Day 1 - Friday November 5th, 2010
The first day of the 3day began very early. I woke from my warm bed and only about four and half hours of sleep at 4:20am. I took a quick shower and wrapped my feet, got all my gear together and ready. I woke Stephen around 5am so that he would have few minutes to wake up before driving me to the other side of town to begin my walk. This year opening ceramonies were held at Collin Creek Mall in Plano, TX. I arrived around 6am, hugged Stephen and Skylar good bye and got my gear loaded onto the correct truck (H-94). I walked around for a bit to warm up and bought myself a 2010 pin from the tent. My team, Team Pink-it-up had not arrived yet. There were only 3 of us on a team this year.
It was pretty cold Friday morning, they said it was only in the 40s, which would explain why I could not get my legs to warm up. My team arrived around 6:15am and we took some pictures at the opening ceremonies sign, etc. We had to wait till around 7:30 or so before they would round us all up for community stretching and opening speeches. I just remember how eager I was to start walking and how cold I was. I was wearing nothing but my 3/4 length workout pants and a t shirt with a sweatshirt over the top. Definately starting this year colder than the year before.
So the morning ceremonies begin, we all huddle into the holding area and stretch. The flags come out one by one, I begin to cry. It doesn't matter how hard you try to hold back, the tears just come. It's an emotional time and it's going to be an emotional trip for the next three days, so I didn't see anything wrong with showing a little bit of emotion. Finally the walk begins, and we wait to file out of our big holding area into one big line of people to walk all over the city of Dallas. It takes about 10-15 minutes before Tammi, Stacy and I begin our walk. People cheering us on and walking quickly in the beginning to warm our muscles up, we start our journey. It takes me about 20 minutes before my muscles become warm enough to know I'm ready to find my pace. My pace is a bit slower than Tammi or Stacy, I don't know if naturally it is slower or I just don't train/exercise as much as them, but I kept up with them for 80% of the entire first day. I don't mind walking alone though, I meet awesome new people and enjoy the scenery as I walk.
Day 1 I walk the entire 22.4 miles that my GPS tracker told me I walked. I was a little stiff, and had one small blister trying to form, but nothing major. I stretch really well in the stretching areas at camp that night, stretching legs and back for about 20 minutes, it felt great! I bought myself a 3-day sweatshirt and new pair of inserts for my shoes at the tents. I noticed my shoes weren't in as great as shape as last year this time around so I think the $50 investment on the inserts really helped me the last 2 days this year. The dinner was pretty good, it was chicken and salad and rolls, etc. I did not eat the dessert as I was full. Man by the time I finished dinner and headed to shower, the temperatures dropped a lot. After I showered and bundled up the best I could with what I had, the temps had already dropped to 39 degrees. I stayed in the food tent and enjoyed the karaoke and little bit of warmth from outside. When I finally headed off to bed, I knew it was going to be a rough night for me.
During the night the temps they say dropped to the low 30s. I would believe that, because even sleeping in sweatshirt, pants, socks, hat, etc inside a sleeping bag with a Mylar blanket over it, I felt like I could not get warm. I had my own tent this year, I guess person I was supposed to tent with did not walk. So no extra body heat in the tent and on the cold ground I slept very little Friday night. I woke twice during night to have to pee and shivered the whole way to the porta potties and back. Come morning I was eager for some hot chocolate and warmth....
Day 2 - November 6th, 2010
Day two begins very cold. There is frost on the ground outside our tents, I am bundled up and still cold, standing near heaters by the showers to get a little warmth. Even the food tent didn't offer the warmth I so seeked this morning. Breakfast was eggs and sausage and oatmeal, etc. I really enjoyed the hot oatmeal, it was only thing that seemed to warm my insides. I never did find my team in the morning so decided to walk the day alone, again something I don't mind. I did begin my walk why a Mylar blanked folded up wrapped around my kidney's because I could not get them warm, I felt like my back was freezing! So I leave our camp and begin walking in the cold with many others. It takes about two hours before I stuff the noisy blanket into my fanny pack because I'm finally warm enough. I'm a little stiff and sore, but I notice a huge difference with my shoe inserts! Totally awesome, thank you New Balance!
I end up taking one sweep van during day 2, I take the sweep to lunch. At lunch I have them tape up some blisters that are forming on my feet, before they get too bad. So unfortunately I lost about 2 miles of my walk on day 2. I do walk the rest of the day which I am very proud of though. At one point past the cheering station and before pitstop 4, I run into my team for a little while. They look super cute in their matching hats, etc. I do not match them though because I didn't let them know soon enough that I was for sure walking. Both their husbands (Frisco fire department men) are awesome also, cheering them on and me when they say me the whole day. It's awesome to see that kind of support for people as they walk. They are also awesome because they set up our tents and took them down for us, this was really nice to me, since I did not expect that at all.
At pitstop 4 I rest for just a bit and stretch really well again because I am getting sore. I have them double check my tape ups and blisters so they can get me moving again. The last 6 or so miles for the day went really well for me. It was like I had a second burst of energy after pitstop 4 and I was able to finish off the day walking and arrive at camp again right around 5pm. I enjoyed a steak dinner Saturday night at camp and some great music and dance party. I was a bit too sore to dance with everyone, but I got up and tried to dance a little bit. I stretched and relaxed that evening, knowing I had to get up and walk the last day with as much strength as possible. Saturday night was not nearly as cold thank goodness, but the hot shower after dinner felt so amazing that I didn't want to get out....
