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2007 Tampa Bay 3 Day ~In the Life of a Walker~ See the Road I Traveled!
Day Before Day One-October 18, 2007 Plans to leave by 4 got pushed back a little later, considering I had won an IPOD shuffle at work and thought it would be great to take it on the walk. I hurried home and downloaded songs, only to find out, my USB ports are dead and nothing downloaded. About an hour later, I was on the road. Rain was ahead as soon as I hit Orlando area. Seems Floridians dont know how to drive in the rain because there were accidents everyone. Eastbound was actually stopped for a while. After seeing about a dozen officers, I then passed Harly Davidson and realized it was bikeweek. I finally arrived into Tampa area. The rain had stopped, so I wanted to re-do my windows with The 3 Day info. I swung by where I thought Michaels was and ended up getting about half an hour off track. Once I arrived, five minutes before closing, I tried to make a short cut over from Dale Mabry to Clearwater, however, I guess it has been longer than I thought since I lived there and I got lost. Again, another thirty minutes out of the way. I finally arrived at the oceanfront around 11pm...5 hours until the gates opened at Sand Key Park. I decided it wasnt worth spending $10 an hour on a hotel to sleep for 4 hours and found a huge parking lot across the street....which I later found out was the Marriott. I parked right on the water and realized there were guys out in the water fishing and I guess shrimping (kept through out a net). I watched for a while as I tried to get as comfortable as I can in my car to drift off to sleep. I had my windows opens and could hear the crashing of the water on the bulkhead. It was actually quite lovely....until I couldnt fall asleep. I dont know if it was nerves or comfort..but I would never suggest trying to sleep in a two door Nissan 200SX....especially when you have to walk 60 miles the next day! Day One-October 19, 2007 Well, I think I got a total of 3 hours of sleep before my cell phone alarm went off. I changed quickly in the car and headed across the street, only to find, the gates still werent open. I sat there for another 45 minutes (cars started to line up) when the person in charge finally opened the gates. First in for parking was not what I expected. I was expecting way more people to be there already, considering they said it was "limited parking." But there I was, at the park where I was about to embark on my 60 mile journey in a short 3 hours. 3 hours?? What was I to do for 3 hours, I thought? I decided to fall back asleep. And sleep, I finally did. For an hour. I finally decided to get up and mingle. After dropping off my bag at the truck, and making a quick good morning phone call, I headed over to the stage. As people arrive, I realize this is going to be a fun weekend. Everyone is all dressed up in crazy outfits with signs and balloons. It could be nothing less than a good time with guys where pink wigs and fake boobs! The News crew was already filming, gathering stories on why people are walking. I watched them for a while. Its good to be around people that have gone through simliar things. Opening ceremonies finally start around 730. 18 flags are carried in, all with words relating to why we walk....which we are later to find out that these flags will go on the journey with us....all passing them along to let everyone carry one. As soon as the 3 Day speaker gets on stage, she points out that a rainbow as appeared over the water. As I take pictures, theres a flock of seagulls that fly by as well. It was quite symbolic. During the ceremony, they had 8 survivors gather in the middle in a circle, hands raised. We are reminded this is the reason we walk...to have more and more survivors. The speaker gets emotional herself and asks us not to have a 'moment of silence' but to instead yell out the person's name that we are walking for. Quite an experience, one that I have not been apart of before. We finally started our walk, music blaring in the background. I made a quick call to my sister and let her see how excited I was. I am hoping she will committ to walk next year with me. Walking alone takes a lot more strength and determination than having someone you love with you by your side the entire time. The first part of the journey included a bridge over into Clearwater. It was interesting being on this walk, considering I used to go to Clearwater to go to the beach all the time. It is a different viewpoint to go through the town during something like this. As soon as we got onto the main streets, the horns started blaring. We had "sweep vans" that would go back and forth, up and down the line, honking and yelling in support but also to make sure everyone was ok, but all the