Our3Day.com

Last year I spent many hours volunteering at Komen headquarters preparing the race packets for shipment to race participants. It was an amazing experience, and it definitely gave me perspective on all of the little details it takes to pull off a successful charity event, especially one as large as the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. It takes hundreds of volunteers, as well as the generosity of donors and sponsors. Without them, the event definitely would not run as smoothly.

Did you know that Hanes is the Official T-shirt of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Series, and that Komen provides Hanes t-shirts to the 1.5 million people expected to participate in the race series? I folded thousands of those very t-shirts myself!

I also love Hane’s work with celebrities to create t-shirts for the Passionately Pink for the Cure program. Not long ago I won a contest on Twitter and received an autographed version of one of Sarah Chalke’s designs. When I mentioned that I was happy to win and planned on using it as an item in our team’s fundraising auction, they offered to send additional shirts for my team and to use for fundraising purposes. I actually wore my shirt during the breast cancer walk that I participated in over the weekend. I received lots of complements and many people asked where I got it. I was happy to tell them Hanes! You can shop the Hanes Passionately Pink line on their website (each is around $9.99). You can buy my actual Sarah Chalke tee at Komen.org.

CSI actress Melina Kanakaredes has joined up with Hanes to create three new t-shirt shirt designs for the Passionately Pink program that will be available this fall at HanesPink.com. She hopes they inspire and encourage others to join the fight against breast cancer. The T-shirts communicate strength, love and fearlessness and were designed to honor those affected by breast cancer. You can even create your own design on their website and learn more about Hanes’ effort to support Komen. In 2010, Hanes is contributing a total donation of $500,000, which includes a $250,000 cash and in-kind donation to Passionately Pink for the Cure, and another cash donation of $250,000 to the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Series. Love it!

Check out Melina’s designs for yourself online, as well as at Walmart stores this fall along with their “pink collection” that includes socks, panties and bras.

Disclosure: I was not compensated for writing this post. I was happy to share the news of Hanes partnership with Komen. As mentioned above, I did receive several complementary t-shirts following winning a contest via Twitter. I also received a sample of one Melina’s new design pictured above.

In 2008 I participated in my first 60 mile Breast Cancer 3-Day. As a newbie, I was eager to meet others in my area who were also passionate about the cause. I decided to sign up to become Training Walk Leader with the hope of making new friends and finding walking buddies to train with throughout the year.

I was also assigned as the official TWL for the Luke’s Locker store in Plano, and we lead several walks in conjunction with their in-store workshops. They were very kind, and even provided water and sports drinks for those that participated in the training walks.

It was fun coming up with new routes to try that added distance and were still challenging. We met some great people, some who traveled long distances to walk with us. One of the most beneficial aspects is sharing stories and learning about what successes and struggles other walkers are having. It is the perfect opportunity to exchange fundraising tips, and even to help mentor new walkers.

Of course now that I have experienced the entire event firsthand, I have even more advice and wisdom to share. Everyone has something important to contribute though, whether they are seasoned 3-Day veterans or walking for the very first time. You never know who you will meet and what they have to offer in terms of support or ideas.

I am once again taking on the role of Training Walk Leader in the 2010 Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure. I will lead walks in the Frisco and Plano area. I hope to see some of you out there on the trails with us. I had my Introductory Conference call last night with our Field Coordinator, Karen, and I have to say that I am getting really excited training season is just around the corner. For those of you that are going to following the 24 week plan, we’ll see you May.

Not in Dallas? No training walks scheduled in your area? No problem! Step up and lead your own walks. Go to the Special Interests tab and check “I am interested in becoming a training walk leader.” A Training Walk Coordinator will contact you in April to get you started. Inspire walkers in your area to join you!

In addition, you will receive this awesome Training Walk Leader Legacy pin to add to your collection, and you are also asked to be a Safety Monitor during your 3-Day event. It is an honor to be considered a leader for this amazing cause, and I encourage all of you to step up. Please let me know if you have any questions. I would love to help.

More information:

Are you still pondering participating in the 2010 Komen 3-Day for the Cure? Now is the time to join! There are tons of teams out there looking for new members. You can get a $25 discount on registration with the 3-Day promotion code GO TEAM now through April 23. If you are in Dallas and are looking for a team, ours is Breast Friends Forever.

Two heads are better than one. So just imagine what you could do with four, eight or sixteen friends working together on your Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure™ team. Become the strongest, most determined, cancer-fighting team you can be. The more teammates you have, the more training companions and the more fundraising support you have alongside you.

Build your team today. Each new member who joins your team between April 12 – 23 gets a $25 discount off registration.

The Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure Coaches

You can register online at The3Day.org, via phone at 800-996-3DAY, or in person at a Get Started Meeting. I highly suggest attending a Get Started Meeting in your area. I will be writing a post soon about what you can expect to learn and take away from one, so come back soon.

