Day 112.

Walking day at Edgewood County Park – 5 miles.

Today felt like we were walking around in a desktop background.  It was all rolling hills, blankets of wildflowers and blue skies dotted with fluffy white clouds.

I’ll let today’s photos do the talking…

Miles walked: 453 | Miles to go: 47

Day 111.

Second school day at Tierra Linda Middle School in San Carlos.

I can’t praise Tierra Linda enough.

The kids are awesome.  The teachers are awesome.  The administrators are awesome.

We got the kids more involved up front and had volunteers demonstrating glucose, insulin and energy.  One kid would play insulin and the other would be a cheerio or toast or soda that would be digested into glucose.  My personal favorite was Omar’s cheerio that sort of giggled down into “glucose” – then Emily(?)’s insulin tapped his shoulder to turn him into energy.  By turning into energy, I mean that Omar ran full force to the far wall of the gym.  It was perfect!  After we asked for volunteers to demonstrate a sugar rush and suddenly everyone wanted a piece of the action!

Remember the Wellness Wall that used to be a measly couple of panels?  It has grown!  It now stretches out 15-20 feet and boasts writing from thousands of students from across California!

Great day, and with the poor weather, we were happy to be inside!

Day 110.

School day at Tierra Linda Middle School.

I forgot the power cord for my laptop at home – the laptop that we use to project our presentation during the classroom workshops…

I was blissfully unaware for the first two classes of today.  There was a standardized test in the morning, so all of the classes were a quick 35 minutes.  We adapted the content accordingly, but that was nothing compared to what would come later.

After lunch, I discovered that the spot where I keep my power cord was empty.  I had a nice mix of panic and dread, but that was quickly pushed aside as 45 munchkins streamed into the gym.  My power meter promised a full hour and forty minutes of juice, so with a little luck, we could make it through the remaining three short classes.

It did not.

… and it was hilarious.

Specifically, Lindsay’s “wavy insulin dance” was amazing.  We had to improvise with visuals, so she and Andrew were playing insulin and glucose.  One moment, I said, “Lindsay, you’ll be insulin” and the next, she’s waving her hands through the air in an Hawaiian-inspired hula dance.  It was priceless.

They were younger (5th and 6th graders), and all to happy to volunteer to help.  They were stretching their hands up to be picked or laughing at their friends up front.  It was a great dynamic, and the laptop battery snafu was definitely a blessing in disguise…

Day 109.

We’re back!  We’re heading to Tierra Linda Middle School tomorrow, and then a two-week sprint to the end!

This weekend (during the extended stay at home due to a host cancellation), I sorted through all of the paperwork from the walk.  It was amazing to see the original notebooks that I carried everywhere and filled with potential ideas.  It’s wild to see which of those ideas are now a reality (staying with MIT alumni to stretch our miniature budget) and those that fell by the wayside (stickers with healthy messages for the kids…)  It’s easy to get wrapped up in getting everything done with the walk, but it was great to step back and appreciate just how far we’ve come and how many people have come together to make it possible!!

I should also say that another school has had to cancel.  There were just too many things scheduled during the PE classes for the students.  We’ve heard this story time and time again – when there are presentations or special testing, it often gets scheduled during the PE period.  This was the case with this school, and they had already had to reschedule their gymnastics unit several times to accommodate other programs.  It’s a shame we won’t be able to come to their school, but the regular instruction must come first.

What’s amazing is that despite these cancellations, the workshops will still reach over 8,000 students!  I never imagined it would be that large when I was filling in those notebooks last year……………

Day 102.

Walking day through Rancho San Antonio Open Space (from last Monday when we went home sick…) – 10 miles

I love, love, love the preserved open spaces in the Bay Area.  If you ever want to drool over what’s available, check out Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District.

Ma and I spent last Monday exploring Rancho San Antonio.  One moment you’re driving through Cupertino, and then poof, you’re in wilderness with just your fellow runners & hikers as company!

We explored the trails less traveled, and around mile 7, in the hills above the farm area, we met a coyote!!!  I say met, but more accurately, I saw an animal in the distance, Ma death-gripped my arm, and we both waited motionless as it turned, saw us and scampered away up the trail.

Needless to say, Ma was not going any further after that, so we made a hasty retreat back down to the more populated areas of the preserve (all the while with Ma’s head darting back and forth on the look out!)

We spent a some more time in the lower areas of the preserve, and stumbled back to the car where I could finally restock on kleenex…

Now, I’m thankfully feeling better, but another host cancellation has us in limbo until Tuesday.  Alas, we don’t have the funding to supplement host cancellations with hotel stays… The time’s not going to waste though, and we’re getting everything in order to end strong on Mother’s Day!

Miles walked: 448 | Miles to go: 52

Due to cancellations by hosts, cancellations by schools, and dwindling funds, we have had to re-evaluate the remainder of the walk.