people just driving by would honk and give a thumbs up as well! Through the neighborhoods we went and I was extremely moved by all the neighbors that came out, not only to cheer us on, but to bring out coolers full of ice and drinks, passing out candy, stickers, spraying us with water, holding up posters they made, dressing up silly to make every step go by faster and easier. We could not go by a mile without having several groups of people that gathered. We were given "route cards" with mileage on how far the "pit stops" were..where wed be given drinks and snacks and had a chance to use the bathroom. At each one of these, the crew used different themes to make it entertaining, such as The Fifties, The Hawaiian, The Hollywood,etc. Mile 8 I start to think my feet are beginning to ache.....(boy, did I not know what "ache" was yet!). It had been a hot sunny day, when out of nowhere, the rain began. People pulled out their ponchos, and I just giggled to myself. I thought it felt great. Although, I was warned that blisters come from moisture, I was still loving the rain. It was more of a sprinkle anywyas. It lasted for about 10 minutes and moved on. Lunch was at mile 11. People are lined up already for "medical"..blisters, aches, pains. Considering the furthest I have gone on my 'training' walks is 10 miles, I think I am doing well. Families that are supporting a walker come to the lunch site. One family in particular stands out...they have been at every pit stop and even made up their own stops to encourage this "Joyce" I never got a chance to meet. Miles 11-18 turns pretty dull. The neighborhoods werent that great and there wasnt anything to really look at. The heat has gotten worse, especially since it rained. The humidity is almost unbearable. My top is completely soaked from sweat and my dunking my bandana into ice cold water. I soon realize I dont have enough sunscreen for the weekend. I think I am starting to burn, but am soon told that it is a 'heat rash' instead. My legs and arms have splotches up and down. The sweat that runs over top of it makes it burn. Mile 18 my feet have gone numb. My pace has slowed considerably and I realize I have a butt muscle I did not know I have. The stops are losing their motivation, considering they are serving the same snacks at each one, and they are not that tempting when its so hot. (who wants to eat peanut butter in the heat?) Mile 19-21 my pace has slowed so much, I am starting to be passed. (Instead before, I was the one passing people.)That makes me lose my motivation a little. But everyone is really nice. Most people smile and ask if I am ok. Some keep the same pace for a while and we chit chat for a bit. I realize we are now near St Pete Beach and wonder where the route is going to go the next day if we are, what seems, so close to St Petersburg. The last mile became unbearable and I had to do everything I could to not put my arms up in an "X" and be picked up by the sweep van. The tears start coming and even the supporters that are yelling no longer motivate me. The pain in my feet was something I have never felt before. The only way I could describe it is it felt like I was wearing 5 inch high heels for a week straight without taking them off and sitting down. I was lucky I did not have blisters and I realized that. All I could do was look down at the picture of my grandmother I was wearing around my neck and tell myself, cancer hurts worse than this. My feet seemed to move on their own. The final approach for the first day, girl scouts had written in chalk on the sidewalk motivational pictures and words. It made me chuckle because some of the words were misspelled so you know they had to be younger. Its so inspiring to see little kids get involved in something like this. I barely entered into camp, giving high fives, but still tears rolling down my cheeks....not only for the throbbing of my feet, or the heat exhaustion I felt, but for completing the 23 miles on this first day. Walking in, we were notified that a huge storm was coming and that we could not camp outdoors. Camp was relocated to a PARKING GARAGE! We first had to eat and shower at camp and then take the bus over to the garage, half an hour away. I looked to see where the dinner and showers were.....no where near each other, and no where near me! I decided to skip dinner and just shower. As I watched the storm clouds approach, I giggled and thought "why wouldnt it rain? It has rained on most of my fundraising events...walmart, car washes..." Forecast for Day Two walk....more rain! We got to the garage and found out the lights dont turn off at the garage....most people were already passed out, not even bothering putting up a tent. I decided the tent would block out the light. I put it up next to the window, hoping to get some air.
