Our walk was this past weekend. I had hoped to post before now, but between aching muscles and travel, I decided to wait until I got home. I thought I would get it done last night, but I had lots to do before going to work this morning and I was still pretty tired. That brings us to this evening and here is my post.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
We were up at 4:00 am in order to dress, eat and catch a cab to Pier 88 for the start of the walk. Make-up was in order as Ashley assured me that most of the pictures are taken on the first day.
We were a bit worried about finding a cab early in the morning, but that proved to be unfounded. We got the first cab we waved down and made it to the site with plenty of time. They provided cereal, granola bars, bananas, yogurt and hot coffee and tea for everyone participating. I was glad we ate before we came. It was cold (somewhere in the mid-40's) and extremely windy (we had wind warnings all day long). Since the site was right on the water, everything was intensified.
We were located right next to the USS Intrepid. I don't know that I've ever been that close to a aircraft carrier. They are really big.
The crowd was very energized and there were lots of cute costumes, hats, sentiments on shirts and pins. I tried to get pictures that would capture the feeling of the morning, but it was dark, so this was the best I could do.
I was surprised by the number of families and the number of men walking. My favorite team name was "Hakuna Ma Ta-Ta's". Our team name was "Fight Like a Girl." We saw lots of t-shirts with that sentiment (we co-oped it rather than creating it). We had it on our shirts as well as on our towel - to be used for wiping sweat from our faces - unfortunately, not used at all for that purpose this weekend. Lots of guys had on the "I'm a breast man" t-shirts. I think my favorite pin was "Save Second Base." I don't think I've ever seen so much pink in one place at one time. I think our tiny top hats were the sartorial hit of the day. People kept calling us the hat ladies and asking if they could take our pictures. I've decided that my plan NOT to have my picture taken EVER was a good one. Here we are in our tiny top hats -
We listened to the opening program and followed through the stretches with the group, even though we had been stretching for about 15 minutes to be sure were ready to go. We hung back in the crowd, so we would have a prime starting location. I was really worried that my right knee was going to give me problems. Luckily, that didn't turn out to be a problem at all.
At 6:50 am, we were given the go-ahead to start walking. Imaging 3,000 people trying to move to and through the same space at the same time. That is what it was like. There was a lot of chattering and whooping and a mass movement of people. Ashley and I started out with a good spurt of speed to get us out of the mass of people. Once we had some breathing room, we got into a pretty good rhythm. We kept a good pace, even fighting the wind. It was very frustrating because it didn't matter which way we walked, the wind seemed to always be in our faces. On top of the wind, the route is very winding and it took us along the water for some time, then we went up a hill that I'm certain was meant to weed out the weak ones in the herd (I wasn't sure I was going to make it and that was really early on). We then turned to the right and followed the water back the same way we came, just up higher. That was kind of a theme all day long. I swear there are more uphills than downhills and a number of my fellow walkers voiced that same sentiment.
Probably the best thing of the day was the volunteers that support the group all the way through. They get dressed up too and expend their energy rooting for the walkers and encouraging them to keep going. They had signs and noisemakers and really helped boost our spirits when they were low. They had different themes (I think most were holidays) and they gave us stickers and candy to keep our spirits up. We had great groups at the quick stops (port-o-potties and snacks) and the rest stops (port-o-potties, food, medical assistance), but there were smaller groups of mostly kids in between that were the loudest. They gave us high fives - for those of you who know me well you will understand that this is a first for me - and thanked us for walking. There were also spontaneous outbreaks of clapping from people on the street. Some would ask what was going on and then thank us for walking. There is no way to explain what that kind of support means when you have been walking for 4 or 6 hours and hurt and want to stop. It makes all the difference in the world. One group of kids weren't wearing anything that would identify them as supporters. They huddled on either side of the sidewalk and had their back turned to the path. When we got up close the jumped up in the air and spun around screaming and shouting and really surprising the walkers. It was fun.
One group of these volunteers are bikers that watched traffic and made sure that the largest intersections on the walk were safe for us. Some were big burly guys, like you would expect bikers to be. There were a lot of women as well. They did a terrific job and spent the days moving from one intersection to another further along the route. They decked out their bikes with breasts on the head lights and other interesting decorations. They were great in supporting us and keeping us safe.
The folks in the sweep vans also traveled from place to place all day long. They provided rides for anyone who was too hurt, too dehydrated or too tired to keep walking. They would honk as they passed us on the way to the next stop. It was great.
I believe I mentioned there was some wind. I think the gusts were up to 40 mph at different times during the day. Ashley and I had walked over the Brooklyn Bridge when I was in NYC in July. We had planned to do it for some time and finally found time on that trip. Crossing the Brooklyn Bridge isn't difficult. It can be a bit challenging, particularly in the heat, but we did it without any problems and ended up walking 10 - 11 miles that day. I figured that in October it would be easier because it would be cooler. Well Saturday it was much cooler, unfortunately, the wind was much worse by the water and up on the bridge it was miserable. This was at mile 16, I believe. We had certainly worked for the rest stop on the other side of the bridge. We grabbed some orange sections and something else - it may have been candy - and kept on going.
