An Update!

I'm back!

Sort of.

Earlier this week, I was thrilled to learn that I will again have the honor of serving as an Online Ambassador for the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure. At the time that I applied, I thought that being named an ambassador again was something of a long shot. While I have remained in touch with much of the online 3 Day community, I haven't been blogging and I'm not yet signed up for any events in 2011, for a number of reasons. But I love being something of a leader in the 3 Day community, especially when the newbies start to poke their heads out and ask for some help or encouragement. So I applied again and was pleased to receive the email on Monday confirming that I would again get to use this pretty pink badge and title for the coming year. 

HOWEVER.

That silly dissertation of mine that led to me sticking a "Do Not Disturb" sign up on my blog still isn't done. Writing a dissertation is hard, yo. So I have been weighing all week how I wanted to proceed, with the goal being to find a healthy balance between what I want to be doing (that is, all things 3 Day and cancer advocacy-related) and what I really, really need to be doing (writing my dissertation). I have had a stronger and stronger urge to dust off the blog and get started with 3 Day activities again over the past few weeks. I have organized a few unofficial training walks here in Atlanta for visiting walkers (which you can see a few photos from here and here) and met up with my fellow 3 Day Tweeps a handful of times over the past couple months. I've stumbled across a few great articles online that have triggered the "I have to blog about this!" response more and more regularly. And so far, I've been able to resist. But with the new excitement bubbling in the 3 Day community from the announcement of the new ambassadors to increasing numbers of Getting Started meetings and the start of Training Kick Off events, it is getting to be a bit too hard to stay away for much longer.

So I guess that means that, at least for now, Kristen Walks is back online, in a somewhat limited capacity (that dissertation isn't going to finish and defend itself, after all). For now, I am only planning on bringing back what ended up being on of the most popular features of this blog: the weekly round up of what's going on across the 3 Day blogosphere. I got to know a ton of great people by reading their blogs last year and I have had a number of people comment about what an excellent resource that was for them for discovering new blogs, making connections and strengthening our little community. So, it's coming back, starting tomorrow. Each Saturday, I will do my best to post links to the latest and greatest posts about all things 3 Day and cancer advocacy that I've found over the past week. 

I can't promise it will be up every week. It takes a bit of time to read all of the great blogs out there and some weeks, dissertation writing and school work will have to take precedence. But I will do my best. I'm really looking forward to getting my blogging legs back under me a bit and getting to know some of the newbies (both newbies to the 3 Day AND newbies to blogging!) over the coming weeks and months. I hope that you all enjoy it too.

See you tomorrow morning (or later tonight, as it turns out!), with a fresh batch of links!

Kristen

Search Amazon.com for anything and everything about blogging!

Blogging Hiatus, Explained

Hello everyone!

First of all, I wanted to extend my apologies for my extended blogging absence.  I didn't intend to disappear for so long without an explanation.  For those of you who don't know, in addition to my work raising money for breast cancer research and training for the  Breast Cancer 3 Day for the Cure, I am also a graduate student working towards my PhD in Neuroscience.  In fact, I have been a graduate student working on my PhD for far too long, for a variety of reasons.  Ultimately, it has been my efforts towards changing that status and completing my degree once and for all that has kept me away from this blog for the last few weeks.  Following a very stressful but successful meeting with my thesis committee members and my advisors, I was finally given permission to wrap up my research and focus on writing both my doctoral dissertation and a final research paper to be published in the near-ish future.

Being able to move into this final phase of my graduate career has been a huge reward for me after years of toil and frustration in the lab.  However, just because I have cleared this major hurdle, there is still a lot of work to be done. I am hoping to defend my thesis before the end of March and I have a ton of work to complete before then if that is to happen. As such, while my commitment to the Breast Cancer 3 Day and to raising money and awareness for this important cause remains high, I will be stepping away from writing here at Kristen Walks for the forseeable future. 

I am confident that this is not the last that you will hear of my voice here on the pages of the Internets. I am still going to keep up with my friends and family via Facebook and email and I will continue to use Twitter probably more than I should.  I will also be helping Mug write about her experiences during the 3 Day season over on her blog at www.3DayMug.com. But given the level of quality I try to bring to the things that I share here on this blog, I wouldn't feel right trying to actively write and post here without being able to put a significant amount of time and effort into it.

