Breast Cancer Three Day!! San Diego November 19th thru 21st

Yes Ladies and Gents! I am walking again. Please help me and my team raise money and awareness for breast cancer research! Please visit http://www.the3day.org/ for more information and to donate to our team!

The following is the story of my first breast cancer walk experience:

My Three Day Experience:




When I first signed up for the Three Day I had some hesitations. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to raise the money (I was never good at fundraising), I wouldn’t be able to make the commitment to train, and once I got there that I would fall back and be the member of the team that no one wanted because of blisters, slow walking, and complaining.

I send out my letters early, got my shoes, and got to training. The fundraising went slow, and I still was scrambling toward the end, but I managed to make it…sort of. I was about three hundred dollars short of $2,200, but at least I could say I tried! Training on the other hand went better. I bought walking shoes and walked in the 114 degree heat. I got blisters and toughened my feet and legs. By the end of training I could walk 13 miles without taking a break! The walks were long and boring. I had no one to talk too and listening to music only made the walk go slower. But in the end I thought I was well prepared. Needless to say I was slightly wrong.

The first day of the walk started early and in the parking lot of the Potomac Mills Mall. The walk started with a presentation of flags that represented reasons for doing the walk (mother, sister, friends…), with experiences that come with the walk (discovery, joy, victories…). Then in the middle of the crowd survivors of breast cancer made a circle that represented the hope of the walk, they broke the circle and started down the road. Everyone pressed together to get through the gate to start. There were tons of people there! Lots of people cheering, in weird costumes, and some that were there just to see what was going on at the mall that morning.

The day started off cold, but once we got moving we warmed up pretty quickly. There were hundreds of walkers, about 3, 000, we were all smashed on tiny little sidewalks. It wasn’t until after lunch did the crowd thin out a little. Along the way we saw people dress in feathers, crazy bras, and crazy tee shirts. Each pit stop, grab and go, and lunch had different themes like movies, Disney Princesses, and sports. The event staff was so nice and so helpful. The food was great. During that first day the aches started. There weren’t any blisters, but the tops of my toes hurt. There wasn’t much along the route to look at (a dead snake!) until the end of the day. We were visited by an old friend Amy Claus and her son Connor! They came to see us at lunch. Lunch was good, there was always plenty to eat at each pit stop, and people set up cheer stations and gave us candy.

At the end of the walk the route went through historic Occoquan, VA. It was the cutest little town! It reminded me of some of the old towns in CO. There was a bakery at the end of the town that gave us some of the greatest cookies in the shape of the ribbons with pink frosting! There were all kinds of cute little shops along the main street. At the end of the street was a shop owned by two military wives called Polka Dot Divas. We had to stop and shop. By the end of the day we were so grateful that the last mile and a half was all down hill. The trail home just kept going and going. We walked along this river in the Occoquan community park, it was really beautiful and the homes across the river were huge! They were so cool!

When we saw the finish line for the day I was so happy to be able to sit! My feet hurt (particularly the top of my toes) and my legs were so tired. But to our great disappointment our camping assignment was almost at the back of the park! We had to set up our own tents. They gave us these bright pink ones. We got two of them, but since one of the chicks backed out; we slept in one and turned the other into a dressing room.

Amy’s philosophy about how to properly do the walk is: the faster you walk, the faster you are off your feet and don’t have wait in line for the shower. The showers were in these gigantic trailers. And I must say they were pretty nice! A hot shower felt so good after a long day. But no matter how clean you got, the second you stepped into the port-o-potties we had all weekend you felt gross. There was a limited supply of running water so we used wipies and hand sanitizer all weekend.

After hot showers we limped over to the medical tent to get chiropractic adjustments. I was told I would feel better afterward. I have never had a chiropractic adjustment before, I wouldn’t mind getting another one, but this was painful! I told the lady that my sciatic was hurting down my right leg and I was having some lower back pain. She checked my reflexes and did the back cracking, but then she went to stretch the muscles in my legs. She pressed on this muscle called the psoas major, its found wrapping from the spine, over the pelvis, down to the femur. At first I felt this burning sensation from my back to my thigh, and then it became painful! She thought I was going to cry! I almost did. From that point on that muscle on my right killed me all weekend, but my back was great.

From our adjustments we walked to the self help tent to patch our blisters and rub our sore muscles. It was there that I discovered the greatest invention ever made: BENGAY. I thought went I saw it, “what the heck, I’ll give it a try,” and from that day on I smell like 80 year old woman with arthritis, but I felt so much better. I checked my toes, and noticed slight bruising, but I didn’t think anything of it.

