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If you are participating in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure, you have no doubt started training by now. The 16-week point is approaching fast for Dallas walkers.

If you are an experienced walker or already can confidently do 3-4 miles in your sleep, you may not need to start with the 24-week program. I do the full program anyway, but I think it is a personal preference. The earlier you start building up your miliage and endurence, the more prepared you will be for the actual event. Having a few extra weeks of training definitely won’t hurt you!

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Also something you may or may not know is that the expected pace for each mile is 20 minutes. If you can walk 3 miles currently but are not clocking in at under an hour, you may need to train at a faster pace. Why? During the event each part of the course opens and closes at a certain time. If your pace is too slow, you may not make it to the next pit stop before it closes. In those cases, most likely a sweep van will pick you up and take you to the pit stop where you will then board a swag bus to lunch or back to camp depending on where on the route you are.

If you walk too fast, chances are you will have to wait at a pit stop before being allowed to continue since the entire route is not open at the same time and safety teams and sweep vans are still monitoring the previous part of the route.

One great thing about the year we walked is that they provided a schedule with the times the pit stops opened and closed each morning before you started the route. I believe they do this every year. My advice is if you know you are behind pace for whatever reason (maybe you got a late start, stopped for too many pictures, made a convenience store run) and want to continue walking for the rest of the day, take a sweep van to the next pit stop well in advance of it closing. That way you can keep walking the next part of the route and not risk having to be taken by bus to lunch or camp.

Do you have any great training tips, or techniques that have worked for you? Please share them in the comments.

Source: 3-Day Suggested Training Program. You can also find the 16-week program chart at this link if you are a registered participant. All other comments mentioned in this post are solely my opinion and suggestions. You should consult your doctor before starting any training plan.

I love discovering awesome breast cancer awareness products, especially ones that can be worn during events like the Komen 3-Day and Race for the Cure. I was over-the-moon when I first saw the Deuce brand watch. I feel naked when I’m not wearing a watch because I always have to know what time it is. The thing is, I hate wearing my stainless steal watch when I work out or walk because it becomes sweaty really quicky. Luckily that doesn’t happen with Duece Brand.

They are made of stretchy, rubbery silicone, are water resistant up to 99 feet, and slip right onto the wrist (think LiveStrong bracelets, but MORE durable). These watches come in practically every color of the rainbow, plus they even have a Komen Pink Ribbon version. LOVE. IT. They are donating $2 from the sale of each Komen logo-ed design to Susan G. Komen for the Cure® with a minimum guarantee of $25,000. Amazing. I want one in every.single.color. Best of all? They are only $20. Yes, seriously.

The people at Deuce wanted me to see how fabulous they really are, so they sent one for both Nikki and I to try out. I already love mine so much that it has replaced my regular COACH watch. That says a lot, people. It definitely passes the sweat test on long training walks too. I have to admit I had not heard of them until a few weeks ago, but celebrities like Snoop Dog, B.o.B., Ashanti, Dave Mirra and more have been spotted wearing them.

I will be a fan for life, and you should be too. Deuce has offered to give two readers of Our3Day.com a Pink Ribbon watch! All you have to do is LIKE Deuce on Facebook and leave a message on their wall telling them:

I heard about Deuce Brand from Laurie & Nikki at Our3Day.com and would love to win a Komen Pink Ribbon watch.

Deuce will select the two winners, so be sure to leave the comments on their Facebook wall. They are also on Twitter, as well as have their own Deuce Brand Blog where they give tips to beat breast cancer every Wednesday. Follow them, and good luck!

Disclosure: Deuce Brand sent us two complementary watches for review, however our opinions were not influenced nor did any monetary exchange take place.

On Saturday, June 19 (that’s today, people!) Breast Friends Forever (and our husbands) will be joining Pink Soles in Motion at Sonic in Grapevine (201 N.W. HWY) to raise money for our Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure event in November. Please join us all day as we carhop for tips in an effort to end breast cancer forever. Don’t forget to bring your appetite & thirst — and your cash (we are only benefiting from tips). Hope to see you there!

Edit: I am really sorry to those of you who came before 4:00 PM on Saturday. There was a misunderstanding between Sonic and PSIM and they were not allowed to work the entire day there as expected. We did not find out about that until we showed up for our shift at 4:00 PM. Thank-you for coming and leaving donations. We appreciate it very much. Here are a few photos of us from the event:

We had a great day yesterday with our Race for the Cure team, Breast Friends Forever, at the 20th Anniversary of the North Texas Race for the Cure. We were up bright and early and headed for the the site of the Race on Legacy in Plano.

