5 Miles

I did a 5 mile walk around the neighborhood this morning. I wanted to make sure I could do a long walk one day, and do a moderate walk the following day. The test went well. I was pretty tired last night after the walk to Lamy, but this morning I was ready to walk again - no sore joints - a big improvement from other walks.

This is a picture I took several weeks ago from the neighborhood loop.

Walk to Lamy

I walked from the Santa Fe Community College to Lamy today. This is a map of my route. I started off on the green trail, walked to the red trail, turned right on to the red trail, and walked to Lamy. It was a pretty nice day - overcast with a wind. The wind blew in my face most of the day, but it wasn't too tiring. I was expecting to encounter other walkers and bikers, but I only saw one bike rider all day. I think I walked over 16 miles (if you add in my walking mistakes and the strange route I took into Lamy) and it took about 5 hours.



This is a tree along the rail trail in Eldorado. The rail running from Lamy to Santa Fe is quiet. It is currently being used by an excursion railroad, The Santa Fe Southern Railway. The main railroad has never come to Santa Fe. This rail spur was originally created to get passengers and goods to and from Santa Fe and the main rail line that passes through Lamy.

Lamy is a sleepy town with less than 200 residents. It once had a Harvey House. Here is a nice page of NM's Harvey Houses.



This is a break I took after walking about 12 miles. This was in an area just south of Eldorado where there are big houses and a lot of horses.



This is along one of the most beautiful parts of the trail. About 3 miles west of Lamy the track curves through cuts in the hills. There are a lot of train bridges and stunning views. New Mexico Beauty! This picture was probably 2.5 miles from Lamy. I would highly recommend taking this part of the trail. For a short walk you can park at Hyw 285 and the tracks and walk westward, or park at a lot in Eldorado at a railroad crossing and walk south and east.



This is the depot in Lamy and this was the ending point of my walk. My coworker Harriet was so great to come and get me and drive me back to my car.

The ending part of the walk was really strange. I thought the trail went all the way to Lamy, but looking at the map now - it obviously does not! Once the trail crossed Hwy 285 (about 1 miles from Lamy), I didn't see the foot trail again, so I walked on the tracks and along the gravel of the tracks when there was room. About .25 mile from the depot my plan became problematic when I came upon a giant wood trussel. It was about 100 feet above the ground and there wasn't a walkway. In order to keep going, I jumped down the hill and followed a long driveway to the main road. I walked the main road into Lamy. This walk down the hill would have been easy in the first mile of my walk, but at the very end it was difficult. I was so glad to see the depot as I walked the main road into this tiny town.

11 Miles +

I walked a little over 11 miles today. It was the best walk I have taken yet.

I started out really early this morning because the winds are suppose to be horrendous today. Luckily I finished my walk early. They are just now starting to blow around noon.

I started out taking the Spur Trail. I really liked this trail a lot. It is a pea gravel trail 3.4 miles long (6.8 round trip). There were a lot of walkers and runners out this morning and the culture of the trail itself was quite interesting. As I passed people, or they passed me, walkers either said, "good morning" or more likely, "great job, keep going!"

The trail (despite being busy) is mostly pretty isolated. For about the first mile you walk along the north side of the Rancho Viejo neighborhood. Then the trail makes a sharp left turn and continues east toward the Sangres. You can see a few houses along the path, but for the most part you feel far away from town. It is a beautiful walk. I took a few pictures.



This is the trail beginning. You can see snow starting to fall in the foothills.



This is near the end of the trail. I didn't realize I had been walking up hill to the end of the trail, but once you are at the end you are rewarded with a nice westward view of the Jemez Mountains.

Then I did two loops around the older section of Ranch Viejo. The map says each loop is 2.2 miles. The Rancho trails are paved and there were lots of people walking dogs. A few snow flakes fell while I was walking this loop, but it didn't seem very cold.

While walking the Rancho section I listened to a really great book on tape, The Emperor of Ocean Park. It is a mystery about a wealthy black family with federal judicial connections. The story is really great so far, and the reader of the book on tape is very good.

I feel a little tired but pretty good after the walk. I am really grateful to be done and out in the wind!

Books that got me here

There were many things that inspired me to do this walk. Some of my inspiration was from family and friends. Some of the inspiration for walking came from these two books. My friend JM started an online book group several years ago, and in November and December of 2005 these were the books we read for the group discussion. Both books are stories about men who set out on physical adventures with seemingly little thought and/or preparation.

Bryson's book is one of my favorites. A Walk in the Woods is Bryson's story of hiking the Appalachian Trail with an old friend from Iowa.



French Revolutions by Tim Moore is a little crazier. It is the story of a guy who decides to cycle the Tour de France route. He starts out by himself and at different points is joined by his wife and children (traveling by car) and a friend who is a cycling expert.

Both books were inspiring in their humor, and the writers' alleged naivete about the adventures they undertake. Although I am beginning to believe no matter how much you think you have planned for a big adventure, you probably end up being naive about so many of the unknowns!

