The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of my 3-Day Experience!

Thursday night our team stayed at the Sheraton Sand Key where we ate dinner and then celebrated Toni's birthday with a cake and drinks in the hotel bar. After a good night's sleep we woke at 5:00 am and were bandaged up and ready to go by 6:00 am. Our hotel was right next to Sand Key Park where the Opening Ceremonies were so we walked right to it. The Opening Ceremonies were very emotional. We did some stretching exercises (including the PPH (Port-o-Potty Hover), listened to some very uplifting music and then cried as the stories of hope filled the air. After that we were ready. As we danced down the aisle in the middle of all the walkers I was completely inspired to make my way through 60 miles.

The Pit Stops (restrooms, food, water, gatorade, and medical team), the Grab n Gos (restrooms, food and drinks) and the Cheering Sections (supporters just standing there wishing you luck and thanking you for walking - lots of time handing out water, candy, ice, etc.) were the motivation. They kept you going.

By Pit Stop 2 (5.3 miles) I was already feeling the blister creeping up on the bottom of my feet. I spoke to a medical person who said to come see her at lunch and she would re-bandage me with something to take the pressure off the areas. On the way to lunch it got really HOT and then it rained. Floridians know this means it's just going to be muggy as HECK when it stops. Well that is exactly what happened. I hobbled into lunch and went straight to Medical, found my girl and she did what she could, but by this time the blisters were there and nothing was going to change that. After a grilled chicken sandwich, chips and cookies (there was no dieting on this walk as you are constantly eating), we took off again. I made it as far as Pit Stop 3 (14.9 miles) before I had to give my feet a rest or there was no way I was going to be able to walk for the next two days. So with that thinking I boarded the bus (along with Alice and Nikki) back to camp.

My thoughts on camp were "it's over for the day". I was wrong. Camp is so big (has to be to accommodate 1800+ walkers, crew, medical, and 3-Day staff) that you end up walking at least another mile or 2 once you're there. As we entered camp we were informed that due to the threat of lightning we were being relocated to a parking garage 25 minutes away to sleep for the night. UGH!

I took a very welcome cold shower (in a shower trailer with 6 other women) and then went to the medical tent to see if they could pop and bandage the blisters. WRONG!!! This was my first of 3 trips to medical where I left discouraged and in tears. The podiatrist told me to soak in the ice cold water pool and then put moleskin and lamb's wool on them. I soaked for a while and then went to eat dinner. We had spaghetti, green beans, salad, garlic bread and eclairs.

After that we grabbed our sleeping gear and boarded a bus that took us to the garage. We were on the 7th floor of a parking garage. They had Port-o-Pottys brought in for us, however they were too tall to fit in the garage so if you needed to go you had to get up, take the elevator down 7 floors and then go outside on the street corner to use them. I inflated my very small camp mat and started to try and go to sleep...it deflated before this happened. So I slept on about an inch of padding on a concrete garage floor with the lights on all night. It was also stuffy and hot from the rain and was absolutely miserable. Around 4:15 am I woke up made the trip down to the corner, and then went back up got my stuff and we took a bus back to camp. We ate breakfast first and then went to get ready for the day.

I could barely walk around camp so I went to medical to once again see if I could get some help since there was no way I could get my shoe on with the size of the blisters I had (especially the two on my big toes). I was given two different opinions on what "I" should do for them and was sent on my way since they still refused to help me. Meanwhile other team members of mine with just one or two blisters were getting sent back and were being bandaged up. I still can't figure this one out. So in my emotional state at this point I was bawling and wondering if I should just call it quits and go home. Nikki went to find help and Doris (my RN angel and our training walk leader) found a needle out of someone's sewing kit and came over to help. She popped them all and then helped bandage me up. Thank goodness!!!

