Day 1

I've had this post in draft format for some time...needed to find the time to publish it and needed the time to process everything as well....Day 2 and Day 3 will follow.

The 3 Day

It has taken me awhile to actually sit down and write about this event. I haven’t had the words to describe it and I needed some time to process everything we did. But, people keeping asking me how it was and what it was like and how am I doing…so I guess it’s time to update the world through my blog.

The 3 Day is a process that really started back in January. I wanted to do something major big in my life and something that made a difference and something outside of my comfort zone. I had heard about the 3 day (walking 60 miles in 3 days) and knew that this had to be it. I asked 2 of my best girl friends if they wanted to join me on the journey and they jumped on board…God, love ‘em. So, then we were committed to each raising $2300.00, wearing a lot of pink, and endless hours walking and training.

Now, I have posted about all our fundraising and some of our training and you can certainly check it out at www.teamanewday.blogspot.com . Then it was here – just like that – that actual 3 Day event. 60 miles staring me in the face. I was nervous, anxious, excited, ready to walk. It seems like we have been talking about it forever and it’s finally here. I think most people doubted that I would actual do it and/or attempt to complete it.

The week of the walk, my gear was packed early. Sleeping bag, air mattress, pillow, 3 changes of clothes, 6 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of shoes, pajamas, jacket, visor, toiletries, journal, magazine, tent decorations plus my water backpack with first aid, sunglasses, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, gum, Gatorade, camera, flip video camera, phone, travel toilet paper, and bug spray. I didn’t want to forget anything and I don’t think I did. Phew! But I was way over the 35 lb weight limit you are supposed to have….sorry crew members – there was just no way to get it down any.

On Thursday, November 5^th – Bryan drove me, Lindsey, and Shannon out to the Hyatt Regency in Richardson. It was the host hotel for the DFW Breast Cancer 3 Day. There were tons of women (and some men) with their gear bags, and pink attire all over the hotel. We stopped for dinner at an Italian place across the street that had the funniest waiter. The only downer was they were slammed with all the walkers wanting to carb load the night before and they were poorly understaffed for a typical Thursday night. Upside was, we got our meal for free since it seemed to take over an hour to get it cooked. It was delicious and so close to the hotel.

We got back to our rooms and unpacked and repacked our gear. Showers were taken and stuff was set out so we’d have an easy time of it at 4am when our alarm went off. We did wake up – no oversleeping for us and we were in line for the shuttle to Opening Ceremony by 4:45am.

The shuttle ride was uneventful – but I did meet Kathy – I nice lady that had told me all about the event since this was going to be her 3^rd one. She walked for herself – since she was a 9 year survivor and her husband J.D. who had passed away this year from cancer. She was “addicted” to the 3 day, as she put it. I was now aware of what this event meant to some people.

We figured out how to get our gear on the “gear trucks” waiting for us.

It was dark and a bit chilly that morning but we were ready to start moving.

We got in line for the gates to get into the Opening Ceremony area – thank goodness we headed for the front. And then we waited, and waited.

Apparently, parking was a pain in the boobies at the Plano Center where Opening Ceremony was being held. So things got started a bit later than scheduled. The Ceremony was emotional, exciting and energizing.

We made it through the gates and we were on our way.

It was amazing the amount of people that came out to cheer us on! 59 ½ miles to go – read one sign.

“Are you kidding me?”, I thought. I really AM doing this – no turning back now. EXCEPT that we really had to pee. Being up at 4am and then waiting to start walking until 7am…made for a full bladder. And the first Pit Stop was at 2miles. Oh geez…not going to make it. So, luckily there was a Shell station and some other walkers had the same bright idea. We were all standing in line for the Men’s room. Apparently, the Women’s room was unusable…there was a disaster that struck in there and nobody was willing to oversee that…except for “Diarrhea Lady”. That’s what we’ll call her because she is a superhero to me and many other women waiting in line to pee. She willingly volunteered to clean the potty for herself and others. No gloves, no mask, no sanitizer – just paper towels and a gas station sink. God love her. And anytime after that, when I saw her on the trail or at camp, I referred to her as Diarrhea Lady and admired her bravery! Again, the next 3 days was going to be filled with incredible people!

Pit Stops were amazing with loads and loads of food….bagels w/cream cheese, cheese sticks, pb &j, animal crackers, chips, pretzels, apples, bananas. And each Pit Stop had a theme…The Zoo, Harry Potter, Western, etc…it was so neat. Of course, we realized (after the 2^nd pit stop) that it wasn’t such a bright idea to take all the food you could carry. But it was smart to make sure you were drinking plenty of water and Gatorade “Drink, Pee, Avoid the IV”. The PortaPotty scene took a bit to get used to – but eventually they were like a little oasis in the desert and you were really happy to see them.

Day 1 journeyed through Plano, Richardson, and Addison. We saw a couple of Elementary schools that were cheering the walkers on.

It was quite emotional to see that most of a school day was spent “without instruction” but cheering us on and all those kids giving us high fives like we were rockstars.

The sweep vans that you could take to the next pit stop were awesome. They were all decorated so cute and with great themes. They played awesome music that we wish we could have heard more of. But, we never did see the inside of a sweep van…we were doing it….walking all of it.

Lunch stop was great but a bit daunting to know that we still had about 9 more miles to go. But we had it…all under control. We strolled into Brookhaven College at about 5pm.

Again, with the emotional stuff. Crew members were cheering us in, walkers were cheering us in. Perfect strangers giving you high fives and pats on the back that we had done it – walked 20.2 miles!

Camp was beautiful with the sea of pink tents.

Lindsey and I had to set ours up – and it was a bit windy but we managed. Our decorations were up – honoring those for who we were walking.

It was time for some dinner – a great spaghetti dinner with all the fixings! It was great and so much of it.

The showers were an experience. A shower truck…after the first night experience we were definitely going to be better prepared for Day 2’s shower experience. Now we knew how things worked. We listened for a bit at the Karaoke competition that was happening but we mostly just wanted to get organized for Day 2 and hit the sleeping bag. It was a windy night but not too cold. I only fell out of the tent 1 time on my way to the portapotty at 2am.