That evening we walked around camp. The sponsors had tents set up to let us try their products. One tent even had foot massagers. There was a TV playing shows like Will and Grace and Friends. One tent had informational videos and of course the tent with things to buy. A gigantic pavilion was set up for dining and entertainment. There were food tents. But the tents that caught everyone’s eye were the Remembrance Tents. They were white with big breast cancer bows on top with the name of the city they were from. Each tent had been signed by walkers in memory of those they were walking for. The Washington DC tent was inside a pavilion. There you could watch documentaries on those that survived and died of breast cancer. There were books where people could write their stories. Hung on the walls was pictures of people who were supposed to walk, but passed before the walk dates. The picture that struck me the most was one of a girl only a year younger that me that died of breast cancer a few months before the walk. At night the tents were lit up so it looked like they were glowing from the inside. It was almost creepy.

Dinner that night was great. The lady that was running the whole thing was pretty funny while giving us reports of the day and what to be prepared for, for the next day. They started a new tradition of having the last walkers of the day raise the breast cancer flag over camp. The last walkers of the day happened to be a team of two girls called “Hooping for Hope,” they hula hooped the whole day while walking! I was amazed at their commitment! The entertainment that night was less than entertaining. I am not a huge fan of karaoke and there were some really bad singing. So we decided to go to bed. I don’t remember falling a sleep, but apparently I was out quick. Sam was cracking us up the whole time. Her sleeping bag was too small, so she looked like a burrito. It was hilarious!

The progress of the day went as follows: we finished about 339 out of 3,000 and walked somewhere between 20 and 25 miles. Limited injuries, lots of fun!

The next morning I felt the miles I had walked the day before. Going to the “bathrooms” (if that is what you call port-o-potties with a wipey station in front.) hurt more than I thought possible. However, once my muscles warmed-up a bit, it wasn’t so bad. Trying to put my tennis shoes on was hilarious. My feet were so swollen I had to loosen my laces just to squeeze them in there. By the time we were ready to go for breakfast and start walking I was pretty much feeling ok. I didn’t know how long that feeling would last. Breakfast was great. I am not much of a huge breakfast eater, but I ate like a pig. It was great! We got to walking right as the sun was coming up.

On day two we walked around the city of Fairfax and some outlying areas. The route they took us on lead us through some woods and around an old prison. At each pit stop we got stickers or beads from the people who were cheering. There were cheer stations a long the road. Once again we ran into some old friends! Mary McDaniels and Col McDaniels stopped by the cheer station with treats and hugs for us! It was so wonderful to see their smiling faces! Mary held up a big sign for us that read “We love Fireballs!” We stopped and talked to them for about a half hour and took pictures.

At lunch all three of us were hurting with blisters. Mine were not so much on my feet, but more on the tops of my toes. They were actually starting to turn blue. I got some great pictures of the three of us patching ourselves up. I also took that time to slather on some Bengay. That stuff is wonderful.

I really can’t say much about the things we saw that day, they weren’t much different than the first. Sam and I were enjoying the trees, seeing how neither one of us gets to see many of those where we live. The sun was hot for 75 degrees and all of us were burned at the end of the day. Coming back to camp we realized that lightly jogging down the hill toward base camp felt better than anything. On our way we met a young lady who was walking by herself. She was actually apart of one of the large teams, but she didn’t know anyone in the team. She was doing the walk, we found out, in memory of her mother, who had passed only a few months before hand. We invited her to join us if she wanted, but she stuck with her team and we saw her on and off during the walk. I can’t imagine the experience she must have been having. I hope she found some peace on the walk.

We made it into camp on day two at number 303. We were exhausted and sore!!! First order of business was to hit the showers. I could barely stand up. Not to mention the fact that the water hurt my sunburn and my toes were purple now. After the showers the three of us limped to the medical tent. I had to ask one of the nurses about my toes. Pretty much the only thing I could do was wear my flip flops or crocs around that night and then wrap my toes in moleskin the next day. She also suggested I change my shoes. But there was no denying it. I was going to lose at least two toenails when the walk was over. Sam had to actually see a nurse to get one of her blisters popped. I couldn’t believe a blister that huge could develop on a person so small. Even Amy was suffering! She had some pretty bad blisters too.

After we were all bandaged up, dinner was served. I have no idea what kind of chicken it was, but it was great! We hung around the main camp for most of the evening. Sam and Amy wanted to get a good stretch in the stretching area, and I just wanted to veg in front of some Friends. The camp was visited that night by the founder of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. She gave a great speech, which was very encouraging. She is a very professional sounding, but she looked very botoxed.

After her speech the night’s entertainment consisted of some stud with his shirt off and our hostess showing us how to pack up our tents and the completion of the karaoke from the night before followed by dancing. We had some entertainment of our own! Mary McDaniels snuck into camp with us and a very willing transport staff member and brought us Margaritas and chips and salsa! I had never had a margarita before and after a long hot day, it was great. Mary stayed and talked to us for a while. We got to catch up on each other’s lives and the lives of old friends. However, the party didn’t last too long. We had to get Mary back to the transport bus and get some rest, the next day we had to be up extra early!

Day two synopsis: Somewhere between 18-22 miles, plenty of aches and blisters, a sunburn, a glorious margarita, and a fabulous bonding experience.

