Training

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Getting ready for the big day!

Some tips for caring for your feet

Written by Jacqueline on August 23, 2010 at 11:22 am

The part of your body on which the MS Challenge Walk has the greatest impact — pun intended — is your feet. Everyone knows to wear the right sneakers and to break them in well before the walk. But what more can you do to avoid blisters and visits to the medical tent? Here are some tips.

Wrap your feet in athletic tape, from your toes to your ankles. Don't wrap too tightly! Use Vaseline or Petroleum jelly under the athletic tape.
Be sure your toenails are trimmed or filed close to the end of your toe, to prevent friction and bumping against your shoes which could result in the loss of toenails!
Epsom salt foot soaks help soothe tired achy feet! Dissolve a half cup of this mineral into two quarts of very warm water. Pour the water into a foot-soaking pan and soak your bare feet for fifteen to twenty minutes, once or twice a day. Rinse your feet off with clean tap water and dry them thoroughly. This service is provided free to all visitors to the medical tent, whether or not you need to see a medical professional.

Better to look like this than blistered!

Good luck out there!

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Jacqui is a registered nurse working in home dialysis, living in Denver, Colorado. Born and rasied in Gray, Maine, Jacqui was diagnosed with MS in 2003 and has been participating in the MS Challenge Walk since 2007. This year is the first time she's had her own team, Whittaker's Warriors.

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What to expect at the medical tents

Written by Jacqueline on August 9, 2010 at 10:45 am

I have had the opportunity to experience the medical tents both as a walker and as a nurse. The medical crew is available for everything you may need as a walker or as a crew member. As a walker you may develop sore, blistered feet; the crew will mend you with ointments, bandages, gauze, and advice. You may develop sore or swollen joints; the crew will ice and wrap you up! Maybe you will suffer a bit of dehydration or heat exhaustion. They will cool you down and nourish you with fluids. Aches and pains? A little Tylenol or Advil will do!

The main medical tent is available at the Sea Camps from 6 AM until the last patient leaves, and each rest stop has a medical station with nearly everything you might need on your two-day, 30-mile journey. Should the need arise for more intensive medical treatment, the crew will stabilize you until more advanced care arrives.

As a walker my first year, I was treated with TLC, and I saw all walkers treated that way. As a nurse on medical crew my second year, I treated everyone with the same TLC! But no matter how well you're treated, the best care is preventive. Over the next few Mondays, I'll give some medical advice that you can use to take care of yourself and avoid any medical emergencies. Stay tuned!

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Let training walks inspire you!

Written by Susan on August 6, 2010 at 9:48 am

This past Saturday, I drove from Boston to Springfield, Mass., to participate in a training walk sponsored by Gordon’s Team. We had perfect weather, cool and dry, and I got in a longer walk than I would have had I stayed at home that weekend.

For me, training walks are a great way to ensure that I get in those longer walks that are necessary for my training. Even more important, they make me feel connected to the MS Challenge Walk. The conversations while walking (or munching on fruit after) re-connect me to other walkers, whether it’s their first walk or their ninth. These conversations reaffirm why I participate in the Challenge Walk year after year.

Lace up those shoes and head to the next training walk. There's one this weekend in Brockton, with others on August 22 in Arlington and August 29 in Ayer. Get your miles in, earn some bonus bucks, and get inspired!

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Susan lives in the greater Boston area and has been involved with the National MS Society since she was diagnosed with MS eleven years ago. She has participated in the MS Challenge walk for the past seven years and currently serves on the event's steering committee.

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Training walk (Springfield)

Written by Events on July 27, 2010 at 11:42 am

Please join Gordon's Team for a training walk in Springfield! Whether you come from Western Massachusetts or elsewhere, you are invited to walk 7 miles with auto support and bathrooms, then back to the team's house for a swim afterward. Please contact Kim at 413-783-5454 for more details.

This is the events calendar, featuring official NMSS rallies and meetings as well as volunteer-sponsored fundraisers. Want to see your event listed here? Please submit the details, and we'll add it!

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She's got the beat!

Written by Susan on July 26, 2010 at 10:48 am

The day that most changed my life — not my wedding day, not the birth of my first or even second child — it was the day that I brought home my iPod. (I really hope that my husband and sons aren't keeping up on this blog!)

Okay, perhaps my iPod purchase wasn't quite as momentous as the other events that I mentioned, but still, it did revolutionize my training for the MS Challenge Walk. I suddenly had the ability to put together different walking playlists of music to inspire me during my walks. The playlists have two main things in common: a quick beat to keep my walking pace snappy, and good lyrics that I enjoy listening to. The walk list themes vary from show tunes to pop and everything in between, but they all keep me moving and humming for the many miles and hours that it takes to prepare for this event.

Walking without the music just isn't the same. The only long walks that I enjoy without music occur every fall on Cape Cod when I get to catch up with the many Challenge Walkers that I only get to see once a year.

What music keeps you going? What music inspires you? Fill out the form below to let us know, and we'll compile and share the results. Who knows — you may just hear it during the Challenge Walk weekend!

