The 3 Day Walk

Well, I think we can all agree that I failed the blog-a-thon month.

I have good reason, though. November also happens to be the month that I embarked on one of the greatest challenges of my life.

I took on the Susan G. Komen 3 Day Walk for a Cure and attempted to walk 60 miles in 3 days.

I confess, my walking partner, Shawna, and I did not do all 60. We did more like 45. But still, that's more walking than I've done in awhile.

If you haven't done the 3 Day Walk, then in your wildest imagination you can't imagine what it's like. It's beyond amazing.

For 3 Days, I answered not one email from work. I didn't even take my computer to San Diego.

For 3 Days my only responsibility was to take care of myself, to take care of my walking partner, and to walk and walk and walk and walk. Oh, and to have fun doing it. And to ignore the pain. To yell, "Limping is still walking!" when I felt like I couldn't walk anymore.

On Day 1, I wore the worst shoes I could have possibly worn. I wore these "easy tone" shoes and by mile 4, my feet felt like they were on fire. I had to redo the moleskin bandages on my feet at every pit stop. There were times I thought to myself, "I am so not going to make it. I can't do this. I'm already in pain."

But then a breast cancer survivor would walk by me. Or a van full of moms dressed in pink boas would drive by cheering us on and playing music full blast. Or someone would give me candy. Or a little girl's sign would say, "The life you are saving might be my own." So I kept walking. And walking.

We walked 18.5 miles on Day 1. Some of those miles included the killer hill up to Torrey Pines Lodge in San Diego. If you want to know how awful that hill was, picture a walker on the side of the road throwing up. Thank God it wasn't me, but it could have been.

On Day 2, I changed to different shoes and the bottoms of my feet felt better, but the tops of my toes started to get blisters. My back started to ache. There were longer stretches of time between people who cheered, which allowed us to enjoy the beauty around us. Then, right when we would need it, a huge group of people would be there with signs and candy and smiles and 'thank you's' and it would propel us forward to the next pit stop, where I would wrap my toes. Toward the end of the day, when I really wanted to quit, some guy was passing out little tequila shots (it was awesome) and then we met this woman who was dancing around and we come to find out she's just one year off her treatment for breast cancer and she did the San Francisco 3 Day Walk just recently, and she raised $12,000 in fundraising money. I loved her. And her colorful friend (I don't remember his name) played Abba on his stereo for us so we could dance our way to the end. We did 15.5 miles that day.

At the end of the day, my husband's cousin Susie picked us up at "camp" and took us back to her house. Camp is full of pink tents where lots of walkers stay. They also have this tent set up called "In Remembrance" and when you walk into this large tent, there is a smaller tent in the middle with all these notes on it from walkers who have written the names of people they have lost to breast cancer. Around the sides of the tent are pictures of women who had done the walk, and then passed away from breast cancer. All these courageous, amazing women. I felt so thankful that my mother was one of the blessed ones- a ten year survivor.

Susie and her husband fed us smoked tri tip and salad and garlic bread. Then we went for a soak in their hot tub outside and Susie brought us a glass of wine. I slept like a baby that night.

The morning of Day 3, I realized my feet wouldn't fit in any of my shoes. I put on one shoe and my foot screamed for me to take it off. I couldn't even get the other shoe on. "What will I do?" I asked my husband. All I could think about was finishing. I had to finish.

We figured out that cousin Susie wears one size bigger than me. I put her shoes on and they fit perfectly and felt fantastic.

We walked only 12 miles on Day 3. We were late getting started (Starbucks run) and then we stopped to have lunch with Shawna's boyfriend in Old Town. It was a blast. People gave us mimosas in the morning (don't worry, they were small, and we were told to 'drink your water' all the time) and candy and kleenex and stickers and music and anything else they could think of. We took pictures. We laughed and made up funny words. We stretched at every stop light. And in the end...we cried.

Closing Ceremonies were incredible. Picture 3,600 people who walked. Picture $9 million raised for breast cancer. Picture a party of music and screaming and laughing. Picture "thank you" being told to you by almost every member in the community. And picture the survivors. So many women. They paraded in between us during the closing ceremony while we all held up one shoe and shouted to them "You're beautiful! You're courageous! Thank you for walking!" and tears poured down all of our faces.

I didn't even mention the times when my husband showed up with my kids to cheer me on. Or the San Diego Police Department who dressed in pink and rode beside us on bikes and were so amazingly nice. Or the sorority team who wore T-Shirts that said, "Whoever says winning isn't everything, isn't fighting breast cancer."

I woke up this morning feeling sore and tired. And sort of sad. Kind of like the let down you have after camp. The "What do I do now?" feeling. The sensation that I should be putting on my tennis shoes and I should start walking. Only they don't fit me right now.

And I gained 5 pounds. Can you believe it? My husband says it has to be water weight because I'm swollen. Whatever. I know I didn't have 5 pounds of electrolytes and candy.

I'm doing this again in 2013 if anyone wants to be part of a team.

Let's go for a walk.