Philadelphia 3-Day 2018

This past Thursday I was dropped off at the airport at about 4:30 in the morning to catch a flight to Philadelphia for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure.  I was really looking forward to this since I had not been able to walk for the last three years due to some health and work issues.  That was not going to be an issue this year.  I had turned off my work phone at noon on Wednesday and had no intention of turning it on again before Tuesday when I went back to work.  This would also be a new experience for me since I was traveling fairly light for the 3-Day.  This year in Philly they were going to trial having camp hosted at a Hotel instead of the traditional camp so I didn't need many of the things I would take if we were camping outside.  My suitcase and I made it through security quickly and then I had to wait for my flight.

Once I arrived in Philly I had to make my way from one terminal to another to wait for a couple of my teammates that would be arriving soon after I did.  We were going to share a cab over to the host hotel.  Before long we were all over at the Hilton at Penn's Landing and were checking out the setup.  There was a steady stream of walkers arriving all afternoon.  The Hilton had done a nice job of getting the place ready for all the walkers.  The staff was friendly and welcoming and there was pink everywhere.  We went out to lunch with another walker that we were talking to in the Lobby as we had plenty of time to kill before we had to be anywhere.  It was good to have time to catch up a bit and talk to other walkers to see what they thought of the setup and what to expect as I had not walked in Philly before.  Before I knew it, it was time to get some sleep.  5:00 would come way to early.

Our team gathered at about 6:00 on Friday morning to take a couple pictures and get ready for the day.  We started the day with four members of the team.  Our fifth member Lisa would not be joining us until around dinner time as she had some work obligations for Friday but still was going to walk with us on Saturday and Sunday.  We lined up outside and skipped the opening Ceremony to get out on the route a little earlier.  The route opened at 7:30 and we were out right away.  Normally our team ends up walking in at least two different groups for much of the day.  Our Captain, Kathy, and Stephanie like to walk a little faster than I normally do so they end up ahead of me most of the time.  When I walked in Tampa, Marcia was new to our team and I walked with her that year since she has a pace that's closer to mine.  Sometime on Friday afternoon Marcia and I met a woman named Megan who was walking by her self and she joined us for the afternoon and ended up joining the team for the rest of the weekend.  Megan had done a couple of the Avon walks but had never done the 3-Day before.  She enjoyed the weekend enough that she has already signed up for next year.

Once we got back to camp for the day we took our traditional end of day picture and I had to grab my gear and check into my room for the weekend.  I did not get assigned a room at the Camp Hotel. I was in a different hotel about a block away.  It was an easy walk even after walking 20 miles.  Once I had checked into my room and cleaned up I went back to Camp to relax before dinner.  Bank of America had brought it a bunch of massage chairs and I spent a little time in them and it felt great.  We spent some time during dinner talking about the day and I heard that the route for the day was quite a bit different than previous years.  That was good to hear since I was not all that impressed by the Day 1 route.  It took us through some rather sketchy areas of Philly.

Day two started much the same as Day 1 but just a little bit earlier.  The route opened at 7:00 so the team met at 5:45 for breakfast and to get ready for the day.  One of the attractions on Saturday morning was walking by the Art Museum and getting pictures taken with the Rocky statue.  Marcia had even brought along some pink boxing gloves for her picture. After she and Megan had taken pictures with them she decided to leave them there so that other walkers could take pictures with them as well.  Once we left there we ended up walking along a river for quite some time and I was surprised at how many people were out rowing on the river.  Crew must be pretty popular there since I saw quite a few different teams out practicing.  We ended up crossing the river and walking along a nice trail to get to lunch.  After lunch we walked through the Zoo on our way back to camp.  Quite a few people stopped to take pictures in the zoo sign as our team did.  That was one of my favorite pictures of the weekend.  The trip through the zoo was fairly quick.  We had a straight line path setup to follow and really didn't get to see much of it.  I think the highlight of the zoo for most of my team was having a place to stop and buy a diet coke  :-) .  Once we were back at camp we got cleaned up and had dinner and got ready for the camp show.  One of the highlights of the show is when the youth corps gets to get up and tell why they wanted to be part of youth corps.  Stephanie's son Blake was on youth corps but I didn't stay for the show as I was really dragging.  I had gone to Medical before dinner to get a couple blisters drained and was really tired as I was not sleeping great in the Hotel.  Medical was setup very well.  They had a podiatrist and some of his third year students there to get experience dealing with blisters and foot issues.  They did a great job taking care of my feet.