We took off walking with me not knowing how far I would get. The weather was wonderful since it was overcast and breezy. My spirits were uplifted and my feet eventually went a little numb. I made it through to lunch (turkey on sourdough bread, fruit, chips and cookies) grabbing it and taking it to the cheering section where some of our Juniors and Nikki and Alice's husbands and kids were there handing out popsicles. We sat for a while and ate lunch and I thought I could go on from there. We started walking and about 1/2 mile after that my feet were hurting so bad that I jumped in the Sweep Van and took it to the last Pit Stop. From there I boarded a bus and sat for an hour waiting to be taken to camp. The bus wasn't full so they wouldn't leave. Finally I saw my team walking up and Alice's husband had followed them in the car. I jumped in with him and he took me back to camp. Thank you Eloy!!! Day Two Walking miles around 13.5.

When we got back Mike (the only guy on our team) had set up all our tents. I grabbed my stuff went and took a shower and then went to soak my feet again. I just avoided the medical tent since I knew they wouldn't help me. By then a lot of the team was back and we had dinner (Chicken Marsala, wild rice, broccoli, salad and cheesecake). Then I hobbled around camp looking at all the displays, they had a dance party (which we did standing still), and then Lights Out at 9:00 pm.

Around 3:00 am it started to rain so we had to completely zip up the tents. Then it got hot and stuffy and we sweated until 5:00 am when it stopped and we got up and had breakfast (eggs, sausage, home fries, yogurt, muffins). Doris had left me the needle so I doctored myself up that morning and we slowly took off. Nikki was a godsend. She slowed down her pace to walk with me so I wouldn't be alone. I was limping so bad at one point that it started to make my shoulder hurt. I made it through to Grab N Go A (6.7 miles) where I hopped a van to the lunch stop. Lunch was a Chicken Santa Fe Wrap, chips, fruit and cookies. It was good at the time. We took off from there and I really thought I was going to make it. My feet were numb and I was slowly making it. Then the heat started to hit me. After eating the sort of spicy lunch and the heat combined I started to feel weak and sick at my stomach. I hopped on a van and took it to the next pit stop where I rested. I started to try and continue, but ended up right back in a van that took me to the last pit stop to wait for everyone else.

After waiting there in the heat for over an hour and a half, I was really feeling nauseous. I had talked to mom and dad and knew they were at the finish line. About that time I saw our team and Nikki and I walked the last mile in to the finish. At this point it was so hot, I felt awful and my feet were killing me. Dad had already gotten my luggage so Nikki and I got our Victory Shirts, took a quick group picture and headed out. She was as ready to go as I was.

Since my journey ended there I did not make it closing ceremonies which were another hour and a half wait. I am sad that I missed something that was probably very emotional, but at that point I just needed to do what was best for me.

Amongst all the bad parts of the 3 days, there were some fun times too. We had a scavenger hunt list of things to take pictures of like someone with toe socks, a man with boobs on, a policeman, etc. that kept me going. We had many laughs about the stupidest things, Nikki danced the macarena for us along the route, the Safety crew was always playing music for us and dancing at the crosswalks, and the supporters were amazing. Just when you started to feel low, you would see a group that would lift you up. There was the brownie troop on the beach that chanted and sprayed us with mister bottles, the girl with the big bouffant pink wig that was there every day at different spots cheering, the little kids that came out of their houses to sit and tell us to keep going and don't give up, the son whose mother was walking that showed up at the lunch stop standing in the back of a pickup truck spray painted head to toe in pink and the many people standing on the side of the road with pictures of loved ones that had passed yet they were there to thank us for walking.

The weekend was a roller coaster of emotions for me and in the end I can say that I'm glad I had the experience, yet I will find another way next time to raise money for breast cancer awareness. My feet were not made for this type of event even though my heart was all in it. Over all I believe I walked 38+ miles of the 60 total. Not too bad for the Blister Queen of Team Juniors for Jugs and Mike.

Thank you to all of my supporters...without you this would not have been possible.

Pictures from the 3-Day that I took...(SH means Scavenger Hunt ones)
Here's the link if you want to see it bigger...

3-Day Walk 2007