Sorry for not updating with our experience sooner, but we needed some time to nurse our sore legs and feet. So here’s my recount for the weekend — I’ll try to keep it relatively short.

We all arrived at Soldier Field, wide-eyed and ready to start the journey, which turned out to be more daunting than we anticipated. It took us a little while to get into our groove since 4,000 people attempting to walk down city streets at the same time warrants a lot of pushing, shoving, and walking slow. It was exciting at the beginning of the walk, the first few quick stops had cute themes and we were enjoying the sights of the city.

The weather cooperated for the most of the morning, but we did end up walking a few miles through a downpour, right around lunchtime. We considered calling it quits at lunchtime, which was around mile 9 I think. The lunch stop was too soaked, so we bagged our sandwiches, cookies, and chips, and trekked another mile or so to eat under the awning of a hospital with the Morand clan (who provided great support throughout the day, btw)!

Mom joined in around the halfway mark and walked a few miles with us periodically. Janet stopped around mile 15 as the distance, speed of part of our team, and rain really made things tricky. Christen, Nancy, and I changed our socks, put some bandaids on blisters and continued through the woods at that point. We got our around mile 18 (I think). That’s about the point where I really started to hurt. I thought about quitting at mile 20. It was so painful that I tried to walk as fast as I could in order to finish faster. The mile 24 cheering station eventually popped up and I thought I would die if I continued. But, seeing the family and getting a little encouragement made me push through the last 2.2 miles.

Somehow, we crossed the finish line around 5:30pm. We had planned to have a Cancer Crushers dinner with our families that night, but we were all in so much pain so we rescheduled until July.

That night, I couldn’t straighten my legs so I vowed to only cheer the team on Sunday and not walk. However, I stretched when I woke up Sunday morning and had Mark drive me to a cheering station to join the team. Janet had the same idea I did, so we joined Christen and Nancy for the last 5 miles.

Janet and I were much better off Sunday since we hadn’t walked the extra 8 miles that Christen and Nancy did. The last day was more fun since we knew the end was in sight. The 4 of us crossed the finish line together and were ambushed by family members who put congratulatory lei’s on us. It was wonderful, but we were all ready to go home and rest rather than stick around and celebrate.

Overall, it was a great experience and I’m happy I did it. I’m not sure I’ll ever do this again, though I’m thinking Relay for Life might be more up my alley. I’m only 27, though, so perhaps I can be convinced to do this again in a few years. We’ll see…

Thanks again for everyone’s support in this wild endeavor! Here are links to our pictures, enjoy!

Christen and Leo’s Pictures
Nichols’ Pictures
Morand’s Pictures
Mark and Kim’s Pictures

-Kimberly

We are just about a week away from our big walk and it seems like all four of us have gotten so busy with life! We’ve all been trying to get some training walks in, but I feel like Christen will be the most prepared. My whole attitude towards this is just “let’s do it.” Whether I’m fully prepared or not, I WILL do this. I doubt Mom and Grandma were fully prepared to take on their cancer, but they DID IT. (That might just be me rationalizing this, but still…)

In preparation of this big weekend, my mom sent us a list of things to pack. Her friends and co-workers from school have participated in this before, and suggested we pack the following:

• Water bottle AND Gatorade bottle
• Ibuprofen (take every 4 hours whether you need it or not)
• Poncho
• Vaseline (for the feet)
• Foot powder (put on feet after vaseline)
• Like 5 pairs of socks  (change socks every 5 miles or so)
• Sunscreen
• Lip sunscreen
• Sunglasses
• Money
• ID or driver’s license
• Baby wipes
• Hand sanitizer
• Deodorant
• Bandaids
• Medical tape
• Body glide

