3/60 Walk for the Cure

It's done. I did the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure Philadelphia 10/15/10 - 10/16/10. 60 miles in 3 days. As they promote, it was definitely an experience worth doing and was very memorable and moving. I almost didn't go since my friend had to drop out due to injuries and that left me to go through this experience without a partner. I decided to suck it up and go for it. My biggest fear wasn't doing the actual walk alone, but, what it would be like in camp and with a tentmate I didn't know. I did decide that anyone doing this walk would most likely be a nice person and I was right.

Day 1 - DH dropped me off at the opening ceremony site in Willow Grove, PA. It was dark and had rained the day before, so it was cold and damp. I dropped my bag off at the truck and made my way into the site of the opening ceremony. There were people everywhere and it like everyone was with someone. I wandered around a little bit feeling a bit out of place and second guessing myself for coming. I finally stopped wandering around and moved closer to where the stage was set for the kick-off for the walk. Within minutes a woman, Christina, asked me if I was alone and when I said yes, she immediately said I should walk with them. That was so nice and made me feel more comfortable.

Opening ceremony was very moving. There was fun music, some moving stories and survivors who were doing the walk grabbing flags and beginning the walk out of the parking lot. We all followed, slowly, since there was a bit of a people-jam. There were well-wishers everywhere all wanting to give high-fives and thanks. The walk to the first pit stop was stop and go as there were a few thousand people all walking together. After the first pit stop, it became more spread out and was the stop and go was over. There were pit stops every few miles with a lunch stop at about the halfway point. The sun ended upcoming out and the day was beautiful, windy, but, beautiful. Toward the end of the walk that day there were a couple of monsterous hills which were daunting, but, I put my head down and kept going and before you knew it the hills were conquered. I will admit I was very happy to get to the bus that took us back to the camp site in the Philadelphia convention center. I was also very happy that we were camping inside instead of outside as was originally planned. I think due to how cold it was getting at night and the high winds that weekend, the organizers made the right choice moving it inside.

Once at the convention center, I got assigned a tent and a tentmate, Audrey. All I can say is thank goodness there was a volunteer there to pitch the tent because I have no idea now to do it. I've never camped in my life. I'm also so grateful that I broke down and brought an air mattress, otherwise, I would have been sleeping on a concrete floor and no way can you make that comfortable.

Shower, in the shower trucks, dinner, and a little post dinner internet, entertainment and off to the tent. I was sleeping by 9:45.

Day 2 - I ended waking up around 5am as people began to stir. Everyone was as quiet as possible, but, it's impossible to not hear the noise around you. Got up, freshened up, breakfast, covered a blister on my left 4th toe with a bandaid and off to begin the next day's walk. I was among the first groups people to get going that day and it was definitely preferable to be toward the front rather than the back as I was Day 1. Again, great pitstops, lunch and tons of people out encouraging us and thanking us for doing this.
Back at camp, kind of a repeat of Day 1, shower, food, entertainment but this time, I also took advantage of the massage chairs sponsored by Bank of America. They massaged your back, feet and legs and they had laptops with internet access for us while we were getting the massage. I went twice for that.

Day 3 - feeling a little stiff, but, good. No more blisters. We had to break down the tent which took a little while mostly because we had to pack it up, but, we managed.

Loved everything about the event. I think I could be talked into doing it again, but, this time I would want to make sure I did it with at least one other person if not more. People who did the walk were all nice, but, since most of them were with at least one other person there weren't as inclined to bring you into their 'group'. All in all though I had some good conversations and enjoyed my experience.

I hope to get some pictures of this up soon. We're having trouble getting the pictures off the camera. For some reason the PC isn't recognizing the camera.

Komen, Tea and Stitches

I just finished a 10 mile walk on Saturday and an 8 mile walk today (Sunday). These are my final long walks in preparation to walk in the Susan G. Komen 3-day for the Cure 60 mile walk in Philadelphia, PA next weekend.  I think I'm ready, but, it's hard to be sure 60 miles is a long way. In fact, I've never camped before much less in a tent, so this should be a very interesting weekend experience for me.

I've been having the bug to cook some more lately. I think it's due to the change in weather. Fall is definitely coming on. It was 39 degrees this morning when I got up to walk and as in typical fall weather in NJ it is supposed to go up to about 70 degrees today.

I am going to make Kripula's Chai Tea later today since that sounds so good on a fall afternoon.

No work on the Kayla Shrug yet this weekend, but, maybe later today. I finished my swatches for my Stitches East Classes  - Breathtaking Buttonholes and Buttonbands and Mosaic Knitting the Colorful and Easy Way. I've heard so many great things about the Stitches conferences, including that there are so many vendors it can be overwhelming to new people. I can't wait to go. I'm planning on shopping on Sat. the 30th and taking the classes on Sun. the 31st.

OM

I took a very long hiatus between my first post and this one. I've been trying to get my thoughts together on what I wanted to blog about. I have come up with the idea of a podcast in conjunction with this blog. The blog and podcast will focus on what I am knitting and/or crocheting, a yoga principle and what I am doing as I tackle the The Knitting Guild Association (TKGA) Master Level 1 program. I'm sure I will also include food and recipes from time to time.

I just finished crocheting Pearl's Cardigan. It is from Crochet So Fine by Kristin Omdahl. She and Interweave Press were so kind to post the pattern on the Lion Brand website and Kristin's is running a Crochet Along (CAL). Her book is very intriguing and it helps dispel the idea that all crochet is toilet paper covers and granny squares. My apologies to those who like granny squares. I know they are in fashion now, but, since I remember the last time they were in fashion, I can't quite bring myself to like them again.

I am currently knitting Kayla's Shrug. 

Yoga thoughts.
In yoga classes, OM is often sung or spoken/chanted. Many people are often shy about participating in this ritual. OM is a sacred syllable in Hinduism and Buddhism representing birth, life and death


It consists of 3 letters (mātrās):
A – stands for the state of wakefulness, where we experience externally through our mind and sense organs. It is represented by the lower curve
U – stands for the dream state, in which inward experiences are available. It is represented by the right side curve.
M – stands for the state of deep sleep, where there is no desire and consciousness is gathered in upon itself. It is represented by the upper curve

The fourth state which corresponds to silence. It encompasses the waking, dream and deep sleep states in continuity. It is represented by the dot and the semi-circle underneath the dot.

TKGA Masters Level 1
I have the material from TKGA and am thinking about starting. However, before I do, I am taking 2 classes at Stitches East. They are Breathtaking Buttonholes and Buttonbands with Maureen Mason-Hamieson and Mosaic Knitting: Colorful Knitting the Easy Way with Melissa Leapman. Both of these classes require swatches to be made and since the classes are on 10/31/10, I need to get those done before I start swatching for the Masters program. I am going to try to balance continuing to knit/crochet items while working on the Masters program.