Day 3 started early again but this was a strange Day 3 since we were staying in a Hotel and didn't have to get up extra early to pack our tents.  I had to go back up to Medical to get some things to wrap my blisters for the day after breakfast.  I ended up wearing my backup shoes for Day 3.  I had forgotten how much my feet swell after walking for long distances and my newer shoes were just too tight.  At one of the pit stops before lunch I borrowed some scissors from Medical so that I could cut out part of shoe to take some of the pressure of my little toe.  It still looks pretty ugly today.  We were making some pretty good time on Sunday and we ended up being in the top 100 into lunch.  We were not in a huge hurry to leave lunch though since we less than 4 miles after lunch till we got to holding.  On our way to holding we walked past the Philly sports complex.  It's actually a pretty cool setup.  All of the homes for their major sports teams are clustered together and within walking distance of each other.  I know that I have to be careful when I say that because my idea of walking distance does not match normal people's idea of walking distance.  As we got closer to holding at the Navy Yard the Philadelphia Eagles Drum line was there to greet us.  Got to love some percussion to keep you going.  We arrived at closing early and had some time to kill.  After a couple pictures at the finish we had to say goodbye to a couple of our teammates.  Lisa had to leave right away to catch an early flight out that night.  She had been traveling for work and needed to get home.  Megan got to spend a little time with us at closing before her ride but she had to leave early as she was going to spend some time with her niece for a special birthday.  Kathy was a little bummed about being in Philly for this day as well.  She is very dedicated to the 3-Day and fighting Cancer but her son was finishing up a 4 Day 500 Mile ride today to raise money for Scholarships in the names of  Illinois National Guard Members who lost their lives in service our nation.  It's a ride called the Gold Star 500 and she is very proud of her son's dedication to this cause.  I think I know where he gets that dedication from.

The time before closing didn't take quite as long as I thought it would.  We spent time discussing the weekend and what we thought Komen needs to do to breath life back into the 3-Day.  The 3-Day is a special event and we really want to see it growing again.  After closing ceremonies it was back to the Hotel for a little dinner and rest before calling it a night.  The team members that were still there on Monday morning got together for breakfast one last time before Stephanie and Blake had to head for the Airport.  They had an earlier flight than the rest of us.  Kathy, Marcia, and I were back at the Airport for our flights soon after.  It didn't take long to get through security so I had a lot of time to kill.  Our plane ended up taking off about 20 minutes late because we couldn't push back from the gate on time because a fuel truck lost a week directly behind the plane and we had to wait for them to fix that.  It was a pretty uneventful flight back after that.  I had a great time but was really glad to be home.

All in all the weekend was a huge success.  The Walkers and Crew for Philadelphia had raised $2.1 Million Dollars.  I have mixed feelings about the Hotel experiment this weekend.  I like the fact that I didn't have to sleep in a tent this weekend.  I have had issues with my Asthma in the past and tents don't exactly help that.  I also know that knowing that you won't be staying in a tent may attract new or return walkers.  I do think that some of the community is lost with this kind of camp though.  According to some people I talked to the cost of the traditional camp and this setup was about the same with the Hotel as one of the sponsors so with all things being equal I think that this would probably attract more people.  I was also really happy that I was able to finish the entire route this year.  This was my ninth walk and the fifth that I had completed the entire route.  In the four that I didn't complete sometimes it was just a couple miles and other times it was complete days.  I want to keep working to complete as many as I can.  Everyone on our team was able to complete the route this year even though a number of us had to visit medical for a little help with blisters and other issues.  The support that the 3-Day provides for the walkers is really top notch.  During this weekend we talked about where we want to walk next year and we have decided on going back to San Diego.  So far we have a definite four going and who knows what will happen in the next year.  It was good to see my friends again.  I have been walking with Kathy, Stephanie, and Lisa since 2007 and last walked with Marcia in 2013.  Megan was a welcome addition to the team also.  She fit right in with the group.  Some day we may not have a reason to walk and I will be ok with that. Until then it's good to know that I have friends that I will see when we get together to continue to raise money to find the Cure.

Many thanks to all that donated to help us continue this fight.

God Bless

Twin Cities 2014 3-Day

For 2014 my team had decided to minimize travel and return to a City that some of us could travel to without flying. Part of our team had walked the Twin Cities before and had enjoyed it. We saw it as an opportunity for the rest of the team to experience it. As typical, my 3-Day weekend started on Thursday with my travel day. I was driving and picked up one teammate in Waukesha and then went on to pick up another teammate and her daughter outside of Madison. We made pretty good time and we were in the Twin Cities a little after noon. We met our last teammate at the Hotel and went out for lunch because it was so early and we needed to be back to get back for the team meeting that afternoon for our teammate that was on Youth Corps. It was another early night as the bus to opening comes way to early.

The rest of the weekend did not go quite as I had planned. I was still getting over a sinus infection that was irritating my lungs and the weather was not cooperating. At the start of Day 1 the humidity was about 98%. I could feel the humidity as soon as we started walking. It was aggravating my asthma within a mile or two. I took my inhaler and that helped for awhile but by mile 8 or so it was getting difficult to breathe again. I decided to take a sweep van to lunch and see if the rest would help. After lunch the humidity went down a little and I was able to walk from lunch to the end of the day.

The beginning of Day 2 was not a good one for me. The humidity had been high all night and spending a humid night in a tent was not a good night. I had gotten very little sleep and my lungs were still bothering me. I had intended to sweep right to lunch but since that was not an option I walked a couple miles and then got on a sweep van and went to lunch. I was there very early so I got to watch walkers come in and leave. I got to sit and talk to several other walkers that had come in early in sweep vans also. One woman that I tWalked to had walked six miles on Day 1 and was hoping to do that on Day 2 and 3. That's all she was capable of walking because her Cancer had come back. She had been fighting off and on for mor than 10 years and she walked the 3 Day each year. It didn't matter to her how many miles she walked. She raised the money and was there to walk what she could. After lunch I decided to go back to camp and check out to go to a hotel for the night. I was not going to spend another sleepless night in a humid tent taking my inhaler every 4-6 hours. Finding a hotel was not an easy task since this was the opening weekend of the Minnesota State Fair. I did manage to find a room and spent the night with air conditioning and that helped me quite a bit.

