The Final Day #3

Alarms going off all over camp……Everyone trying to get their tents down, breakfast eaten, walking clothes on, stretching done, bags packed and taken to the loading trucks and then up to the top of the hill by 7:30am to board the bus to the beginning of the route for day #3! Woo Hoo! The final countdown has begun! Breakfast today: Scrambled eggs with cheese, seasoned fried potato wedges, oatmeal, Danish, fruit, yogurt, bacon. Beverages: coffee, hot tea, coke products, milk, orange juice and cranberry juice. After our alarm sounded, we emerged from our tent, much warmer that Saturday am and headed to breakfast in our sweatpants and sweatshirts. After breakfast, we went back to our tent to change into our walking clothes and to pack up our sleeping bags, mattresses and sleeping clothes. Then, to get our tent taken down and packed up. Now, off to the loading truck to load our luggage and tents. WOW! Can this finally be the last day of our walk? My body tells me yes, but we are having such a great time, it is hard to believe it is almost over. After we have loaded our bags and our tents, Erika & I tell our team mate good bye and head to the top of the hill for the last time to board the bus. Our team mate will ride the bus to lunch so she can be sure she is able to make it over the finish line! We will meet here there! As we board the bus to head to the beginning of the route, it is a sad time! We say good bye to the crew who has served us breakfast and dinner for two days and the crew who has helped us around camp with anything we needed while we were there. This bus ride is a fun time, with us cheering on our bus driver to pass the other busses and get us to the starting line first. Woo Hoo! We passed 4 busses. We arrive @ the pit stop for the beginning of the route and grab a couple of bananas and some water and of course never pass up a port a potty without using it! Cardinal rule #1! Erika checked her blisters and we head out. Today is the shortest walking distance, but it seems to be the most difficult due to the soreness of our bodies and the blisters on Erika’s feet. We stretch at every intersection we come too. As we approach each pit stop the end is closer in sight. At a pit stop, Erika checked on her blisters only to learn they had spread to her other foot! OUCH! And the original one on her pinkie toe was getting worse too. I bet you never knew blisters were contagious. Well when you walk 60 miles they spread like wild fires! I also checked on my feet only to discover I had 2 blisters starting as well. This is the first one I have had since I started training…..What in the world?....... So, we did some surgery on the blisters. Did some band aiding, taping and airing out of the feet for a few minutes. Now, we had to try to put our hurting feet back into those shoes of ours and get back to walkin! That was the trick! Before we left that pit stop we learn that we are about to tackle what Atlanta calls “Cardiac Hill” Why you ask? Well, just let me tell you…….it was the longest hill of the entire weekend. The grade was not the steepest, but the distance was the thing that would kill us. Just when you thought you were done, we looked up only to discover we still could not see the top level off! We pushed through that obstacle onto the next pit stop and then to lunch. The hill that lead to lunch was a real bugger too! Why, oh Why, must the lunch stop always be up hill? All three days……we have had a hill to conquer before we could have lunch and rest! Today’s lunch: Turkey and cheese or ham and cheese or chicken sandwiches, chips, oatmeal raisin cookie, peanut butter cookies, choc chip cookies, and an apple. We meet up with our team mate, eat lunch, use the potty, stretched and try to freshen up/pep up as much as possible to be able make the last 4 miles to Turner Field. Erika’s dogs were really barking by now! Sheer determination was what kept her going! She is amazing! As we got closer the cheering crowd got larger and larger. There were supporters everywhere. We were also saying goodbye to all of the safety crew as we went along as well. Those volunteers have been wonderful. Keeping up motivated with music, dance and just good ol’ southern hospitality! Wonderful set of people. As we approached the Olympic torch, the rest of the safety was all lined up for our last goodbyes. It was emotional! They had family members they had lost too and we were walking for them! They were thanking us for walking the entire way. Turner field only 500 yds away. More cheering………fantastic! I could see the entrance. As we entered all of the other walkers who had made it in before us were cheering us on and a lot of high 5’s! It was wonderful. We were scanned in for the last time, receiving our victory shirts and a flower and then off to get our pictures taken in front of the finish line banner. WOW! What an accomplishment, but nothing like beating cancer! As we waited in the holding area to do our victory walk to closing ceremonies, we talked with friends and said our good-bys for the last time. As the last walker came in we all cheered! Way to Go! Then, to our surprise a couple who had walked together was on stage and the guy was proposing to her. We were all crying! Of course she said “YES!” What a wonderful thing for them to share. Now, it was time for us to line up for the Victory walk. We lined up in rows of 6 and headed out the gate across the street to the ceremony. Closing ceremonies was very emotional as well. As we lifted up a shoe to the survivors when they paraded in we all cried, hugged and cheered them on. We raised the flag one final time and said good-bye. Now, to head out and collect our luggage then board another bus back to Lake Lanier to get our car. An hour bus ride back to the car! Very long day! At the lake, we loaded up our stuff and began our journey back to Alabama. We stopped for food @ Zaxby’s. We were hoping that nobody was offended by our stench! LOL! We smelled horrible. But, what can you expect after all that walking and sweating! LOL! There were several other walkers in there too. All of us were limping and moving very slowly. The other customers could not believe we walked 60 miles! It is still hard to imaging! But we did! WE WALKED 60 MILES!!!!!! We were still so pumped from the ceremonies; we talked the entire way home. I arrived back home about 3:15am, grabbed a shower then off to get 3 hrs sleep before heading out to work on Monday. I will never forget my experience and the time I have had with my close friends. This is truly a life changing experience. Take a moment and tell somebody you love them! Do something for someone else, because “Everyone Deserves a Lifetime!”

