Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure® Day 3 and Wrap Up #the3day #keepgoing

Well it sure took me a long time to get back to this. I’m so sorry to those that were waiting to hear how I did on day 3! I went on vacation immediately following closing ceremony on Sunday. Every time I’d sit down to write while on vacation I just couldn’t focus. So here it is, my day 3 and wrap up of the event:

Day 3 I was woken up by campers who were getting up and starting to pack at 5am. They didn’t care that everyone’s tents are paper-thin and you can hear every single word you’re saying. It was all good, though, I got up, got dressed and packed. I had to wait around for my tent-mate to get up, though, so I could get my tarp out from under the tent. Got everything brought over to where you drop your luggage and headed to breakfast. I ate and stretched and headed to medical. I was determined to walk that day! I got in there and the doc was trying to talk me into taking two puffs of Albuterol to get the day going but I refused since both days I took it I got an immediate migraine. I promised him I would stop if I needed for any reason at all. He took my red card away and gave me back my credentials. YAY!!

I headed over to get on the bus to take us to the beginning of day 3! I was pumped! I got on the bus across from a survivor. It was so nice to hear her story and hear again what we’re doing this for! The walk started off beautiful Sunday morning because it was very overcast. It meant it was not hot and I was not sweating. Making it to lunch was a piece of cake. Although, sometime before lunch the skies opened up and it started pouring on us. The rain didn’t really bother me so much as the wind. They don’t call it the windy city for nothing! I actually started getting cold from the wind but I kept on keeping on. Then all of a sudden I felt a sharp pain in the arch of my left foot. I tried to just walk it out but it wasn’t happening. I hopped on the sweep golf cart to get brought to the next pit stop (it was only one mile away). They had golf carts out that day because the majority of our walk was down the shore of Lake Michigan where cars could not drive. There was actually one team of paramedics that wore bright pink sweat suits and had a huge sound system on their golf cart. It was awesome because everyone around you would start dancing as they drove past.

Anyway, back to my foot. I got swept to the next stop and got both feet taped up to stop further damage and continue on my walk. I refused to give up this time! I had met a walking buddy earlier in the day and had to leave her when I was swept. I ran into her again at the final pit stop so we were able to finish the day out together. I have to say, it was so much easier to walk with a buddy, but you need one that walks the same pace as you.

Walking into holding was not something that you can describe. To know you finished the walk (even if you did only walk 27 out of 60 miles) is amazing. Everyone is there cheering you in. As I was walking down the aisle of cheering people I saw my med team and they looked so proud of me. It just felt simply amazing!

Closing ceremonies were great. It was extremely hot by that time of the day, though, and we’re supposed to wear our long sleeved t-shirts. OUCH! I’m not sure why they couldn’t hold the ceremonies inside Soldier Field, that would have been great to not be out in the beating sun. First all the walkers walked in and formed a circle, followed by all the volunteers for the weekend (they were amazing!) and then we had a circle of survivors in the middle. We did our one shoe salute and I think almost everyone there was crying! We had a final wrap up from our sponsors and we got to hear Candy Coburn sing Pink Warrior one more time.

Overall I was just so in awe of how the weekend came together and how amazing the volunteers and cheering people along the routes were. I will probably do a Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure® walk again in the future. I may not do Chicago next time just because it’s the same weekend that we go to Wisconsin Dells every year.

When I got home from vacation I found that my friends had “tagged” my house because they were so proud of my walk. I can’t express how good it feels to have supporters at home!

I want to thank Energizer for giving me the opportunity to walk the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure® walk and Keep Going® even when I felt I couldn’t any more. I also want to thank New Balance for supplying me with a pair of New Balance 760 walking shoes.

New Balance will contribute 5% of the suggested retail price of sales from the Lace Up for the Cure® Collection with a guaranteed minimum donation of $500,000 each year to Susan G. Komen for the Cure® through 2012.

I also want to remind you one more time to “like” the Energizer Bunny on Facebook because for every person that does, Energizer will donate $1 to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, up to $15,000!

To view all of my photos you can click on Photobucket and for videos click on YouTube.