Breast Cancer 3-Day Sept. 7-9, 2007

After 6 months of training, Lindsey, Shannon, Rachel and I headed to Seattle to participate in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day. We walked 60 miles over the course of 3 days. It was intense! We were so focused on training for the distance we neglected to train for the the hills! Seattle is full of hills.
Day 1: 23.5 Miles- We walked from Bellevue across Mercer Island and the I-90 Bridge over Lake Washington to Seattle. We had lunch on the shore of Lake Washington. It was a beautiful day, about 70 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. After lunch we continued along Lake Washington over to Renton, Tukwila (Amanda & Jeremy made it to cheer us on there) and SeaTac. We finally ended in Burien at our campsite. We came in at 200 that day. There were approximately 2,300 walkers. Needles to say we had no lines for showers! Rachel was my tent-mate and we slept in these pink tents on the high school baseball field.
Day 2: 20 Miles- We woke up late on Day 2. We left camp about 7:30 a.m.. We were sore and tired and the temperature had dropped to the 40's overnight. Once we got to our first pit stop we were counted at 1600(that means there were approximately 1600 walkers in front of us). By the end of the day we came in at 270! All the training paid off! However, I was physically wrecked after this day. The hills were hard and there were a lot of them. I wasn't sure how I was going to walk the next day since I developed terrible blisters on my feet! I won't describe them because you won't believe me.
Day 3: Over 15 miles left! Day three was most definitely the hardest day for me- I think for us all. It was beautiful though. We started in Lincoln Park and walked along Alki Beach around Puget Sound all the way into Seattle. Once we got into downtown Seattle we were cheered on by drunken football fans awaiting the Seahawk's season opener. They had no reservations about telling us how much they loved boobs. It was great. Once we got to Pioneer Square we knew we were close. Only a few more miles to go. Then we hit Pikes Market. About a mile further was the Space Needle- our final destination. I almost cried the last mile- because of agonizing pain and the sheer joy of completing 60 miles. It was quite the journey. A very worthwhile and heartfelt journey.Closing Ceremonies: I don't have anyone in my family who has been stricken with breast cancer but I decided to participate in this walk with my friends. It seemed like a good cause. After walking for three days along side survivors, widows, and friends and family of those have fought breast cancer I have a new perspective on the disease. It doesn't discriminate. There were survivors of all ages and 1 out of 8 women will fight breast cancer. It was a very eye opening experience for me. The 3-Day Seattle raised over 6.4 million dollars! Most of that money will go to breast cancer programs in the Puget Sound area. The rest will go to Susan G. Komen for the Cure to help research. Overall, it was an amazing experience. I can't wait for next year. We are going to San Francisco!

Walking with you girls really got me through. There is no way I could have made it without you! Linds, thanks for offering to carry me that last mile! I was so happy that Amanda was able to come cheer us on and Rachel was able to walk with us at the last minute.