We received a $1,000 sponsorship from Massage Envy who presented us with the check prior to the Race. We also received Massage Envy gift cards for three complimentary one hour massages, team shirts, a team banner and private chair massage tent at the race.

It was pretty fantastic. By the time the Race was over and the Survivor Celebration had ended, the tent had already been taken down. We were bummed about that, but were glad to have gotten in a few pre-race massages!

After that, we spent some time at the Survivor Tent with Ana and Cathy. Hanes outfitted our team in personalized t-shirts so we tried to get a few pictures outside. However since we weren’t all together the whole time, we didn’t get a complete team photo. Here’s quite a few of us though:

Then it was time for us to get started on the walk! This next photo is courtesy of the Komen North Texas Affilate‘s Facebook since I obviously couldn’t get such an amazing shot from the ground.

We walked and talked and enjoyed catching up with one another. With all of the other things surrounding the walk, it’s easy to push the reason we are there walking a little bit farther back in our heads. Cathy is celebrating her third year as a survivor, but is still going through body changes, new medications, and treatments. I truly cannot imagine. Luckily she is positive and seems happy.

I also thought a lot about David’s mom and how it is unfair that she is not here, and how I hope that she is somewhere looking down happy and proud that we were doing this in her memory. I am sure Nikki felt the same about her Grandmother and the other women she knows who are going through it now too.

Along the way there were volunteers with water and others who were cheering for us and saying words of encouragement. We got a little bit of a later start due to all of the other things we tried to fit in before the walk, so we were some of the last ones to cross the finish line. Still, there were a few waiting for us at the end. Nikki and I appreciated that at the 3-Day too.

After we finished, Ana and Cathy headed back toward the Survivor’s Tent to line up for the Celebration and we had a minute to visit a few of the other vendors and tents. The FORD Warriors in Pink is always one of my favorites. They give away bandannas every year, and always have one of their gorgeous breast cancer Mustangs. Being that I am a former Mustang owner (sob), I obviously want one badly and ogle them pretty much every chance I get. I’m not sure I was suppose to, but I jumped into the driver’s seat. It felt like home.

The Survivor’s Celebration is always emotional, and I was proud to be there with my two friends who are beating the disease. I mentioned Cathy already, but Ana is celebrating 10 years. She found out she had breast cancer in her early 20s. She is another amazing and positive person.

I also spotted a woman in the front row who is a 50 year survivor! Oh how I wish there were more of them. Still, what a wonderful thing to see. It definitely gives me hope that it could be a reality for the rest of the women standing there someday.

After the ceremony we went to check out Elizabeth’s Garden, a place where pink tulips line the sidewalk with messages to loved ones who have passed or who are still fighting. Some of them are heartbreaking. Nikki and I walked along and read them and took photos. If you ever participate, you can purchase one for $10 when you register or pick one up at the Race.

After that, we headed toward our cars and one of the Survivor Taxis came by and picked us up. We got a grand tour of the entire complex (several times). It was really a nice day, albeit a little muggy. Still, the scenery was beautiful around the lake and it was spent in the company of good friends. What more can you ask for?

I am already looking forward to next year! This is by far my favorite of the Race for the Cure events in our area (Tarrant, North Texas, and Dallas), and it was so great to have such a wonderful team of friends to walk with.

I also want to again thank Massage Envy for the donation, and also Hanes for supporting us by donating socks for our fundraiser and t-shirts for the Race. I appreciate it so much!

Disclosure: This is not a paid post. Hanes® offered to outfit our team in customized Hanes tees and donated socks to further promote breast cancer awareness, however no monetary exchange took place. Massage Envy wrote a $1,000 check to Susan G. Komen on my team’s behalf, however I was not monetarily compensated nor was I asked to promote the details of the sponsorship.

Walking 60 miles is a difficult task, and I know lots of participants in the 3-Day choose to go it alone. I can tell you firsthand that I wouldn’t be able to do it without my BFF, Nikki. We push each other to keep going and to continue fundraising and training on days when the other needs a little motivation. Having a team mate(s) definitely makes the miles pass faster too, both during training and the actual event.

One key thing I learned in 2008 is if you walk with a team, don’t expect everyone to walk at the same pace. I cannot stress that enough. We had six team members our first year, and for the most part we did not train together except for Nikki and I. She and I had an established a pace and had followed the training schedule pretty closely. We had another teammate who did not train at all, and managed to walk most of the first day at a pace faster than ours. We had several others who also didn’t train as much and had a slower pace than the rest of us.

