Walker Wednesday: Meet Joyce

Team Captain Joyce Rizer is a veteran of the 3-Day.  She did her first event last year in Washington D.C. and is proud to say she walked ALL 60+ miles!  The story of how she came to do her first 3-Day is posted here.

The story of how she came to do her 2nd 3-Day is sprinkled throughout this blog.  She's the team blogger.  And she hates writing in 3rd person, so that's gonna stop right now.

Last year, I shaved my head and raised pretty much all of the money I needed to meet my minimum fundraising requirement.  This year, it's going a lot slower.  But I'll get there!

When I look back over my story for last year's event one particular line makes me sad:  "Unlike so many who do the 3-Day, I haven't been personally affected by this disease."

I now have a dear friend who's currently in the fight.  She was diagnosed in April with IBC - Inflammatory Breast Cancer.  The most aggressive kind.   She's counting her time left on earth in days now.  The cancer is winning, and I know my friend will have lost her battle by the time we get to Atlanta.

At some point I hope to be able to blog more about the conversations we've had about breast cancer.  But for now I'll share something she said that keeps playing over and over in my head:  "This is 2011.  It's completely ridiculous that people are dying from this disease."  For all the research that's been done, the advances that have been made, there is still SO much work left to do. 

Sorry... I got off on a little tangent.  (Anything to stop talking about me!)  But here we go:  I'm a native of Central Illinois, a graduate of Illinois State, an employee of Sirius XM Radio, a life-long Methodist, a lover of country music, a really lousy gardener, a wife, daughter, mother, grandmother, aunt, sister, niece, mentor, friend, neighbor, and 3-Day walker.

And this year, I'm a Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure Ambassador! 

24 Weeks To Go!

Today starts our 24 Week Training Program!  No more "Pre-Training" -- it's time to get SERIOUS about this walk.  How serious?

We walk 4 days a week.  We cross-train 2.  And we rest 1.

Our first week we will walk 12 miles.  Our last week we will walk 65.  Before you begin training, you need to be able to walk 3 miles in an hour.  I think we all can do that.  SO -- here's what our first week looks like:  (We don't add the second day of cross-training until Week #5)

Mon:   REST
Tues:   3 miles
Wed:   REST
Thurs:  3 Miles
Fri:      30 min XTrain Easy
Sat:      3 Miles
Sun:     3 Miles

Here we go!

Bald for the Cure ~ 1 Year Later

I can't shave my head again, but walk 60 miles in 3 days?
I can do that. But I need your help!
www.the3day.org/goto/joycerizer

Walker Wednesday: Meet Lauren

Lauren Rickels is very excited about doing her first 3-Day this year! She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology from the University of Tennessee. She and Ryan have been married for 7 years and are parents to 2 boys, Zach (3) and Austin (11 months). 

Lauren is currently staying home with her boys and loving it! She has a double stroller that allows her to take the boys on training walks. Zach even gets out and runs beside her sometimes!  Austin just took his first step - he'll be walking with Mommy in no time. She is a Pampered Chef Consultant and loves scuba diving, traveling and sports.  

Lauren did The Race for the Cure a few years ago. She and Joyce play bunco together, and when she first heard about the 3 Day last year she thought it was an amazing thing to do. It has been in the back of her mind that she would love to do something like that, so when Joyce told her that Music City Spirit was walking in Atlanta she decided to go for it! 

Lauren is a Georgia native, and she's counting on her friends and family to come out and cheer her through those 60 miles!  She knows what an impact breast cancer can have on families and is happy to be part of the 3 Day to help find a cure.  Visit Lauren's 3-Day page by clicking here!

Lauren is also sponsoring the Pampered Chef Fundraiser going on now for Music City Spirit.  Please browse the catalog online and enter Sarah Holton as the hostess when placing an order.

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!

Walker Wednesday: Meet Kendall

Kendall Crosslin is doing her first 3-Day this year! She has a bachelor's degree from Western Kentucky University and Master's from Middle Tennessee State University.  She is currently working as a substitute teacher in the Franklin Special School district. Kendall also teaches 2nd & 3rd grade Sunday School at Hillcrest United Methodist Church, and loves football and Zumba. Next week Kendall will run her 3rd Country Music Half Marathon, and her 4th Half Marathon overall!

Kendall has completed 2 Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure events. For more about why she decided to do the 3-Day, visit her 3-Day page and read her 3 Reasons for Walking!

Coffee For The Cure!

Need to kick start your week? 

Our newest sponsor can take care of that! 

Welcome Mama's Java Coffee in Nolensville, TN! 

They are donating 10% of all coffee sales 1st and 3rd Monday of the month to Music City Spirit!

FINALLY - a reason to look forward to Mondays!

We'll have a more detailed sponsor profile coming soon, but in the meantime, check out their website and be sure to like them on Facebook.  You can find them through our Facebook page. 

Mama's Java is located at 7177 Nolensville Road, Nolensville, TN (in the same shopping plaza as Salon2Dye4 and Oscar's Taco.)  Stop by and tell them thanks for supporting Music City Spirit -- anjd get a BIG cup of Java goodness while you're there!