Day 230

The Michigan 2010 Susan G. Komen 3Day for the Cure walk is now complete. Ironically enough it was one of Michigan's hottest weekends of the summer so far. To share a bit of the experience with you, it's probably best to just start at the beginning.

Thursday I headed out to Farmington Hills to the site of the Opening Cermonies for the rehearsal. I was nominated and chosen to carry an 'In Honor Of' flag. I carried the 'In Honor of Myself' flag, symbolizing to me that I am indeed a survivor. We were given instructions as to which flag we would carry, which side of the stage we would enter from, where we would post our flag, etc. It was all very helpful. Next I headed to my sister Cindy's house to help her pack her duffle bag before our two other teammates (Kristen & Stefanie) would arrive later for our Pre-3Day slumber party (it was most helpful that my sister lived just a couple of miles from the opening ceremony and the 3Day campsite.

Friday morning we were all up bright and early. We arrived at the Opening Ceremony site just a little past 5:30am. The ceremonies were energizing. The 1800+ walkers were dressed in varying shades of pink, feather boas, every combination of clothing you can imagine. The energy level was definately on the high side. The 21+ mile walk for Day One began. We walked through the Farmington Hills & Livonia area through business districts & residential neighborhoods. Cheering stations were filled with clapping supporters, sprinklers, bottles of water, snacks, ice water for dipping our bandana scarves, and A LOT OF SIGNS AND PINK!! Everyone from the crew & volunteers to the supporters were amazing. The weather was HOT & HUMID which made for an exhausting first day. I made it through 20.5 miles the first day, but the heat apparently got the best of me. My heart was all 'aflutter' ... literally. I made it back to camp and saw the medics to find my heartrate & BP were way too high. For me it meant a discouraging detour to the local emergency room. 3 IV bags & a potassium cocktail later and I was heading home (or at least back to my sister's air conditioned house) for the night. The doctors said my electrolytes were good and I wasn't dehydrated, but the heat had temporarily stressed my heart. I felt pretty defeated when the doctor said I couldn't walk on Saturday. I felt like a hormonal failure who was letting my donors down. Everyone reminded me that the $5000 in donations I had raised were just that ... 'donations to breast cancer research' - they were NOT 'per mile pledges'. Of course try telling that to someone who is about to watch her teammates walk through the Plymouth cheering station on Saturday. The doctors tried to remind me of the 500+ training miles I had already walked during the past several months. I assured them that I would agree with them (later ... after I got home).

Saturday (Day Two) I went (like a good little soldier) to the cheering station and cheered my teammates on with their families. It was difficult to do, but the most sensible thing nonetheless. By Saturday evening I arrived back at the 3day camp and was finally cleared by the medics to walk again on Sunday if I promised to watch for the warning signs and take it easy in the heat. I had dinner at camp with my teammates and enjoyed a mini concert from Candy Coburn (who sings the 3day theme song 'She's A Pink Warrior'.) It was an enjoyable evening, then back to my sister's air conditioned house for the night.

Sunday (Day Three) I was feeling much stronger and was able to walk 14 of the 16.6 miles en route to the closing ceremonies. We walked through Livonia, Redford, Hines Park, Dearborn Heights and Dearborn. Overall it was a great day! By Day 3 I discovered that while many were fortunate enough to walk all 60 miles many others (for various reasons) were not able to do the whole thing ... which let me know that I was no longer a failure. We can train correctly for months, hydrate-hydrate-hydrate, eat our prescribed salty snacks, slather on our SPF50 sunscreen ... basically do everything that we can control. But there will still be those things like the hot weather or rainstorms that we simply cannot control. Gosh I hate the fact that I'm not the Wonder Woman that I like to think I am.

The closing ceremonies were at the Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn. There was a great turnout from family and friends. I was on stage with my 'In Honor Flag' while Candy Coburn sang the 'Pink Warrior' theme song. It was a wonderful ending to an overall great weekend. The Michigan event alone raised $5.4 million dollars for breast cancer research and community awareness programs. Well done everyone!

