More Training Walks!

It seems right now that my time is spent in training for the 3-day and that is as it should be! I have gotten in some good walks in the past few weeks and some not so good walks! I let myself get discouraged a couple of weekends ago when my team, the Front Yard Flamingos went on our first training walk together. The other ladies walked so much faster than I did and they soon left me behind. Matt Oyervides walked with us that day and he stayed back with me. I really let that discourage me when I should have let that motivate me. Now I'm motivated and I'm ready to hit it!

Matt and me

Tammie, Susan, Doris and Kitty

Saturday, June 19, 2010 - 6 mile training walk in Midlothian

This past weekend I decided to tackle a 6 mile training walk again since the previous one didn't turn out so well for me. This time Laci Childers joined me at Lions Park in Ennis at 6:30am on Friday, June 25, 2010. Our strategies was to walk 3 miles (6 times around the little lake) and rest for a few minutes and do the last 3 miles. Even though I ended up with a blister on my little toe again I felt so much better when we were done. I did it! I went my pace and didn't try to kill myself trying to keep up with someone else,s pace!

Laci and me at the 3 mile mark as we were about to take our break....we were hot and sweaty, it was very humid and pretty warm that day.

And that brings me to today. My training schedule for this week is 3 miles today, 5 miles on Wednesday, 6 miles on Friday and 5 miles on Saturday, with cross training on Tuesday and Thursday. I'm doing Zumba and Zumba Toning for my cross training right now.

I met Kelli Anavitarte this morning at 6am in the neighborhood just down from our church and we did a wonderful 3 mile walk. It was a bit cooler this morning than it was last Friday and the Lord blessed us with an incredible sunrise!

A camera just simply cannot do justice to God's beautiful sunrise. Thank you Lord for a beautiful start to our day.

Kelli and me

I'm Not a Morning Person...

But...I have gotten up at 5:30am on Monday and today so I can get in my 3 miles before work.  I like this a lot better than walking after work for a couple of reasons.  1...it is cooler in the mornings and 2...it is done and finished first thing and I don't have to think about it for the rest of the day.

I was really sad that I did not get new batteries for my camera after the old ones died on me right after the training run up in Frisco last Saturday.  I really do want to try to take at least 1 picture from every training walk I do until the 3-Day.  That will be a minimum of 96 pictures and I know there will be days where I take more than 1 picture.  I think I'm going to have Deon make me a photo book of this whole journey when this 3-Day is complete!!

So there isn't a picture for my training walk day 1 but here are a couple from day 2...

This was on my 2nd lap around Lions Park in Ennis....it was still pretty dark outside and I was the first person out walking at the park.

This was my 5th lap and there were several people walking at the park by this time in the morning.

I started my walk at about 5:50am and I finished at about 6:53am.

It was a very beautiful morning and the sunrise was simply incredible!

Offical Training Walk Kick-Off!

This week marks 24 weeks before the 3-Day event!  Saturday I went to a "Training Walk" kick-off in Frisco.  The day started out with me realizing that I had miscalculated the time it would take for me to get to Frisco!  However, had I paid closer attention to the email I would have known that from 7:30am to 8am was early bird special shopping at the New Balance store.  I did make it there on time and all was good.

I tried to start a conversation with a few different people but everyone one was there with someone or several someones on their teams!  I was resigned to walk the 3 miles alone in a crowd of from 75 to 100 people!  The "Training Walk" leader welcomed us all and then introduced Jen Austin who is the producer of the Dorsey Gang, the morning show on KSCS!  I decided that I was going to tell her how much of a fan Karah is and how she is going to be upset that she couldn't come with me on this walk!  When the walk officially started I made my way to Jen and told her just that.  We talked a little and then I passed the folks that were right in front of us.  Before I knew it Jen had passed them too and was walking right beside me again.  We ended up walking the whole 3 miles together and had a really nice chat.  It really is amazing how short 3 miles seems when you have someone to share it with!

So, my official training began this morning.  I woke up at 5:30am and was out of the house by 5:45 and heading to Lions park in Ennis.  I did my 6 laps (3 miles) and headed home for a much needed shower.  This is only going to put me at work 15 minutes later than normal so I will be getting up early on Monday's and Wednesday's for the 3 miles.  I'll worry about the 4 and 5 miles on Monday's and Wednesday's  later!! 

