SELF Team San Francisco & AVON 39 - The Walk to End Breast Cancer

I bet you can name one person you know who has been affected in some way by cancer. This is a serious and sad disease that is real in almost all of our lives. I personally lost my grandmother to breast cancer, and was also diagnosed with a form of Melanoma that I was able to treat and overcome in 2004. These are the most recent stats from the American Cancer Society:

Over 40,290 women will die from breast cancer in 2015

Wow. Without enough research funding in this field, it is with philanthropic efforts that we are able to help battle this issue, even if in very small ways. Right now we're recruiting walkers to join us in the Avon 39 Walk to End Breast Cancer, which is a nation-wide fund raising effort, where we will raise money, get in shape, and finally cover 39 miles over just two days. 

Anyone can participate, and don't worry if you're not in walking shape yet - training starts in May and the race will happen in July. If you'd like to walk, help fundraise, or just make a fast and easy donation without walking, you can checkout the team site here:

Julia's SELF Team Page

We've partnered up with SELF magazine who will also be supporting our team with training schedules, tee-shirts and more!

When starting any new cardio program, it's important to have quality, supportive shoes. I've equipped myself with these running shoes from Brookes which have extra support for joints and are amazingly comfortable - its like walking on pillows... You can find them on the Brooks.com page here.

Of course, what makes the San Francisco team unique is a little extra wearable tech gear. How many steps will 39 miles get you? ;) This smart watch from Garmin has all the bells and whistles:

• Advanced GPS-enabled running watch with high-resolution color display
• Tracks time, distance and calories!
• Garmin Connect Mobile app allows real-time updates, automatic uploading of run data and social media sharing via bluetooth
• Water resistant 

So get ready, get serious, and let's gear up for a walk for the cure. This is no easy endeavor, but with all of your support this is one step to start saving hundreds of thousands of lives. Hope to see you on my team.

XO Julia

Thanks for reading! All photos taken by local photographer, Andrew Zhou whom I'd highly recommend for all of your photography needs. Follow his Instagram here. Find my live updates on Instagram and Twitter. These opinions are all my own and may contain affiliate links.