We were all first-time walkers that year (except Ana who had never been on a team before). Naively I think a lot of us had the idea that we were going to take every single step of the 60 miles together as a team. We quickly learned in the first few miles that wasn’t going to be the case. I wish that I had known that ahead of time so that we could have addressed it before the event and had a plan in place. Unfortunately the result was that some of the slower-paced walkers got their feelings hurt when some got farther ahead, and the rest of us spent most of the first day feeling guilty. Don’t let that happen to you.

My advice is to talk about this with your team (if you have one) in the weeks and months leading up to the event. Make plans to meet up at lunch or at a pit stop, and of course at camp for nightly activities. You can start out the day walking together, but then part ways and keep your own pace. On the last day, you can meet at the last pit stop and walk into holding as a team. Nikki and I saw a team who met on the side of the road and toasted with champagne before finishing. I thought it was really fun that they found a way to get together before the end to celebrate their accomplishment together.

In reality, you’re in the company of thousands of other walkers. You will find someone to walk with if you do get separated from your team, I promise. Sometimes you will walk faster, and sometimes you will walk slower. You may find someone interesting to talk to and walk at their pace for awhile. Nikki and I met a survivor who was currently going through treatment along the route on our third day. She was walking and participating alone, so we asked her to join us and we talked and walked at her pace. We then parted ways at the next pit stop. These are the parts of the journey that make it so incredible. If you aren’t a member of a team and don’t plan on joining one, you will find and meet tons of people. Don’t worry!

If you are still nervous and want to ensure that you are with someone you know the entire 60 miles, find a training buddy on your team. If you train together for the 24 or 16 weeks leading up to the 3-Day, chances are your pace is going to match since you walked together all of those miles beforehand.

Also, please train. Remember the teammate I mentioned who didn’t train but walked a faster pace on the first day? She got injured and was not able to complete the second and third days. Don’t expect that you are going to be able to wake up one day after not training all year and walk 20 miles for the 3 days of the event. Yes there are sweep vans and SAG buses along the route if you cannot continue, but if you plan to even attempt to walk more than a few miles you need to condition yourself or you may get seriously injured. There’s no shame in taking a sweep van or bus even if you do train. That is what they are there for. Do what is right for you. Nobody is going to be standing over you asking which of the 60 miles you did not complete. Besides, there are some fun vans and a few even give you little trinkets when you ride. Use them when you need to. Don’t push yourself beyond your limits and risk injury.

If you’re currently registered as an individual who hasn’t joined a team yet, why not invite your friends to join you? Now is the time, because if you use the promotional code REGISTERWITHAFRIEND by June 22 you will each receive a $35 gift card for Shop3day.com! There are some really great training items and gear on there, so how great would that be? Also? You can earn up to five gift cards, which would be $175 to use in the online store.

Happy walking whether you decide to join a team or make friends at the event. Either way, it is an experience you will never forget.

Yesterday was a hectic day! Nikki and I took the day off of work to spend fundraising for our Race for the Cure and Komen 3-Day teams.

Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers and Komen were nice enough to let us set up a table at the Frisco location. They donated 15% of the sales all day to the North Texas affiliate! Woot! We arrived at 11:00 AM to set up our table of pink ribbon rubber ducks, charm bracelets, and other items to sell along side our donation bucket. We also put together 20 swag bags thanks to our generous sponsors: Hanes, Sharpie, Softlips, Save the TaTas, and Energizer. We had posted flyers on Facebook and Twitter encouraging our friends, family and followers to come visit us at the event. In exchange they got one of the bags. They were a big hit and super cute (if I do say so myself)!

See? I told you they were cute! We had planned on using some pink ribbon plastic bags to hand out the goodies in, but Energizer donated the pink Stephanie Johnson cosmetic bags which arrived the morning of the fundraiser. They were the perfect size for all of the other goodies we stuffed inside, so we skipped the plastic bags all together. Hanes sent us 20 packages of socks to put in the bags as well as give out to attendees. I bet everyone is going to enjoy those on the walk this Saturday too! I love Softlips, and they gave us 20 double packages of their SPF 20 varieties. I discovered them in 2008 during the 3-Day (Pearl is my favorite) and they are fantastic. I am the biggest Sharpie fanatic ever, and I think everyone should own a pink ribbon one… or two! They sent us a small army of markers– so generous!

Save the TaTas had previously donated some stickers and other items. We still had some of those left from last year, so we included them along with pens and pencils with our team name and other cute breast cancer awareness items.

Also? I mentioned that Hanes donated socks for the fundraiser, but they also offered to provide us with team shirts for the Race for the Cure! They have partnered with Komen and their Passionately Pink program as I mentioned a few posts ago, so everyone at the Race this year will be sporting an awesome tagless tee. Ours are fabulous too– they have our team name on the back!