I figured the Brooklyn Bridge would be the biggest problem with the wind. That was until we walked directly from the Brooklyn Bridge to the Manhattan Bridge and walked over it - yes, back the way we came. The Brooklyn Bridge is 5,989 feet (1.13 miles) from end to end. That is a fair walk. The Manhattan Bridge is slightly longer at 6,855 feet (1.3 miles), but I can tell you that in the wind it seems like we walked to Nebraska. There were times that Ashley walked in front of me so I could "draft" off of her like a cyclist. But I'm broader than she is so it didn't work all that well. There were other times that we felt like mimes - walking against the wind, but not getting anywhere. That was without a doubt the worst part of the walk. By the time we got over the bridge, my left hip, which had been bothering me, hurt like crazy and I was overcompensating by changing my gait to protect it. Ashley kept tempting me by dangling the possibility of a massage at the wellness village if we got in early enough. That kept me walking.
I've decided that wearing jaunty little top hats gave us the audacity to walk thought the regular NYC foot traffic like we owned the city. That was a fun feeling. It helped us to keep our heads high and proclaim that we were here for a reason and nothing was going to stop us. I suppose I should mention that I spent a lot of time catching my hat just before it blew off and putting it back on my head when we found a less windy spot. It stayed clipped to my towel across the bridges. Ashley had her hair in pigtails and her hat was a little stiffer than mine (the glitter no doubt), so she didn't have quite the problem I did. Although my hat took quite a beating, it survived and I will repair it.
The rest of the day was spent just putting one foot in front of the other to get to the Wellness Village. Now there is a bit of an issue with getting to the Wellness Village. You see the footbridge you have to cross, but it looks about 3 miles away (in reality it is only about 1/2 a mile, but remember, we had been walking since 7:00 am). Once you reach the bridge, you have to get up to it by a ramp that is in three parts (very steep at this point in the day). Then you hit the bridge and it feels like you will never make it to the high point and when you do the down hill angle doesn't seem to be anywhere nearly as steep as the uphill side was. Now you make it over the bridge and still have to walk another half mile to get to the Wellness Village. This is the longest part of the walk. We stepped through the pink arch at 3:15 pm. We had been walking for 8 hours and 25 minutes. We were the 355th and 356th walker to come in. That includes all the folks who only walked 13.1 miles and were bussed the remaining 13.1 miles. Ashley tells me this was her best time in three years - go us.
Our triumphant entry to the Wellness Village:
We heading directly to the massage tent - I was GOING to get my massage. We only had to wait about 20 minutes to get a table and during that time we had our energy balanced. That was kind of strange, but it seemed to perk me up a bit. I asked my massage therapist to work on my lower back. It was painful, but did wonders for me. I was feeling better almost as soon as I was done. Ashley had some small blisters so she had them lanced and bandaged. After the massages and the podiatry tent, we headed for our tent to get ready for the evening.
Now, Ashley assured me that the Boy Scout troops would have the tents set up for us. Not so. Apparently,there was a shortage of Boy Scouts this year. Luckily, my intrepid child knew exactly what to do and we set up our tent in a very short time. It was much more secure than many of the tents that were set up before ours (several lost the rain tarp from the top and at least one blew away in the wind). Ashley tells me this is due to the fact we had all 8 of our tent stakes (apparently, that wasn't the case for everyone). We changed into our jammies and out of our shoes and headed back to the service area to take a yoga class and eat dinner.
The yoga class was important to be sure we stretched out, but it wasn't a good time. I was so sore that I could barely follow the instructor. I did great on sun salutation, downward dog and child's pose (unfortunately, I can't breath in this pose). But most everything else was beyond me. I did the stretches, but couldn't hold them for as long as the rest of the group. I guess I need to take yoga if I'm going to do this walk again.
Dinner was okay. Unfortunately, our line ended up with cold pasta. We ate it anyway. There were meatballs as well, but I wasn't particularly hungry, so I only had one. I was incredibly thirsty. I drank 3 cartons of milk. Now I like milk a lot, but this was an unusually large amount for me to drink at one sitting. The carbs make for good fuel, but I was desperately in need of protein. I could probably have had 2 more, but I didn't want to be greedy. We heard the first song in the "Fireside Follies" and than left for our tents, brushed teeth and sleep.