Day #2

Morning of day #2…..Brrrrrr! Freezing…….well for southern girls it was freezing. I think the temp was about 48. So, out of bed and off to the dining tent for breakfast. OMG! Our dining tent had heat! Woo Hoo! We should have slept in there! Breakfast…….all I can say about that is, WOW! Menu included: Scrambled eggs with cheese, fried potatoes, oatmeal, muffins, sausage, yogurt and fruit. Beverages: coffee, hot tea, hot cocoa, milk, orange juice, cranberry juice and coke products. We were seated in the heated tent filling our bellies……..trying not to think about the huge hill we had to climb to begin the route for the day. After breakfast, we headed to brush our teeth and to get dressed to walk. Once dressed, we got in line to be scanned out of camp for the day. Up the hill to the beginning of the route. Today started out much cooler than Friday, but I warmed up quickly, pulling off my jacket and gloves and wrapping them around my fanny pack. Pit stop #1 could not come quick enough, potty break! As we walked, we chatted with other walkers about the reasons they were walking and where they were from and how many 3-day’s they had done. We met lots of people and heard lots of interesting stories. The day was going great. Our pace was just about the same as Friday. We were doing well with keeping a steady even pace. The hills were about the same as they were the day before. We were able to stay off the asphalt more today than the first day. You would not believe how that will just suck all of the energy right out of you! As we approached the lunch stop for day #2 we were at 11 miles. Today for lunch: ham & cheese or a chicken sandwich, chips, oatmeal raisin cookies, peanut butter cookies, choc chip cookies and an apple. Lunches were pretty much the same all weekend. You could have as much as you wanted, but with another 9 miles to go, it was better to just eat on the lite side and keep snacking at the other pit stops……….and that is exactly what we did. Erika & I had to head out by ourselves after lunch; our team mate was still have trouble and needed to be transported back to camp so she could be sure to finish on the final day. Don’t want to miss that special day! So, we sent her off with hugs and we would see her back @ camp! As the day progressed, so did the stiffness. The temp was higher today than Friday, but still not like south Alabama. I think it was about 78 degrees. We had somewhat of a breeze all day, so that was nice, but not much shade on today’s route. As we topped the hill, one of our safety crew member says “Only a mile to go ladies and it is all downhill from here!” We were so happy to hear that. So at about 5pm, we could see the downhill to camp! Woo Hoo! Our time for Saturday was 8 hrs and 18 minutes, about the same as Friday. Our plan was to head directly from the picture in front of the Day 2 banner over to the cell phone charging station. We hit the porta potty on the way to the charging station. After standing in line for about 10 minutes, we realized we were in the wrong line, but after we were told we were in the massage line, it didn’t matter how long we had stood in the wrong line. See, being confused worked to our advantage! We made an appointment for a massage, and then got in the correct line for the chargers for our phones. After receiving a phone charger, we headed to the dinner tent to eat. Tonight’s menu: Grilled chicken breast with mushroom and onion tomato sauce, rice, mixed veggies, salad, brownie & a bread stick. Beverages: Coke products, coffee and hot tea. After dinner, we went to get our shower bags. When we arrived @ our tent, we were surprised with a big ribbon for tent decorations. We had actually won a ribbon for our tent decorations! We had talked about how great that would be if we actually won! Woo Hoo! We were stoked! We then headed back to the massage tent for my neck and back massage and it was exactly what I needed. You would not believe how bad the top of my shoulders were aching. Walking takes a toll on the entire body. That was the best WRONG line I ever stood in! LOL! After the massage, then off to stand in line for a shower. I know, I know, lines for everything……fortunately, they all were very quick. The shower felt so good after the dinner and massage. I was so ready for bed. As the sun faded tonight, the temps were much warmer. We went back to our tents to undecorated and to pack up some things because we were leaving camp in the morning. After we had done some packing and organization, there was a concert in the big tent, so we headed back up there to enjoy the activities. We danced, laughed, danced and had a great time. On the way to bed, we grabbed some hot cocoa and hit the potty! We then settled in for the night and hopefully a great nights’ sleep. Erika’s family had a wonderful day, so she was not worried about them and hoped to finally get some rest as well!

