Day 2 - Sunny - 21.7 miles. Check.

Started walking at 6:40 a.m.   It felt cool this morning with a much welcomed lower humidity.  The walkers were going and going.  Some with red calves,  others limping with blisters.  I was happy to not have either.  Crossing my fingers for today.  I'm glad to be getting in some miles before the day heats up with the sun.  Walked past Crocker Park very early - before any shop were even thinking of being open.   At some point,  I really wasn't sure where we were, as I just kept watching the arrows and walking. 

Shirt back of a guy walking in front of me with his wife ! 

The neighborhood people were soooo  gracious to have treats and water and stuff for us !

Some of the crazy energy that we met at the Pit Stops.  The Crew was FANTASTIC!!    

Some of the small stands had really funny signs too  ! ! They made us laugh!

These precious kids were passing out popsicles.  The cherry one hit the spot - Thanks kids !

Jerry was the most inspirational guy that would appear everywhere!   All the 3-day walkers appreciate Jerry's motivational support.  He always knew just what to say to keep us going !

Save the Tata's Tavern

I had to pass on the beer, but did stop to take a photo ! :)

At the 11 mile mark, just before lunch.  Daniel,  Hannah,  Rebecca and Dennis were at the cheering station.  I was soooo excited to see them.   Rebecca was at camp all week,  so I was thrilled that she came right after being picked up from camp. (thanks hunny).   It energized me to go the next pit stop (which was lunch and a much needed foot break).

Thanks to my family for coming to cheer me on !  It really  helped ! !

Lunch time entertainment !

Just after lunch,  my dad joined me for a 2 mile walk.    It was great to visit with him.   (Sorry dad I forgot to get a picture of us !)   Maybe at Closing ceremonies tomorrow.

Final pit stop # 5 for day 2 !    2.4 miles to go from here.  I can do this !

Outside Westlake Park recreation center

This is VERY True !   When it seemed it was too hot, the feet were sore, or I was tired,  someone would be there on the side of the road, and energy came to keep going!!

I made it through day 2 ! ! ! ! !

WOW, What an amazing first day ! ! ! 22 miles ! Check !

The day started out very warm, muggy ,and rainy.      I arrived at Cleveland's Port Authority at 6:15 a.m..   The opening ceremony started at 6:30.  It was a very emotional and energizing 30 minutes.   There were many tears in the crowd as they spoke about breast cancer, survivors, those working through it and those who had passed.  The walk started at exactly 7:00 a.m.



6:20 a.m. Cleveland Port Authority

                                          


The crowd began and the walking was good.   Going past the rocking roll hall of fame

 and I swear, before I knew it we were walking through downtown and Edgewater.  (It was pouring, but thankfully, my poncho kept me somewhat dry).  I was hoping for no blisters, and walking walking...  felt good,  no blisters so far. (The Burt's bee coconut foot cream was keeping a nice barrier  yippiee).    

There were a total of 5 Pit Stops...  the card they gave us, listed all of them so we knew how many miles in between.   There were SOOOO many people cheering us on.   Complete strangers,  Saying Thank you for walking.   The signs thanking us for walking and raising the money for a cure.   The Crew,  Safety staff,  Jerry.  (Oh my gosh,  Jerry - THANK You for your encouragement... especially after getting up Rocky River Reservation's massive hill.   Your encouragement to say Hey, not everyone can do that, and you did,  Keep it up.  You're doing great.  Aren't you glad you trained?  - YES I am.)    Jerry was around it seemed every corner,  cheering us on.  

I was grateful that my brother came to visit.  He was at the 12-14 mile area.  He walked some with me, and that was awesome.   He's such a great brother.  Love you John!

Camp arrival around 4:30...    wow.  22 miles,  I did it! !   right to the foot massager I went.  That was soooo  great. ! ! !

Dennis came to pick me up at 5'ish,      home and showered by 7.    It's about 8,  and I'm beat.  I'm going to upload some pictures I took today.  They truly don't do justice to the awesomeness of the day ! ! !

Day 2 - Sunny and humidity expected to be lower.   Yippie. :)

more tomorrow / Sunday.

Cheers and good night.



Boob Mobile

One of our supporters in Lakewood who decorated their front yard

Another support who had treats on her front yard !



Picture outside Pit Stop 4 - this was at 15.2 miles



Rose and Elvis Breastly ! :)

Day 1  - DONE ! !  