So much has happened....

Here I am again letting time slip away without writing about my journey.  The weight loss has finally started going slowly in the right direction!  I am so grateful for that. 

Me, Kitty and Doris

Our Team, the Front Yard Flamingos

So much has happened with the 3-Day.  I have joined a team, we are the Front Yard Flamingos and the other two gals are just wonderful.  They both live in far west Arlington and that makes getting together a bit tricky!  On May 8th I headed out to go to Arlington to meet up with Doris to walk 8 miles.  Gosh, at about 1.5 miles my feet started to hurt.  I really didn't know if I was going to make the whole trip but I was determined not to give up.  At about 7 to 7.5 miles I got a blister on my little toe on my left foot but I was not going to quit!  When we got back to Doris's house I check my pedometer and we had actually gone 8.5 miles!!!!  I was so excited and so proud of myself.  The best part was that by the time I drove back home my feet didn't hurt anymore and the blister healed up in a couple of days.


Last Friday, May 14th, the Front Yard Flamingos had a garage/bake sale.  It was threatening rain the whole morning.  We just kept praying and selling!  The rain came about 30 minutes before we were due to quit the sale.  Later that day Kitty (our Team Captain) emailed Doris and myself to let us know that we made enough money for the 3 of us to each have $115.13!!!  Yay!  That put me over my first $1000......I know now that I can do this and I am grateful that God has guided me every step of this journey!!

A New Chapter in the Same Journey...

Sadly I have discovered that Weight Watchers is no longer working for me, or should I say I no longer am working Weight Watchers.  I'm ready for a different nutritional challenge.  I am now going to Midway Baptist Church just down the road from our church on Tuesday nights for a Women's wellness class.  The pastor's wife is a certified personal trainer.  God is so good in answering this prayer for me.  I have always wanted a personal trainer.  She is just what I need right now and it is the whole package...not just the exercise and nutrition but the sprititual as well.

She is going to develop and plan for me in all areas so I can get the optimum results from my training for the 3-day in November.  The best part is that this is going to be done in little steps so it isn't as overwhelming as it could be.

I am praising God for His faithfulness to me!!

www.the3day.org/goto/tammie.grandon

A New Adventrue!

As most of you already know I registered to participate in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure in November of this year. I'm so excited I can hardly see straight! I have named 2010 as my "pink" year and I have already bought a lot of pink stuff for this year! I'm going to make two "awareness ribbon" afghans, one for myself to use in my tent at night during the walk and one to raffle off as a fund raiser. I'll post pictures when I get them finished.

I am walking in memory of my mom, Nancy Doolin. Here is one of my favorite pictures of her...she lost her battle with breast cancer on November 7, 1997. The last day of the walk and the closing ceremony will be on November 7, 2010, the 13th anniversary of her death.

I'm proud to be walking in memory of my mom but I'm also walking so that all the precious women in my life may never have to walk down the same road as my mom traveled. God willing, a cure will be found and I'm excited to do my little bit to help.

October Already??!!

I am just flabbergasted that it is October already! I love the change in the season and October is one of my favorite times of the year.

The change of the seasons is a good time for new beginnings and I'm ready for one. I have been doing a terrible job on eating right here lately and that has shown up on the scale. I really don't want to be tied to the scale anymore because I don't think it is healthy for me at all. I really need to seek God's face and ask Him what the discipline in my eating will look like....do I go back to Weight Watchers and count points or do I just focus on getting all the healthy stuff in when I'm hungry and not over eat, that is what I need my Father in heaven to reveal to me!

I will not be the size I wanted to be for William and Amy's wedding but maybe that is a good thing too! I get so caught up in my outward appearance that I forget to work on my inward person which it the real me! I tend to forget that I am a beautiful daughter of the Most High God and He is the One who made me...me and I need to be thankful for that. "I am fearfully and wonderful made!"

Yes, I know it is my sin of over eating that has put the extra weight on my wonderfully made body and I will carry consequences of that sin for the rest of my life but I don't have to stay in that sin. With God's help and His strength alone I can overcome the stronghold this sin has over my life....I will not let Satan and this sin defeat me!