Pre-Training

This might sound crazy, but doing a 3-Day walk is really SIMPLE.  Not easy, by any means.  But simple.  Because Komen has this all figured out for you.  They do 15 walks each year, they know what we walkers need.  And first and foremost, we need instructions!

When you register for a 3-Day you have access to your own Participant Center.  The PC is like your own little library, full of resources on everything from packing to fundraising to training.  There's form letters, email addresses, and most importantly -- a training schedule.

Clearly, you can't walk 60 miles in 3 days without some training.  Serious training.  Komen gives you 2 options for training -- a 16 week training schedule or a 24 week training schedule.  Seriously, 16 weeks?  No thank you, we'll take 24 -- and then some!

Our 24 week training schedule starts Monday.  At that point we have a schedule laid out in pink and white with 4 days of walking, 2 days of cross-training, and one day of rest.  (Oh how we will learn to love Mondays!)  Before starting on the official training schedule, we need to be able to walk 3 miles in an hour, comfortably.  Check!

We've been getting together once a week since February and walking for an hour.  Just getting out and getting moving is SO important.  And possibly even more important than the movement itself is getting in the habit of getting moving.  Knowing that you're going to get up early (or come home from work, or sneak out after the kids go to bed) and lace up your sneakers, and get those miles in starts a good habit that is going to be SO needed over the next 24 weeks!

Pre-training is as much for the walker's family as it is for the walker.  They need to warm up to the idea that you're going to be gone more than usual, you're going to be tired when you get home, and you're going to want to talk about fundraising for hours at a time.  Pre-training is the pre-game warm up, it's the time to start shopping, and it's the mental preparation you need to take off running (err, walking fast!) as you start the countdown on Week #24 Day 1.

Here we go!