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Destination in mind

Written by Kahm on July 9, 2010 at 1:34 pm

I'll admit, doing something like the Challenge Walk is out of character for me. I'm a destination walker: I walk to get to where I'm going. Even though I like the idea of going out for a stroll for fun or exercise, it's darn hard for me to get off my rear unless there's a real end to my journey — the grocery store, my job, Starbucks… So I knew I was going to have to think of something creative to get myself training for this walk.

I found an easy way to do a little more training right off the bat. I work about a mile away from where I live, and walk there every day. With the help of Google Maps' walking directions, I found a way to make my usual route about a half a mile longer. As an added plus, it's a lot more scenic — instead of walking past a mile of apartment buildings and busy intersections, I take my time and loop around a nearby park area, complete with a walking path and a pond filled with excitable geese. My destination remains the same, but I can take an extra ten minutes to see a prettier part of town and get my feet used to walking greater distances. In another month or so, I hope to reevaluate my route and change it to make the trek even longer.

Tart frozen yogurt can be a powerful motivator!

Of course, an extra half-mile per day is helpful, but I won't be ready for 30 miles unless I start doing some distance, too! My solution for my motivation problem is basically shameless self-bribery. If I'm feeling hungry for frozen yogurt, I can "earn" it by walking a huge loop around the neighborhood that ends at my favorite frozen yogurt shop. What's more, I can find interesting-sounding coffee shops or ice cream stores that are reasonably far away from me as destinations, using training time to get better acquainted with my neighborhood. Somehow, the walk home always seems shorter with something cold and delicious in hand!

I'm hoping to slowly break out of my tendency to be a destination walker, or at least better remember that not all destinations are physical locations. The Challenge Walk's destination is may physically be Cape Cod, but it's actually a world without MS, and I hope to walk all the way there — though I might show up with a frappe in hand.

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Kahmmie is a first-year walker and has just started to get involved with the MS community, with the inspiration of her significant other, Ken, this site's webmaster. She currently lives in the Boston area and attends graduate school full-time.

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Walking with friends

Written by Patty on June 25, 2010 at 10:32 am

You're not in this alone!

Training is not easy for me. Lack of time and fatigue are big reasons why I find it so difficult to commit to a regular training schedule. This year, though, I’m approaching training differently: I’m walking with friends. We walk at lunch time, after work and on weekends. The walk group isn’t always the same. Some days, there are five or six of us walking, other days, just one or two. It doesn’t matter how many of us are walking together, the result is always the same: we laugh, talk and the miles fly by.

If training is difficult for you, consider forming a walk group of co-workers, friends and family. You'll be surprised how much easier it is to train!

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Diagnosed with MS in 1994, Patty responded the way many do: she refused to discuss it. It took her ten years to realize that silence isn't the answer. She, her friends and family formed the Blister Buddies for their first Challenge Walk in 2004. Patty is now on the Challenge Walk Steering Committee and chairs the PR Subcommittee. In November 2008, she became a member of the Greater NE Chapter's Board of Trustees.

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Taking the first step

Written by Kahm on May 17, 2010 at 1:30 pm

As a first-time Challenge Walker, you'll want to have someone experienced by your side. For me, that experienced someone is my best friend and significant other, Ken, whose mother suffers from MS. Even though I've never participated in charity walks before, his passion for the cause is contagious, and this year I will happily be the second person of a two-person team, the MSchief Makers.

I relocated to Boston almost a year ago, right before the 2009 Challenge Walk — I wanted to participate, but having just moved halfway across the country and started my first year of graduate school the week before, the timing wasn't quite workable. But I swore to myself that I'd be a Challenge Walker in 2010, and now I'm registered and (almost) ready to walk!

I'm new to every part of this walk, so I'll be writing about my initial experiences with training, fundraising, networking … the works! Step one (as well as steps 2, 3, and on up through the thousands) occurred this weekend with my first-ever charity walk: a short, five-mile walk in Laconia, NH. Though Ken normally works the support crew from his bike in MS walks, it didn't take too much convincing to get him to join me on two feet for this trek.

Walkers and dogs alike turned out for Laconia's first one-day walk!

Of all the NMSS's one-day walks, this was the first one to be held in Laconia, and it was exciting to be part of a new event. It couldn't have been a more perfect day for a stroll, and there was a great turnout for a new walk (over 100 people … and a lot more dogs than I expected). We didn't spend too much time socializing with the other walkers, but there was something fascinating about knowing we were all here for the same reasons — there was a feeling of solidarity within the group, despite the fact that most of us didn't know one another. It was both unique and exciting to feel at home in a crowd of relative strangers simply because you share a common cause.

The walk itself was comfortable and refreshing, and I was happy to prove to myself that my body can do five miles fairly easily. I made good choices for shoes, socks, and apparel, but I should have been a little more careful when applying sunscreen: for someone with my winter pallor, two hours in direct sunlight will leave one a little singed. But I'll remember these things for my training walks over the summer — five miles is one thing, but 30 needs practice! This shorter walk proved to be an excellent kick-off for my involvement with the MS community, and I'm definitely excited about taking up the Challenge in September, but one thing is for sure: I need to do a lot of walking between now and then!

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