October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Walking events large and small raise money for breast cancer charities. As exercise can reduce the risk of breast cancer and improve survival rates, the walks have a dual benefit.

This is not a female-only disease or female-only cause. Men also get breast cancer. Most breast cancer walks welcome men to support the cause. So long as they aren't allergic to pink.

I've walked and volunteered for each of the series of multi-day breast cancer walks. These were supreme walking experiences, and I encourage others to take the challenge.

Avon Walk for Breast Cancer

Breast Cancer 3-Day Walks

Photo © Wendy Bumgardner

Few people finish a half marathon or marathon without blisters, and it is common to get a black toenail. What can you do to prevent these, and what do you do when you get them?

Black toenails is a bloody blister under the toenail and are caused by trauma -- usually by the foot sliding forward in the shoe and banging against the end of the toe box. Or you could get them by dropping something heavy onto your foot, but let's stick with the ones you get on a long walk. The prevention is to have well-fit shoes and lacing them to prevent heel slippage. It's the downhills that can really cause problems with heel slippage.

The bad news is that unless it is just a spot of black, you will probably lose the toenail. This is not painful, and the toenail will grow back after several months. You can even paint the area where it should be with nail polish and pretend you still have a toenail. More on black toenail.

Blisters happen any time friction against your shoe finally wears too much on your skin. There are many tactics to prevent blisters: wearing sweat-wicking socks, corn starch to keep the shoes dry, lubricants and cover-ups to reduce friction. Tactics to prevent blisters.

Once you have a blister, it can be drained and then covered up to prevent it growing bigger. Soaking the feet in an Epsom Salts bath can also help draw out the blister fluid and dry the blister. It takes about a week without further rubbing to heal a blister. How to treat a blister

Photo © Wendy Bumgardner

How frugal are you? As I volunteered at the finish line for the Portland Marathon, I saw block after block of fencing draped with discarded shirts and jackets. The 45 degree starting temperature meant that marathoners brought along cover-up to discard. I saw some expensive fleece and high tech shirts amongst the discards. These are free for the taking if your level of frugality is high enough. The Portland Marathon collects these discards and donates them to charity.

But seeing the thousands available made me wonder whether this was a good opportunity for the boldly frugal. Would you ever consider picking up one of these? I suppose I could look through them and then loudly exclaim, "Here's my shirt, I knew I left it here" when I found one I liked. I'd stick with browsing at the starting line where the shirts haven't gotten sweaty yet, vs. later on the course. Reuse, recycle, be green? Or an idea that is beyond the pale?

Money-Saving Tips for Walkers

I've finished the Portland Marathon seven times and decided to rest on those laurels. So it was an easy sell when our local walking organization was looking for volunteers to staff the finish line for those who would finish in over seven hours.

My first job was with the space blankets, also called heat sheets. These are mylar sheets that help keep the marathoners from cooling off too quickly. The day was cool, in the 60's, and it was very rewarding to swath each finisher in their own shining silver cape.

By the eight hour mark, the event organizers were ready to start rolling up the electronic timing mats. I got handed a timing machine to enter each finisher's bib number into so it would record their finish time once the chip timing mats were turned off. That was quite a responsibility, but luckily the crowd of finishers had turned into a trickle.

That didn't stop the enthusiastic welcome we gave each person. Cheers, clapping, a medal, space blanket, rose and tree seedling (not to mention snacks and drinks). The Portland Marathon keeps up the spirit for every walker.

At eight hours 47 minutes, a vision in purple appeared - my old club mate Ruth Robbins, finishing her first marathon. She trained with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team in Training and was escorted by several of her team mates. She carried a bouquet of flowers -- she was really getting the royal treatment. I knew Ruth would make it, slow and steady. We had met up throughout this past year when spotting each other at half marathons and the Bridge Stride. I felt privileged to be there at her moment of triumph, recording her finish time.

Ruth chose her event well -- a big running marathon that cares just as much about the walkers. If you think you'll never be fast enough, you'll never be able to walk far enough, think again. I've felt the miracle happen in my own body year after year. Six miles feels like forever in the spring, but by July I'm finding a half marathon not much of a challenge, and by September that's an easy day. Try this yourself some year -- feel the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly, from stroller to marathoner.
Tell us your marathon story

How to Walk a Marathon

Photo © Wendy Bumgardner 2009