Ummmm, wow. That’s intense. I can tell you right now, I will NOT be walking with all of that. I’m opting for a little backpack since I don’t have a fanny pack with water bottle holders and find no sense in buying one for this one time use. I’ll probably pack medical tape, bandaids, water, deodorant, sunscreen, and money/ID. I’ll be wearing sunglasses….and….that’s it. I’m not changing my shoes halfway like Christen might and I’m leaving my socks on. Once you take shoes and socks off, you’re screwed in my opinion. You just have to push through and not let your feet know relief until you’re done At least that’s my thinking…

Our team shirts arrived last week and I’ve been passing them out to everyone. They look awesome and I’m excited to show them off. Thanks again to Lindsay for taking the time to give us TWO awesome designs. And thanks to the company I used to have them printed: CustomInk.com. Not only did they do a great job in a short amount of time, but they donated to our walk and offered to sponsor us if we do it again. Wow! How’s that for customer service?!? They come highly recommended from me

That’s about it for now. Pray for some cooler weather and a few clouds next weekend so we don’t die of heat exhaustion!

-Kimberly

It’s been almost a month since I last blogged, so I’m sure you’re all dying to find out how the Beer for Boobs party went. Well, it was definitely a success!! Eric and his roommates were awesome for letting us invade their apartment with all things pink. We also had a great turnout and raised about $600 in donations, which went towards our fundraising efforts. Here are some pictures that capture the event pretty well.

We’re almost finished with our fundraising, but Janet could still use a few more dollars. Please send donations her way!!

Last weekend, us Cancer Crushers (sans Nancy) went out to dinner to figure things out for race weekend. We also took a look at some T-shirt designs that my friend Lindsay came up with. Here is what our shirts will probably look like.

That sums it up for now. We’re all training in our own ways, so hopefully it’ll pay off come the weekend of the walk! Thanks for all of you continued support!

-Kimberly

You read that correctly: beer for boobs. Our brother Eric (and his roommates) have agreed to throw the Cancer Crushers a fundraising party! Beer for Boobs will be held on Saturday, April 24th, at Eric’s place starting at 4:00 pm. Anyone and everyone is invited to join us in our celebration and fundraising efforts.

Speaking of fundraising, our team is doing a great job but could still use a little more help. Don’t forget to check our pages to see our progress!

Kimberly’s Page (So close to reaching my goal!)
Janet’s Page
Nancy’s Page
Christen’s Page (Hooray, you’ve reached your goal!)

Our training is also progressing. I was able to walk outside earlier this week and even convinced Mark to come with me. Unfortunately we had some major thunderstorms, so I have been forced to keep the training inside. Instead of not training at all (which is soooo easy to do!) I decided to flip on a few Jillian Michaels  workouts so I can keep my endurance up. Hopefully that helps until I can walk outside again next week when the weather looks nicer.

That’s about it with me!

-Kimberly

Christen here, coming at you from sunny Florida. Kim and I had a fantastic time with Mom & Dad on Saturday getting fitted for just the right shoes for the Avon Walk. Mom & Dad treated us to quite the splurge shopping spree at Runner’s Grove in Downers Grove. What a great store! The second we walked in, we knew we were in for fabulous customer service and attention. We started out walking (we might have strutted just a little bit for our expert, who assessed both of us with minor pronation. We really enjoyed our manager expert, who was ironically working on a study on the way dancers and former dancers walk. He is even working with the Joffrey Ballet on the study! Kim and I ended up with some awesome running shoes, check them out:

Here are my Nike’s….the very first pair of Nike’s I have ever purchased. I used to have a ban on all Nike shoes since I thought they were too narrow, so guess it just goes to show how important fit is!

And here is a picture of all of Kim’s gear….isn’t she so professional with her pictures?!

As you can see from Kim’s pic, we also purchased some great pants, tops, hats, etc. Here’s a pic Leo snapped of me on Sunday in my new gear:

But the biggest highlight of the weekend for sure was seeing Mom’s new ‘do! No pics yet, but maybe she will strike a pose for us on Easter. Mom has dyed the grey away to a lighter brown and has a cute short cut. Her hair is slowly starting to grow back and we think she looks great! We just passed the 1 year mark from her diagnosis and are approaching the 1 year mark from her surgery, so having this race as a focus really shows us how far our family has come in the last year.