On Sunday morning I was up early because that's what my body expects for Day 3. I decided that since I couldn't walk I was going to be a walker stalker for the day. I made it to the first cheering station about the time the first walkers were coming through and stayed until my teammates came through. I managed to meet my team at lunch before I headed to holding. Holding and Closing were much the same as I remembered from my previous walk here. Once we were done with closing it was time to say goodbye to Kathy as she was the only teammate that was not driving back to Wisconsin with us. We had an uneventful ride back and I was home before midnight.

The weekend was not what I had planned but was still a great experience. I got to see old friends and meet some interesting new people who once again reminded me why I have to keep walking. Thank you all for your continued support. Next year will be my ninth year walking and it will be in a new city for me. I have heard good things about Philadelphia and look forward to walking there.

God Bless

Greg

The 2013 Tampa 3-Day

This past weekend I traveled to Tampa for the Komen 3-Day for the Cure. I am not sure why they call it the Tampa 3-Day since we didn't walk at all in Tampa but it was a nice walk anyway. This was my seventh year walking and it did not go quite as planned but was a good experience anyway.

I traveled to Tampa on Thursday to meet my team Thursday night before we walked on Friday. I was at the Airport in Milwaukee at 5:00 AM and finally arrived at my Hotel in Clearwater at about 3:30 PM. I had time to grab some dinner and check out the beach before heading to bed. Thursday nights are usually early nights since we have to be up so early on Friday. The picture above is a picture of sunset over the Gulf from the Hotel Beach. It was awesome.

Friday morning I was up about 5:00 AM to get repacked and to head over to Opening Ceremonies with the team. Our team started with five walkers and one Youth Corps this year. While we were waiting to get our picture taken before Opening Ceremonies, we met a young woman that was part of a larger team but really didn't know where any of them were. We invited her to walk with our team and and she walked with us all weekend. Christina had lost her Mother to Breast Cancer 4 years before and had been walking, crewing, or volunteering at the Tampa 3-Day each year since then. She shared a lot of her Tampa experiences with our team and was a great addition to the team. I think she connected really well with another new member of our team who is a Survivor. It's these kind of connections and people that make walking the 3-Day such a great experience.

Opening Ceremonies were held at Sand Key Park in Clearwater. They started a little differently this year by trying to get everyone warmed up by doing a little Zumba instead of just stretching. I think they could rethink that one. We were a little too tightly packed to do Zumba in that space. You also had people like me that are a little too uncoordinated for Zumba and could be dangerous in running into someone else. The route Friday morning was very scenic and had us crossing bridges in Clearwater with great views of the water. It was just after lunch that my first issue of the weekend really started to be a problem. I had stomach issues Thursday night and thought that I was over them Friday morning. By lunch on Friday I was so nauseous that I could barely eat. I was drinking plenty to stay hydrated but just could not eat. A couple miles out of lunch I had to stop as between the heat and the nausea I felt like I was going to get sick just about every step. That finished my day. I ended up taking a sweep van to the pit stop and then was transferred back to camp for Medical to take a look at me. They were concerned that maybe I was dehydrated but I was putting out plenty so I was sure that was not the case. They gave me a couple of tablets that settled my stomach finally and I was able to have dinner without event. I am very thankful for the great volunteers of Medical that took great care of me. I didn't have anything life threatening but they made sure I was ok and I saw several of them later in the weekend and they all asked me how I was doing.

Saturday morning was the next of my two issues for the weekend. The night had been damp and my allergies were bothering me and when I got up Saturday morning I had to take some medicine for my Asthma. My lungs were not feeling very good even after my morning meds and I didn't want to use my inhaler again as i had used it during the night so I had to not walk Saturday morning to see if my meds were going to take care of my lungs in time. I was fortunate that by lunch I was feeling pretty much normal and I was able to walk all of Saturday afternoon. It was another very scenic route and there were many people out cheering and encouraging the walkers. The people of Tampa were very generous in their support of the walkers. There were many groups out that were offering walkers bottles of water, ice, cold towels, or anything else they could think of that would help out the walkers. I just love how generous and supportive the people were. I was able to make it back to camp and actually have a normal night in camp and did not have to spend any time in Medical.

Saturday night during the camp show, one of the highlights is the speakers. The one that our team was very interested in was the short presentations by the Youth Corps. One of the Youth Corps members was the daughter of our teammate Stephanie. The Youth Corps is a group of kids between 10 and 16 years old that spend the weekend helping out around camp and the route. They work as a group all weekend and there is an interview process to get accepted to the group. There were 16 members this year and they all had stories of how their lives had been impacted by Cancer and why they wanted to be there. The youngest of the members this year was 10 and the oldest was 15. I heard comments from several crew throughout the weekend that the Youth Corps was doing such a great job and was pitching in and helping where asked and had a very positive attitude. All of these kids were here because they wanted to be there to help and make a difference. It's awesome that these kids have this opportunity. The Youth Corps started out years ago in Boston but is now present in all of the 3-Day cities. Stephanie's daughter has been cheering her Mom on for years so I am sure that getting to be part of this weekend with her was a great experience for both of them.