To make sure I stayed warm, I wore my next day clothes underneath my hello kitty footy jammies Saturday night, I know I looked silly but man I stayed much warmer this time around for sure, I think I actually got 4-5 hours sleep this time, so I woke up a bit stiff in morning but much more refreshed than the day before.
Day 3 - Sunday, November 7, 2010
I try to stretch a bit, but man I am really feeling some shin splints today. So I get my things together and I head to jump on the bus that will take us to pit stop 1 where we begin our walk. I am on the 2nd bus out, so only one bus behind the rest of my team. Our bus driver first missed the turn into the pit stop so he had to try and make a u-turn with that big vehicle, that was fun. Then turning into the pit stop area, he almost takes out a telephone pole. I suppose it was kind of early to try and haul a bunch of people in pink into such a tight area to park. Either way he finally made it in and we all got off the nice warm bus. I fill my bottles with water and Gatorade and begin my walk. I am definitely slower today.
Even after a few miles and after an amazing cheering station, my shins are just still hurting. I end up grabbing a sweep van to pit stop 3, where I can barely get out of the van on my own. By taking the sweep I guess I caught up to my team I later found out, but they went ahead and continued on without me. I probably would have slowed them down anyway. :( At this pit stop I stretch a lot and do what I can to make myself comfortable. I had my shins taped up really well and my right ankle. I took a couple of ibuprofen and then continued on my way. I probably stayed at this pit stop for about 15-20 minutes, but I wanted to make sure I could keep going without injuring myself. I begin walking again, and after a few minutes, the taped up shins really began to help. I walk the entire rest of the day with very little pain. For about 3 miles right before lunch I walk with a gentleman who appears to be walking alone because he too is injured and lost his team. He is very pleasant to talk to and we make each other laugh and smile all the way to lunch urging each other on and giving each other pep talks. At lunch he finds his group and I go walk to go sign the pink fire engine and get pictures.
Lunch was sandwiches again, but that is ok because they were really good like all 3 days. I take my potty break and fill my bottles and am ready to keep walking. Only 5 miles or so left for the day! I walk up the huge hill through the park we had lunch in, watch some homeless guy in the park get arrested for harassing the walkers and begin my journey through downtown Dallas. I get some awesome pictures of the W hotel and the area where JFK was shot, etc. I begin conversation with an older lady who seems to be the same pace as me. We talk about why we are doing the walk and how proud we are of each other, etc. I walk with her until our final pit stop before the end of our journey. At the final pit stop I check into a med tent and have a very nice young lady working there help me stretch really well. She helps me stretch my back and legs and such, since I was having hard time getting my legs up on my own any longer. The stretch was amazing, when I stood up it was as if the pain went away. It was time to walk the last 2.5 miles to the finish line!
Surprisingly, those last miles went very quickly. I don't know if I had a second wind and was walking faster or what it was, but it seemed to fly by. Before I knew it, there was Fair park and people cheering just feet in front of me. I feel tears sting my eyes and the excitement arise in me. I did it, I finished all 3 days with only 2 sweep vans. I had taken 4 the previous year and was red-flagged for dehydration the previous year. So not only did I beat my walking from 2009, I kept myself hydrated and healthy for this trip...I was so proud of myself. I never did find my team again so I celebrated on my own with myself. I walked down that victory lane with people cheering me on to get my shirt. I put my shirt on and joined the victory cheering areas and helped cheer everyone else as they came in also. There were a few times I got emotional and had some tears leave my eyes, but I was too excited about cheering everyone else in as they finished. I crossed the finish line around 2:35pm, the final walker crossed just after 4pm. What an amazing day!
During closing ceremonies a sweet woman and her team of 9, saw I was standing alone, and asked if I would like to finish their 2nd line of 5 for our victory walk to closing ceremonies. I smiled, of course I did. She she hugs me and hooks my arm and I walk in with her and her amazing team who are all smiling and happy and welcoming of me. I walk in and we are invited by the the closing words of the amazing people who put on the event, we shed tears for our amazing survivors who walked with us, have some beautiful music sang to us by the famous Candy Coburn.
The evening ends with me finding Stephen and Skylar who have already collected my gear from the pick up area and some soft fluzzy slippers. I'm slow moving and a bit sore but don't think anything of it because I'm ready to tell them all about my adventure....
The day following the 3day weekend was very rough. Even with hot shower and stretching, my sciatic nerve became aggravated with my tense muscles and it became very difficult to move without wanting to cry with pain. I went to doctor about it, he says there isn't really anything I could have done to prevent it, it just happens some times. So I've been on muscle relaxers, steroids and pain meds for a week, and the pain still exists. I also found out the reason the shin splints and ankle hurt so much, I tore the ligaments in my right ankle sometime during my walk and they will take 4-6 weeks to heal. No I am not a big fan of pain and injuries, but even with the recovery time it's going to take me this year, would I do the walk a third time...hell yes. Will I walk in 2011, possibly not, unless I am able to get an amazing team together, but I will definitely make this journey again in the years to come. If anyone ever wants to experience a "journey of a lifetime" and help make a difference in the fight for breast cancer, they should visit:
www.the3day.org
For all pictures I took during my walk, please visit:
Breast Cancer 3day photos
