Solidarity announcement

So Sara has inspired me...with her amazing committment to raise $4,300 for the lymphoma/lukemia foundation and then participate in a 100 mile bike ride in October. That takes some major guts! Then she tells me that I might be interested in another part of the Team In Training (the fundraising for Lymphoma/Lukemia and personal training for an event)...walking. Well, here's the deal...I don't walk. I swim & do water aerobics and a circuit exercise program...but my knees are not fantastic....BUT...I checked it out and went to the informational meeting ...and before I knew it (that translates into "I lost my mind") I signed up for it. So I also will be doing fundraising...not as much as Sara...mine is just $1,800...and then I will participate in a 26 mile marathon in Des Moines, Iowa in October. I can tell you I won't be running it...I will be walking it. So I've started my training...for about 10 days now. I am the only walker in Lincoln (the rest are runners) and I have about an extra 30 years on everyone else...but whatever. I have a training coach (and got some further good coaching information from John Ash!) and I have a schedule that at this point includes walking 2-3 miles a day ...5 days a week....soon to be bumped up to 4 miles....and then much more. I got new running shoes, non-cotton socks that wick up moisture, lycra capri pants, a nifty waistband with 2 water bottles on each hip and a pocket to carry my ID and a cell phone, a training shirt, and most amazing...a training...oh, I mean a sports bra. Now the latter was the only unpleasant item to purchase (other than the price of all of the above!). The first attempt at trying on sports bras ended up getting caught in one...and never actually getting one over my shoulders...and...it ended up calling Sara on the cell phone to ask her how in the hell I was supposed to get into one of these things...was I supposed to step into it???...because it was NOT going much past my head! Needless to say, Sara was hysterical! It took a second trip to actually find one (the first attempt had ended with a full blown cardio work out...and I didn't even need to leave the dressing room!). Anyway...I'm now all decked out and stylin'. My routine includes talking myself into going out to walk, really enjoying the walk itself, and then coming home each time and blasting down 3 ibuprofen and a big glass of water and loading up 2 bags of ice and icing my knees. This, hopefully is a temporary fix until I gain more strength in my knees. I've just started doing some leg weight training (thanks for the suggestion, John!) so hopefully that will make a difference. The bike trails here are fantastic for walking and I am really enjoying that. I use a very cool website to map out my walks to determine distances...so I can start wherever I want for the day and go until I hit my mark. Sara is doing incredible with her training...she rode 31 miles on Saturday...and usually rides 8-10 miles on a given evening. I'll keep you all posted as to my adventures with this. So, Leo, this is for you...solidarity to Leo!!