The event Day #1

Up early after only 3 hrs of sleep, we loaded the car, made PB&J sandwiches, grabbed a juice and off to the long term parking lot…..by the way, this was @ 4am! Arrival @ the parking lot was not as bad as anticipated… of course not; nobody in their right mind is up on the roads @ 4am! We got to the parking area, parked, unloaded our gear and headed to opening ceremonies. Did I mention it was 48 degrees? Brrrrrrrr! So, since I was so worried about parking we are only 2 hrs early for the ceremonies, we visited the booths, got our lanyards for our credentials, used the potty and took lots of pictures. Opening ceremonies was a very emotional time….. a time to remember the ones we lost and a time to remember the ones we loved that are fighting. We raised a flag with the names of the loved ones we are dedicating our walks to. We cried, laughed, cried again, danced, shouted, danced again and then headed out for our first 20 miles! Our first pit stop was great. We had beverages: water & Gatorade. We had food: bananas, oranges, chips, granola bars, graham crackers with pb&j, cheese sticks and peanuts. We also had potties! We had Medical and thank goodness we did not need that tent! At the first pit stop Erika & I fell to the end of the pack waiting our other team mate, but we quickly caught back up with the other walkers. The residents of the towns where we walked were amazing. They were standing by the pathway, cheering, clapping, thanking us for walking and handing us candy & goodies! The entire community got involved! We continued to the second pit stop. We had more of the same at that pit stop as well. The graham crackers with the pb& j are the BOMB! Don’t know where they got those or the company that make them, but they are amazing. I grabbed one at each stop that had those and stored it away in the fanny pack! LOL! Then it was off to the trail again. Our lunch on the first day was: Turkey/Cheese sandwich or Ham/Cheese sandwich, Sun Chips, Peanut Butter Cookies, Choc Chip Cookies, Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, and an apple. We ate lunch at a church and sat on the ground on the porch. We propped up our feet and rested for a while! Then, back to the walk. The rest of the pit stops were more of the same food and beverages. The last 3 miles of the trail was probably the worst of the entire weekend. We were stuck walking in the emergency lane beside a hwy on the asphalt with a ton of hills. The terrain was the worst with the DUI grooves in the asphalt. Every step was torture on our feet, but Erika and I pushed through to the top of each hill and then to the camp. What a beautiful site! Whoop! Whoop! As we reached camp we saw the 3-day crew, all cheering us on. We got scanned into camp and we took our picture with our sign for completing Day 1. Our time for the first day was 8 hrs & 25 min. We then went to locate our luggage, grab our tent and locate our tent spot. After lugging all our crap to our spot, we began to unload and set up our tent. We drug out all of our decorations and began decorating our tent! We were getting lots of compliments! I sure hope we get the tent decoration award! That would be awesome! Our first event and we get a ribbon for our tent decorations! After the tent was set up and decorated, we ventured over to the dinning tent to grab some dinner and locate our other team mate. Unfortunately, she had some knee problems and had to ride the sweep van back to camp early. Dinner included: Steak, Green beans, Salad, Roll and an Apple Pie. Beverages: Coke products, Coffee, Tea, Hot Cocoa, Water, Gatorade or Milk. Dinner never tasted sooooo good! LOL! After dinner, Erika & I headed out to grab our clothes and get in the shower line. As the sun began to go down, it began to get quite chilly! Well, let’s just say cold! At least we picked the right shower line! Luck was on our side for a change and we only waited about in line about 15 min before we could shower. After the shower, we decided to walk over to check out the 3-Day lounge. We got in line to get a chair massage with the boots for your feet and legs. After our massage, we headed over to grab some hot chocolate! Oh that was warm! Now, back to our tents to meet our other team meat and hit the sack. 9pm was “lights out”. We crawled into our sleeping bags with sweatpants, sweatshirts, gloves and socks………we were freezing. During the night, Erika and I had to sleep with our heads in the sleeping bags……….all I could think about was SIDS……not waking up! LOL! I slept like a log, but Erika didn’t sleep at all hardly. She was up and down to the potty all night and worried about her girls.......and her hubby. Her family had a bad day Friday. Hopefully, we would have another good day for Day #2 and Erika’s family would also have a good day #2.

