I survived the 3-Day!

Wow, what an great and humbling experience! Friday through Sunday I walked 60 miles in the Breast Cancer 3-Day Benefiting Susan G. Komen For The Cure walk. Here is my story...

For the last few years I have wanted to make the commitment to join the 3-day walk, however I was not able because I was either pregnant, breast feeding, or scared of the $2,200 that I needed to raise in order to walk. In March I decided that this was the year that I would make the commitment to walk. With the help of friends, family, businesses, acquaintances and others I was able to raise the required $2,200 within 2 months! I was so excited and appreciative of every one's generosity. After I raised the money I decided that I needed to start training for my 60 mile walk. I walked as much as I could, however it was hard taking time away from the family. During the summer months I couldn't walk outside so I headed to the gym which was about a 45 minute drive there and back. I walk about 3.5 miles per hour, so you can see how much time was taken to try and get my body in shape. Before Friday, the most I had walked in one day was 16 miles. Boy, was I in for a surprise!

A few weeks after I registered for the 3-day I found out that my friend Julie had been a team captain for the 3-day walk for the last 2 years. After finding this out, I joined her team named, "The Cactus Mamas". There were 14 of us girls that walked together this weekend.

On Friday morning I woke up bright and early and went to Freestone Park in Gilbert where opening ceremonies began. That day we walked through downtown Gilbert, parts of Mesa, and I think Chandler. There were 3 schools that we walked by, each of them had all their children lined up on the sidewalk outside the school giving high-fives, it was great. My body did pretty well for it's first day and I was able to finish by 3:30. That night we camped in pink tents, (over 1,000 of them). The weather dropped to 53 degrees and I was freezing and did not sleep well at all.

Saturday was a killer! It was HOT, over 90 degrees, we walked 24 miles, up hills, and on dirt trails. We walked around the zoo, papago park, camelback mountain, ASU, and Tempe. I was exhausted. Along the walk there were wonderful, thoughtful people, passing out popsicles and that is what got me through. I always tried to have something cold in my mouths at all times, most of the time it was ice. Every few mile there would be a pit stop where the walkers could use the bathroom, get water and ice, or have a snack. So while I was walking I never thought of how many miles I had left, I would only think of how many miles I had left until the next pit stop. Just when I thought that I needed a rest I would see a sign that read, "Blisters Don't Need Chemo!" and I would just keep walking. On mile 23 Tait and the boys were there to cheer me on. It was so good to see them. I sat down for awhile to visit and I almost couldn't get up, it was kinda embarrassing. That night when I got back to camp I looked at my feet and couldn't believe the blisters that I had. They were awful!
Sunday was a short day, only 16 miles! This day was so emotional for me. I saw men and their sons walking together in memory of their mom/wife that had died from breast cancer. I would walk past children and they would yell, "Thank you for raising money to find a cure for my mom's cancer". I got to know a women that was on my team that was diagnosed with breast cancer 4 years ago and has been on chemo ever since, she just had it last week! There was a women that stopped me and asked if she could pin a picture of her sister on my shirt since she died of breast cancer last year. I ended up walking through Ahwatukee, South Mountain Park, past Chase Field and into downtown Phoenix. Up until the 58th mile my body was doing great. Right when I was walking up the overpass next to Chase Field the back of my legs started to cramp up. It was awful! I kept think that I was going to collapse at any second. I took a few Motrin, drank a ton of Gatorade, rubbed Ben-Gay on my legs and kept going. Thank heavens I made it. At mile 59 I was behind a group of women that were walking in memory of their friend, Wendy. She passed away recently from breast cancer leaving her husband and three boys, ages 4,6, and 8 behind. Learning about this woman really freaked me out because of our similarities. When I crossed the finish line I was crying.

This weekend there were over 2,100 walkers and we raised over 5.7 million dollars to fight breast cancer! I'm so grateful to all of the people that have supported me throughout this experience. I'm especially grateful to Tait for watching the children while I trained and walked this weekend. Quite a few people have asked me if I will walk next year, and my answer is no. However, if you ask me tomorrow my answer might be different.