Let's go Week 22!

Yes, 22 is upon me. The training schedule for this week includes my first ever 5 mile training walk. Go feet, go! This week will also hold a different type of challenge for me... the kids are done with school Tues/Wednesday. This is going to severely mess with my already established training routine. Blech, change.

As I wave goodbye to week 23, it's time to tie up a few loose ends..

Training total (week) - 13.3 miles
Fundraising total - $1,560 (although we did make some money this weekend, to be distributed as needed closer to the event)

Training On Sunday my family and I went to the city in which hubby and I grew up. My parents still live there, in the same house. For the past year and a half my mom has been working very hard on improving her health. As part of her efforts she walks 5 days a week. On Sunday she participated in her second ever 5K event. When she asked if I would walk with her, of course I said yes!

It was a hot morning, no June gloom on this day =( The 3.1 mile route was flat, totally and completely flat. My mom did an amazing job and wond 3rd place in her age group. We walked the entire time, and I forced her to drink some of my water. Well, no one can really force my mom to do anything, but I kept pestering her about it until she gave in :) We finished the course in 58 minutes and some-odd seconds. She was struggling at the end (there wasn't much shade), but she did great! I was very proud of her (did I mention she's 74 years old?).

As for me, I was surprised at the ease with which I was walking. I paced myself with my mom, but it felt unnaturally slow. I was chatting away the entire time (I told my mom I was using the incessant chatter as method of distracting her from the heat). Our finishing time surprised me - it was slightly less than a 20 minute mile. It seems that the hilly routes I walk really do make a difference in my walk times. Just the day before I had been disheartened at my seemingly slow pace, but I had tackled some pretty good hills. After this easy flat walk, I no longer feel like beating myself up for being a slow-poke :)

Fundraising
I've started writing about this about 3 times already... sigh. I'll go for a short version now... WalMart cheated us by having TWO other charities there on the same day. They were inside the store and we had to sit outside by the exit. People were annoyed by the time they got to us, or had already given their spare change. Once Becky's daughter and my daughter showed up (they're both 8 and wanted to be there helping) they went to the entrance with an extra donation bucket. They were just too darn cute, and did really well! All told, we made $426.90 between 10am and 3pm. Becky and I are thrilled! We'll do another, but really feel as if we would have done better without the other two charities there. Someday this week I'll have to give the manager a call and figure out what that was about.