Marjorie's New Adventure

Wow, that's great. And congrats on the improvement in your health.

I've never done this walk but I know people who have (here in DC and in California), and they had a great experience. Also I've done similar events, including the Race for the Cure around the Mall (5k walk), a 38-mile inline skating race for Team in Training (Leukemia and Lymphoma Society) and various bike rides for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, so I know the atmosphere will be great. Don't worry about staying in tents - you'll have plenty of fellow walkers to keep you company.

I hope you'll have time to visit some of the sites while you're here. If you need any information or advice for your trip, there are plenty of PCers here in the DC area who can help.

 

This sounds great. Congratulations on your improved physical condition! :clap2:

I love walking. I'm a horrid wimp when it comes to jogging or running but I can walk forever (or about 8 miles in a day - whichever comes first).

How are you training now? Do you have a regular walking circuit?

 

This is great Marjorie!

Question: Do you raise straight contributions, or do you raise pledges based on how far you actually manage to walk?

Question: Your first post fails to mention whether it's 60 miles or 60 kilometers in 3 days. Which is it?

Item: 20 km per day is doable with the proper training and footwear. There are people who walk 20 miles in a day, but I find that even in the best shoes, my feet cannot take it. I walked 16 miles once. Not sure I could have made it another 4. I recommend you include at least some actual walking on pavement (assuming you will be on pavement in D.C.). And work up to an actual 20-mile walk a week or two before the event. And the second straight day will be a lot harder, as your muscles will be stiff and sore. I recommend yoga as a way to stretch and warm up for the day's walk. But that's something you'd need to begin now, along with your aerobic training.

I'm sure the event will have provisions for people who cannot complete each day's walk. Of course, there's added incentive if the pledges are based on your actual miles walked rather than flat donations before the event.

I hate sleeping in a tent. However, there will be so much energy, and so much camaraderie, that it will greatly mitigate the physical discomfort, and if the organizers are competent it need not be all that uncomfortable. (If they are incompetent, it could be hell.)

Suggestion: Find a professional sports trainer who can teach you how to bandage your feet to prevent blisters. But first, in the shoes you will be wearing, go out and walk until you begin to feel the "hot spots." Stop immediately when that happens, before blisters form. This will show you the areas on your feet that need protection. As you build up your distance, you'll learn where your feet need protection and how to protect them. Given adequate aerobic training, it's the blisters that will put the limit on how far you can walk.

And be sure to provide us here on PriusChat with a way to contribute. You won't want to post your mailing address, but you could take out a P.O. box short-term for the purpose, or create a special PayPal account for the purpose, or something like that. Or maybe the organizers have an address we can send contributions to in your name.

 

Okay, I googled them and found your contribution page and made a contribution. It turned out to be very easy to find your contribution page. I am not posting the link, but if you are willing to do so, it might help encourage others to donate.

I also found an answer to one of my questions: Contributions are straight donations, not based on how far you walk, or even on whether you actually participate. Therefore, I've donated a smaller amount. I'll donate more if you actually enter the event, and most if you walk the full 60 miles, or a pro-rated amount if you walk some but not all.

On the donation page I sent you a message with details and how much more I'll donate if you complete the event.

GOOD LUCK!!!

P.S. If you are not web-savvy enough to post the link, but you'd like it posted here, I'll be happy to do so. I just don't want to post it without your approval.

 

wow. marjorie, that's a wonderful thing to do with your irs check! and to use your improved physical condition to raise donations to help others... you're truly an inspiration!

and daniel, your generosity is also inspiring. thank you for donating to this important cause.

breast cancer is an issue that's extremely close to my heart. literally. do we have until october to make a donation?

 

This is Marjorie's donation page at the Breast Cancer 3 Day organization. Donations go to them, not to Marjorie, but she gets credit towards the $2,200 she must raise to participate. If she fails to participate for any reason, donations are NOT refundable.

To participate she must raise the money before the start of the event, but donations can be made up to 4 weeks after the event. (In case you want to do as I did, and promise an additional donation, after the fact, conditional on how far she actually walks -- trusting her, of course, as I do, to report honestly.)

Accepting donations after the event allows participants who have not raised the full amount to give the organization their credit card guarantee of the difference, but continue fund raising after the event, or depend on promises dependent on their performance. Or, it allows people who have raised enough to participate to raise even more through conditional pledges, to be donated after the event.

If the mods think posting the above link is inappropriate, they are of course free to delete it. I predict they will not. In any case, it does not take much imagination to find her donation page on their site.

And Marjorie: I am very impressed by the way you have turned your health around, and the way you have found a fun and useful way to use your newfound health and further improve it at the same time!

As of this posting, Marjorie is 1/3 of the way to the minimum she must raise. There is no maximum.

 

Thanks Marjorie, and good luck.

Thanks Daniel for encouraging contributions and posting Marjorie's contribution page.