I Did It! And Lived To Talk About It

Happy Thursday to one and all!  I apologize for not posting sooner.  Came back to a crazy time at work. 

I survived the 3 Day!  It was an amazing experience...grueling...touching...painful...cold...all rolled into one extraordinary weekend.  Opening ceremonies on Friday morning got the ball rolling.  Susan G Komen is really into the symbolism and try their hardest to get everyone crying at one of their events.  They raised a flag that was a row of white ribbons with the names of people the walkers had lost to breast cancer.  My aunt was on the ribbon as well as my teammate's (and BFF) mother.  It was nice that we could honor them like that.  My friend kicked this walk's butt!  She was the 177th walker to cross the finish line Sunday afternoon and that's including the ones who had to the catch the bus to the finish line earlier in the day.  I was not given a number.  LOL.  I earned myself a little nickname while on the walk.  I had no less than 6 people call me "The Tortoise" from The Tortoise and the Hare.  Honestly, my pace was pretty slow but I didn't linger long at pit stops or lunch so the same people would pass me 3 or 4 times a day.  With my pink hair, they'd remember me and wonder how I got ahead of them.  I wear this nickname like a badge of honor.  No hurt feelings here. 



Isn't he hot?  Part of the "Pink Army" - one of the crew teams




Day 2




My BFF




Pit Stop 1

 Camp was pretty good.  Showers were better than expected and the place was fairly organized.  We never had to wait for food or to refill our water bottles.  It was, however, very COLD.  This is Arizona...I'm not used to cold.  It got down to about 40 degrees Friday night.   Meanwhile, I'm in this little 2 person tent with a sleeping back that supposedly only good down to 45 degrees.  Froze my butt off.  Needless to say, my friend nor I got a very good night's sleep that night.  It was so cold, she decided to not camp the second night (as did the people in the 5 tents surrounding us).  Wusses!  So the second night, the camp gave out Mylar blankets (they look like tin foil and are given to people in emergency situations to prevent hypothermia...go figure).  My friend gave me her spare blanket since I refused to use her guestroom and the lady across the way who opted for a hotel left her sleeping bag in our tent while we were at dinner.  Needless to say that between all that and the 2 pairs of pants I wore to bed that night, I was nice and toasty. 



Stuff to keep me warm


The one thing that really touched my heart was the outpouring of support from the community and crew.  The volunteer crew that works this event are quite possibly the best people. ever.  They keep you going and aside from lying to you about how far away your next pit stop is, they're really pretty helpful.  I was taken back by the number of cars that honked in support of us as we walked along big streets and people who gave us thumbs up on their way to work.  The people who came out to the cheering stations were probably the coolest people ever.  I guess it just really drove the idea home of what we were doing.  I knew I was raising money for a good cause and knew I was bringing awareness to the cause by walking this but I didn't realize how genuinely GRATEFUL people were for what we were doing out there.  I really feel like we touched these people's lives in some way and I don't even know them and they don't know me but they appreciate my effort anyway.  It's hard to put into words how that feels.

The whole weekend was probably one of the most memorable events of my life.  I'm so glad I did it.  I'm proud of my efforts.  And while I was sore for a few days after (feeling much better now, thank you), it was totally worth it.  Am I one of those people that will go back and do this walk year after year?  Probably not.  I don't think I want to do the walk again.  However, I think I'd like to stay involved and possibly be part of that amazing crew or cheering station each year.  I highly recommend it to anyone who is considering doing the 3 Day.  You won't regret it.




My poor sick baby at closing ceremonies




Can you feel the excitement?




The "No More Cancer" Flag at closing ceremonies


In other news, I got my second fill on Monday.  At first, Doc didn't want to give me one because I lost 7.5 lbs since my last appointment and he was all happy with that.  "Don't fix it if it ain't broke."  I explained to him that it's impossible to walk 60 miles in 3 days just before an appointment and not lose weight.  He gave me my fill.  Not a big difference so far but I can definitely feel it's there.  Anything else?  I'm sick...again.  My youngest daughter gave me her cold again.  It was either that  or that whole camping in 40 degree weather without proper equipment thing.  I host Thanksgiving at my house so will be getting my house in order this weekend.  I also have my youngest daughter's birthday party the weekend after Thanksgiving so a busy couple weeks here.

Hope everyone is having a fantastic week!  I'll get caught up and start commenting again soon.