April 22

Nice windy spring day today. I was energized and went for a fast-paced walk. I talked to my friend Jim on the phone while I walked which passed the time quickly.

April 20

Since I walked so much the day before, I wasn't sure if I was going to go walking the next day or not. But my legs weren't sore and it was nice out.




Loren and Lilly.


My phone app hasn't been working so well.

April 19

I went on a second walk when I got home in the evening after my "long walk" during the day. My mom wanted to walk so my sister and I went with her. I walked about 7 miles yesterday. My legs were so sore last night! They feel fine today, but I really do need to work more towards at least one long distance walk a week.

April 19

Yesterday I went to the "fancy mall" in Huntsville. Nice change of scenery. I had some time to waste before I picked up my dad from work, so I decided to walk. I planned ahead enough to bring my walking clothes, but not enough to bring my pedometer. Luckily I have that awesome new app on my phone. But like I said, it's not the most accurate. as you can see the route has me walking across the lake and on the highway. There is a 3/4 mile walking trail around the lake and I walked it 6 times and then some. The app says I walked 6.28 miles but I think its closer to 5.25. It was around 83 degrees yesterday. No one else was out walking but people were strolling and shopping.


My route, supposedly.


The Westin. Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell own a condo here.


Ducks.




In the summer they have gondola rides.

April 18

Action shot.




I downloaded an app this weekend that uses GPS to track your route/distance/elevation/supposedly calories burned. I'm very interested in and excited by this discovery, but sometimes the GPS is spotty. Since the accuracy will always be at question, I'll probably just use both devices and compare. I wish I could upload the app's results to my blog. There is a feature for facebook, but I like having a separate site just for my walks. Maybe I'll take a picture of the route on my phone and just post that.

April 16

Midday walk by myself.

Some Numbers

I'm proud to say that Team Chris has raised over $10,900 as of today! Thank you so much to everyone who has donated! Anthony joined yesterday, and he is already more than 3/4 of the way to reaching the $1000 minimum....in fact his amount went up in the time I was writing this post.

I tallied up all of my pedometer distances since my first post on February 8.
February- 31.7 miles
March- 32.8 miles
April- 25.45 miles so far
For a total of 89.95 miles!!

If you come across this blog, and haven't seen our Donation page for Suicide Prevention check out these links:
Team Chris
Erin's Page

April 14

Beautiful sunshine.


I got some sun on my shoulders, but I wore my Overnight hat and sunglasses to keep the sun out of my eyes.


I think this is a Japanese maple. I'm trying to learn more about the local flora that I see on my walks.


Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous, I stayed outside all day, and I went on two walks. We have thunderstorms and rain all day today so that's part of the reason why I wanted to get some extra walking done. I took about a two hour break in between. Good distance though!

April 12

Clouds in the water.


My niece fishing. She actually caught a few fish.


Me fishing.


This distance was from walking back and forth from the lake to the cabin.

April 11

I had a great vacation with my brother and his family this past weekend! We went to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge Tennessee. Of course there is always a lot of walking to be done on vacation, so I took my pedometer. We were there four days and one of those mornings I did get up early to go for a short walk. We stayed in a cabin in the woods on a hill overlooking a lake. Eventhough we were in the mountains, the road around the cabin wasn't too steep so I walked on a gradual incline. It was a very nice setting to be in and to walk in. I walked about 1.25 miles in the morning then kept my pedometer on me for the day when we went into downtown Gatlinburg. Here are some pictures from the day.


Sunrise through the trees.


Dock at the lake.


Our cabin on the hilltop.


Downtown Gatlinburg.


View of the Smoky Mountains from the Sky Tram.


Me, my brother, and his kids. Notice the pedometer attached to my dress pocket. :)





My pedometer accidentally reset itself at some point near the end of the day so I had a total of 4.5 miles.

April 7

Our neighbor's dog had surgery so he hasn't been out much lately but he walked part of the way with me.




Trying to get some distance in before vacation.

April 6

I didn't post these before I went on vacation with my brother and his family.


I took Lilly with me for part of the way.

April 6- T-shirts

I registered at the beginning of February and the walk is the beginning of June. The training walk is my halfway marker. There's still plenty of time to do more fundraising and training. I'm starting to make the t-shirts for Team Chris a more concrete idea. As much as I would like to silk-screen them myself, I don't have all the equipment to consistently and nicely fabricate multiple shirts. Bryan (Chris's brother) has been a big help with fundraising. He won't be able to participate in the walk because of work, but he's done so much. And he's connected me with someone who can help with the t-shirts. Thank you Bryan!

This is where I am with the design. I think I need to simplify certain parts.

April 2- AFSP Overnight Training Walk

By coincidence, the weekend trip I planned to NY happened to be the same weekend of a Training Walk with AFSP's Overnight Staff. I'm so glad that worked out! I got to meet my Training Coach Jason. The staff was great- so helpful and informative. Thank you Alison, Patricia, and Jason! It was a great experience to meet fellow walkers, exchange stories and talk about the organization, why we are here, and tips for each other for fundraising. Some people I met had walked before. We met in Brooklyn where the Opening Ceremony for the walk will be. We did some stretching exercises then walked through Brooklyn Heights to the Promenade and over the Brooklyn Bridge to City Hall and back. The walk was about 5.5 miles. It was a beautiful day. Here are some pictures. I was busy talking so I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked.


View of Downtown Manhattan from the Promenade.


Me and the Brooklyn Bridge.


Walking over the Brooklyn Bridge.


A knitted bike! Only in NY.


My Training Coach Jason! So glad I got to meet him. I received an AFSP hat and wristbands for exceeding the fundraising goal.


We actually only walked 5.5-5.6 miles, but at the end of the walk my phone battery was too low to take a picture so I had to wait. I think my pedometer accrued a little more distance in that time.

March 31

Our neighbor's dog Cash kept me company on my walk.




I received my Overnight packet in the mail this week. I like the color of the shirts and the skyline on the back. We also received luminary bags that we decorate for the night of the walk and other information for fundraising, etc.

March 29

Another walk by myself, I went in the middle of the day. Not much going on. But I'm glad for the distance.