20 July 2013

The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer is in two months…I suppose I should start training for it, eh? I’m pretty confident that I could lace up my shoes and walk it right now, but it wouldn’t be pretty and I would be crying by the end. I need to get it in gear, and I need to go face some hills, preferably in San Francisco, where there are interesting things with which to distract myself while plodding along, and where it’s not so fricking hot.

Yeah, the heat and I are not friends anymore. I used to be fine at 85-90, these days when it’s over 72 I’m not exactly comfortable.

Want.

But, in the spirit of training, and because I’m a sucker for a medal, I signed up for a virtual half marathon* to benefit the Boston Marathon Victims Relief, but the cool part is that the people who set it up are Doctor Who fans and it’s also intended to honor the 50th anniversary…and the medal is a total Whovian must-have. So my intents are not completely charitable; I want that medal. It’s not a t-shirt, but hey…it’s a shiny. It’s a DOCTOR WHO shiny.

Things lately have had me thinking about my parents a lot—which isn’t surprising—and with that I’ve started looking for other walk events. In October there’s a Light Up The Night walk for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and the American Cancer Society has a virtual walk available; my mom had more than one heart attack and during the time I was dealing with the pituitary tumor she was kicking the shit out of lymphoma, so those are important to me.

It would matter to my mom, too, that I walk against the things that turned the tide of her life. She was thrilled when I participated in my first SGK 3 Day, though I imagine the donning of the pink spandex as I paraded around San Francisco the next year left her a bit perplexed. I’m not sure what she thought about the pink hair, but one some level it probably amused her.

So yeah…I want to do a few walks in her honor.

I just wish it would cool down so training wouldn’t feel like walking through the pits of hell…

*There's also a virtual 5K. You can register for it by checking out their Facebook page and clicking on "About."