Kim and I are still working on training for the big day. Now that we have shoes and are all set, it is becoming much more of a reality that we are about to walk a Marathon and a Half! Yikes! Boredom is our biggest challenge right now for sure. That and the crazy Chicago weather. I think once it warms up in Chicagoland, we will be in much better walking spirits and will be walking a lot more. The treadmill in Morand Gym is starting to get boring….although yesterday I walked/ran 10 miles while watching a movie. Not too bad! Kim and I are always looking for walking buddies, so please let us know if you’d like to join us! Give us a few weeks and we’ll be outside in full force for sure!

Here’s to a great week of training! Kim has been pretty busy with many projects, so her time (and the weather in Chicago) will certainly be challenges this week. I am on a long-term out of town project in Sarasota, FL, so fitting in workouts out of town can sometimes be hard. Luckily the gym at the hotel is decent. While its always a struggle to be on the road, at least I have this view for the week:

Thank you to everyone for your support, love and encouragement! Kim is still a little short of the fundraising goal, so please consider a tax deductible contribution (I know, I know, shameless CPA plug).

– Christen

We Nichols Girls don’t appear to be that great at updating this blog. Christen has been traveling for work, so she has an excuse. She’s been in Florida, and it looks like she sent some sunshine to Chicago! It’s nice to have sun and temperatures in the 50s and 60s here! So nice, in fact, that I couldn’t resist a training walk outside!

I’ll be honest. I’m terrible at training walks. The last one I did was early February I think. I managed to walk for a full hour today, making it almost 4 miles (I think…based on my pedometer). Even at 8:30 am, it was warm(ish) and sunny, so that made it more bearable.

Here’s my problem with this training business: I get bored. I have my iPod stocked with way more music than I could ever listen to in a week (thanks, Mark!), yet after about 15 minutes, I get fidgety. I get bored with the scenery (even though I’ve stopped walking in giant circles) and I get bored with the repetitive motion of one foot in front of the other. After awhile my mind wanders and I start focusing on the parts of my body that hurt. Yup. I’m 27 and have more aches and pains than ever. I pulled my hamstring 9 years ago and I’m convinced it never healed correctly. Even though I stretch before and after my walks, it throbs after 2-3 miles. That’s not good considering I have to walk 26 miles one day, followed by 13 miles the next! Once I get tired of focusing on the hammy pain, I shift focus to the blister I think is forming between my webbed toes (yes, I have webbed toes thanks to my dad). Perhaps some special walking socks…and new shoes would help?

Maybe if I had a walking buddy (hint hint), someone to chat with, I wouldn’t focus so much on the random aches and pains. I fully intend on walking more frequently, so hopefully that helps.

So, while I’m struggling through 4 miles, Christen is rocking 10+. I know she recently finished a 10 mile training walk and continues to work out at the hotel she’s at for work in Florida. She’s following the Avon training program, so I’m sure she’ll be in better shape than me, come race day! Maybe Christen, Janet, and Nancy can offer to rotate piggy back rides for me? Ah? Ah? Just kidding, I can do this…with a little more focus and training.

Hope everyone else is out there enjoying the weather! And, don’t forget to help the Cancer Crushers with our fundraising! (Congrats to Christen who reached her goal!)

My Page
Janet’s Page
Nancy’s Page
Christen’s Page
Cancer Crushers Page

-Kimberly

Hi friends, family, and fans. It’s been awhile since we checked in, so I thought I’d let you know we’re still around!

I’ve had the hardest time attempting to train in this silly snowy weather! Apparently we’re in for another 7ish inches of snow tonight, which will once again hinder my ability to walk my neighborhood. My house isn’t big enough to walk around in, so I’ll have to rely on some hardcore training once it warms up!

