Arnoldi is Happy!

Arnoldi is happy. I've just come back from Road Runner Sports in Concord after have my feet fitted with a lovely pair of asics Gel Kayano 17 running shoes. Since my arches are high, I also had a pair of support insoles too. And 3 pairs of running socks.

I loved my experience at Road Runner Sports. The Sales Representative used their Shoe Dog application (on a 40-inch touch screen) and tools to find the best pair of shoes for me.  They checked arch type (I have high arches), the balance (52%  on Lefty, 48% on Arnoldi), and the pressure (uneven). They had me walk/jog on a treadmill so they could analyze  my trot (which is out - my feet point outwards) and the foot flexibility (which is semi-flex).  They even asked which type of sock I prefer (no show, ankle, mini crew, or crew!)

You can try Shoe Dog on the internet.

Phone Clinic - Pre-Event Prep: Training

I had my first phone clinic today. From 6pm - 7:40pm. I have to say, the Susan G. Komen 3-Day race is one of the best organized events I have come across. The organizer had sent our an email the day before with a PDF attachment of the slides. And the speaker was a 10-year veteran. Totally amazing!

We went over the following topics, and as the weeks progress, and I attend more meetings, I'll try and write up a little more on what I learn, and my experiences.

• Creating a training plan - there is a 16-week plan available in the participants page of resources. Also programs such as www.mapmyrun.com and others to plan your route.
• Stretching - very important before, during and after the race. Just because it's a walk, doesn't mean you don't stretch!
• Nutrition (day-to-day and while walking) - will be burning approximately 100 calories per mile, therefore it's important to have a balanced diet.
• Hydration (day-to-day and while walking) - need to drink at least 8 glasses of water before the event. This will help build the moisture in the cells before you begin the BIG walk! It also means you'll be peeing every hour (3 miles) and that is okay!
• Treating sore muscles - baths, icy-packs, ben-jay, hot baths!
• Blister prevention care - listen to your body! Treat those hot spots before they becoming burning spots! Can use vaseline, bodyglide, talcumn powder in socks!
• Staying motivated - change your training route! Learn some motivational songs! Encourage others too!

I'm so looking forward to an onsite meeting I'm attending next week! Woohoo!

WOW!

I walked it to the BART station today with my Pedometer. Before leaving for work this morning, I emailed a few more of my friends and included some clients I had worked closely with.  On the way to work, I received an email from one of my clients. Myself and one of our Directors from our SF office had been copied in. My client had forwarded my email to everyone in her company! I was totally blown away and had tears in my eyes! What a wonderful gesture! Below is a copy of the email. For confidentiality reasons, I've removed some of the words so the company and individual remain anonymous. (However, I did forward the email onto the my company's executives later that evening!)

In addition to [company name] staff being so charitable, so are our vendors. Dipa is one of the consultants from [company name] who has worked with us for the past several years in improving our Salesforce instance. For example, if it wasn’t for Dipa, we wouldn’t have over 8,000 [something something] in Salesforce. She created an incredibly simple process to upload these data on a quarterly basis. No task is too challenging, and she executes projects with accuracy and a smile. She’s a real pleasure to work with and she loves our group.

In reading Dipa’s email below, I was really struck by two things: 1) her commitment to finding a cure for cancer and 2) her ability to overcome physical challenges. In 2008 she completed the San Francisco Marathon and was the 5^th highest fundraiser in the entire race and the top fundraiser for the California Breast Cancer Research Program.

And while you may know many people who have completed the 60-mile walk for breast cancer, Dipa’s commitment to this walk is especially inspirational because she not only recently had ankle surgery. She had ankle surgery twice. After dealing with two ankle surgeries, I can imagine that it would be challenging to walk a mile. Dipa’s going to walk 60!

If you are unable to donate to Dipa’s cause, I hope that you will find her commitment an inspiration and put an even bigger smile on your face on this beautiful Thursday.

WOW! I was in awe for the rest of the day, with the biggest smile on my face!

My Niece and Her Friends!

Today, I was working from home. My eldest Niece (Lets call her Niece No.1) IMs me, asking me what my website was. I ask her does she want my fundraising website or the donation website?  She replied back with "it's okay, I found it".

Two minutes later I receive a donation notification email. The donor is from the UK, and someone I do not know! I immediately wonder whether my nieces had been collecting sponsorship money and then using their parents credit card to register the donation! So I call my family back in the UK to find out more (this is the 4th call to the UK I'm making today!)  I then find out that my niece had told her friends, and her friends had started donating! One of them (bless him!) did not know of the exchange rate, so made a second donation!

I'm so proud of my nieces to take this initiative and to help this cause! As the saying goes, "Sangathan mein shakti hai!" Simply translated as "In unity there is strength!"

It's Arrived!

My pedometer has arrived! Woohoo! Amazon.com delivery service rocks, and being  a Prime Member certainly pays off!

(20 minutes later...)

I've managed to calibrate my pedometer. Its so cool, and not as big as I though!  I would advise anyone who starts to calibrate their pedometer with the 10 steps, to make sure that the area you are walking in is clear, and you don't need to circumvent around any furniture, even a little! Make sure that line is straight! LOL

I'm Moved!

I'm totally moved by all the donations coming in! I've raised $492 which is 9.84% of my target - in just 4 days! Donations have been coming in from people who I have not been in contact with for a couple of years.  This is tremendous! A step in the right direction, but still a way to go!  Thank you all!

Pedometer

I like numbers, and I like counting things. Give me a set of numbers or a spreadsheet and I'll do something fancy with it! Yet, I suck at maths! LOL!  So, today I ordered a pedometer. Some websites recommend pedometers, others are totally against them.  They have their reasons, and one of the main ones is that the pedometer needs to be calibrated properly based on a persons stride. And a persons stride will vary during the course of a walk. Hence the number of steps in a mile will vary. Anyway, I know that. But I still like counting and numbers. And with this I can download my statistics to my computer, import it into the software, and have some cool looking graphs!

And if you want to see what the charts look like, then check this out (note, it's not my own results. Mine hasn't arrived yet!):

Cool, nah? :)