Sunday morning I was up at 5 to get ready for Day 3. Sunday is always an early start because we have to repack all of our gear and take down our tents because once we leave camp that morning we are not coming back. This was a particularly difficult Sunday morning for repeat Tampa walkers because after 9 years of 3-Day events in Tampa, this was to be the last. Komen has cut the number of 3-Day Cities form 14 to 7 for next year and Tampa will not be one of them in 2014. It's kind of a shame because it really is a beautiful walk and there is plenty of community support. The route on Sunday had us walking into St. Petersburg with lots of time on the water. It was awesome. There were more people out cheering and supporting the walkers on Sunday than there were on Saturday. The weather was almost perfect for walking. I personally would like a little cloud cover every now and then but we didn't get any of that. We had sun all weekend long. Sunday was my best day of the weekend. I felt great. I had a couple of blisters but I pretty much do every year so no big deal there. We were feeling so good that we even got our picture take in a tree at lunch. In hindsight it probably wasn't our brightest idea but we did it anyway and no one got hurt. It's one of my favorite pictures of the weekend. Christina wasn't in our picture because she was eating lunch with her other team at the time. They got to see her around lunch and we got to see her the rest of the weekend.

We finished walking about 3:00 PM on Sunday. We made it into Holding and spent some time just relaxing before closing ceremonies. We did get to meet some more new people and one of the women that we were talking to just amazed me. She was working on getting the bandages off of her feet while we talked to her. The blisters were unbelievable. They made the ones I had look like nothing at all. Despite those blisters she had walked the entire way and made it. It's that kind of determination that simply amazes me. There is a lot of that during the 3-Day weekend. Closing Ceremonies were brief but emotional as always. This was also when our team lost our new member. She could not join us for Dinner as she had to go meet her family to celebrate her niece's birthday which had been on Saturday. It was a pleasure to have her join us and I wish her all the best in the future. The rest of team went out for Dinner and then back to the Hotel where we also said goodbye since the team members had flights at different times.

I think that there are times every year when I ask myself why I continue to do this and I just have to look as far as the 3-Day walkers group on Facebook or at the faces all around me during the 3-Day weekend to be remind me why. I started walking to honor my mother but I continue to walk for the same reason that so many others do. It's because we can. It is something that we can do to make a difference. I am so fortunate that my mother is a Survivor but there are so many others that have not been that fortunate. We have to keep walking so that my daughters and nieces and everyone else can some day live without fearing this disease. This was not the first walk that I had not completed all 60 miles and it probably won't be the last. I train and I prepare to walk and walk as much as I can but if I can't walk all of the miles I am okay with that. Everything happens for a reason.

I have already registered to walk in the Twin Cities next year for my 8th year. My daughter Molly is going to train with me next year and is going to join our team and try to walk all 60 miles as well. That means more effort in Fundraising next year but I am sure that we can meet that challenge. Sharing the experience with my daughter is something I can't wait for. I also look forward to seeing my teammates again. Kathy, Lisa, Stephanie see you next year in the Twin Cities. Marcia, enjoy your walk in Seattle. Christina, have a great time planning your wedding. Kristen, Dale, I hope that you can join us again next year.

Thank you for all of your support this year and for all the years past and years to come.

God Bless

Greg

Relay for Life 2013

This year I was once again asked to be a Relay for Life Chaperone.  My daughter's Drama team was quite big last year.  This year it was a pretty small group. The team consisted of my two daughters, one of my nieces, and my niece's friend.  We didn't make it all night this year.  It was cold and rainy and two of the girls were not dressed for it.  I did enjoy the time I did get to spend there and look forward to next year again.  The pictures below are tributes to some people I know who have recently lost their battle with Cancer or are currently battling Cancer.

OCHS Class of 1984 Classmate

Friend Battling Cancer

Bridget Spence - 3-Day Walker and Blogger who lost her battle

My Bay Area 3-Day Experience

This past weekend I travelled to San Francisco for the Bay Area Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure.  I followed my usual pattern and travelled on Thursday with the walk starting on Friday.  I got up at 3:00 AM on Thursday morning to be at the Airport at 4:00 for a 5:28 Flight.  That's a little earlier than I have travelled in the past but I wanted to get out there early.  I arrived in San Francisco a little after 11:00 AM.  I had made contact with a Classmate from High School who now lives in the Bay Area.  She volunteered to pick me up from the Airport and show me around the City a little before dropping me off at my hotel so that I could have dinner with my teammates.  Thanks again for that Vivi.  It was great seeing you again and having time to visit.  It also showed me some of the things in San Francisco that I would get to see a little differently on Sunday as we walked there.  The picture here is me posing near the Cliff House just south of the Sutro Baths.  After seeing the sites with Vivi I met my team at our Hotel in Corte Madera and we had our traditional pre walk dinner before calling it a night.  Buses would leave for Opening at 5:00 A.M. Friday so we had to get to sleep early.

