3 days. 60 miles.

One of the things I have noticed about myself. I have grand plans that never quite come to fruition. I have "planned" for quite sometime to write a great story chronicling a recent endeavor I entered into in October. Well, that's not exactly right. I BEGAN the endeavor with a decision in March of '06 after being cleared by my doctor, started "walking" toward the goal in May and "finished the race" with my dear friend Jennifer October 27th - 29th. In fact, this whole thing is Jennifer's doing. . .she's the one who asked me to join in the fight.

The fight? Yes, the fight against breast cancer. The race to find a cure and give back to the community by raising funds for breast cancer awareness, education, research, and even funds to help with screening for those who can not afford it. Jennifer and I participated in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day in Dallas-Fort Worth. We walked with 2700 others 60 miles over the course of 3 days. And boy, was it a trip! :-)
We enjoyed our fifteen minutes of fame when the picture to the right - taken by a 3-Day photographer- ended up on their website slide show. This is our "before" picture.



Many friends and family donated to the cause or helped support us by participating in our very own fundraiser (purchasing pink roses and flower arrangements that we had designed.) It was all quite a journey that I had hoped to spell out in great detail, but time keeps slipping away and it will be October of 2007 before I could get it all written down. So this little summary will have to suffice.

Walking 60 miles takes training. And even after training walks starting at 2 miles and working all the way up to 15 miles (in the 104 degree heat of Texas summers!), the walk was still a challenge. The greatest challenge was the chilling wind that hit us on our first day out. I developed "plantar fascitis" -- something I never had before. One of the athletic trainers taped me up on our lunch break and got me back to the walk. I was taped up again and again during the course of the 3 days. (Note the pic that Jennifer took saying we had to have proof of me standing in my favorite line. ha ha. very funny. Taping was my favorite past time. Slathering on the free goop for sore muscles was Jennifer's vice for the weekend.) Sports med people, doctors & chiropractors volunteered hours of time to keep our bodies going. Harley riders from every walk of life became our crossing guards and safety personnel. Bicyclists biked back and forth checking on the health of the participants. "Sweep" vans drove by honking all the way. Volunteers checked us in, served us supper, made us laugh or patted us on the back. And people cheered us on. When it felt like you couldn't take another step someone was there. Maybe a big group at a cheer station with banners and noisemakers and the whole nine yards. Or Jennifer's husband, Lance, who delivered hot lattes to us on Day 2 when we needed a caffeine rush to keep us going. Or maybe the single woman on Day 3 standing alone by her car, clapping and saying over and over again to the walkers as they passed, "Thank you for walking! Thank you for walking!" with her bald head being shaded by a hat and her t-shirt proclaiming, "CANCER SUCKS".

Here was one of our favorite volunteers, greeting us after Day 2, 40 miles:

Jennifer and I laughed and cried, got "stove up" (a phrase my sweet East-Texas farm friend taught me), had great conversation and stretches of quiet, waited in long lines for a hot shower and had late night talks in our tent that can NEVER be repeated.

One last note: if you ever want to go on a walk, I could be your walking buddy!

And here are two "after" shots: notice the puffy, tear stained faces as we walked the last half mile or so entering into the Fort Worth Stockyards amidst the cheers of hundreds and hundreds of people. Seeing husbands and children, people from the community and cancer survivors, (all complete strangers to me) coming out to show their support. Time and time again, I was reminded of the "great cloud of witnesses" who are watching us run this race of life and I was changed forever in a moment. The spiritual impact of such a physical event is hard to explain in words.
Here we are having walked through closing ceremonies. The journey was HARD, physically taxing our bodies and challenging us emotionally as well. But the pay off was sweet. In one weekend, we joined forces with men and women in our area to raise $6.1 million to help in the fight against breast cancer. The sore muscles and blisters are just a memory now. And Jennifer and I are contemplating doing it all again. ?!

So my not-so-grand entry is now complete. I'll check it off my list and move on to some other "grand" plan. (And try to share it with you in a more timely fashion next time!)