3-day Breast Cancer walk

This is my letter to my sponsors...

First let me say this because I want to shout it off the roof tops; if you have an opportunity to do a 3 day walk, do it. You will always remember and cherish the 3 days like none other. Secondly, if you don't ever have the opportunity to do a 3 day, find the one nearest you and go out and cheer the walkers on, even if only for an hour. The crowds made some of the most unbearable parts, well, wonderful.
Now onto the details of my walk. We woke up the first day @ 4:30 AM in order to get organized, packed and catch a shuttle bus to the event from the hotel. It was a beautiful day and we watched the sun rise as we waited for the opening ceremonies. After a moving and inspirational group stretch and a reminder of what we all were doing there @ the 3 day, we started our walk. Day 1 was very, very hot, 95 degrees in fact but it didn't dampen anyone's spirit. In fact for me it did the opposite, it made even more people come out of their homes to see what they could do to help, sprinklers, hoses and firehouses on alert cooled down the walkers and lifted my spirits to see how much support others gave. This morning was the only time I ran into a person I knew who was also doing the walk, my cousin Chris, her best friend is also a breast cancer survivor. They did the walk last year, but, decided to crew this year. After I saw her I assumed I would see her a hundred times, I didn't see her again, but, I was so glad I saw her at all. We walked very slowly that morning careful to stretch and elevate our legs against tress, or in one case, by doing headstands. It was a day full of firsts, first cheering crowd, first pit stop, first grab 'n go and first blister. When we finally got to lunch we sat in the shade and I appreciated that resting period more than any other in my life. I walked for another 4 miles after lunch and then got on a sweeper van, walker parlance for "got swept". I have no shame about this oddly, I was in pain and I couldn't walk anymore, so I didn't. The sweeper van was yet another heart warming and exceptional experience. The crew of the van treated me like their injured Queen. Having left the group I did feel bad but the van was a positive experience all around. I genuinely love those women and I have no idea who they are or what their names are anymore.
I got back to camp a few hours before some of the Red Footed Boobies but there were 3 fast walkers already in camp. I was very impressed with the camp despite all of the missing conveniences of modern life. It was cushy camping if anything. I have never been given clean towels or had my bags carried for me on a camping trip before. We put up my tent and I dug through my suitcase for clean, dry & cool clothing. The mobile showers are hard to describe, actually impossible to describe, but, let's just say after walking for 7 hours in the heat any shower would be great, and it was great. After showering I relaxed around the tents for a while and tried to read, but, there was so much to watch and soon the rest of the team made their way back to camp. The dinner was yet another example of how good the organizers and crew of this event are - it was really pretty good. This dinner is when Liz and I met up with an old Stoneleigh Burnham alumni, Jane, she was a welcome addition to our team from that moment on. After dinner, it was time for bed. We were just too tired to do anything else but sleep.
It never gets totally dark in camp because there is always some crew doing something 24 hours a day. I woke up early on day 2 as I always do, and walked across the camp to the meal tent for coffee for myself and however many more I could carry back. It was a beautiful walk - and you would be surprised how far a walk it was all things considered - but beautiful nonetheless. The rest of the team was moving when I got back and we eventually made our way to the start of the walk at around 7 AM. The walk started out in the woods, my ideal place for a walk. It was a nice change of pace and the perfect setting for the start of the second day. This day was hot as well, but, again this didn't dampen anyone spirits. Walkers were singing and chatting. I have never been in an environment before in which it was so easy to start a conversation with a stranger. I talked to so many people, some I heard their life stories and some we chatted briefly, but, every conversation was meaningful, every one helped you walk further and every one meant something. This day we did not walk very slowly and stretch and elevate often. I had blisters and pains and aches and wanted to just get where we were going - to me that was the next pit stop. We did stretch some but not nearly as much as the day before. I made it the same distance on the second day as the first, 14 miles. This day Liz's sister Jen met us to cheer us on, a very selfless thing to do considering the fact that we didn't think we would really get to see her. Alas, Jen became my personal sweeper bus. After 14 miles my teammate, Jane, and I got into Jen's car and off we went. Our first stop was at a local bodega for some lunch for Jen and some cold beer for Jane and me. That was the best beer I have ever had in my life. After this refreshing pit stop we headed to camp. I wanted Jen to have a chance to see the camp and on a wing and a prayer we were able to get Jen a visitor pass - no small feat. We showed Jen around camp and then showered. Then we waited for the rest of the Red Footed Boobies to walk into camp. And then we waited some more. 3 hours later they came in and we were able to wait in the shower line for them - what a relief to get back to camp and be able to shower quickly. My understanding is that the line itself wasn't bad, it was another opportunity to meet other walkers and get to know them, but, a shower was a relief from the heat and it also meant dinner sooner. We had dinner as a team with Jen that night. Like everything else, they got dinner right, it was excellent.
