New York City Avon Walk for Breast Cancer - Story and Photos
Day 24
Breakfast and Second Breakfast: I got up at 3 am - and for my West Coast body that was like midnight, and having been to the play the night before I got less than 3 hours of sleep. I had coffee from the room coffee brewer machine and ate a Clif bar plus some peanuts. We waited for shuttles to arrive to take us to the walk start at South Street Seaport. They didn't arrive, so the hundreds of us waiting took taxis instead. At the Seaport, a cold breakfast was provided to my somewhat surprise. I had a cup of decaf, an orange juice, and the Quaker Oats Oatmeal Square. I saw that the square had trans-fat in it, to my disappointment as they taste good and have oatmeal. So far, I had plenty of carbs but no veggies.Walking and Drinking and Eating: The morning was humid and in the 70's, perfect for shorts and sweating. I drank my water faithfully. The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer provides Quick Stops and Rest Stops every couple of miles. At a Quick Stop they have water and Gatorade. At the Rest Stops they have a wide variety of snacks - fruit, salty snacks, sugary snacks. After the first stop, I refilled my water bottle with the Gatorade. It was mixed up at about half-strength, so it provided some carbs and salt. I did not have a snack until the second Rest Stop at 6.3 miles (two hours of walking), when I had half of the favorite snack of all Avon walkers - the graham cracker/peanut butter and jelly bar.
Lunch Stop: The Lunch Stop at Mile 10 provided a Sonoran Chicken Wrap, plus all the chips and cookies and fruit you could want. I ate the chicken wrap, although I left half of the tortilla. I skipped the salty snacks and cookies. I made sure to drink a full water bottle full of water and kept drinking the Gatorade as well. It is very important on a low-carb diet, as well as during a long walk, to keep drinking water and sports drink.
End of the Day's Walk: I finished my walk at the half-marathon point. There I had a banana and plenty to drink. The South Beach Diet book says this is appropriate at the end of exercise.
Dinner: I elected to go back to the hotel for the night rather than camping out with the walkers. My husband and I went to another Italian restaurant and I had the same sort of meal - salad and veal saltimbocca, but this time with red wine, and tiramisu for dessert. The dessert was definitely off-diet.
Next Page: Day 25 - Second Half-Marathon Day