We will be:

- Culminating in San Francisco (not Sacramento)

- Walking 500 miles (rather than 750)

- Finishing May 9th (instead of June 6th)

Despite these changes and our limited resources, we are still committed to fulfilling our promise to all of the remaining schools. We have already reached over 7,000 middle school students, and over the coming weeks, we will raise that total to over 9,000 students!

None of this would have been possible without the generosity of our individual donors, our (mainly MIT alumni) hosts and all of the PE teachers who helped coordinate the workshops.  Type 2 diabetes and obesity are a huge problem, and it’s been wonderful to see everyone come together to tackle this important issue.  Thank you.

—

Unfortunately as I write this, I am sick.  After yesterday’s walk, Ma and I decided that it would be better to return home to recover rather than infect our hosts.  We are going to take this week to get healthy and make final arrangements for the revised schedule so we can finish strong on May 9th.

May 9th is also Mother’s Day – a symbolic end to the long journey that my mother and I have shared these last months.

Thank you all for helping make this possible!

Day 101.

Ten miles total – 3.1 of them with the Xterra Redwood Trail Run in Oakland and then the remaining 7 along the Stevenson Creek Trail in Mountain View.

Here’s the elevation profile of today’s run:

It kicked my butt.

The first mile was awesome.  We were on a nice, wide trail through the trees and periodically we would catch a glimpse of the wider valley beyond.  The path was mainly flat or downhill, so I was breezing along enjoying the scenery without even huffing or puffing.

Then came the first uphill.  And the second.  And soon I was a wheezing mess shuffling up the hiking trail only narrowly avoiding the mountain bikers coming the opposite direction.

For some reason, I thought the water station was at the halfway point, so as I passed the painted 2 on the ground, I assumed that they had marked the distance in kilometers and not miles.  You can imagine my surprise when a passing woman smiled and gasped, “I just saw the 3-mile mark; only .1 to go!”

Thanks to her, I sped up again and stumbled up the last hill and then down to the finish line.  Ma snapped a couple of photos of me climbing that last hill, and let’s just say they are not very pretty…  I will share one from after the race though – by this point I had caught my breath and sipped down some water.

After the race, I was so tired that the prospect of more walking was… less than appealing, but Ma and I made our way back to the West Bay & clocked 7 more miles.

Miles walked: 438 | Miles to go: 312

Days 98-100.

Today is the 100th day of the Walk!  I can hardly believe it.

First off, our “spring break” at home was extended thanks to a last-minute cancellation.  For once, it was a blessing to get a bit more time at home.  The week before we had another last -minute cancellation which had us scrambling for a place to stay and ending up in a seedy motel in Santa Cruz.

But that’s behind us now, and today we returned in full force with a 12 mile walking day!  We spent the day on the Los Gatos Creek Trail, and we shared the road with loads of other people happy to be outdoors soaking in the gorgeous weather.

The highlight of today was a little girl.  She had to be 8 or 9 years old, and she was biking towards us on the trail… with THE biggest toothy grin EVER.  Her happiness was so infectious, and I found myself grinning back at her (and still smiling after she passed… and now smiling as I write this… she was a seriously cool little girl!!!)

Other than that, the trail was well-kept and well-traveled.  There was a whole fly-fishing complex along the way (and a group of 15ish people learning to fly fish on a big grass field).  There were dozens of people collecting trash as part of a clean the creek day, and there was the tastiest smelling barbecue around mile 10.

Not a bad return back…

Plus, we had a mile of walking yesterday before getting to our host for the evening, so with today’s walking that’s 13 more miles to add to our total!

Miles walked: 428 | Miles to go: 322

Days 93-97.

We’re on Spring Break!

Ma and I have five days at home in Northern California to rest up (…and catch up on admin work for the walk…)

I can’t tell who was more excited for us to be home, my mom or my dad.  I talk about my adventures with Ma, but none of this would be possible without Pa “holding down the ranch” at home.  Now that we’re back, the first order of business is a barbecue – one of my dad’s absolute specialties.  He found some monster yams as well that are easily the size of my head, and the jury is out whether they will actually cook through…

On that note, I’ll be signing off for a couple of days.  Enjoy your week!

Day 92.

Second school day at Fisher… and driving home for a six-day “spring break” of our own!!!

First off, last night we received a fantastic email from one of the science teachers at Fisher:

“Just so you know….the kids are talking about the diabetes stuff they learned today. all on their own. They are talking about eating better, etc.”

How awesome is that??!  We’ve heard similar feedback at other schools, and every time it me feel so happy that the presentations are having an impact!  This time is extra special because of the giant combined classes and extended periods we’ve had at Fisher!

It was the Friday before spring break for the students, and today’s classes were much more fidgety than yesterdays.  I can understand.  I would want to be out on break too (and in fact, I could really sympathize because after class we were heading home for our own “spring break”!)  We made it through both 1.5 hr classes without incident, and before we knew it, it was already time to pack up again!

Then, Ma and I sang “We’re going home” in completely off-key and warbling voices as we pulled onto Highway 17.