Day 221

Well it's almost here ... the Michigan 3Day journey is now just 3 days away. 221 days ago when I started this blog it seemed so far away and now it's really just around the corner. Last night I started my preliminary packing and found that to be a little bit overwhelming. I'm notorious for being an 'over packer' and think that as I was trying to follow all of my checklists for what to pack, how much to pack, how to pack it, etc. I found myself feeling anxious. Finally I decided to call it quits for the night and turned on some 'mindless' TV. Lucky for me 'Dating in the Dark' was on and I found that to be just what I needed. Watching 6 young people having first time meetings in total darkness (so as not to judge each other on their appearances), then progress was interesting - but enough of a distraction to help get me past my first round of packing dilemmas. Tonight I will start fresh and dig in again.

Tonight I will also do my last training walk before the weekend. 4-5 miles. If the weatherman is right (well he has a 50-50 chance) after work it should still be muggy and in the mid 80s, so I brought my walking clothes with me to work. My logical husband suggested a cooler walk in the mall. And who said he wasn't smart? Certainly not me.

Thursday I will head out for the rehearsal for the Opening Ceremonies (since I'll be carrying a banner), then have a nice dinner with my sister, before the rest of our team shows up at my sister's house for a pre-3Day slumber party. We're fortunate that my sister (also on the team) lives about 15 minutes from the opening ceremonies. We figured that made more sense than the other 3 of us driving the hour+ ride in on Friday morning (especially when we need to arrive by 5:30am!).

Once again, I want to thank everyone for your support during this journey. I've had tremendous support with my fundraising, my training, and motivating me when I needed it most. I couldn't have done any of this without all of you. At this point all I can ask for is your prayers for good health for all of the 2500 participants (walkers & crew members), NO rain, not TOO HOT of temperatures, and perhaps some cooler nights for sleeping in our little itty bitty pink tents.

If any of you are in the area Friday, Saturday or Sunday we'd love to see you on the route, at a cheering station or at the closing ceremonies. Just go to the3day.org and click on 'event information'. It gives you times, locations, directions, parking suggestions, basically all you need to come by and show your support.

Day 207

A lot has happened in a week since my last blog entry. I took a small training break and let my knee and heels heal (no pun intended). My feet are feeling much better this week. So my training is on track.

My fundraising hit a huge milestone this week. I went over $5,000. Thank you to everyone who has supported me (in so many ways).

I also received some great news this week. I was invited to carry one of the 'inspiration flags' for both the opening and closing ceremonies at the 3Day event. There will be close to 50 flags all with messages of 'hope', 'dreams', 'events' and several 'honor flags'. Walking in honor of a 'mother', 'sister', 'friend', 'aunt', 'neighbor', etc. I will be carrying the flag marked 'myself'. I feel very honored to carry a flag that indicates that I am survivor. If you are at either of the ceremonies watch for me.

The 3Day event is now less that 3 weeks away. I've been prepping my packing list, washing & wearing my walking clothes and socks, etc. We have our new team hats ready to go. At this point there's just lots and lots of details and excitement.

Day 126

Good morning everyone. I feel optimistic that this week my 3Day training is starting to get back on track ... but ask me on Sunday after my first 10 mile training walk. I was able to take a 3.6 mile walk last night with Chris (my training walk leader). Once again the weather was beautiful. Not sure how I keep getting so lucky, but you know the old saying about 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth'. Thursday night I'll meet up with Chris and a few others to to a 5 mile walk. The in between days are just 2's & 3's to stay loose. Wow, I actually sound like I know what I'm talking about (lol).

Donations are still trickling in a little at a time. I got a nice one yesterday that I needed to mail in. I continue to be completely amazed at the generosity and support that people have shown toward myself and the breast cancer cause.