Avon walk...anyone done this? Advice?

[rockzilla]

So, my BF and I have signed up for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in LA. It''s not until September, but we are starting early so that we have time to fundraise and train for it. It is a marathon the first day and a half marathon the second day (!) AND you have to raise a minimum of $1,800 each AND (they didn''t tell us this until after we signed up) it''s actually in Long Beach and you have to be there at 5:30 in the morning.

If anyone has any tips or words of encouragement, please send them my way!

Thanks,
RZ

 

[Skippy123]

Hit up people at work. Wow, that is a lot of money. It is very admirable of you.

Also, friends and family and neighbors. Ask stores if you could set up shop their to take donations. Best wishes and cheering you on

 

[Sparkles22]

Date: 5/2/2007 6:32:34 PM
Author:rockzilla
So, my BF and I have signed up for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in LA. It''s not until September, but we are starting early so that we have time to fundraise and train for it. It is a marathon the first day and a half marathon the second day (!) AND you have to raise a minimum of $1,800 each AND (they didn''t tell us this until after we signed up) it''s actually in Long Beach and you have to be there at 5:30 in the morning.

If anyone has any tips or words of encouragement, please send them my way!

Thanks,
RZ

You''re doing a great thing

!

 

[KimberlyH]

I walked a Komen 3Day in November with 6 women and Monarch did an Avon walk, I believe two years ago, she may have some great tips for you. Start fundraising now! Invest in a few good pairs of shoes, wear the pair you''ll participate in for at least a few weeks before the event. Buy second skin, your feet will thank you. Don''t forget to wear sun screen. Enjoy every minute of training and the event itself. The 3Day was one of the most wonderful experiences I''ve ever had!

 

[FireGoddess]

I think it''s awesome that you''re doing this. A coworker who has battled BC has done the walk every other year or so and always gets enough donations - I think she''s shooting for $10K this year!!!!

Definitely train for this thing - it is HARD to walk 26 miles one day and 13 the next!!! When I trained to run a marathon I did a 6 month training program. The basics were to run 3 days a week and then a progressively longer run each Saturday. Perhaps at least you could do a long walk each weekend, gradually working up in the miles so your body gets used to the pounding and the lactic acid buildup, etc and gets conditioned to walk for such a long period of time. Your muscles need to learn to expend energy efficiently and be conditioned to work for extended time. But it''s totally doable!!!

Send emails to friends and coworkers, and ask them to pass the email on to anyone they can. Also set up a website if the walk provides it (they should, I donated for my friend that way) so people can just easily charge their donations.

GOOD LUCK! IT''S a GREAT THING you''re doing!!!

 

[monarch64]

Date: 5/2/2007 6:32:34 PM
Author:rockzilla
So, my BF and I have signed up for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in LA. It''s not until September, but we are starting early so that we have time to fundraise and train for it. It is a marathon the first day and a half marathon the second day (!) AND you have to raise a minimum of $1,800 each AND (they didn''t tell us this until after we signed up) it''s actually in Long Beach and you have to be there at 5:30 in the morning.

If anyone has any tips or words of encouragement, please send them my way!

Thanks,
RZ

Rockzilla, congrats on becoming an Avon Walker and contributing to this wonderful organization. You will LOVE doing this. I did it last June in Chicago, I trained for three months with a team from my gym and we had the best time.

For fundraising, ask everyone. Don''t be shy.

For other advice, see the Avonwalk.org site and set up your personal page there, it''s a good way to get donations as you can email it to all kinds of people and they get to keep track of your progress, both fundraising wise and training wise, and then of course you can blog about the actual walk when you do it.

Get a couple pairs of good tennis shoes to alternate training and for the actual walk. Blister band aids are a godsend. I didn''t care too much for moleskin, I found the blister things were waaaayyy better. Socks are also VERY important, you want something non cotton that wicks moisture away from your feet and is seamless so the seams don''t rub your toes. I found most of what I needed at Sports Authority.

For your longer training walks and the actual walk itself, I really recommend getting one of those CamelPak backpack water systems. It''s lightweight but holds two liters of water plus other things you will need like cash, ID, extra band aids, power bars, extra socks, etc. That is one investment I''m so glad I spent $ on, and in fact it turned out that I actually had TTOTM for the Walk itself so I was able to carry my supplies with me.

Sunscreen, bring that, even though some stations will supply it for you. Extra toilet paper, they will be out by the second day. Um, a flashlight if you''re planning in staying over night in the tent city. Bug repellant. There are a ton of other things you will need, but they will give you a complete list as well.

Please feel free to ask me any other questions. If I hadn''t just had surgery today I would''ve been doing this awesome event again this year, I definitely plan to do it again next year!!!

 

[FireGoddess]

I love the double layer coolmax socks - they do wonders in blister prevention. I have 3 pairs. They cost around $8.99 a pair but are so worth it.

http://www.wrightsock.com/anti-blister.html

They are usually sold in running stores and specialty sports stores.

 

[monarch64]

Pssstt FG, how''s your mom doing? (sorry to hijack rockzilla)

 

[rockzilla]

Monarch-

Glad to hear I can talk to somoene who has done it before! I am a little worried about the 5:30am start date...especially since it is in Long Beach. AND they say you have to come the night before (friday) to sign in at "event eve"...the only problem is that Long beach is 30 miles from actual LA where I live...which will mean probably 2 hours stuck in traffic to get there. When I called them to find out about this, they were like, "well you do know it starts at 5:30am on saturday right?" Of course, nowhere was this listed on the website, and the informational dvd is more like a motivational DVD...no really information! Not that I would not do it because of this, but I just didn''t feel like the information was readily accessable before we signed up.