Fingers crossed that my writing goes smoothly and that words and brilliant thoughts flow from my fingers to my screen easily over the coming weeks and months. I can't wait to come back here and finally tell all of you about my experience walking the 3 Day in Boston with my Relentless Optimism teammates way back in July, training with and getting to know the 3 Day Tweeps here in Atlanta and Walker Stalking the Atlanta event in late October.  Moreover, my experiences over the years with the Breast Cancer 3 Day have shown me that biomedical research advocacy is a true passion of mine and I cannot wait to start  pursuing a career in that area as soon as possible.  But before all of that can begin, completing my dissertation once and for all has to be my primary focus.

Happy Holidays and Best Wishes!

Kristen

Search Amazon.com for dissertation writing advice

So Busy...

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to pop on to briefly let everyone know that I will be back with my overdue weekly update and a "Monday Motivation" either tonight or tomorrow.  Training last week was really intense and hasn't slowed down this week either.  I've also been on overdrive at school and in the scant free time that I've had, I've been trying to tack down a few last details for our team before the 3 Day later this month.

Rest assured, though, that blogging will be back soon.  The Peachtree Road Race is this Sunday, and after that, my schedule will definitely free up a bit.  For now, though, it is back to the work grind.

Thanks for understanding!

Kristen

Apologies!

Hi everyone!

This is just a quick note to let everyone know that I am still alive and still walking!  These last couple weeks have been particularly intense for me professionally and I just haven't had the time to write as much as I had hoped to on this blog.  That said, I will definitely be getting out my overdue blog round up and weekly recap tomorrow morning.  Beyond that, I have something like 17 other posts planned for next week between Kristen Walks and the Relentless Optimism team blog.  I probably won't get to all of those posts, but even if I don't, things will definitely be kicking up a notch here on my blogs going forward.

I was stunned this week when my Virtual Personal Trainer landed in my inbox and reminded me that there are only 12 weeks left until the Boston 3 Day kicks off.  Just 12 weeks!  I'm so used to the Atlanta 3 Day schedule, so this Boston walk has totally snuck up on me.  From here on out, it's time to really get serious!

Thanks for sticking with me during these quiet two weeks!

Kristen

Search Amazon.com for Calendars

I'm an Online Ambassador for the Breast Cancer 3 Day!

Attention, attention! I am thrilled to announce that as of today, I am officially an Online Ambassador for the Breast Cancer 3 Day!

So what does that really mean? Well, it means that the good folks over at the 3 Day are going to be keeping tabs on my blog and online 3 Day promotional activities, and when they see something they like, they're going to point people over this way. That means that I have a bit of a broader platform to talk about all the great things about the Breast Cancer 3 Day beyond just my small role in it.

As far as my specific online efforts, not much is going to change. I've always made an effort to promote the 3 Day and to give my supporters an inside look at life on the 3 Day. I am going to continue those efforts through this blog as well as through our team blog over at http://relentlessoptimismfundraising.blogspot.com/. I am also going to continue to use and abuse all of the various social media outlets that I'm involved in to get the word out. All the shortcuts to help you follow me around the web can be found over in the sidebar.  The only thing that's going to be different is that I'm going to be doing all of those things a lot more often, so get ready!

What am I going to be blogging about? Well, most of it will be the same stuff as always. Expect lots of posts about my fundraising efforts and training ups and downs. I am also hoping that I can provide some inside information about what the 3 Day is all about for the first timers (and not so first timers) and maybe even entice some people that are on the fence to sign up.  That's all pretty standard stuff for 3 Day blogs and I'm glad to add to it.  I also think that I can add a new dimension to the discussion.  Because of my experience as a biomedical researcher, I think I can give my readers a bit of a window into the other side of what this the 3 Day thing is all about. We all know that we're raising money for breast cancer research, but what does that really mean? In my experience, the more people understand about how biomedical research is done, the more willing they are to support it.  So hopefully I'll be able to get that discussion going as well.

So those are my goals as a newly minted Online Ambassador. I'm really excited about this new added dimension of my personal 3 Day adventure. Thanks for giving me the opportunity, 3 Day folks!

Kristen

I'm back!

It's been about six months since I last posted, but I'm back and ready to go!