My idea of camping is the Holiday Inn. So the idea of sleeping in a tent, in a sleeping bag, ON THE GROUND, is not my idea of a good time. My sleeping bag was very toasty and Ashley's wasn't quite so warm, so we switched - my hot flashes make up the temperature difference. The tents were very close together and you could hear every conversation in every tent near you. We bedded down - I think it was about 8:00 pm - but there was too much going on around me and I had trouble going to sleep (I'm sure the rock hard ground under me wasn't helping). We had turned the light off about 10 minutes earlier and I asked Ashley a question. She didn't answer because she was already dead asleep. My girl is a survivor. It took about 30 more minutes for me to fall asleep, but I was awake several times during the night to change positions due to the hard ground.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
We planned to get up at 5:00 am so we would be ready to go by 7:30 when the walk was opened, but I think I was awake by 4:00 at the latest. The alarm went off in the tent to our left and the guys in the tent to our right started talking. Then a lot of the other campers started milling around - trying to get hot showers before we started walking, etc. At 5:00, I started moving around and realized that I hurt in places I didn't even know I had. The walk was tough, but the hard ground aggravated every pain I had. I tried to dress inside the sleeping bag because it was cold. Unfortunately, I'm not nearly coordinated enough to pull that off, so I gave up and just dressed as normally as possible when sitting in a 6 x 6 tent. Then off to brush teeth and wash faces, get breakfast and visit the PT tent - my left leg was killing me, I didn't know that the muscle behind the knee could hurt like that. I got a good stretch before we ate and a healthy dose of Icy Hot. It didn't clear up the problem, but I could walk, so I did. Breakfast was eggs, sausage and oatmeal - luckily all hot - and more milk. We decided to pass on the tea and coffee in lieu of the first Starbuck's we passed. We headed back to our tent, pack up, broke down the tent and dropped off our stuff at the trucks.
We were at the arch just before 7:30 so we were out with the first group of walkers. I told Ashley I would do my best, but that I wasn't sure I could make the full 13.1 miles on Sunday. She wouldn't accept that I would quit this far into the game. We hooked elbows and pretended that every uphill was flat (Denial is my happy place). We did make a stop at the first Starbuck's for hot, sweet, tasty treats. That helped - sugar and caffeine, the perfect combination. We walked on. We only stopped when we had to and when we hit the lunch break - I think at 9:00 am - Ashley grabbed a sandwich and I headed to the medical tent for more Tylenol and Ben Gay. The thought of eating at that point didn't appeal to me at all. I think we stopped for less than 10 minutes and headed out. We were counting down the miles. When we hit 7.3 (the lunch stop) we were under 10 miles to go. After that it was just pushing through. At least we weren't fighting the wind all day.
Again the hardest part of the day as the last. We hit the West Side Highway and could see the cruise ships far, far away (I think less than 2 miles). Then you could see the planes on the Intrepid, still very far away. At least we were in the sunshine and people were lining the path to welcome in their own walkers and cheered us as we walked past. We were wearing our jaunty little top hats again, so people liked us.
We had someone take our picture as we stepped across the finish line, but it didn't turn out :-( We were number 325 and 326 of 3,000 walkers and finished at noon. We did the final 13.1 miles in 4 1/2 hours. Great time, I'm told. It was good to be done.
We headed straight for the medical tent for Ben Gay for me and to have Ashley's blisters checked. We were good and headed to pick up our walk t-shirts which will be worn proudly. Then we went to get our gear. Ashley was excited because she thought they were dropping our stuff on the pier this year. However, they just routed us differently than in previous years. We had to walk about 5 blocks to where the trucks were dropping luggage. Our stuff was on truck J and they had just started unloading truck H/I when we got there. Ashley was surprised because that had never happened before. I choose to believe it was because we were so awesome rather than that it was a logistics issue that delayed the trucks - I told you Denial is my happy place. We waited until we could get our stuff, walked 2 avenue blocks (much longer than street blocks, in case you aren't familiar with NYC) and caught a cab back to the apartment. We groaned our way up the stairs for showers and a Epsom salt soak for me (Ashley's tub is small and she can't stretch out in it so she passed on the soak). I was ready for bed by 4:00, but Ashley made me go back out - yes, down the stairs - to get dinner and then back home. We watched TV until 8:00 and then I was done. I went to bed and was asleep in about 30 seconds.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Monday we slept in until 9:00, then went out for manicures and pedicures, trying not to walk like we were a hundred years old. We had wonderful massages, a soak in a hot tub and a steam that made us feel human again.
All in all a great weekend.
Doing a walk like this is a little like having a baby. It is a great experience, but you need to get a little distance on it before you commit to going through it again.
My daughter and I have always been good friends, but I think this experience has taken our friendship to a new level. Sharing something like this can't help but make you a slightly different person.
What did I learn?
* My daughter is an incredible woman, who has committed to doing this walk three years in a row. I am amazed by her strength and leadership.
* I've still got a lot of life in me.
* My body won't let me down.
* I need to train more if I do this again.
* If there is a next time, I'm bringing a big air mattress.
Thanks to all of you who followed this blog. It has been an experience I never expected to have. Knowing that there were people out there reading what I had to say made me want to keep it up. It was like there was someone depending on my to share my thoughts - a new experience for me - and that made a difference.
The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer is a great cause that has raised millions of dollars to help thousands of people across the world. It also helped me to get even closer to by beautiful daughter. I hope my journey will inspire you to get off the couch and commit to something bigger than you are.
Thanks again and goodbye for now. (Warning - My scary picture follows)