Last month I received an e-mail from HotelsCombined.com with information on their Spread the Word for Charity campaign.

By letting your friends know about their awesome site, they will make a monetary donation to your choice of three very worthy charities. Currently they are supporting the World Wildlife Federation, Make A Wish, and World Vision. I immediately took to Twitter and Facebook and helped spread the word.

They were also kind enough to offer to sponsor my Susan G. Komen for the Cure 3-Day walk in November by contributing donations for friends and family that I refer to their website and program. It is easy to help and costs you absolutely nothing except a few minutes of your time and clicks of your mouse! Here is how you can help me and Susan G. Komen for the Cure:

Become a fan of HotelsCombined on Facebook, and they will donate $5. You can mention in their comments that you are supporting me and Susan G. Komen.

Tweet the following message from your Twitter account and they will donate $10:
Please RT @laurie_pooh: Check out HotelsCombined.com! I’m spreading the word and supporting Susan G Komen http://tinyurl.com/ao2rgj

Write a quick blog post like this one about HotelsCombined and their charity program (you can mention me and my walk too), and they will donate $20.

The best part? You can do one, two, or all three of the above. So won’t you help me spread the word and help me earn more donations to end breast cancer forever?

I love that HotelsCombined.com is a green and socially conscious company. What do they do? I am so glad you asked! They are a search engine that consumers can use to find hotel availability and rates. Their site allows their users to compare prices and offers from multiple merchants which means you don’t have to go to any other websites to find the best deal on your next hotel stay. Once you find the supplier suitable for your needs, they link you through to the supplier website to book directly. They offer a “complete picture” for any hotel that can be booked on the Internet, and are not paid to promote any particular website or hotel.

Go check them out for yourself. I plan on booking my next hotel through them (I found a ridiculously great rate on a room at the Paris hotel in Las Vegas!), and you should too. Want to help spread the word? You can get a nifty badge (like the one below) on their website. It couldn’t be more easy to make a donation to a wonderful charity and not even have to open your own wallet.

Thank you to those of you who have already helped, and especially to HotelsCombined for this wonderful opportunity!

On Saturday Dave & I participated in the 2009 Dallas Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure along with Nikki and her co-workers and a few of our friends. In addition, I also was a community leader in the EA SPORTS Active 5K Challenge.

If you don’t know, EA SPORTS Active is a fun and interactive workout game for your Nintendo Wii (and can also be used with a Wii Fit Balance Board). It’s actually a butt-whopping. For real. I never thought I could get so sore or sweaty from a video game, but it’s possible. Here’s a little more about the 5K Challenge:

Are you ready to take your workouts to the next level? The EA SPORTS Active 5K Challenge is a great way to continue your journey to better health. Between Saturday, Oct. 17th and Sunday, Nov. 15th, we are encouraging you to take part in a 5K event in your community. There is a training plan on the EA SPORTS Active website, helping you prepare for a 5K using both EA SPORTS Active as well as walking and running. There are community leaders that we will connect you with who will be able to tell you which event they are recommending for your community.

And yes – anyone can do this. Really. From those of you who have never run before to those of you who compete…this is truly for everyone. It’s a great way to get to know people in your community and a chance to push yourself. You have come a long way using EA SPORTS Active Personal Trainer, and now it’s time to step it up a notch.

I started using EA SPORTS Active in July (along with Wii Fit), and by August I had lost 7 pounds. It has a 30 Day Challenge program, which actually kept me accountable for logging in each day and completing my tasks. This was great for training for the 5K because there are walking and jogging components, and the exercises vary each day and never get boring. I look forward to trying the EA SPORTS More Workouts when it comes out in mid-November.

Here are some more of the photos from our event on Saturday, October 17. By the way, it’s not too late to sign up and participate in a 5K in your community! You can also donate to my Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure event in 2010.

It’s breast cancer awareness month, and as you may know, Dave and I are walking in our second Race for the Cure of the year on Saturday. I am also working on fundraising for my 2010 Breast Cancer 3-Day next November. I’m a long way from my $2300 goal.

60 miles in three days is a long distance. Trust me, I did it last year. When I signed up the first time, I was more worried about the fundraising than I was the walking. The money actually came in pretty quickly and I got a lot of support. I was lucky to work at a company that allowed me to sell baked goods and openly ask for donations. As we began to train, I became worried about blisters and maintaining my feet.

We were told not to get pedicures because we needed to build up a callus. I get regular pedicures and scrub my own feet religiously. My feet were prime candidates for blisters, bad blisters. After one of our longest training walks, I got a major blister in between several of my toes. I was devastated. It hurt, and took quite a few weeks to heal.

I began looking for solutions. I read message board after message board, and discovered a thread about Injinji toesocks.

