A recap from a first timer.
October 2-4, 2015
Philadelphia, PA
60 miles. 3 days.
#PHL3Day #The3Day
By March of 2015, I had my fundraising plan of attack and was determined to raise at least the minimum of $2300.00 each for both myself and Lucia. My battle buddy hasn’t missed a single cancer event since this journey started for us in October 2013 when I was diagnosed so there’s no way I would consider walking without her!
Fundraising proved to be a difficult task but so many kind people gave their dollars generously and just 1 week before the deadline, we reached the goal.
Raise funds for Komen (minimum) = $4600.00
Hotel Thursday and Sunday night = $440.00
Gas to drive to Philly and back = $100
Fleet feet sneakers and socks = $305.00
Pink attire = $140.00
Misc items (duct tape/hand warmers/blister meds/etc) = $50.00
TOTAL for 2 people: $5,635.00
We raised the money, purchased the necessary items, borrowed what we didn’t have, packed everything tightly inside individual ziplock bags to keep safe from rain, and headed to Philly.
A friend named Cheryl, one of the only people I knew who had done this 3day walk, told me a couple things. One, she said that I shouldn’t worry about food because this walk is basically a 60 mile buffet line. And two, she said I would cry… a lot. Well, the crying commenced at the opening ceremony. They sure did a fantastic job of inspiring the crowd with the purpose behind each footstep we would take over the next 3 days – the promise of a world without breast cancer.
High 51 degrees, light wind
No rain was the best news ever! Thankfully the trick of crumpled up newspaper inside your sneakers worked and they were dry by the morning of day 2.
We quickly changed our clothes inside the tiny pink tent, made a short video for Aunt Wendy, grabbed breakfast and toted our sore legs and aching feet out the door for the next 20 mile mission.
I explained to Lucia that I would not be crying the last 5 miles back to camp and if the pain was that bad, I would not hesitate to call the sweep van for a ride. Thankfully, I made it through today’s 23.65 mile adventure with no crying and no ride. #40milesdown
After a second night of trying to sleep on a carpet pad laid out on top of a concrete convention center floor, I was pretty thankful that after today I had a comfy Hampton Inn bed to look forward too. When I sleep at home, I wrap myself in at least 3 oversized pillows. On this trip, I had to bunch up my sweatshirt to convert it into just one pillow for my head. Unless you’ve got gummy bear implants yourself, I am not sure you could possibly understand how uncomfortable these sleeping arrangements were. We packed very light so that we didn’t go over the 35lb weight limit and so we didn’t have too much to carry, knowing we would be in rough shape after the journey, but I do wish we would have packed pillows.
Still only about 52 degrees when we headed out the door but again, it was a rain free day and that in itself was a blessing.
Posted by A Tale of 2 Boobies on Sunday, October 4, 2015 |