Day three was even colder than the first two days! It might have been because we had to be up earlier to get to our starting point for the last day. Amy and I greeted the morning with laughter. Sam’s bed head was the funniest damn thing at 530am! Thank God for bubbies! (the breast cancer version of a doo-rag). We packed quickly and broke down our soaking tents (ew). All of us were moaning and groaning as we tried to stuff our sore feet into our shoes. I was so glad I had brought my running shoes. They felt so much better!

After breakfast, we were bused to Arlington to start the walk for the day. Everyone was limping and tired looking, but that didn’t prevent those of us determined to finish. We walked through the quiet streets of Arlington, hoping to see some of the monuments along the way. As we walked along the first challenge of the day was a gigantic hill. Sam, Amy, and I were determined not to let the hill kick our butt! We charged the hill!! But when we got to the first rest stop we needed to sit. Amy’s Achilles was killing her. We bandaged up and headed toward Georgetown. We could see the Washington Monument from afar. The Georgetown campus was beautiful from a view. As we walked along Sam noticed they weren’t taking us down into historic Georgetown. They walked us through the surrounding neighborhood. The houses were old and made of brick. They were really quiet beautiful. However, Sam was really disappointed we didn’t get to see much of Georgetown.

At lunch Amy decided to do something about her pain. She had both of her heels wrapped for support. She had to walk funny and couldn’t go to fast, so we slowed our speed after lunch. We walked into Washington DC through the city. They drive like maniacs out there! There wasn’t any crew members at the crosswalks to ensure our safety anymore. The deeper we got into the city the more excited we grew to see some of the monuments. After we crossed Dupont Circle we were sure that we were going to be going through the Mall with all the monuments. However, as the walk continued on, we came to realize that we weren’t getting any closer to the monuments. We walked past the backyard of the White House and by Union Station. It got to the point I finally asked a crew member when we were going to see the monuments. She told us there was some kind of security issue with that many people walking past the monuments. I was not happy. From that point on it became about getting to holding. I was so tired I was sort of silly. The air was hot and smelled like trash. And each bar we walked past was a temptation to stop. But the sign that said “1 Mile to Holding” was the best thing I had seen all day.

Walking up to the finish line I felt a sense of accomplishment. Not that I had done something great, but I actually walked 60 miles. There were tons of people cheering for us and loud music playing. I couldn’t help but smile. I was so tired by the end I couldn’t feel the pain anymore. We took pictures and collapsed on the grass in the holding area. Amy was joined by her family and Sam and I met one of the medical crew and asked her if she wanted to join us for a beer. Sam’s friend joined us for a beer as well. Nothing has tasted so good as that ice cold Blue Moon I ordered that afternoon.

The closing ceremonies were so much fun. We danced to some music and lined up to get ready to walk in. The closing ceremonies were held in a parking lot outside the convention center in DC. The set up was the same as opening ceremonies. The flags were marched in, stories were told, and the founder of the Susan G. Komen Foundation gave speech. The whole of the walk raised $7million dollars for breast cancer research. At the end of her speech the survivors were marched in. As a sign of respect we all took off one tennis shoe and raised it above our heads. It was for them and others like them and for the memories of those past that we walked. The circle of survivors from the opening ceremonies was reformed and the breast cancer flag was raised, signaling the end of the walk.

My recovery took about a week. The blisters started to heal. The ten pounds I gained in water weight (now I know what I’ll look like pregnant) went down to normal. I am still waiting for my four black toenails to fall off (ew). But I am back on the training trail and this time for a half marathon!



Reflection:

The walk made me think of several things. I was amazed at Amy’s dedication and commitment to the cause. About a month before the walk she found out that her husband, who had been deployed for five months, would be coming home during the walk. Someone suggested she just not do it so she could be home with her husband. What Amy said in response floored me. She told her friend, the walk was the only thing she could still do for her mother, there wasn’t anything that was going to prevent her from walking. The walk made me think about the commitments I have made and the causes I support. I cannot possibly think of something I cared about so much that I would make that kind of commitment. I am happy to support the causes of my friends and family. Certainly breast cancer is a serious issue and has affected the lives of many people I know, but it has never had a direct effect on my family. I will continue to support it for those it does affect, but it made me want to find something I could be just as passionate about. Amy has inspired me to find something I care that much about, something that I can throw myself into. So thank you Amy for being my inspiration to find a cause!



Lessons Learned:

1. Stick to shoe brands you know. Nike sucks…I am sticking with Adidas

2. Bengay is the greatest invention ever.

3. Moleskin sucks.

4. Check the trail before the walk and plan to see the important stuff (ie the Monuments) before hand.

5. Don’t be afraid to ask for donations.

6. Keep up with thank you’s

7. Follow the training guide



Thank you to all my donors and supporters! I will be walking again…I just don’t know when and where yet!



Jen!