After much thought and deliberation, I have decided that I WILL be walking in the Breast Cancer 3-Day again in 2010. And not only that, but I have recruited three of my very best friends to join me this time around for the Boston walk in July. We have a long way to go before we get there, but we're getting a head start this year.

As many of you know, we lost my best friend Jen's mom, Marcia, to breast cancer last April. Throughout her battle, Marcia was one of the most ardent supporters of my 3 Day efforts . She wrote me a note during the 2007 3 Day expressing her support, saying that it was "with great hope" that one day, she would be well enough to participate in the 3 Day herself. Sadly, she was never able to fulfill that goal. This year, our team, including Jen, will pick up that torch and walk in Marcia's stead. This year, we are walking for Marcia.

One of the things that was so remarkable about Marcia was her relentless spirit of optimism throughout her ordeal. With that spirit as our inspiration, we have decided to name our 2010 3 Day team "Relentless Optimism" because it is with relentless optimism that we face our biggest challenge: to end breast cancer once and for all!

Please be sure to check back often - I am planning a whole series of posts throughout the next 8+ months, focusing on everything from my fundraising efforts and training to updates about what's going on in breast cancer research and beyond. In addition, we have also started a team blog to help us in our fundraising efforts that can be found at:

http://relentlessoptimismfundraising.blogspot.com/

There, you will find the details of all of our team fundraising activities, training updates and even a link to our new sponsor, Diana's Costume Closet. I have included a link to our team blog as well as a link to my personal fundraising page and more in the sidebar to help you out. Or if you prefer, you can add both of these blogs to your RSS reader of choice using the widget in the sidebar in order to get the most timely updates from me and my team!

Thanks so much for following along. It means so much to me to have so much support from all of my friends and family as I take on this huge challenge yet again!

Kristen

Happy Election Day!

May short lines and good weather greet you as you go out to get your voice heard!

Updates from the 3-Day are still coming, I promise. I wanted to give myself a week to reconnect with real life, and now I'm ready to get down to business updating this blog. Thanks for following along!

K

New URLS!

After months and months of frustration, I have finally figured how to update the URLs for my personal page and for the Walk Stars team page. When I registered for the 3-Day back in May, the URL that was assigned to my personal page was just gobbledegook, making it difficult to give out to people. But now, I have made it much easier. My personal page can be found at:

http://www.the3day.org/goto/kscincotta

and the Walk Stars page can be found at:

http://www.the3day.org/goto/walkstarsATL

All of the links on the right hand side of the page should still take you directly to my pages. Sorry for all the confusion, hopefully this will make everything much easier. Feel free to give these URLs out to anyone that you think might be interested. The more the merrier!

Team Walk Stars - it's official!

One of my biggest regrets last year was that Melissa and I never officially registered ourselves as a team. I know it sounds silly to consider two people a team, but when it comes down to it, we are. We train together, we kick around fund raising ideas and we keep each other going when things get tough. So this year, I made sure to get Kelly and I registered.

I just finished updating our team page over on the 3-Day site. I posted a picture of us there from a recent training walk all over downtown Atlanta (more to come later, I promise). I also made sure to add the link to that page over on the side bar of this blog. Check it out to learn more about we came together to be The Walk Stars!

And we're off!

This weekend officially marked the kick-off for the Atlanta area 3-Day training season, at least for me. On Saturday morning, The Hubs and I were among the 15,000 people "racing" for the cure to raise money for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Later that afternoon, I officially registered for this year's 3-Day and did one of my first training walks with my friend Kelly who is also planning to walk in the 3-Day. I had a brief moment of doubt about doing the 3-Day again, but after some soul searching, I decided that I had very important, personal reasons for doing it again. So I paid my registration fee, tied on my sneakers and hit the roads for the first of what will be many, many miles leading up to next October. Huzzah!

On an important side note, I haven't yet set up my personal webpage for the 3-Day. When I do, I will definitely put a widget on here so to let everyone know where to go to donate. Moreover, there is now a blog function on the 3-Day site that I can incorporate into my personal page. As of right now, I'm fully intending to use it to keep my donors updating on my progress, so expect to see a number of cross-posts from there on here.

Okay, time for bed. Lots of school work and training coming up in the week ahead!