Tentland  (I however, opted to have a good night sleep at home. )

Found this at about 17 miles.    Thought it was too funny and had to take a picture, hope it wasn't a walker that left it...

Newsnet5 on Friday. I made the news. Weeeeee

Let the walk begin ! !

It is the morning of the walk.  I have finished packing my bags and watching the weather forecast.  It is already 79 degrees and muggy.  Glad that I did all those hot / muggy days since Alaska. hahaha.    There is a threat of thunderstorms,  but, I've walked in gusty windy days with storms over the lake too.  Check.

So, I'm off.  I appreciate everyone's well wishes.  The e-cards, e-mails, text messages, calls and prayers.    Look for me in the sea  of pink out there.   

I'll try to post each evening to give people who told me they've been reading this an update.

Oh, and the other main reason for this walk other than an amazing goal was to raise money for the Susan G. Komen cancer research.  To do the walk,  it was needed to raise $2300.00   Thank you to soooo many, I've raised $3000.00   THANK YOU,  THANK YOU  !  !

Cheers for now ! :)

The last week+

July 18-29th !   The Final Count Down !

I continued on the 24-week training program.   The final weekend was a much welcomed relief of walking Sat/Sunday 10 and 8 miles.   These were done in hot and muggy days but much easier than the previous few weeks.    I walked Thursday and Friday July 21, 22 and then the 23 and 24th.   On Monday, July 25th,  I felt really good.   Tuesday, July 26th was the last walk before the weekend.

Total training miles to date: 725 ! ! !

When I started they said the average 3-day walker does 585 by the event.  I thought wow.. that will be alot...   but,  in reflection,  725.. You can really do whatever you set your mind to. (THANKS MOM!)

I've mentally prepared myself to deal with the heat, humidity, thunderstorms.    I'm personally proud of sticking to this and whatever the upcoming weekend will bring, I know that I've done everything I can to be ready.   

Cheers for now !

July 6th - July 17th
The trip home from an awesome vacation always seems sooo long.     We departed Vancouver Airport, at 7:00 p.m.   after being in the airport most of the day.  

The good and the bad of a long day in the airport.   
Bad:  Vancouver does not allow you to go through security/check in for flights more than 3 hours prior to your scheduled departure.     This means,  that you can sit in the waiting area outside of the airline ticket counters.   They had ample seating area and there was an attached hotel that you could have lunch at along with other food court type areas.  There was also a train (thank you olympics) that would have taken us back to town for a few hours,  but, we didn't want to check our luggage some place for that time.
Good: Having nearly 7  hours to hang out at the airport, gave alot of opportunity to walk.   I did some miles outside the airport in the fresh air along their service road.  It had a sidewalk that went along side the airport fence.   I did this one stretch until where the side walk ended multiple times and the steps added up to over 5 miles.  Yippie,  mileage while waiting. Bonus ! ! :)  (Oh, I must thank my husband for being so kind as to watch our bags while I walked.  Rebecca was busy socializing with kids from the trip who were also waiting, Daniel was playing something on his iTouch near an outlet).   We were all sort of bummed that our vacation was ending.  The good news is,  we're already discussing our next trip...  Disney World for Thanksgiving or Spring Break?  :)    

The flight home was uneventful.  Red-eye flights are not my favorite, but the price was right for a family of four.

By Friday - July 8th, I got back into the recommended 3-day training program.    My first weekend back,  I took advantage of the extra vacation days between returning from the trip and returning to work.   I picked up the steps and mileage to return to a multiple walk combination.   The next week,  I got back into the religious 5 miles on Monday, 5 miles on Tuesday, 5 miles on Thursday,  4 miles on Friday, 17 miles on Saturday,  7 miles on Sunday.   (YES, I did say 17 miles on Saturday... In 90's and humidity).   It was a very long day,  but, I paced myself and was very proud that I didn't collapse! :)    I began thinking, OK,  I can do this.  I WILL do this.   

On Saturday,  July 16th,  when I did the 17 miles,  Rebecca did 3.5 with me.   We kept joking about how great it was when we'd have those 20 steps under a tree and how 'cool' it felt.   Having the sun beat down and no breeze on pavement.... no fun,  but,  we kept walking.   Upon her finishing the 3.5 miles,  we had lunch and drank alot of water.    Instead of gatorade or a sports drink for replenishing electrolytes,  I've been using a product my brother gave me.  It's been awesome.  It's called Rehydrate.  It is an electrolyte replacement powder that you mix with water.   It tastes good, and I can definitely feel it working.    If you're interested in this product,  you can order it here: https://www.advocare.com/02112467/


Mileage total as of  July 17th = 679 !  !