End of Week #2

As week two came to a close the excitement is even greater now…….Saturday was extremely busy with trying to get the last minute decorating items and the last minute items on my list of things to pack. I was able to get 10 miles in on Saturday then, off to visit with my mom. She had a spot in her arm removed on Thursday and she is doing really well after the surgery. The soreness is there, but gets better every day. I then headed to Pensacola to the craft stores for those decorating things and also to the airport to pick up my son. Unfortunately, I had to listen to most of the Auburn game on the radio, but I was able to make it back home to see the end! WOW! What a game! The score was ridiculous! I didn’t make it through the Alabama game though. Had to go to bed @ halftime! Sunday, I went to the park in Foley by the pool to walk again and Erika joined me! We just took our time and walked 8.8 miles. The weather was absolutely beautiful! We talked about our decorations for our tent and the trip up to Atlanta. This week is going to be CRAZY! I still have to put together the Angels for our tent and the windsock that I decided to make. I also need to walk an additional 3 miles on today and tomorrow. Wednesday evening will be spent packing and resting then, Thursday we will leave @ 3pm for Atlanta! I may not have another chance to post before we leave, so please pray for a safe journey for our team. Our return trip will be late and exhausting! Keep our feet in your thoughts as well, as we strive to keep the blister monsters under wraps! LOL! The weather looks like it will be beautiful up there. The expected highs will be near 75 with a 6-8 mph wind each day and partly cloudy on Sunday. The evenings will be in the mid 50’s so that is perfect sleeping weather!

End of Week #3

Well, week #3 training…………….what else can I say………..the excitement is building, with making packing list and list of things I still need to buy and figuring out how to get to opening ceremonies, parking, shuttle back to the parking and just the anticipation of getting there to start the journey!
This weekend I traveled to Mobile to train with a team mate and it was really nice. I had not been able to spend time with her and catch up since we were in High School. Erika and I had been close friends and both moved away from the Foley area as soon as we graduated, so we really lost track of each other. She has two beautiful little girls and we took them with us. She pushed them in the stroller for the entire 7.5 miles, while I tagged along and we caught up on things that had happened throughout the years. Time seemed to fly by for me, but as you can probably imagine, she was complete worn out. This weekend’s temps were a little higher than last weekend and the breeze was much less, but it was not unbearable. Getting out in the heat again is good since we really cannot predict what we will be walking in yet anyway. I was able to get back out to the park in Foley Sunday for another 14 miles. I was 9 miles short of the training schedule for week #3 but I feel ok about making the distance. With the overage from last week of 6 miles, I am still somewhat on track! This upcoming week holds more mileage as the time draws even closer. Week #2 will be the last full week before the walk and the last of the big mileage! Please continue to pray for my Mom as she will be getting the place in her arm removed sometime soon. Also, remember Lundy Adcock. She has finished her second round for the Leukemia and is heading home to recover for 4 weeks until her 3rd round in November. Thanks for all of your support!