BUT I am happy and motivated for it. My best friend''s mom, and my boyfriend''s mom, were both lost to breast cancer, so it hits very close to home for both of us.

As for the "tent city"...do you bring your own sleeping bag/supplies? I can''t imagine they make you carry that stuff all day for 26 miles? Also, what kind of security is there in the tent city? I keep thinking some scary refugee camp type place where people could rob you in the night...though I''m sure it''s not like that at all

I already bought a bunch of non-cotton socks (at Ross, so I can try them out and don''t pay an arm and a leg). Also, what size of camel bak did you buy? I have friends who own them for hiking, but they say they are difficult to clean and the water always tastes plasticy.

 

[FireGoddess]

Are your non cotton socks double layered? That''s what keeps you from getting the blisters. The coolmax just wicks away the moisture.

Monny, thanks for asking (sorry to hijack, will make it quick!) - she''s doing okay. I wanted mom and dad to come visit this summer but dad admitted that mom still has a lot of pain from the surgery scars and until it subsides he doesn''t think she''ll feel comfortable away from home. She never admitted this to me so it was a surprise. Other than that I think she''s okay. Dealing with fear of recurrence issues like all survivors do. I just bought her a subscription to the new Lance Armstrong Foundation magazine called "Heal" which deals with life after treatment. I hope it is a help!

 

[monarch64]

Date: 5/3/2007 7:48:11 PM
Author: rockzilla
Monarch-

Glad to hear I can talk to somoene who has done it before! I am a little worried about the 5:30am start date...especially since it is in Long Beach. AND they say you have to come the night before (friday) to sign in at ''event eve''...the only problem is that Long beach is 30 miles from actual LA where I live...which will mean probably 2 hours stuck in traffic to get there. When I called them to find out about this, they were like, ''well you do know it starts at 5:30am on saturday right?'' Of course, nowhere was this listed on the website, and the informational dvd is more like a motivational DVD...no really information! Not that I would not do it because of this, but I just didn''t feel like the information was readily accessable before we signed up.

BUT I am happy and motivated for it. My best friend''s mom, and my boyfriend''s mom, were both lost to breast cancer, so it hits very close to home for both of us.

As for the ''tent city''...do you bring your own sleeping bag/supplies? I can''t imagine they make you carry that stuff all day for 26 miles? Also, what kind of security is there in the tent city? I keep thinking some scary refugee camp type place where people could rob you in the night...though I''m sure it''s not like that at all

I already bought a bunch of non-cotton socks (at Ross, so I can try them out and don''t pay an arm and a leg). Also, what size of camel bak did you buy? I have friends who own them for hiking, but they say they are difficult to clean and the water always tastes plasticy.

As far as the start time, I can tell you what my experience was...I live about 20 min. from downtown Chicago where the rest of my team was staying overnight in anticipation of getting up super early for the start of the walk. I had my DH drop me off downtown at the hotel where we stayed after I got out of work Friday afternoon so that worked out well. We went through the registration line and picked up our tee shirts and turned in our donations (that''s basically what registration is all about--they get your donations so they can give you the greenlight to walk) and then we had dinner together and then rested up for the big event. The next morning was a complete whirlwind. We woke at 4:30 a.m. and had to be at Soldier Field by 5 a.m. to load our sleeping gear (I think we had a 30-40 lb. limit) onto trucks (the crew takes your sleeping stuff to the tent city, you do not have to carry it!)and were fed a good breakfast, then listened to some wonderful motivational speakers, did some warm up exercises and departed.

The security in the tent city is very good. Ours was in a park and I think the tents were set up on either a soccer or baseball field. There were semi trailers with hot showers in them and sinks outside. There were first aid "camps" set up for blister care and even massages if you needed that sort of thing, and there was a "mess" hall tent where food was served, we got dinner and next morning''s breakfast there. The tent city was a great experience but I have to say one year of going that route was enough for me. Next time I do the Avon Walk I will definitely choose to stay with friends downtown or get a hotel room. You have to bring a sleeping pad to put underneat your sleeping bag and it''s still not comfortable. Also you are dealing with portable restrooms in this situation and they are not a pretty sight by morning. But as far as security, you''ll be fine. Large cities are used to dealing with these types of marches/organizations and are equipped to handle whatever security measures go along with them.

I know the start time is a pain, but trust me you will want every bit of the time they allow to finish the first day''s 26 miles. You don''t want to be lagging behind in the morning or coming in late and then having the paddy wagons come round you up and drive you into the tent city by 6 p.m. or whatever it is that evening. Also this is where training a lot will come in handy, you will figure out how to pace yourself and how long it will take you to walk 10, 15, 20 miles with bathroom, food, and stretching breaks along the way.

Oh, and my CamelBak thing is the medium one, I think. I know it holds 64 oz and has pockets for extra necessities. I didn''t find mine difficult to clean whatsoever, I just rinsed it with dish soap, a special brush you can buy, and hot water and I never had any issues with mildew or anything. I will say that the water tends to get warm after several hours if you''re walking out in the sun or just from your body heat and this can cause the water that is left in the tube part to start tasting plasticky, but if you just spit out that first mouthful the water from the reservoir tastes fine. To me using the CamelBak was much easier than a fanny pak or carrying a water bottle in my hand, plus it helped my posture as well.