Walking with my NY Walkers Club buddies

It was a dark and stormy night... No, no, no!

It was a cool and rainy morning as we gathered on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge. We were united in our desire:
☞ for a jaunt across the bridge - taking in the beautiful, if cloudy and grey skylines, the Promenade, several lovely neighborhoods, and
☞ for cheesecake at Juniors!

Now, this is the way to train! But seriously, we walked for almost an hour and a half, saw new and different venues... And, I felt good about keeping up with my training for the NIKE Women's Marathon. I wore my purple singlet from the Mayor's Midnight Marathon (Alaska last year) - it's always a conversation starter.

If you're interested in watching my progress in raising awareness and fundraising, please visit me at http://pages.teamintraining.org/wch/nikesf09/jgreenbaum

What a workout!

A beautiful Sunday called for a hike in the nearby NJ county park. My walking partner, Eunice, walked at a good clip and we moved quickly and steadily past the lush trees, bushes, flowers, fishers and dogs, up the path to a beautiful lake.

After resting for a few minutes at the edge of the lake, watching the dogs swim after balls and children totter near the edge of the water, we pressed on up the trail. This is the same trail where I saw a rather large and unusual snake last year with my friend Charlotte... and we were not disappointed! Eunice grabbed my arm to prevent me from stepping on this adorable little garter snake. It slithered away and we continued - enjoying the cover of the branches and enduring the hills. I thought about the hills to be conquered - well, maybe suffered - in San Francisco in October, and made a mental note to do this trail again soon.

It was a wonderful way to start the day - spending time with a friend and preparing myself for the hills in my future/ training for a great cause.

Know of a great trail in the metropolitan area? Let me know!

This is why we walk...

Just over a week ago we kicked off our awareness, fundraising and training campaigns. I have to admit that I am so immersed in Team in Training that I sometimes speak in shorthand... which inevitably leads to confusion.

So here's the story, in brief: I'm training to participate in an endurance event as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I wanted to share Elena's picture and story with you - to give you a sense of why we devote our time and energy... to fund cures.

This year I am completing the NIKE Women's Marathon in honor of Elena and everyone who is battling blood cancers. Last year, for the marathon in Anchorage I wrote the names of survivors and those who have passed from one of the blood cancers on ribbons and attached them to my singlet. I will be doing the same this year. If you there's someone in your life you would like me to honor, please write to me at jillgcoach@optonline.net. If you would like to contribute to my fundraising campaign, please visit my page at, http://pages.teamintraining.org/wch/nikesf09/jgreenbaum.

Gearing up!

On Thursday night we met at the Bronxville Running Company - a really nice store with lots of goodies to explore. We exchanged essential info with new teammates - like half or whole marathon, Hamptons or NIKE - learned a few new facts about shoes, socks, and inner soles, and had a wee bit of a snack :) And, of course, we did our share of buying new and critically important gear! A good time was had by all... as you can see here!

Gearing up - in all senses of the phrase - is such fun!