Dana Reeves

From the American Lung Association

NON-SMOKER DANA REEVE DIES OF LUNG CANCER

Dana Reeve, widow of late actor Christopher Reeve, has died of lung cancer at age 44.

First known as a singer/actress, she became a symbol of compassion and dedication while caring for her husband during his near decade of paralysis.

A lifelong nonsmoker, she announced her diagnosis in August 2005.

Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer for both men and women. Dana Reeve has brought much needed attention to the fact that approximately 13% of its victims are non-smokers. In 2004 more than 170,000 new cases of lung cancer and over 160,000 deaths were attributed to the disease in the United States. Smoking is the leading cause, responsible for 87% of lung cancer cases, but there are a number of other factors that contribute including secondhand smoke, radon, air pollution and family history. More studies are needed to determine the cause of a 600% increase of lung cancer diagnosis in women since 1955.

For suggestions or information on smoking cessation or the risks of lung cancer, contact the American Lung Association at (312) 243-2000.

Visit the American Lung Association Online.

From the Washington Post

Dana Reeve Dies of Lung Cancer at 44
By JIM FITZGERALD
The Associated Press
Tuesday, March 7, 2006; 11:47 PM


WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- Dana Reeve, the singer-actress who married the strapping star of the "Superman" movies and then devoted herself to his care and his cause after he was paralyzed, has died of lung cancer, a year-and-a-half after her husband. She was 44.

Although Reeve had announced her cancer diagnosis in August _ to an outpouring of sympathy and support from admirers around the world _ her death seemed sudden. As recently as Jan. 12, she looked healthy and happy as she belted out Carole King's "Now and Forever" at a packed Madison Square Garden during a ceremony honoring hockey star Mark Messier, a friend.

"Unfortunately, that's what happens with this awful disease," said Maggie Goldberg of the Christopher Reeve Foundation, where Dana Reeve had succeeded her husband as chair. "You feel good, you're responding and then the downturn."

Reeve, who lived in Pound Ridge, died Monday night at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Medical Center in Manhattan, said foundation president Kathy Lewis.

Officials would not discuss Reeve's treatment or say when she entered the hospital. But Lewis said she visited her there on Friday, when Reeve was "tired but with her typical sense of humor and smile, always trying to make other people feel good, her characteristic personality."

"The brightest light has gone out," said comedian Robin Williams. "We will forever celebrate her loving spirit."

Former President Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton described Reeve as "a model of tenacity and grace."

"Despite the adversity that she faced, Dana bravely met these challenges and was always an extremely devoted wife, mother and advocate," they said.

Christopher and Dana Reeve married in 1992. Life changed drastically for the young show business couple three years later when Christopher Reeve suffered near-total paralysis in a horse-riding accident and almost died.

In his autobiography, "Still Me," Reeve wrote that he suggested early on to his wife, "Maybe we should let me go." She responded, "I'll be with you for the long haul, no matter what. You're still you and I love you."

Those were "the words that saved my life," Christopher Reeve said.

For his remaining nine years, Dana Reeve was her husband's constant companion and supporter during the ordeal of his rehabilitation, winning worldwide acclaim and admiration. With him, she became an activist in the search for a cure for spinal cord injuries.

"Something miraculous and wonderful happened amidst terrible tragedy, and a whole new dimension of life began to emerge," she wrote in a 1999 book, "Care Packages: Letters to Christopher Reeve from Strangers and Other Friends." "What we had yet to discover were all the gifts that come out of sharing hardship, the hidden pleasures behind the pain."

After her husband's death in October 2004, Reeve said she planned to return to acting. She had appeared on Broadway, off-Broadway and regional stages and on the TV shows "Law & Order," "Oz," and "All My Children" and she'd had to give up a Broadway role when she was widowed.

"I am an actress and I do have to make a living," she said.

However, her mother died of complications from ovarian cancer and her own diagnosis came the next summer, two days after the lung cancer death of ABC News anchor Peter Jennings, a smoker.

"I thought that after everything that she had gone through with Chris that she would have time to smell the flowers and be in the sun," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California. "But apparently that was not meant to be."

From the start, Reeve, a nonsmoker, expressed confidence she would beat lung cancer. And four months ago, wearing a long formal gown at a fundraising gala for the foundation, Reeve provoked wolf whistles from Williams and said she was responding well to treatment.

"I'm beating the odds and defying every statistic the doctors can throw at me," Reeve said. "My prognosis looks better all the time."

At about the same time, Reeve taped a PBS show, "The New Medicine," about how doctors are paying more attention to a patient's cultural values and lifestyle as part of treatment. In her introduction to the program, Reeve said, "It has become clear to me that high-tech medicine, with all its wonders, often leaves out that all-important human touch."

PBS said Tuesday that the show will be broadcast as scheduled March 29.

Survivors include the Reeves' 13-year-old son, Will; two grown stepchildren, Matthew and Alexandra; her father, Charles Morosini; and two sisters.

Goldberg said Will was "in the loving care of family and friends" and that his mother had arranged for his future.

The foundation said no plans for a funeral have been announced.