The last day I woke up @ 3:45 and never fell back to sleep. This was Liz's 40th birthday, so a very exciting day. I went to the meal tent got a cup of coffee and sat down to write her birthday card. I was glad I waited until into the walk to do this, because it was a very important part of her birthday, it was her birthday party and it was the best birthday party I have ever been to. I sat crying like a fool writing her card and nobody gave me a second look - that's another thing you could cry anytime and nobody thought it odd. I finished my card, got all the coffee I could carry and headed back to camp. We packed up our tents and luggage and met up with the rest of the team for another day of walking. We took some team photos, sang the first of a few Happy Birthdays and off we went for our last day. The temperature was much more comfortable and although our feet collectively hurt very much, we trudged along. This day Liz's brother Rob came to cheer us on. He flew from North Carolina for the day, again with no idea whether he would really see us, another very special thing to do. This walk started out in the woods too, the same beautiful woods with beautiful views. I knew I wasn't long for this walk at this point and if we hadn't been in the woods without sweeper vans I probably would have hopped on one sooner. After about 4 miles I got on a sweeper van and got swept to the cheering area - what an emotional and fun place that was! I was so glad to experience this area, and to take my shoes off and limp around in flip-flops. I met up with Jen and Rob and we tailed the team, Rob walked with them for a while and I rode with Jen. We all had lunch together at the walk lunch area and then set off again. I joined the team again at the last pit stop, 2.3 miles from the end. Even though I had a break and rested my feet it hurt tremendously to take each step. My right little toe was one big blister with blisters underneath and since I have no pain tolerance at all, I also had foot pain and calf pain that was really hard to tolerate. It was the last few miles though and I made it.
And I am so glad I did because the finish line was the best part other than the fellowship of all the people. It was of course much longer than we thought, but we made it the last leg to the Expo center. Here there were the most numerous cheering crowds we had experienced, all lined up outside the Expo center. We followed along and found ourselves in the holding area of the Expo center being cheered on by all the crew, walkers and staff of the walk. Wow, what a rush, we all huddled together back in our Red Footed Boobies Team and walked the last length together with our Red Footed Boobies bandanas tied together in front of us. What a moment. This was such an emotional time for us, walking together to the end as a team who raised money and awareness and actually did something to try to help find a cure for this terrible disease, and as a team with two breast cancer survivors. After we crossed the finish line we received our 3 day t-shirts - white for walkers, pink for survivors - and then joined the crowd to cheer on the rest of the walkers finishing the walk. This part was even better then crossing the finish line myself. I cried on and off as teams finished, individuals finished, survivors finished and those who lost loved ones finished. It was very emotional and exhilarating at the same time. If I could transport back to any one moment of the walk, it would be back to the holding area to cheer on other walkers.
So thank you to all of you for supporting my efforts to walk, by donating to me or my teammates. I could never thank you enough for making my walk possible, and you can't walk without a minimum of donations, so YOU really did make this walk possible for me, and I appreciate it because my life will never be the same. This was the most awesome experience of my life other than the birth of my son. And it is a very close second.