As often happens to me on 3-Day Weekend, I could not sleep the best and I was up before my alarm that was set for 4:00.  We were dressed and packed and out of the room before 4:30 and ready for the bus when it arrived.  It was a bit on the chilly side as we headed for Opening Ceremonies but not too bad.  Just enough that I had to add a layer for walking that morning.  We took a couple of team pictures and filled up with water as we waited for Opening.  One of our teammates, Kathy, had to leave us for a time as she had been chosen to carry the Tomorrow Banner during Opening Ceremonies.  This year was Kathy's 10th walk and she was really excited to have this honor.  Then we finally got down to business and started walking.  We walked through Corte Madera and down through Sausalito as we headed to lunch at Fort Baker in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge.  The view at lunch was just awesome.  Once we finished lunch it was time to walk up the hill to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.  That was a pretty good hill.  The walk across the bridge was pretty cool.  It was crowded and there were a lot of bikes up there sharing the limited amount of space.  I also find it interesting that there are crisis call boxes at different points on the bridge.  There are also special bridge patrols with little vehicles that fit on the bridge pedestrian walk stationed at each end of the bridge.  The view from the bridge was spectacular. Once we got off the bridge we walked along the Bay until we got to Fishermans Wharf where we took a Ferry to Treasure Island where we camped for the weekend.  I thought that was going to be pretty cool until we got there.  Treasure Island was not exactly the greatest place in the world to camp.  I read an article that talks how they are developing the Island and it might be a cool destination someday but for now it's a fairly run down area and camping in the bay is windy and cool.

At the beginning of Day 2 they bussed us out of camp to a starting point in Emeryville to begin our walk through Berkeley.  The morning had us walking through many different neighborhoods and most of it was up hill.  The homes were pretty different and many were built into the hills.  One of the highlights of the morning was getting to Indian Rock Park.  There was a huge rock formation in the park that once you climbed up it you had an awesome view of the surrounding area.  This picture is of me standing on top of that rock formation.  The picture really does not do the view justice.  As we moved on from here we walked up to the UC Berkeley Campus.  I am not sure that having us all walk on the Campus the morning of a Football game was a great idea.  There were some pretty big crowds of people making their way to the stadium that morning.  Berkeley was an interesting walk.  We saw an anti-war protest while we were on campus.  I guess it wouldn't be Berkeley if they weren't protesting something though.  We completed our tour through Berkely and made it back down to the place that we had been dropped off that morning to get on a bus and head back to camp.  We got back to camp early enough that the lines for the showers were not too long.  One of the traditions of the 3-Day is the Saturday Night Dance Party.  After other speakers and activities are complete they turn on the dance music and spend an hour before lights out dancing.  I was just going to go to bed early but it was kind of difficult because I could hear the bass from the speakers everywhere in camp.  I went to watch for a while and it was quite entertaining.  You never would have thought that the people dancing had walked 40 miles in two days.  They had a lot of energy.  One of the highlights of the night was a friendly impromptu competition between a young girl from the Youth Corps and an older Survivor who I estimate was at least 60.  Both of them were very good and in the end I think it ended up a draw.

Day 3 usually comes very early.  The reason for this is that we are leaving camp and we have to pack up all our gear and take down our tents before we begin walking for the day.  Our team was up about 4:30 and we were all done with breakfast and packing by the time they let us walk to the Ferry at 6:30.  The Ferry took us back to Fisherman's Wharf to start the day.  We ended up walking back towards the Golden Gate Bridge to get on some of the trails there.  We ended up walking through El Camindo Del Mar before we got to the Lands End Trail along the coast.  This was one of the more challenging and beautiful parts of the walk.  It was mostly dirt trails and up hill but the scenery was worth it.  The picture at left is just a small glimpse of what the trail was like.  We took that trail for some time and then ended up on the road just north of the Sutro baths.  We ended up having lunch in Golden Gate Park in the Shadow of one of the two restore windmills there.  We then walked through Golden Gate Park and got to see some of the local recreation on the weekends.  There were quite a few groups having parties in the park.  There was a pond with a number of people racing small remote controlled boats.  There was even a group giving free Swing Dance lessons.  One of the more interesting things about the park is they actually put up barricades on the weekends to keep motorized traffic out of the Park on Sunday to make it more accessible to pedestrians and bicylists.  The weather was awesome and the park was pretty packed.  Once we left the park we had a couple more miles to go before we made it to holding.  We walked up Oak St on our way to the Closing Ceremonies.  I snapped a picture at one intersection as there was a sign that pointed up the Stree to Haight and Ashbury.  That neighborhood was a little different.  We got to closing a little early so we decided to get our gear and take it to the Hotel to get cleaned up before closing ceremonies to save time later.  Half the team was flying out that night so we didn't have lots of extra time.  So we had our big gear bags on wheel that we lugged for a little over a mile to get to the Hotel.  Market St between about 7th and 5th Streets was not a really comfortable place to be walking.  It was a little scary.  We did make  it to our Hotel without incident and got cleaned up and went back to closing using a cab instead of walking this time.  Closing was pretty much like other closing ceremonies that we had attended.  We then had a chance to have a quick dinner before some of us had to head to the airport.  Next time I don't think I want to take the red eye back home.  It's hard to sit on the place when you really want to be streteched out and relaxing.