Sure they look kind of silly, but do they work?! You bet! I went to my local Luke’s Locker and bought several pairs, and happily wore them on several training walks which ended in blister free feet. They work, because each toe has it’s own space and does not rub against your other toes. They also are made with CoolMax material which pulls the moisture away from your feet. During the actual 3-Day event, I alternated between them and another sock made with wicking material, and even doubled up. I can’t say that I had completely blister free feet (60 miles is a long way to walk), although I didn’t have any between my toes. I had a few on the bottom on my foot, and also on the side where my foot rubbed against my shoe. Still, it could have been a lot worse, and I attribute that to my fabulous toes socks from Injinji.

I wear them anytime I know I am going to do a lot of walking, like the State Fair of Texas last week! Recently I was in touch with a rep from Injinji who provided me with several pairs of socks at cost for review. My feet felt perfect when I got home, were not sore, and I had zero blisters. Plus, I love that they come in pink (and a variety of other colors and styles). You can also choose between crew, mini crew, and micro. My favorite is the mini crew because they are not too short, and not too long. As Goldilocks would say, they are just right.

Now as I prepare for my upcoming walks, I am confident that my feet will be well taken care of. I am now more concerned about making the fundraising limit. Isn’t it strange how things shift?

Today was the 2009 Race for the Cure! Through my On The Border fundraiser (and Facebook of all places) I met an amazing woman, Cathy, who is currently going through treatment for breast cancer. Along with David, we formed a team that consisted of her husband and several of her friends. We walked in celebration of her first year as a survivor, and also David and I walked in memory of his mother. We had fun and enjoyed the beautiful day. Here are some photos from the event:

This year we parked in the EDS parking garage.

Port-o-Potty Heaven (or Hell).

Race Day Schedule.

Elisabeth’s Garden.

Super Dave!

Debby, walking in Celebration of Cathy.

Me and Tom Thumb.

Cathy walks in memory and in celebration of others.

The Chick-Fil-A cows moooove to the starting line.

Starting line!

Cathy’s David and Mandi’s David hold up their sign.

Cheerleaders on the race path.

Other walkers.

Mandi and her David.

Team shot.

Survivor’s Celebration.

Cathy singing during the Survivor’s Celebration.

The Three David’s toast after the walk!

Chug!

After the race using my XShot!

Nastia Liukin was the honorary race chair.

The tulip Cathy’s friends got for her.

David and I during the walk.

Me, Cathy, and Debby.

Mandi and her David.

Cathy with her tulip.

Cathy during one of the survivor programs.

Thanks to Mandi for posting and sharing her pictures. She had some great ones and I borrowed a few extras for this post. If you are my friend on Facebook, there are a lot more photos posted in a photo album on my page too. Thank you also to all of my friends and supporters who made donations to my walk and attended my On The Border fundraiser. I appreciate all of the sweet messages and words of encouragement too! Nikki had to miss the race again this year due to taking her kids to spend the summer with their dad, but we had discussed participating in the Dallas Race for the Cure later in the year, and we plan to return to the 3-Day next year. We will keep walking and fundraising until there is a cure. ♥

Today was my first day of volunteer work with the North Texas chapter of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. They are gearing up for the race which will be June 6 in Plano at EDS Headquarters. If you follow me, you probably already know that since Dave and I are both participating again this year!

I have a whole new appreciation for all of the behind the scenes work that has to take place in order to get this event off the ground. Last year I was preparing for the Breast Cancer 3-Day, and signed up for the 5K as a training walk. My parents walked with me. I registered earlier on and received a packet in the mail that included my t-shirt and race bib. I had to drop by the Campus at Legacy (where I spent today) to pick theirs up since they registered after the packet mailing deadline.

Let me just say that it never crossed my mind that someone (actually lots of someones) would have to spend a week or more folding the shirts that had to be stuffed into an envelope. Now I do! I spent the afternoon carrying heavy boxes of shirts out of a storeroom and folding them one after one after one. I estimate I probably did at least 600 of those suckers this afternoon. That didn’t even make a dent in the THOUSANDS that are still left to do.

Luckily I have time on my hands, and will be volunteering every day for the rest of the month too. It is an incredible organization, and I am lucky to be involved. I will let you know when we complete the shirts and move on to a new task!

I bet you are wondering how my FIGHT HUNGER. FIGHT CANCER. fundraiser at On The Border last night went, right?! Well, I think it was fantastic! We had a great turnout of friends and supporters, as well as the local community. Also, I cannot say thank-you enough to IZEA who sponsored the event, and to On The Border in West McKinney who will be donating a portion of the night’s proceeds to my 2009 Race for the Cure.

I was very impressed with all of the help that On The Border gave me. The manager had all of his staff on hand, and asked that they wear their “Festa for the Cure” gear. With my balloons, banner, and items for sale and up for raffle, the theme of the evening – raising funds to find a cure for breast cancer – was evident.