Once up and after a quick couple calls, I passed out for the night around 10. 12AM, I realize we are in a 'party' area....a drunken man is yelling at the top of his lungs at strangers....a bar has a band outside playing...the homeless have come out and migrated towards our porta potties (which are 7 flights downstairs and outside!). I try to sleep through it when all of a sudden 5 AM comes around. Day Two-October 20, 2007 We have to be on route by 730, so transfer and breakfast has to come early today. I get to camp, still a little bummed and not motivated at all, almost not wanting to eat. I then look up and see "Post Office". OH YEA....I should have some mail....I grabbed all the "J" mail and kept pulling more and more out, tears started coming when I realized I had more than one or two. Boy, was I glad that some of you actually listened when I begged for you guys to send me some mail. I actually received cards from people I least expected, but they helped me the most. After being re-inspired to finish this walk, I had one of the best breakfasts Ive had in a long time....(and Im not so sure why, because it was practically cold.) On trail by 745 with the sun trying to peak through and realized I needed suntan lotion. I stopped at one of the early miles to get some and saw a group of 4 that stopped to buy a portable hand radio. What a great idea I thought..nothing like some good music to motivate you. I caught up with them and said "Im sticking with you guys!" Little did I know that it would be for the remainder of the weekend and cross that finish line holding hands with them! Today was 18 miles and boy, they seemed to go buy fast! I quickly learned that one of the girls had bad blisters already, so we were in no hurry...which sounded good to me. As we talked a while, I realized that this was going to be a fun group of girls. We went through some cool beach towns...places I would love to live one day. One of the places, Johns Pass, had some cool bars/restaurants. There was an open window at one of the bars and one of the girls yelled in, 'can I get a Crown n Coke' half-joking. The bartender jumped all over it quickly though, so she decided to just go with it. The rest of us laughing, two of us quickly realized a mile later that we wanted some too! So into a bar we went! Nothing like a little Captain n Coke on a 60 mile stroll! We made several stops and rested a lot while we waited for the one girl to receive medical help for her blisters. I was lucky, I still did not have blisters. I decided to call Erica and tell her to say thank you to her mom, who found my second pair of shoes. (which I ended up wearing the whole weekend). Towards the end of the day, my hips started hurting. I have always had problems with my hips..mainly my left one, that pops in and out when I walk. Well, I started to feel like an old lady with arthritis in the hips. They burned so bad, it made me forget about my throbbing feet. It was weird how my mind would only concentrate on one pain at a time....either my feet or my hips. The whole day was overcast, but it never rained. We had a nice breeze, which might have some to do with that we were at the oceanfront the entire day. Again, the last couple miles, I felt like I wasnt going to make it. I kept telling myself, I did 23 yesterday, why cant I do a little 18 today? It wasnt working. But the girls that were with me, took care of me...we took care of each other. One was like my mom, which I kinda liked...making sure I wouldnt stop drinking (do you realize how hard it is to make yourself drink when you are over heated and exhausted? its kinda strange) and kept making sure I went to the bathroom....which I hadnt for half the day. It was hard to not be dehydrated. By the end of the route, we heard it was supposed to rain that night and I was practically 'told' I was going to stay with this great group of girls at their hotel, the Hilton. For a split moment of insanity, I said no....worried that I wouldnt have the full experience of The 3 Day and worried that I didnt have money to compensate...but soon gave in and said I would repay them when I get their address and send a thank you gift. We finally made it back to camp and I visited the Rememberance Tents. The 3 Day takes place at 12 cities, so their are 12 camping tents that stay at camp with us. At each city, you can write on the tent in "rememberance" of your loved one you lost and why you walk. There is also an area where they have pictures of previous walkers who have passed and journals you can write in. One picture was of a lady who was supposed to be walking with us at Tampa, but did not survive for it. I wrote to my grandmother and felt that I have helped take one step closer to finding a cure......I WAS TWO DAYS