All in all the Bay Area 3-Day was another good 3-Day Experience.
We might not have been thrilled with the choice of camping locations and they really could have used more showers, but the route was excellent and the reason that we were all there for was clear.  We were there to continue to raise money to fight a killer and to raise awareness about the disease.  There may have been fewer walkers this year but those that did show up and walked had another experience that they will never forget.  I would like to thank everyone who has supported my efforts to continue walking these six years.  Each one has different things that I remember about it and I have met so many people over these years.  I would also like to thank my teammates for being part of these weekends.  Kathy, Kristin, Lisa, Stephanie, and Dale, you are all great and I look forward to walking again with you next year.  Some day we may not have to walk to find a Cure and that would be great.  For now we will continue to walk because we can.  Thanks again and God Bless.

The 2011 Twin Cities 3-Day

 

This past weekend I travelled to the Twin Cities for the 3-Day. This was my fifth year walking. This year we had a team of 10 signed up but three of our teammates had some things come up and were not able to join us this weekend. We missed them but we still had an amazing weekend. Getting to this 3-Day was a little different than years past too. When I have walked in Chicago it was an easy hour drive and I was at pre walk hotel. When I walked San Diego, I flew and that was pretty much a solo travel day. This year I had a six hour drive to get to the pre walk hotel and I was picking up four teammates along the way. It was a fun ride. We stopped for Lunch and spent quite a bit talking about previous walks. One of the teammates that was with us was a first time walker so we had plenty of tips and advice for her. Once we got to our Hotel we had time to relax and wait for the other two members of our team to arrive since they were flying in from Southern Illinois. Once we were all together we had a great dinner and then headed off to bed since 4:30 AM comes way too fast.

The team headed down to the bus to opening at 5:30. It was still dark when the bus picked us up and would be for a little while longer. Once we dropped our gear off it was time to take a couple pictures and wait for Opening Ceremonies so we could get out and get walking,

We had our team picture taken at Opening so everyone can see what we look like before we spend the weekend sleeping in tents and walking all day.

The morning of Day 1 is usually the hardest day to get going just because you have so many people heading out of Opening at once.

We had something like 2100 walkers starting out. Add to that we were in a somewhat urban area and we had to wait for traffic in some places and that makes for a slow start to the day. Once you get past the first pit stop then it tends to spread out a little bit. By Lunch on Day 1 we had set a pretty comfortable pace. I was really impressed by the number of people that turned out to support the walkers on Day 1. Usually Friday is a little quieter since a lot of people still have to work. Walking along the chain of lakes was cool. The longest stretch we had on Day 1 was 3.7 miles. It seemed a lot longer. You would be amazed at how much you look forward to getting to the pit stops when you have been drinking lots of water and gatroaide all day. The scenery on Day 1 was awesome. Loved walking across the Mississippi river. Once we got back to camp we got a chance to sit down and relax for a little. As many cities had done in the past, we had a local High School groups that had volunteered to haul baggage and setup tents for the walkers when they arrive at camp. We really appreciate that. After a shower and some dinner it was time to hit the hay. Lights out in camp is 9:00 and pretty much everyone goes right to sleep as many of us like to hit the route when it opens at 6:30 so that means being up by 5:30 to have breakfast and get ready to go.

Day 2 had us headed out of camp on some local walking/biking trails. It was a nice change to the urban scenery of the day before. The route was much less crowded as some people start a litle later. Everyone has to be out of camp before 8 but not everyone leaves as early as we do. As usually happens with groups of more than a couple people, our team split up for most of Day 2. People walk at different rates so you usually end up walking with someone at about your pace. We usually meet up to see how everyone is doing at the pit stops or at lunch. I felt bad for our new walker. She had some really bad foot pains Saturday morning and ended up having to take the bus to camp from Lunch so that she could try to recover for Day 3. She was really disappointed about it but we told her not to be. Many of us had been there ourselves including me. I did not complete the walk my first year as I had bad leg pains on Day 2. It does not make it any easier on you when you are there though. It's really disappointing to fund raise and train and not be able to complete everything that you set out to. Day 2 was the longest of the three days. We walked 22.6 miles. That's a pretty good deal of walking. We set out about 6:30 in the morning and got back into camp just before 4:00 in the afternoon. The weather was beautiful again on Day 2 and the community support was outstanding.

Day 3 started just as early as the rest even though the route did not open until 7:00. That's because on Day 3 you have to pack up your gear and take down your tent before you start out on the route. Getting all that stuff back into your luggage is not always as easy as you would think. Often our pace is a little slower on Day 3 as well. The weather was a non-factor all weekend as it was awesome again on Sunday. We started out walking together again but ended up in three differnt groups today. We had fast, medium, and slow walkers. None of that matters as long as you are walking. Our new walker was able to make it through Day 3 at a reduced pace but she can say she finished. We always tell walkers that if you have to miss part of the walk, the most important thing is to be able to cross the finish line and walk into Closing. I am glad that as a team we were able to walk most of the way with other members of the team that had a similar pace. I sometimes feel bad for other walkers that are not part of a team and are walking by themselves. You are never really walking by yourself during the 3-Day as it is an outstanding community that supports each other well. Solo walkers are often asked how they are doing by others and more than once this weekend I walked by myself for a time and had some really good conversations with others doing the same. By the time we got to lunch on Day 3 I was slowing down myself a bit. I had blisters developing under both big toes and pain in the my left shin. We didn't spend much time at lunch as we really wanted to get going. The walk from lunch into the city was really nice. The trails that they had us on were very scenic. There was some grumbling as much of the afternoon was uphill and that is a little more of an effort at this point. I was pretty happy with myself at this point though. After walking the last two years in San Diego, I really didn't have any problems with any of the hills in the Twin Cities. At least my body is used to those now. It was a relief to finally get to the Capital and get into closing. There are times during each weekend that you may be hurting and don't feel like walking but once you make it past lunch on Day 3 and especially after you leave the last pit stop before holding, you just can't stop. It's amazing to arrive and have all these people waiting there you welcome you. The reality that you are really finished hits you when they scan your credential for the last time and you are off the route. Closing is just a formality. I didn't have as much time to wait this year as once I got to holding, I had to get back to our pre-walk hotel to get my car so that we could head home right after closing. This actually worked out pretty good and I have to say a BIG Thank You to my cousin Mark who lives in the Twin Cities. He picked me up at holding and took me back to get my car. This saved my team about an hour in travel time and allowed us to get back home at a fairly reasonable hour. Thanks again Mark.