Ted Murphy, IZEA’s CEO, even made an appearance at the event! Okay… so it was only a laminated photo of his head, but I think he still had a pretty good time! We got a good laugh out of it, too. I hope the “real” Ted finds it as amusing as we did.

Of course I cannot forget about the food. I had an amazing Sizzling Fajita Salad. This is one of my most favorite meals on the planet. It makes me feel like I am being healthy, but really it is kind of naughty. D and I also split the new desert sampler. We wouldn’t really recommend this though. Sorry, OTB! But it does look super yummy, huh?!

I also met some new friends thanks to my Facebook Group. Cathy (center) is currently going through treatment for breast cancer. She brought three of her friends (only two are pictured). They were the first to arrive shortly before 5:00 PM and each got one of my gift bags. They stayed for hours chatting and seemed to have a great time. I am so glad that they were able to join us! I just love that social media is able to bring perfect strangers together for a great cause. I am always very honored and humbled to be thanked by people like Cathy and her friend Barbara. It makes me feel like this really does make a difference.

I mentioned that we had a lot of friends show up to support us too. Dave’s co-worker, Heidi, brought her mom and daughter. She actually had a fundraiser at the same location several months back for a Leukemia run that she is doing in May. Dave’s former co-worker, Ken, also came and brought some other friends.

My awesome friends came out in abundance. This location is very small, and it we were all very spread out. I was trying to mingle between tables while posting updates on Twitter and Facebook, but it became pretty hard. At one point we had at least 7 different groups of friends and their families. Krista and Helen were among the first, sat with us, and stayed until the end.

Nikki, her fiance Craig, and her two kiddos joined us too. Nikki and I walked together in the Breast Cancer 3-Day last year, so we’ve been through a lot together. Sleeping in a cozy two person tent and walking 60 miles with a person makes you pretty close. She has been terribly sick all week, but still managed to join us anyway. I think she enjoyed looking especially miserable in the photo below. I hope you feel better soon, Nik!

Jodie and Allen also came and brought their adorable little girl. They have also all been very sick too, so I appreciate that they were able to make it as well. Trish brought her family, and her daughter especially loved the IZEA silly putty that was in the swag bag. Look at what she made. Too cute!

I think we had a really successful event and a lot of fun for a good cause. I am a little sad that I wasn’t able to get pictures with everyone. We had more friends there too. At one point I only had my cell phone, so you can see Kris smelling her pink breast cancer Sharpie, my pink balloons, Daena and her cute black & pink shirt, and Barbara’s cool breast cancer shoes and more on Twitter/Facebook. Thanks again to everyone that came out and participated. I appreciate it! I hope everyone had fun for this great cause.

Today is the day! It’s my Race for the Cure Fundraiser! I am very excited, and very thankful to all of my friends both online and locally who have been so very supportive.

I know that you all know that this is something that I am very passionate about, and that I would happily put myself WAY out of my comfort zone by asking strangers for money, wearing a bra and holding up a sign onthe side of the road, walking 60 miles, doing a 5K (twice) — all to find a cure for this awful disease. I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t believe with my whole entire being that this is important and that maybe I am making a small difference. Of course, I couldn’t do it without the help of my friends. Thank you again to those of you that have donated, sent me messages of support, and told me your story, or the story of your friends and relatives who have or are dealing with breast cancer now. I am inspired and encouraged by the stories of survival, and moved by the tragic loses.

Can you believe that Dave will also be walking with me? He has not registered yet, but he has committed to participating in the 5K with me in memory of his mother who passed away in 1996 from breast cancer. I am very proud of him, and I know that she would be too. I wish that I had gotten the chance to meet her.

The walk is not until June 6, so we still have time to continue to raise funds for Komen North Texas. I have reached 45% of my goal as of today. You can make a donation today to support me too. I hope to raise $500 by the date of the walk this summer.

I also want to thank On The Border in West McKinney for generously offering a percentage of tonight’s proceeds to Komen North Texas and my walk. They are also donating coupons for my swag bags, and gift cards for me to raffle. Save the Ta-Tas also donated an awesome gift basket, in addition to stickers which will be included in the swag bags. I will also have some other cool breast cancer related stuff, IZEA goodies, in addition to Mary Kay samples provided by the very cool and entertaining Eddie.

If you are in the Plano/Frisco/McKinney area, I hope that you will drop by and say hello. We will be there from 5PM until close. On The Border is one of my favorite restaurants, and they have awesome meals. I can taste my Sizzling Fajita Salad right now! Hope to see you there!

If you can’t be in McKinney with us, you can support me virtually by following me on Twitter and Facebook to interact with us during the event. Go here and leave me a comment too, if you haven’t already.