I haven’t talked to Christen, but if I know her, she’s still walkin’ it out at the Morand gym, while throwing some Jillian Michaels training in there too. You go, sister! She’ll be traveling for work soon, but hopefully she’ll be able to walk on the weekends as she’s planned all along.

My birthday is coming up in about 10 days, hooray! My friend Lindsay is coming to Chicago to help me celebrate, so maybe I can convince her to give me a sneak preview of the Cancer Crusher shirts! If so, I’ll share it with all of you.

Well, that’s it. Nothing too exciting right now, as we’re preparing for yet another snow. Cross your fingers for a heat wave!

-Kimberly

No surprise here, I’m pretty sure ‘Tan’ has never been a descriptor for a Nichols girl. I shouldn’t say that, Kim can get pretty bronzed, while I remain pastey white pretty much all the time. Well, not TOO much news to report,  just that we are still walking it out! It’s cold here in Chicagoland, so for me, that means hitting the treadmill in Morand Gym. I can’t wait until I can actually walk around the neighborhood or meet up with Kim and other friends to walk even longer distances at the forest preserve or something. But, in the meantime, the trusty treadmill and TV will have to do. Thanks to my training, I did get to finally catch a few glimpses of Jersey Shore (Leo will not be pleased that I am admitting this one bit!) and I all I have to say is….wow. WOW. I don’t have the GTL totally down, but I can say I have MGL…Morand Gym & Laundry. Mainly because the treadmill and other workout stuff is right next to our washer and dryer in the basement: I might as well multi-task, right?!

Here’s a pic of me on a 4 mile walk this past Saturday (glamorous, I know):

Speed walking...nice form, huh?!

Getting ready to head to the basement

Kim and I are having a blast gearing up….long walks won’t come for a few months, but at least we are starting somewhere. Kim has an exciting weekend planned with Mark: closet renovation, woohoo! And I am heading to DC tomorrow with Katie for a girls weekend to visit Patty, super fun! So, the Nichols girls may not be walking all that much this weekend, but we’ll be back at it next week for sure. Thank you to all of our friends and family who have made donations so far or are planning to in the future! We really appreciate your support! And don’t forget, we are always looking for walking buddies!!

Happy Weekend!

–Christen

I received another donation today, so I thought I’d check Team Cancer Crusher’s progress. Our team has raised over $1,500 and is 21% of the way towards reaching our goal! I’m 37% of the way to my personal goal, and Christen is 47% of the way to her goal. We’re hoping to have the group donation set up soon so you can donate to our team as a whole.

Thank you so much to the family and friends that have already supported us, and thank you to those who plan on it. We couldn’t be more grateful and with each dollar we raise, we’re one step closer to reaching our goals! We have 131 more days; we can do this!!

Cancer Crushers
Christen’s Page
Kimberly’s Page
Janet’s Page
Nancy’s Page

Thanks again, and happy Monday!

-Kimberly

p.s. Yay Colts! Go Blue

Yay, this is my first blog entry, how exciting! Kim and I have had a lovely family day today. We went down to Rush today to get check-ups with mom’s surgeon, had a nice lunch with mom and dad, and are now back at Kim’s where I am receiving a blogging lesson. We learned some good news at the doc today: because mom’s cancer was diagnosed when she was 56, we aren’t at any more risk than if she was diagnosed at a later age. Our continued plan is the same as it was before: mammograms at age 40 and monthly self exams until then. So keep up those monthly self exams, friends and family! Mom found her cancer through a self exam, and thank goodness she found it as soon as she did.

In training updates, I survived my first training weekend. Leo walked with me for 4 miles on Saturday outside, and I put in 3 miles on the Morand Gym treadmill on Sunday. I am also the official ‘blister sister’ thanks to Saturday’s walk. I think I need to start experimenting with different socks.

Kim is maintaining her walking around the neighborhood since its so balmy these days in Chicago. Anything above freezing is considered paradise in January. We are both a little worried about these longer training walks….and we are always looking for walking buddies Just let us know!

–Christen