A New Plan

I got out the Avon Walk training schedule last weekend, and was both overwhelmed and quite discouraged by the schedule. My mental plan for training has been to train for the walk - and to do the walk one time. The Avon schedule has a training schedule that includes doing MORE than the entire distance of the Avon walk in two consecutive days in the two and three weeks leading up to the walk. Today I finally found an alternative schedule that I am quite happy with. This schedule is on About.com and was created for the Boston Avon Walk in 2005. I really like this schedule because the only time you do the entire walk is on the days of the walk!

Here is the website with the training schedule I will be working toward.

It is close to the workout schedule I started. I am just missing the two longer walks on consecutive days. That will be easy to add.

I am so happy to have found this much more useful training schedule!

New Place to Walk

Joel and I drove around this morning and we found a new place I can walk. I am really excited! There is a Spur trail that starts around Rancho Viejo (a neighborhood in southern Santa Fe). Rancho Viejo itself has several paved trails through the neighborhoods.

The Spur is also really interesting. It is a gravel trail that starts at a small parking lot and heads east toward the railroad. The small part we walked on this morning has some really nice views. The Spur Trail is a little over 3 miles. The Spur Trail leads to the Santa Fe Rail Trail that goes all the way to Lamy along the railroad tracks. Doing the Santa Fe Rail Trail alone is a 22-25 mile round trip.

10 Miles Again

I walked 10 miles again today. I am walking at the gym because I am having allergies this spring and I am trying to avoid exposure to the pollens. I have never had allergies like this before. It hasn't been this dry in New Mexico for over 40 years. We are back to the dust bowl! One website I have been looking at shows that Albuqueruqe has had 2 days of measurable precipitation since November 2005 and that has only been an accumulated amount of .14 of an inch. We need rain!

The first hour of walking this morning was hard on my lungs, but after the first hour it was much easier to breathe. The last two miles were really difficult which was pretty discouraging. I thought if I walked 10 miles again this weekend it would be a bit easier than last weekend. That just wasn't the case. I am going to psych myself up to 11 miles next Saturday (I was hoping I could push up to 13 miles, but I just don't feel ready).

Jacky Dalmy's Story

My maternal grandmother died of ovarian cancer when I was 10 years old. That was my first experience with cancer, and quite frightening at that age.

My first cousin developed breast cancer when she was in her 30’s and died when she was 40 years old. Even though I hadn’t seen her for years, I talked to her only daughter, who was 14 years old. She was so upset and was estranged from her father so I offered to let her come and live with me. She finally decided to live with her grandparents.

In 1987, my oldest sister called me in a panic. She went for a mammogram and found out that she had a tiny spot that needed to be biopsied. She was worried but I told her not to panic since it could just be a benign growth. As soon as she found out it was cancer, our lives changed forever. I lived in New Mexico and my sister lived in New Jersey. She had separated from her husband and had a 2 year old daughter and a 4 year old son. I spent the next two years, mostly in New Jersey. My sister got 6 months of chemotherapy and was too sick, often, to take care of her children. She had elected to get a mastectomy and chemotherapy instead of a lumpectomy because she didn’t want to get radiation treatments. She never asked her prognosis, I think because she feared the worst and there was no way she was going to die with two small children.

About 2 months after chemotherapy was over, she got a horrible back ache. The cancer had metastasized to the base of her spine. Because we were all new to this stuff, we had no idea if it was a death sentence or something that could be cured. I will never forget the day I walked in to her doctor’s office to find out her prognosis. The doctor was very cold and almost arrogant when he replied, “oh, she’s not going to live past Christmas”. I, of course, was totally shocked, devastated, etc. and I started to cry. He then said, “You need to quit crying. She can’t see you crying so you better get a hold of yourself before you go into her hospital room”.

My sister agreed to have a hole put in the top of her head so that she could receive the chemo therapy drugs there instead of intravenously. She also got radiation. Luckily, she had a wonderful boyfriend who took her to all of her treatments and helped her while I took care of the children.

In September of 1989, I got a call from the hospital saying that my sister only had about 24 hours to live. The first round of chemotherapy, not only put her in menopause but also damaged her heart. Myself, my husband and 2 other sisters went to New Jersey right away. For two weeks, we spent all day, every day at the hospital. Every evening, her boyfriend would come and we would go back to her house. We felt like we were living some horrible nightmare and of course spent hours crying and grieving. One evening, when we were leaving, my sister and I noticed that the urine bag was filling with blood and we knew that she was really dying. We somehow, just didn’t have the heart to stay. She died that night at 4:00a.m. at the age of 42.

My youngest sister died about 8 years later at the age of 43 of colon cancer, leaving behind a 14 year old son who developed colon cancer at the age of 22 and is now undergoing chemotherapy.

Having gone through the horrible anguish, depression, etc., of losing a loved one I feel very strongly that I want to do anything I can to raise money for research for this disease.

In 2003, myself and 2 of my sisters did the 3 day, 60 mile Breast Cancer Walk and want to do it again.

Important Resource

Medline Plus is a great resource for breast cancer information.

Visit http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/breastcancer.html