Week #3……….Ready to go!

Last week, Great week for training…35 miles total!.....WooHoo!….the weather is much cooler now, so I was able to get outdoors and beat the boring treadmill. On Saturday, I walked on the trail in Orange Beach…..12 miles! It was a beautiful day. Then, the Pink Heals Tour was here in town, with Pink fire trucks and a great turn out for the local fire departments participating in Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I was also able to find some more BC shirts to wear when we walk in the 3-day, so we will all be pink! On Sunday, I also got back outdoors and walked the track around the park in Foley. I wasn’t able to get started early like planned, but the wind was blowing, so it didn’t seem like 78 degrees and I was able to walk just fine. Although on Friday I started with a rash late in the afternoon. I noticed it when I showered after walking. It was not real bad, so I didn’t worry with it. Saturday after I returned home to shower after my eventful day, the rash area had started to spread and it was also much brighter that it started out. I still didn’t really worry with it, no time, busy, busy. LOL! Sunday, when I woke, the rash was not as red but still there. As I continued to walk Sunday afternoon, I could tell it was spreading, so in order to get to a clinic and then to a pharmacy before they closed, I had to cut my walk short (only 8 miles), go home, get a shower and head to the Gulf Shores clinic. I was told I am having an allergic reaction to something and which has caused hives. Now, I am on steroids with a strong antihistamine @ night and Benadryl during the day. Fortunately, it does not itch unless I start sweating and even then it is not unbearable, so I am grateful for that. I am hoping it goes away before I leave! LOL! Otherwise I will have red splotches all over me!
I did order some pink battery operated tree lights for our tent, so hopefully they will come in soon. Also, asked our local airbrush artists in our Wal-Mart in Gulf Shores about making a flag for our tent and he said no problem, so now all I need to do is bring him a pillowcase or something for him to use for a flag. I am also stocking up on other things I need for the walk, blister band aids, moleskin for the blisters, friction block, emergency blanket, poncho, drop cloth, clothes pins, tape, scissors, twine, air mattress, battery operated air pump, light for my hat and other misc things you would never think you would need, but experts who have walked several 3-day events advise it. We are hoping to be over prepared! LOL! Is there such a thing?
Please continue to pray for my mom. Her scan on her lungs came back with another 25% improvement, but they are going to remove a lump in her arm that has come up. Also, remember my friend Lundy in your prayers. She went back to the Sacred Heart hospital yesterday for her second round of chemo for her Leukemia.
I am still $400 away from my $2300 needed, but no worries. Things will happen, gotta have faith!

Week #4

Well as week 4 began yesterday, I was able to get 12 miles in. I discovered a small blister in the calloused part of my heel on the inside at the very bottom………….and………..I lanced it and cut the dead skin off and now it burns every time it gets wet!.....I know, I know…..not very smart, but I do it every time………..Anyway, I walked 15 miles on Saturday and 12 on Sunday and other than the blister, I am fine! WooHoo! Now, I have to keep the mileage up this week and continue on the training schedule. I also have to think about some tent decorating ideas. If any of you have any suggestions, please let us know. We are thinking about some rope lighting that is battery operated and a pillowcase to hang that has the Alabama flag airbrushed with our team name on the front and a brick wall image with the names of the people we want to honor by walking airbrushed on the backside to hang above our tent in an arch that we will make from an additional tent pole. Put your minds to work and see if you can help us think of some more things to do.