerful reminder of why we're all out there doing what we're doing to make a difference.

The luminaria that I dedicated to my Mom (L) and Marcia (R).

The luminaria spelling out "HOPE" on the stands over the track.
Unfortunately, just as we finally found the luminaria for Marcia, a series of thunderstorms began to roll into the area.  Had it been just rain and had we not already taken part in the Emory Relay for Life event this spring, we probably would have stuck it out in order to stay around for the lighting of the luminaria.  However, these were some serious thunderstorms and we really didn't want to risk getting struck by lightening.  In the end, we cut our night short after walking just over a mile around the track (far short of my goal of 13 miles!).  I was disappointed, but it's okay.  We got to experience a completely different Relay for Life event for a few hours which was great.  Next year, we'll definitely stick around a bit longer!

What the Relay for Life is all about: people of all ages and backgrounds coming together in the fight against cancer.
If you would like to make a donation to the American Cancer Society, you can do so via my personal fundraising page on the Relay for Life website.  If you would like to see more pictures from this event, please see this album on my Picasa page.  I have also added a slide show from this event after the jump which you can view by clicking "Read More" at the bottom of this post.
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The Breast Cancer Network of Strength's National Walk to Empower!

This Sunday, I woke up bright and early for the second day in a row to head out to a breast cancer related event.  This time, I was off to take part in the Breast Cancer Network of Strength's National Walk to Empower in Chastain Park!

The Team Village area at the Walk to Empower

After the loud, organized chaos of the Atlanta Race for the Cure on Saturday, this event was a welcome change.  While the Network of Strength has been hosting Walk to Empower events for years, this is only the second or third year that the event was held here in Atlanta.  Because of that, the event was still on the small side with only a few thousand people taking part.  While the crowd was on the small side, it was the biggest group they've had to date for a Walk to Empower event in Atlanta, suggesting that the event is starting to gain some public recognition.  

In a lot of ways, this event was like a lot of other cancer awareness events.  There were the standard registration tables where everyone checked in before the race, turned in their donations and received their event t-shirt if they raised enough money.  (I didn't, but I knew that going in.)  There were also vendor and sponsor areas all along the area.  One sort of unique aspect was the Team Village area that featured tables and tents assigned to the larger teams where they could meet up, share snacks and water and display photos of those they were honoring.  It was similar to the tent areas around the Relay for Life, although on a smaller scale.    Even though I wasn't on a team, I took some time to wander through the tables and get a feel for the teams involved.

One of the larger teams prior to the walk.

The event itself kicked off with a short Opening Ceremonies hosted by a pair of radio DJs from 94.9 The Bull here in Atlanta.  The Ceremony featured some short remarks by the organizers and a beautiful performance of Mariah Carey's song "Hero" as a tribute to the survivors.  After a really lame gag by Ronald McDonald of all people (McDonald's was a sponsor), we were on our way!  We walked just over 3 miles through the gorgeous Chastain Park area of Atlanta, mostly on a paved greenway that is part of the Path Foundation.  I had never walked up in this neck of the woods, but I will definitely be coming back.  The walk we did was so peaceful and beautiful - a great way to spend the morning.  In fact, I liked it so much that I stayed after and did another loop around the route as part of my 3 Day training for the day.

Heading out on the Path in Chastain Park.

I honestly had no idea what to expect when I headed out to this walk.  While I very much support the wonderful work of the Breast Cancer Network of Strength, this was the first time I had participated in any of their events.  I was pleasantly surprised by the calm, easy nature of the whole thing.  It strongly reminded me of the start of Day 3 on both of my Atlanta 3 Day walks.  A little sleepy and a little chilly, not much chit chat.  Just a contemplative walk through a beautiful neighborhood to get the day started.  I'm thrilled that this event is getting more recognition in the Atlanta area and I can't wait to come back next year.  Since I couldn't be with my mom this year, it was the perfect way for me to spend the morning of Mother's Day.

A mother and daughter team at the Walk to Empower

If you would like to see more pictures from the Walk to Empower, please visit this album on my Picasa page.  I have also included a slide show of my pictures after the jump which you can see by clicking "Read More" at the bottom of this post.  Please pardon the quality of the second half of the pictures.  I had to switch to my cell phone after the batteries died in my camera.  Otherwise, there would have been a lot more pictures of this very pretty walk!