Of course after all of our hard work, we had to chow down on some burgers and frozen custard. It was hot, and definitely the perfect day for a cold treat. Nikki and I each had a strawberry shortcake. Yum!

The guys enjoyed their socks, and the girls enjoyed their swag filled cosmetic bags… and a good time was had by all for a good cause.

Bobbi Janay from Kid to Grown Up came by with her son Ian and we chatted about blogging, upcoming conferences and rude blog comments. We watched Ian eat a sundae with a fork, and I finally got to see Boogie Wipes in action. They smell like grape, people! Also, she is a true fan of the product and used about ten before our very eyes. Too funny.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and said hello, gave us a donation, and came to chow down with us. Thank you very much again to our sponsors. We had a fun day together and are definitely looking forward to Saturday when we get to see the rest of our team and enjoy the Race! If you wanted to make a donation and were not able to make it, you can do so on my 3-Day page online and our Race for the Cure team page.

Disclosure: Breast cancer is a cause that affects people everywhere, which is why Hanes® has renewed its partnership with Komen for the Cure this year as the Official T-shirt of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Series. Learning that we were walking this year, Hanes offered to outfit our team in customized Hanes tees to further promote breast cancer awareness. No monetary exchange took place.

Are you looking for a great way to fundraise? Check out your local affiliate’s Dine Out for the Cure website. Participating restaurants are agreeing to donate a percent of food sales to Komen and are already promoting the event within their establishment. Komen also sends e-mails to members reminding them which restaurants are participating. If you’re savvy, you can contact both Komen and the participating restaurant and ask permission to set up a table to sell items to help your fundraising efforts. It’s easy, and you will get free publicity. In addition, you’ll have a built in target audience. It’s a win-win for you and for Komen when you promote your event to your friends and supporters. You’ll drive more traffic to their fundraiser earning them a bigger percentage, and hopefully you’ll have good luck selling or accepting donations for yourself or your team.

My team Breast Friends Forever will be doing just that, tomorrow. On June 8, we’ll be at the Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers in Frisco with pink ribbon ducks, breast cancer charm bracelets, pins, and other fantastic items to benefit our Race for the Cure and 3-Day team. We will also have swag bags for the first 20 that bring or mention our flyer. Those swag bags will include pink socks from Hanes, double packs of SPF 20 Softlips, pink ribbon Sharpie markers, Save the Ta-Tas stickers and more!

I hope to see our fellow DFW wakers and crew members there!

Nikki and I attended our second Training Kickoff in my hometown on May 22. I was really excited about seeing what this route was like because as a Training Walk Leader I will be organizing a lot of walks in this area over the months leading up to the event in November.

We met up at our local outfitter, New Balance, at 7:30 AM. Like the week before in Dallas, it was overcast and seemed like a really good day for an early morning walk. The turnout was a little bit better than last week as we geared up to walk down Parkwood, around the Dr. Pepper stadium, through Central Park, and back around to Preston.

We asked some nearby women to take our picture in front of the sign (these are my shoes!), and later we discovered that one of them was a survivor. That is one of the most emotional parts of these events. They always ask how many first-time-walkers there are verses veterans, and there are always a pretty large number of each. They ask how many people are on teams or are looking for a team. Finally they ask how many women participating are survivors and how many years it has been since they were diagnosed. This is the point that I am thankful to be wearing sunglasses, because I always tear up. These women are one of the main reasons that we walk. We do not want another woman to have to raise her hand and say she has had to go through this.

This was an easy 3 miles. I think I always do better when I know the area and the route we are taking and can visualize in my head when we will make it full circle back to the beginning. Frisco has lots of beautiful pink and white flowers planted everywhere, and there are tons of things to look at. I loved that they also set up a mini cheering station in the park where the kids sat in cars and honked the horns and the adults gave high-fives and passed out candy.

When we were finished, we waited at the store and watched for the final walkers to come in. Those that were still there took a group picture afterward. They also do some pretty amazing drawings for gift cards to local restaurants and the New Balance store. Nikki was actually the big winner of one of the $50 gift cards! She shared with me and we bought some t-shirts and socks for training.

I walked away from the last 24 week kickoff looking forward to training season. I’ve been struggling a little bit with fundraising this year. In 2008 when we first participated I was well beyond the minimum at this point in the year, so I know this year is going to be a challenge. It definitely helps to get out and meet new people spend time making plans for future events. I know it is going to be a fantastic year and we are looking forward to November and sharing our journey up until that point with you.