July 4th in Alaska ! No Fireworks, but spectacular sights ! !

June 28th - July 5th.  Alaska ! !
We went on a week long Disney Alaska Cruise after our days in Vancouver.  We departed from Vancouver on June 28th.   I didn't get much walking in that day, so I was determined to walk on the cruise.  Deck 4.   One lap = 1/3 of a mile.   Wednesday - June 29th.   Walking in the open ocean.   I did 18 laps.  6 miles.   it was cool, breezy and I was on the 'deck' longer than anyone else that came and went.   There was something very peaceful about walking those laps alone.   I would pass the occassional person, and the runners and some faster walkers would pass me.   I was happy that I was able to walk on the ship.   I tried to mentally capture the coolness of the walk, as I anticipated that the end of July in Cleveland will likely be hot and muggy.   I hope the mental captures will resurface when I need a mental cool down.

Since I didn't have internet access on the ship,  this is a summary after the fact.    In the three ports of call,  I did alot of walking also.

In total for the 7 day cruise,  I only gained 4 pounds. (of which 2 weeks after the cruise, I lost),  I walked a total of  68826 steps or 31.3 miles.   Not bad for vacation.   I was happy that there was plenty of opportunities to keep the walking going.       Here are some photos of amazing Alaska,  If you ever get a chance to go there, I highly recommend it.   

Average temperatures,  were 55 degrees.  It was comfortable and absolutely awesome beautiful.

-Cheers.



Rose and Goofy staying warm on one of the cooler afternoons



Calm seas. :)

View from Disney Wonder's Bow

Inside Passage

Beautiful waterfalls

Would be a nice place to live if you had a small plane and a big yacht ! :)

Vancouver is a great place to walk and bike ride ! ! !

Spending the weekend in Vancouver was a great way to get some miles in ! !  Not only did we walk everywhere (not having a rental car is good thing :) ) we also spent a day and biked around Vancouver and Stanley Park.  

If you've never been to Vancouver, BC,  I highly recommend you visit.   The city is absolutely beautiful.   The people are very friendly and there are soooo many cultures represented here.  

Monday - June 27 2011.
After breakfast,  I gave in to Rebecca's request to go Ziplining at Grouse Mountain.  Anyone who knows me well,  knows that I'm not a fan of heights or bridges.  In order to get to Grouse  Mountain,  we crossed over a tall bridge and had to take a gondola ride up the mountain.   

Gondola up Grouse Mountain - Vancouver, BC

Rebecca did great on the zipline.    She said she had a blast too!    It was a great mother/daughter day, and I did not pass out or hyperventilate at all on the ride up or down the mountain.    It was a very cool experience and to have a snowball fight with her at the top of the mountain was fun too!   (Yes, there was snow all around us, but the temperature was comfortable).

Total Steps for the day:  11, 454 or 5.2 miles.

Sunday - June 26, 2011.

Thank you Spokes.Com.  The bikes we rented for 3 hours were great ! !
We rode our bikes the entire way around Stanley Park. 

We really enjoyed riding around the city.  We had lunch at a park where there were alot of people walking, swimming, biking.    Really enjoying Vancouver ! !

Total Steps for the day:  11, 305 or 5.1 miles.


Saturday - June 25, 2011.



Walked by here on Saturday and Biked by on Sunday.  Beautiful Coal Harbor.  (We did NOT see Night Train though).

 Cool and Misty, but the city is vibrant and people are everywhere.   Fortunately, we brought umbrellas and rain poncho's.   The hotel where we are staying offers a free shuttle to places of interest in the city,  but, you need to find your own way back.    We opted to go to Stanley Park and the Vancouver Aquarium.  (About 5 miles away from the hotel).    The aquarium was awesome.  There were beluga whale shows,  dolphin shows,  seal and sea otter exhibits outside.    They had a plethora of exhibits inside, frogs, snakes, jelly fish of allll  kinds.    It was one of the best aquariums !    They also had a 4D shallow seas show.   The only part I wasn't crazy about was the 'poke' in the back during the sea snake portion of the show. hahahaha.

OK - back to the purpose of the blog.  :)     - steps total for the day:  16,7225 or 7.6 miles.