My first long walk!

For the first time this training season, I walked almost NINE miles yesterday! A couple teammates and I joined a large group training walk (25-30 people) yesterday at Piedmont Park. We took a very windy route through the Virginia Highlands and tackled some steep hills ... though SOME people may argue that Atlanta doesn't even have hills. My sore quads and calves are proof that Atlanta has some decent inclines.

Shame on me for not checking the forecast, since I didn't have my fashionable poncho to wear when the skies opened up and DRENCHED us on our walk. The silver lining is that the clouds kept the temperature down, so we didn't have to worry about miserable heat. Being soaked to the bone did make our pitstop in Publix excessively cold, though.

I've done the walk before, but I'm learning all over again the importance of hydrating and refueling your body when doing these long walks. And since I know which energy bar I like the best (The Zone Perfect, Fudge Graham flavor!), I ordered 36 bars online to save some money this time around. :)

After Saturday's training walk, I stopped by New Balance to get some new shoes. Both my pairs from my last 3-Day are pretty worn out, so it was time to upgrade. I so BADLY wanted the pink ones! But they didn't fit my feet as well as the blue ones, and I have to keep my feet happy.

We've got another 7-9 mile walk this week at Piedmont Park and I'll be doing another 5-miler one evening this week. I'm going to have some shapely calves come October!