Bert’s Blog

The Second Time Around….

Being a second-time walker in the 3-Day 60 Mile Breast Cancer Walk this past weekend was not quite what I expected. I thought the physical and mental battle of walking would be easier… I thought the stories of the women and men who were walking with me would be less moving… I thought that seeing the droves and droves of people out cheering us on would be less shocking… I am so glad that I was wrong. Here’s how it went…

Wade was nice enough to get up on his day off and take all us girls to South Fork very early in the morning on Friday, and our car was buzzing with excitement and energy all the way there. It was a cooold morning, in the upper 30’s, and we did our best to keep warm as we waited for the Opening Ceremonies to begin. I got to see Mom and Dad because they were waiting for everything to begin as well, and that was great start to my day. The ceremonies began at about 7:45am, and at the end there were about ten breast cancer survivors who got up on the survivor’s circle platform with flags saying things like, “Hope,” “Courage,” “Strength,” etc. We were very close to the circle, and as I made eye contact with these brave women who have faced things I can’t even fathom, I began to get emotional because I saw that they were overwhelmed with emotion as well. That started it out just right by putting the reason for this walk in the front of my mind.

The start of the walk was slow because our muscles were cold, but we eventually warmed up and started stripping off layers. We walked through Murphy, Allen, old downtown Plano, and Richardson that day, and I made it all 20 miles back to camp. Our team was towards the back of the 2,200 walkers for most of the day, so many of the cheering stations had dwindled off, but they were still extremely motivating and got us “home.” I had a few “hot spots” on my feet, but other than that, I was feeling pretty darn good considering the trek.

We got our bags from the trucks and pretty much went straight for the showers to take advantage of the short lines. I tell you what, even though the showers are in a truck, and they are itty bitty, and there’s no privacy, that 10 minutes of hot water is indescribable… Afterwards, our guy teammate, Sam, helped me set up my tent as it appeared that my random roomie was not going to show, and I got all settled in. We went to eat dinner and hung out a bit before bedtime, taking advantage of the yoga stretching mats, the foot massagers, the 3-Day Gear store, and most importantly, the hot chocolate. I iced the balls of my feet as well because they felt like they were on fire and could turn into one big blister. It must have been all the hills that we got hit with that day. My dear friend Katy fed me some Nyquil before bedtime because I had a bad cold coming on, and lights went out in my tent before 9:30am… but then I was wide awake at about 2am, realizing that missing another warm body in my 6×6 tent was making it hard to stay warm. I dozed on and off while shivering, and then it was Day 2….

After breakfast, we all got in line to start Day 2. Everyone will tell you, Day 2 is the hardest – it’s not your first day where you are fresh and full of energy and excitement, and it’s not your last day where the thought of crossing the finish line and seeing your loved ones motivates you through the pain. It’s the middle day, and it was coooold. We started walking and all realized that this was going to be tough, but our first motivator was the cheering station at the 6-mile marker because Branden, Garrett, and Josh were going to be there. We made it, and it was so great to see them supporting us. Josh made us all pink rose corsages, and the guys (including Garrett) were wearing t-shirts that said, “Bras aren’t the only supporter of boobies.” Cute, cute, cute. So after a short visit, we were off again. We made it to lunch, and after stuffing our faces, some of the girls decided to take a sweep van to skip the next few miles. I wasn’t up for doing that just yet and decided to give walking a whirl. Boy oh boy, that was tough. I can’t even tell you how far I made it after lunch, 3 miles? Apparently there were an overwhelming amount of walkers who felt the same, and the sweep vans were overloaded with people who needed a break. We finally got an empty one and took it to the next pit. After resting and fighting with myself mentally, I decided to go back to camp because my knee, ankle, and feet were all giving me heck. It was hard to get on that bus because I didn’t want to give up, but Mom was the volunteer on it so that made it easier. All of the women on the bus were defeated, but kept shouting out things like “we rock!” I got back to camp, took a shower, iced the necessary things, and caught up with the other girls to go and eat dinner. We sat in the tent after eating and listened to three of the walkers’ stories, and were most moved by the two gentlemen who were both in their 60’s, and who walked for their wives who couldn’t be there with them. One of the guys had passed his 1,000th mile that day as he walked the 60 miles in all 12 cities the year before, and was at it again this year. You could tell he was a soft-spoken man, but his message was so strong. On each of the walks, his thing was to strike up conversations with other women walkers about mammograms – have you had one, if so how long ago was it, if not, why, and he would make women promise him to get a mammogram after the walk, and they would exchange information so he could make sure they kept their promises. He told story after story about women who kept their promises and contacted him to tell him thank you, it turns out I do have breast cancer. It gave me chills and made me think that this was so clearly God’s mission for him. He made all the women in the audience who hadn’t gotten a mammogram promise that they would. What a simple way of honoring his wife, yet I can’t imagine how many lives he has changed…

I hung out with my parents for a while to watch the Dance Party in the dinner tent, which was pretty funny. It was a tough day, but we were all glad it was behind us. Lights out, well out, then on, then out, etc., and it was Day 3….

Being the dork that I am, I went over the “how to fold up your tent” lesson that they showed us the night before in my head before I fell asleep, so man, oh man was I ready to do it that morning! Getting my sleeping bag in its case – that was another story… We wanted to get everything packed and on the trucks before breakfast so that we could be ready to get in line early. I got my tent in its tiny bag all by myself, and then helped with the other girls’ tents so that we were all ready to go. The day started out good, we were all feeling much better than we thought we would, and the first 4 miles were a breeze. Then, it started getting tougher as all of our injuries/blisters started surfacing. So, we made it about 7 miles and decided to get on the bus that takes walkers to lunch. Our main goal was to cross that finish line walking since last year, that wasn’t exactly how things went. We rested, repadded our blisters, got massages, BioFreeze, etc. at lunch and took off to finish the last 5.5 miles. Our energy was up knowing that the finish line was close, and we were quite distracted as we walked through University Park – gorgeous houses! I tell you, it takes a girl’s mind off of her aches and pains to look at houses with picture windows and winding staircases and stained glass accents… We took our time at the last pit since it was only 1:30pm, and hung out with my parents for a bit while snacking. I iced my knee again to give it a boost for the last 2.5 miles, and then we were off! The finish line got closer and closer, and then it was right in front of us, and I can’t tell you what it felt like to cross it. We were excited, relieved, proud, happy to see Porta John, our dear friend, and so much more. No, we didn’t walk all 60, but we pushed our bodies to do what they could, and stuck together to stick it out for breast cancer.

The speeches at the closing ceremonies were moving and emotional, and seeing all the walkers holding up one shoe to signify their triumph for breast cancer was quite a sight, but one of the best parts of closing ceremonies was when the crew and medical staff came through and got to feel what it’s like to be cheered on. I saw my parents and yelled as loud as I could, and as they heard people cheering for them, high-fiving them, I saw them both getting emotional, and it melted my heart. Now my parents get it, now Erin’s sister gets it, now Marietta gets it, and already the 3-Day Fever has spread to husbands, boyfriends, and other loved ones who will hopefully get it next year. I signed up to crew next year and can’t wait to give a helping hand to this wonderful event, and get a different perspective on the whole experience.

I walked for my co-worker and friend who was stricken with breast cancer last year, and she survived. Back then, I walked to give her strength. This year, I walked to spread her hope, because Everyone Deserves A Lifetime.

Thank you all for your support, I couldn’t have done this without you.

Love,

Ashley