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Atlanta Race for the Cure!

This morning, Mike and I woke up bright and early to make our way to Atlantic Station for the 20th Anniversary Atlanta Race for the Cure!

The banner announcing the event

In the past, Mike and I have had to wrestle our way through the large crowds before the event to pick up our race numbers.  This year we actually registered online far enough in advance that we received all of our race material ahead of time.  Because of that, we were able to relax before the race and soak in the atmosphere of the event.  Teams large and small were milling about, trying to get themselves organized before the start of the race.  It was a lot of fun checking out all of the pink gear and team t-shirts on the thousands of people around us.

Mike and I before the Race for the Cure (L) and one of the larger teams at the race (R)

One of the highlights of the morning was finally getting to meet Julie of the Two Pink Chicks Fo(u)r Boobs team for the Breast Cancer 3 Day.  Julie and I have been chatting on Twitter a lot, so it was great to finally meet her person.  Hopefully, we'll be able to meet up to do some 3 Day training walks in the near future.  She needs to show me around the 'burbs and I need to give her a tour of Intown Atlanta!

Julie and I before the Race for the Cure.

Around 8:15am, Mike and I made our way towards the actual starting line for the race.  In the past, we've been content to walk the course, so staying back in the pack of 17,000 people was okay.  But this year, we wanted to take it up a notch and actually run this thing.  So we worked our way up towards the starting line.  There were still thousands of people in front of us, but at least we were able to run.

The mass of people at the starting line, in the shadow of Midtown Atlanta

The race itself went pretty well.  We were able to run for most of the race without having to take too many walking breaks.  We ended up finishing in 34 minutes and 40 seconds, my fastest 5K time so far.  Mike pushed me to run a little faster than I usually run, which definitely helped.  It was also fun to read the backs of everyone's t shirts during the race.  Next year, I'm running the whole thing and I'm going to do it in less than 30 minutes!

After we finished the race, we headed into the Expo area to grab some water and our Race for the Cure t-shirts.  I was particularly excited to get my first Race for the Cure shirt with the new design.  We also grabbed a quick snack from Skinny Cow (YUM!) and checked out a number of the vendors and sponsor booths.  I was particularly excited to get this year's Ford Warriors in Pink scarf, something I look forward to every year.

Susan G. Komen loves Jazzercise! (L) and a picture of the Expo area after the Race (R)

Unfortunately, Mike wasn't feeling too well, so we weren't able to stay at the Expo for very long.  He was a real trooper, though, and fought through his terrible head cold to run the race with me.  I would have been much slower without him, so I was really touched that he still ran even though he felt so crappy.

All in all, it was a great morning at the Race for the Cure and even though Mike wasn't feeling well, I am calling it a success!

Feeling victorious back at the car after the race!

If you would like to see more pictures from the Race for the Cure please visit this album on my Picasa page.  I have also included a slide show after the jump that you can see by clicking "Read More" at the bottom of this post.  Pardon the quality of the images, I had to take them on my cell phone.

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Atlanta 3 Day Training Kick Off Event!

This past Saturday, I dragged my butt out of bed at the scary early hour of 6am and went somewhere I rarely go - I actually ventured OTP, to Alpharetta!

(OTP, for those of you not in the know, refers to the highway that circles the city of Atlanta, aka "The Perimeter".  So ITP = "Inside the Perimeter", where I live, and OTP = "Outside the Perimeter, which I think of as the boonies of real Georgia.)

So why would I head OTP at such an ungodly hour on a Saturday?  Why, because it was the Training Kick Off for the Atlanta 3 Day for the Cure!  Now, technically, I am not an Atlanta walker.  I'm a Boston walker.  But because I live here in Atlanta, I like to take advantage of the local events when I can to get a dose of 3 Day spirit.  So early on Saturday morning, I headed up to the New Balance Store in Alpharetta to meet up with my fellow 3 Day walkers for the first official Atlanta training event.

A pink tent and balloons? I think I'm in the right place!

After signing in and receiving my free pink ribbon shoelaces from New Balance (thanks NB!), I decided to do some exploring.  Outside of the store, there was a great display of all the pink ribbon goodies that New Balance offers.  As a longtime national sponsor of Susan G. Komen, they have lots of great products for sale that benefit Komen for the Cure.  There was also a table of snacks for people like me who aren't morning people and needed a bit of a pick me up.

