RUMFORD — Summer motorists here have likely seen Connie Venskus of Rumford taking one of her morning walks along Route 2.
She’s been walking with a purpose — training for her ninth Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk on Sept. 22.
Venskus, who turns 72 on Sept. 19, is also fundraising in support of research and patient care at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
In fact, since 2011, she’s raised $7,377 and has now earned the distinction of “pacesetter” for raising at least $1,500 in a year for the walk.
“I’m so happy to have been part of this fight against cancer with such amazing results,” said Venskus.
She also has another motivation for making the 26.2-mile walk, which follows the same route as the Boston Marathon.
“I have had two good friends who have been diagnosed with cancer and who have been undergoing radiation treatments this summer.”

Connie’s training regiman
“People might think it is difficult to do an entire 26.2-mile marathon, but building up to the longer mileage is what the training program is all about!” said Venskus.
An added challenge this year for Venskus occurred on June 24 when she broke her wrist during a June 24 training walk, and required surgery four days later.
“But I was able to recover enough after a few days and continue with my training.”
Venskus said her training regiman was as follows:
* Four-mile walks on Mondays and Wednesdays;
* Cross training on Tuesdays and Thursdays to work other muscles, including using a rowing machine or a stationary bike (after breaking her wrist);
* Long walk days on Fridays and Saturdays, starting with four or five miles in the early weeks and, by eight weeks in, 20 miles followed by nine the next day.
“I guess you could call Sunday a recovery day when I walk anywhere from 15 to 40 minutes depending on the week in the program,” said Venskus.
She said the last couple of weeks are for tapering down before the actual marathon, including two or three rest days right before the walk.

To help with Venskus’ fundraising for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, go to:
https://danafarber.jimmyfund.org/site/TR;jsessionid=00000000.app20120a?px=1029147&pg=personal&fr_id=1160&NONCE_TOKEN=CF6F0EDC759B64F00C71295B9B4F8F71

 

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