Once I had my car I went back to join the rest of the team for closing. They did things a little differently in each City and I was curious how the Twin Cities would handle it. We had an awesome backdrop of the State Capital for Closing. It takes a little time to assemble for closing. First we have to get all of the familes and friends out of holding and over to closing. Then they line us up to process into closing together. It's kind of ordered Chaos. The walkers are the first ones into closing and are the largest group. I think I mentioned it earlier but we had about 2100 walkers in the Twin Cities this weekend. That's a pretty good group. Once the walkers have mad it into Closing then comes the Crew. It's fitting that the walkers are there to help greet the Crew as they are outstanding. The members of the crew doing everything to support the walkers and they are all volunteers. They are up before the walkers and are in bed after the walkers. The crew really makes the event and I can't stress enough how much we appreciate them. Finally the last group that comes into Closing is the Survivors. It is traditiional for the walkers to hold one of their walking shoes up in tribute to the Survivors as they comes into Closing. Closing is just a way to cap off the weekend. A reminder of why we were there and what the community has accomplished. With the support of all of our sponsors, the Twin Cities raised $5.3 Million this weekend. That money will help to continue the figth against Breast Cancer. It will be used to fund research, to aid in education and prevention. Closing is also kind of a sad time since the weekend is over. The 3-Day is such a positive weekend that you don't want it to be over. It would be great if people could be that positive and caring for others all the time. All we can do is try to bring a little of that spirit into our day to day lives.

After closing it was time to get our gear and head home. We were all tired and sore and sitting and were not looking forward to that 5 hour drive back to our homes. It actually went by faster than I expected. It was quiet at times but funny at others. Our team had a great weekend. Now I am on to making plans for next year. I hope to be able to see some members of my team wherever we decide to walk. So far it is looking like it wil be San Francisco. It's always fun to see a new city in a different way. Thanks again to everyone that supported me in getting to this weekend. God Bless.

The San Diego 3-Day 2010 Edition

This past weekend I travelled to San Diego to walk in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure. This was my fourth walk and my second time in San Diego. This was a very challenging walk and I think that it may have been the most challenging of the 4 because of the extreme weather.

I arrived in San Diego Thursday afternoon and travelled to my Hotel in Del Mar. As I was resting in my room before dinner I felt it shake a bit. I checked the USGS website and it confirmed that there had been a small quake in the area. That was a new experience for me.

Friday morning the team headed over to Opening Ceremonies and it was kind of a gray day. Last year it was sunny but cooler. One of the things our team had decided was that we had to get in better position to get out on the route faster this year. We were buried in the crowd last year and the first day was often a painful shuffle in crowds which resulted in us getting into camp at about 5:00 p.m. This year we got out front and it made a huge difference. We were able to walk at a good pace for the day and ended up in camp by 3:00 p.m. The hill into Torey Pines was a little easier this year as I had done some hill training but it still required me to slow down for a little bit. Most of the route was the same as last year but it was still a fun walk. It was nice to get into camp while it was still light out. There were some local Brownie and Girl Scout Troops that were working as Tent Angels that got our gear and setup our tents for us. That was much appreciated after the 20.5 miles of Day 1. We had to get everything under cover as there was a chance of rain overnight.

Saturday morning was cool but dry when we got up. That didn't last for long. The showers started as we headed out of Breakfast and got heavier all morning. As we were crossing streets it often felt like we were fording small streams. Water was everywhere. It was nearly impossible to keep dry. When we finally got to lunch, they had brought in busses for us to sit on and eat our lunches so we could dry out for a short time. It felt great. There were however lots of people that had enough of the morning and wanted to head back to camp. As we were finishing up our lunch, a bus captain got on our bus and asked how many people were going to camp versus just having lunch. Our team was the only group on that bus that was heading back out for the afternoon. The afternoon was more frustrating than the morning. As we headed out of lunch if felt like we were walking straight into the wind and driving rain. The afternoon was one of my favorites parts last year as we walked right along the Ocean but the weather made it more of a test of survival rather than an enjoyable walk. The funny part was that the rain stopped and the sun came out about half of a mile out of camp. We walked into camp and I was amazed to find that my tent was actually dry. After dinner and a hot shower I crawled into my sleeping bag to get some rest before day 3.