New Balance Pink Ribbon goodies for sale (L) and pink lemonade and water for the walkers (R)

The store itself was swarming with 3 Day walkers eager to stock up on pink ribbon gear and attire for the walk.  The store owner and employees definitely knew their audience - almost every rack featured pink gear for sale.  It was tempting to go overboard buying sneakers, flip flops, tops, shorts, pedometers...  everything you can think of!

3 Day shoppers stocking up on pink ribbon gear (L).  The store was full of racks of Komen workout attire (R).
In addition to shopping, a number of ladies were getting fitted for their 3 Day sneakers by the New Balance staff before the event formally started.

Everyone needs a good pair of sneakers for the 3 Day!
Personally, I was in the market for new socks.  In '07, I came across some great New Balance socks that were perfect for the 3 Day.  In '08, I went to buy some more of the same socks only to find their availability extremely limited, even online.  So this year, I had resigned myself to wearing a new type of sock for the 3 Day.  I went to the training kick off hoping to find a few new pairs to try out in the hopes that one of the pairs would be close to my dream socks.  
Little did I know that I was in for a great surprise.  As I was walking around the New Balance store, I found my old dream socks, right there at the store!!  I quickly grabbed six pairs of my beloved socks and did a happy dance as I headed to the cash register.  While I was waiting in line, I couldn't help but sing the praises of my dream socks to everyone in line around me.  As a result, the entire stock of those particular socks was snapped up in about 15 minutes, including the inventory in the back.  So yeah, I kind of started a run on socks at New Balance.  Whoops!  I just hope everyone else enjoys them as much as I do!

The best socks ever!  Never stop making them, New Balance!
As everyone was finishing up at the cash register and the sock ruckus that I inadvertently started settled down, we all moved over to the shoe wall for a presentation about 3 Day shoes and attire by one of the New Balance reps.  She did a great job explaining how your sneakers should fit and the differences between walking sneakers and running sneakers.  The rep was very knowledgeable and engaging.  She also had seriously great legs - if running and walking can make my legs look like that, I'm totally in.

The shoe clinic

The New Balance rep leading the shoe clinic
Following the shoe and attire clinic, the entire group headed back out into the parking lot for a little stretching before the training walk.  Special thanks to Star 94FM for providing us with some great warm up tunes!

Stretching before the training walk.

From there, we were off on our walk around the North Point Mall area of Alpharetta.  It was a warm, muggy morning for our walk, although some misting along the way kept everyone nice a cool.  I am pretty sure that the route we followed was almost the same as the route out of Opening Ceremonies for the '07 and '08 Atlanta 3 Day event.  It was kind of fun getting to see those sights again with a group of 3 Day walkers.

Heading out on our training walk.

By far, though, the highlight of the Training Kick Off was getting to talk to a bunch of new people.  Some of the people I talked to were 3 Day newbies and others were old pros like me.  It was great swapping stories and sharing ideas about fundraising and team names with everyone.  I even got to meet Brandee Holland, who I've been seeing on Twitter for weeks now!  I didn't even realize it was her until she passed me her card at the end of the walk.  This whole event was such a great reminder about just how wonderful the 3 Day community can be.  I left the event completely fired up for the Boston walk in a few short months.  I also can't wait to cheer for all of my new friends as they make their way around Atlanta next October!

Some of the lovely ladies that I met while waiting in line to buy my socks (L) and the group of women that I was walking with during the second part of the training walk, including Brandee (in white, in the front) (R)

Connie and her daughter.  I walked with them for the first half of the training walk and enjoyed our conversation immensely.  Connie recently completed cancer treatments herself and is back for her second 3 Day after not walking for over five years!

All in all, this was such a great event!  I've never attended a training kick off before, so this was all new to me.  I'm so glad that I was able to make it up there to meet everyone (and find my socks)!

If you would like to see the rest of my pictures from this event, please visit this album on my Picasa page.  I also added a slideshow of these pictures after the jump.  You can see that slideshow by clicking "Read More" at the bottom of the post.  If you see yourself in any of these pictures, let me know.  I was terrible about remembering names and I would love to properly tag everyone!

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