You may remember hearing about my endeavor in walking 60 miles over the course of 3 days. I’ve been bad, I realize, and still have barely sent the thank yous out to my supporters. Mostly because I couldn’t think of a great way to show people all the pictures I wanted to show them. Now that I’ve started my blog, I’ve got the perfect thing.
So now, come along with me as I reminisce about my experience at the Breast Cancer 3-day Benefiting Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
This is me, my mom, and our wonderful teammates Kari and Erin. It was around 5:00AM and we were waiting for opening ceremonies to begin. Look how excited we were! Our team was called the Mammo Milers. This was my mom’s second 3-Day and it was Kari and Erin’s third.
During opening ceremonies, some of the survivors walking with us were honored in the Survivor’s Circle. There were several survivors we met throughout the weekend who were in all stages of their cancer recovery. Even some who had just recently finished chemotherapy. It was very inspiring.
There were several thousand people walking, so leaving opening ceremonies took forever. They played great music and everyone was pumped up.
The 3-Day organizers and volunteers did a great job helping us remember the 3 R’s – Rehydrate, Refuel and Relieve at every pit stop. The stops were themed, and this one was “Welcome to Fabulous Las Blisters.” The stops were fun, not just port-o-potties and snacks. There were often volunteers dressed up in costumes and photo opportunities. At this one we got to take our picture with Elvis. Too bad I can’t find that picture!
At night, the route took us right to camp. We showered in the shower trailers, ate under a huge tent and listened to announcements and entertainment. We slept in hot pink tents. I thought it was pretty cool, because after we got done with the tents, they got donated to the area Girl Scout Council.
Our tents were on the next to the last row, which means, it’s further to the showers, medical tent, food, port-o-potties and water. One of the only times it we were happy to be on the next to last row of tents was when they had a karaoke contest going on after dinner. On day 1, I completed almost 17.9 miles (it was a few less, I hopped on a sweep van at one of the stops because my foot was starting to bother me, and I wanted to be able to walk into camp the first night).
On the morning of Day 2, I really tried to be a trooper but my right foot was hurting me so bad. I was crying and couldn’t stand it anymore, so I went to visit the medical tent. I didn’t want to be the weenie who wimps out after only one day, but I seriously could barely walk. I was fortunate that I didn’t have more severe issues like major blisters, or dehydration like some of the other people at the medical tent. But, as it turned out, the way the bones in my feet are, they were rubbing up against each other causing inflammation. When I took my socks off, the medical volunteer said “it’s no wonder your foot hurts” and she pointed to a HUGE bruise that covered most of the outside of my foot.
She wrapped my feet up to help prevent the bones moving so much and to help support my arches. After hitting the road, the tape did wonders. I made it a good bit of the 21 miles that day, but didn’t want to hurt myself to the point where I wouldn’t be able to do any miles on Sunday. I took the SAG bus to lunch, and was eventually ok with that. It was so hard because I didn’t want it to seem like I didn’t try to do the miles. Turns out though, that I missed one of the hottest, longest stretches that really did a number on a lot of people.
I took this picture of my feet while I was waiting for the rest of my team at the lunch stop. This is probably the only sports related injury I’ve ever had.
At the end of every day, there was a huge banner where you could take your picture. This is the Mammo Milers at the end of Day 3, which was about 15.7 miles. Notice we picked up an extra team member. Her name is Heidi and she’s the one in the middle. It was so exhilarating walking into the holding area before going into closing ceremonies. There were tons of people outside their houses, along the streets cheering us on in our last leg of the walk.
After the last walker enters the holding area, then the closing ceremony begins. The procession includes everyone who was involved in the weekend. The survivors (in their pink 3-Day t-shirts) lead the group, followed by the rest of the walkers. Once we were all in the closing ceremonies area, the volunteers came out and we were able to cheer for them and show our appreciation. The volunteers were awesome throughout the whole weekend, and no matter what job they were doing, they were always thanking us for walking and cheering us on.
At closing ceremonies, again, they honor the survivors and those who haven’t survived. I really can’t put into words the the rush of emotions at closing ceremonies, but there isn’t a dry eye in the whole place. Above is one of my favorite pictures from the whole weekend. All the walkers hold up one shoe in honor of the survivors. It’s hard to imagine how a sea of smelly, sweaty shoes could be called awesome, but it just is.
They say what doesn’t kill you can only make you stronger, and that is how I feel about the 3-Day. Although, I didn’t walk every single mile, I will always think fondly of the 3-Day and all the amazing people I met (Heidi and the “walker stalker”), fascinating stories stories I heard (the lady who broke her foot, and was walking on crutches, because she was supposed to walk with her mom, who had recently passed away), new things I did (sleeping in a tent, showering in a shower trailer), and all the memories I made during the weekend.
Andrea Unplugged 