DOWN! During dinner we had the most beautiful sunset that Ive seen in a long time. (I knew there was a reason why I missed Tampa). And the sun just happened to set over the "Rememberance Tents." After a quick stop for some munchies, we headed back to the hotel, where I had a wonderful shower, compared to the day before and layed on a comfy bed. We arrived at the hotel around 830 and stayed up long enough to watch the news at 11. During that time, we found everything that wasnt even close to being funny, funny. We laughed so hard that our stomaches hurt and one of the girls almost peed in her pants! On the news about The 3 Day was a girl that is currently going through chemo, but is still doing the walk. It was amazing, and again, made us realize we should not be complaining. After tending to our blisters (well, theirs...I had yet to get one, except for a small hot spot) I slept the best I have in 2 days. Day Three-October 21, 2007 I got out of bed feeling like an old lady. My hip joints hurt so bad, it worries me. One of the girls wakes and keeps saying, "Im not bald, I dont have cancer" we can do this. This is the one that has blisters so bad, and even under her toe nails. We head off to breakfast at camp and soon embark on our last day of the journey...for 17 miles. The days weather starts off great, but you can tell it is going to be a hot day. As we take our fist steps, I am still walking funny, trying to loosen up my hips. Mile 4 and I cant believe that is all that we have done. My feet are already aching and my hips still hurt. There are more pit stops today and people have made up more cheering stations than the other days. I guess due to people coming in from out of town to support their walker. We keep saying, if we had all this cheering the whole way, it would be easier. Again, we had great hand outs from the neighbors.....one that stands out the most, and what I laugh at because 20, 30, 40 and 50 year olds are getting excited for...are popsicles! I was never more happy in my life than to see a nice cold popsicle! Its football day and the radio we carry has turned to the Bucs game which has helped time pass. We even pass by a group of boys that have a tv outside and are passing out beer! YES, BEER! I dont think I have ever been so excited to drink a MGD. As the day moves on, we end up losing two of the girls in the group, they end up taking the sweep van to the end. We will later pick them up at the "holding area" so we can walk the final approach together. I can no longer feel my hips and we have picked up the pace a little. The faster you walk, the less you feel your feet. But then we are so exhausted, you cant walk fast for long. Unlike the past two days, the last couple of miles go by like a blink of the eye. Before I know it, we round a corner and I can see the St Pete Pier (the official ending place). Excited, I am able to walk. However, I start to worry about heat exhaustion again, as the sun is baring down on us and I start to form heat blisters on my chest and heat rash on my legs and arms again. We pick up the two girls that took the sweep van and we walk in together to the holding area. There are tons of people waiting here, cheering on their walkers. The first people we see are dressed as pirates. Everyone is cheering for you, even though you dont know them. People you have seen the entire weekend (neighbors and volunteers) have made their way to the end. Survivors are standing there shouting out to you that they thank you for walking. It is quite moving. At the holding area, we receive our victory t shirts and wait for the last walker, so we can make the 'final approach' as a huge group. We finally are able to walk the last approach and all the families and friends are walking along side of us cheering us on. Through this long straight away we walk and you can see walkers reaching out and hugging their familes/friends that they are just now seeing. Tears start to build being happy for them. I try not to be upset that my family could not make it. I decided to do this alone, and I ended up finishing with new friends and that is all I needed. We ended up entering into the Closing Ceremonies holding hands, with our arms raised. What a great way to finish! The speaker was again emotional, but was quite appropriate.....to see that many walkers accomplish such a huge feat. The 'survivors' that walked, were the last ones to enter, all wearing their pink victory shirts. The crowd knelt down, one shoe off and held up high, in honor of them. They were beautiful. The flags entered once again and the wind blew them with glory. Then the surivors got to raise the final flag....."A World Without Breast Cancer"....the reason we walk. |
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