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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Training Partner Down!

Oh noes!  I am sad to report that this past week, my most loyal training partner Shenanigans has been felled by an injury.  

Shenanigans and her hot pink bandage

 

Rest assured, it is nothing serious.  She split one of her claws so that the nail ripped completely away from the nail bed, which while quite painful is far from life threatening.  The vet had to remove the nail almost completely though, leaving poor Shenanigans bandaged and hopping about on three feet like a bunny.  Thankfully, with some pain meds and rest, she will be just fine.  However, she is going to have to sit out training with me for the Boston 3 Day for the Cure for at least the next week.  I guess I'm just going to have to talk to myself on these last few training walks...

Wishing you a speedy recovery Shenans!  It is lonely having to walk without you!

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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 Super Secret Other Handbooks

UPDATE -- As Larry mentioned in the comments, the newly updated Underground Guide for 2010 has now been published!  I updated all the links to go to the newest version of the Guide which is even better than ever.  Thanks Larry!

When I first signed up for the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure back in 2007, I wanted to know everything there was to know about this crazy thing that I had committed myself to.  I read my handbook, I read the message boards, I read every word of every Virtual Personal Trainer and monthly newsletter that I received.  If there had been the plethora of blogs and Twitter back then that there is now, you can bet that I would have read those too.  In short, if someone wrote something about the 3 Day, I definitely read it.

One of the very best things that I read about the 3 Day was The Underground Guide to the 3 Day, a super secret alternative handbook about all things 3 Day. (Okay, so it's not so "super secret".  But still.)  The Underground Guide to the 3 Day was written by a gentleman named Larry who culled the message boards and combined the great tips he found there with his own experiences to write his own guide book to surviving the Breast Cancer 3 Day.  Larry has since hooked up with The 60 Mile Men, a not for profit group of men that participate in 3 Day events around the country every year.  They are best known for their semi-nude charity calendar that they publish every year (the 2011 calendar is out today!) and for their pretty pink sashes that they wear during each event.  In short, the 60 Mile Men are one of the best parts of the 3 Day community!

Back in 2007, the Underground Guide to the 3 Day was pretty hard to come by.  I only found it because someone was nice enough to post a link to it on the message boards.  I have since revisited it every year that I have participated in the 3 Day.  Thankfully, the New Underground Guide to the 3 Day is now much easier to find because The 60 Mile Men are currently offering a free PDF version of the newly updated guide for download on their website.  I cannot recommend the Underground Guide highly enough.  It is funny, helpful and inspiring.  It should be mandatory reading for anyone participating in the 3 Day in any capacity.  You can find a direct link to the Underground Guide to the 3 Day here.

(Also - you do not want to miss the interlude about leaving your husband at home with the kids for the weekend of the 3 Day.  I've read it four times now and I still laugh so hard that I get tears in my eyes every time!)

While the Underground Guide is probably the best known alternative handbook to the 3 Day, it isn't the only one that's out there!  I recently stumbled across a second guide that I have found equally helpful that was published by a gentleman named Pete on his personal 3 Day webpage Walk Pete Walk.  Pete first participated in the 3 Day in 2006 and has either crewed or walked as part of Team Ladybug every year since.  Pete has recently compiled his best tips and advice into his own 3 Day guide titled The Participants Guide to the 3 Day.  While Pete's guide isn't as well known as the Underground Guide, it is definitely chock full of helpful advice for not just surviving the 3 Day, but enjoying it along the way.  Also, whereas Larry's guide focuses almost entirely on the experience of the walkers, Pete has also thoughtfully included a supplement to the Participant's Guide just for crew members.  I've never crewed an event myself, but as a team captain with three crew members on my team, I found his insight into the crew experience to be incredibly helpful.  As with the Underground Guide, Pete has graciously made his Participants Guide available to the public as a PDF download for free.  You can find the link to the Participants Guide to the 3 Day here and a link to the crew supplement here.

So now what are you waiting for?  Stop reading this blog and get over to those alternative guides!  There's so much to learn and take in before your events start!!

Click here to read the New Underground Guide to the 3 Day!

Click here to read the Participant's Guide to the 3 Day!

Click here to read the Crew Supplement to the Participant's Guide to the 3 Day!

On behalf of 3 Day walkers and crew members everywhere, thank you so much to Larry and Pete for taking the time to share your expertise and experiences with all of us!  The 3 Day community is much richer because of the efforts of people like you!

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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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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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Ugh.

I had something new happen today that's never happened to me before - I got pooped on by a bird.  I was taking pictures for this post when it happened.  And yes, it's totally gross, although this incident wasn't that bad.  Apparently, it's supposed to be a sign of good luck, so at least there's that.  

Anyways, that's all I have on that.  Just thought I would share as a bit of warning to all you 3 Day walkers.  Beware of those birds and don't linger too long under the pretty trees! 

Beware - they only look innocent!

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Celebrating National Start Walking Day with Flowers!

Today, April 7th, has been designated "National Start Walking Day" by the American Heart Association.  National Start Walking Day is part of their "Start Walking!" program to encourage people to lower their risk of heart disease by incorporating more exercise into their daily routine.  Walking won't just help protect you from heart disease either.  According to a study cited by the American Cancer Society, walking just 2 and 1/2 hours a week can lower your risk of developing breast cancer by up to 18%!

Now, as a 3 Day walker preparing for an event in late July, I already walk a lot.  But I wanted to mark the day by doing something to hopefully encourage others to get out and start walking.  On today's walk, Shenanigans and I braved the current pollen storm here in Atlanta in order to document one of the highlights of our training walks: the beautiful flowering trees and bushes around Atlanta.  They may have brilliant fall foliage in New England, but here in the South, we celebrate spring with flowers!

Please enjoy this sampling of some of the pictures that I took on my five mile training walk around Midtown Atlanta this afternoon.  If you would like to see more pictures from this walk, please see this album on my Picasa page.  To see my daffodil pictures from a March training walk, please visit this post.

Flowering Trees and Bushes:

April Tulips:

The only downside to all of these gorgeous flowers?  The pollen counts are off the charts in Atlanta right now!

If looking at these pictures has inspired you to do some planting around your house, please consider supporting Relentless Optimism by purchasing some (or all!) of your garden plants through our collaboration with Flower Power fundraising.  You can find all of the details on our team fundraising blog.

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