Sunday morning looked like it was going to be a good walking day. It was sunny and clear as we set out. This was very welcome after the overnight cold and showers. They changed the route a little this year so we got a little different view to start out. The sun went away too soon and it was raining by the time we left the first pit stop. The most challenging part of the day was walking the hill in Old Town in the rain. Water was coming down the hill like a waterfall and was cascading over the sidewalk in many places. The hill is not really long but it is steep and gives you a good workout. Once you get to the top of that stretch it's pretty much down hill for the rest of the day. They opened up part of a High School for us to be able to eat our lunch and dry out. It was a short 2.7 miles to holding after lunch. We got there nice and early and decided to grab our gear and head for the Hotel to dry out right away. A couple members of the team went back for closing but I chose to rest my sore wet feet before dinner. The weather actually cleared and it was beautiful for closing.

The weather made the weekend challenging but I still had a great time. We had 3800 walkers and raised $10.6 Million Dollars this weekend. Thank you to all that donated to help us reach this amount. I am already registered for the Twin Cities for 2011 and I can't wait. Thanks again to my team who I really enjoy walking with. See you next year.

My San Diego 3 Day Recap

This past weekend I travelled to San Diego to participate in my third Breast Cancer 3 Day. I was really looking forward to walking with my team again. From our team in Chicago we had 8 people travel to San Diego. We had 3 on crew and 5 walkers. And even though we were in a different City, our teammate Jacky still took care of us and made us name tags like she does for Chicago. She does a great job and we always get compliments on them on the route.

Thursday night we had our traditional team dinner to get ready for the weekend. Our special guest for Dinner was our teammate Stacie's sister. Sheila was celebrating 5 years of being Cancer free and this trip was a special celebration for her and her sister. It's always an honor to have Survivors on the team and joining us.

Opening Ceremonies on Friday were very similar to what we are used to in Chicago just with a bigger crowd. It did take a little longer to get going because of the large group. It was not long into the day before we were greated with the sites of the Ocean. Walking along the coast just never got old. The biggest challenge on Day 1 was the hilll going into Torey Pines State Park. That hill just seemed to go on forever. We did finally make it to the top and I was very glad that was early in the day. We had nice lunch down on the beach and then a long walk into camp in the afternoon. Day 1 seemed to end differently than we are used to because of the early sunset and the late getting back to camp. Thanks to the young ladies who were helping setup tents at camp. It was great to be able to rest a couple minutes before having to unpack.

Day 2 was a little bit of a blur for me since I was really not feeling good. I was really nauseous all night and got very little sleep. We still had nice weather for walking most of the day and we were really glad that we did not get the drizzle that was forecast for that morning. The walk along the Ocean on Tuesday afternoon was awesome. There were some beautiful homes and awesome beach to be seen. We actually got back into camp before dark this time so we had a better sense of where we were this time. It was a pretty nice area.

Day 3 always starts early because you have to repack everything and take down your tent. I also had to head over to Medical after Breakfast to have the wonderful volunteers there bandage up my blisters before heading out. I had quite a few this weekend but thankfully they were mostly small and not serious as many others that I saw in Medical. A couple hours into Day 3 we came to the Hill for the Day. The San Diego 3 Day has at least one good challenging hill each Day. This was one of those hills that could have used stairs. It was not as long as Torey Pines but it was steeper. It was a relief to reach the top of that one. From there out it was a pretty smooth walk into holding.

Holding is the area at the end of the 3 Day were the walkers rest and gather before we all go to Closing Ceremonies together. Holding in Chicago and San Diego are like night and day. In San Diego they actually do mean that holding is for Walkers only and they don't let in Friends and Family. They also have a DJ and Volunteers who keep up the enthusiasm of the walkers until all of us are in and we are ready for Closing. The support for walkers coming into closing and cross the finish in San Diego was simply awesome.
Closing in San Diego was also much different since it was being held downtown and they actually closed off streets for this near Petco Park. I don't see that happening in Chicago.

There were a number of other differences between the two cities also. I have never had anyone offer me a Beer or shot of tequilla in Chicago while walking but got several offers in San Diego. I can't drink like that while walking but I think that is all part of the more festive athmosphere in San Diego. Chicago has larger cheering stations but San Diego has more people everywhere on the walk. Community support for the walk is top notch.

I have enjoyed walking in both cities and will again in the future. I can't wait to get back to San Diego again. It was an awesome experience and I am sure that this does not do the experience justice.

I owe many thanks to people that have helped me with this walk. I want to thank my teammates who were there to share the experience. Thanks also to my co-worker Jeff who picked me up at the Airport and helped get the weekend off right. Thanks to the people of San Diego for being supportive of this walk. The final thanks goes to all of the people who donated to this walk. With your help we raised over $9.5 Million to help prevent and fight Breast Cancer. Thanks again and God Bless each of you.

Chicago 2008 Recap

This was the second year that I have walked the Komen 3-Day and did learn some things from my first year that made this an even better experience.  The first thing that made this better this year was the weather.  Last year was very challenging since it was over 95 every day and I was struggling to just keep walking.  The weather this year was perfect.

Last year I spent much of my time walking by myself and while I did meet a lot of people, I did enjoy walking with teammates this year.  I also trained more for this year and did not injure myself and finished the entire weekend.

I can't wait to walk again next year when I am going to walk in San Diego.  This continues to be a great experience that I would like to continue.