My Bladder Betrays Me!--Day Two

In speaking about day two of the 3-Day, I wanted to broach a subject that people rarely talk about.  When you are reading about safety concerns on the 3-Day website, two of the biggest concerns are hydration and blisters.  I knew I'd probably end up with a blister or two no matter what, HOWEVER, I'll be damned if I was going to pass out from dehydration.  So I used my Camelbak and refilled it at every pit stop.  However, staying so well-hydrated comes at a price.  That first night I literally woke up every 20 minutes to pee.  Our tent was smack dab in the middle of the convention center floor so I had to walk the same distance no matter what restroom I used. 

It felt like I got about 2 hours of sleep, but in reality it was probably 4-5.  Because I've had children that is more than enough to function the next day.  At least I kept in mind that it's all temporary!

In case you don't believe me here is a picture of Cherrill and me sitting in our lovely tent!  Above is the shirt with all the names of the people I walk for!  Excuse the mess we were a little discombobulated on the second day!

 

So anyway, I woke up, dressed and went to breakfast.  I was running a little late.  The route opened at 7:00 and a lot of people were in line to go already.  Lisa, Cherrill and Mandy left at 7:00.  I ended up leaving at 7:30 by myself.  I accidentally left Tricia behind.  I didn't realize she wanted to walk to the first pitstop.  But when I heard them announce you had to leave before 8:00 to avoid being swept, I jumped on it!

 

Walking without my team felt a little strange at first.  But I quickly fell in step with new friends and did the first 3 miles easily.  I was still sore from the day before.  But once I got to the first pit stop and ran into Cherrill and Tricia.  We caught up for a few minutes and I waited with Cherrill while she got fixed up at the medical tent.  She needed to get taped up and some pain relieving gel, and she felt a lot better afterwards.  We walked a little bit with Tricia and then she got swept up before we hit the next pit stop.

 

The Breast Western Express!  Ha ha!  Seriously though we were very lucky to have those sweep vans.  Even though I ultimately did not end up using them, they were great for people who needed to get to the next pitstop at a certain time (sometimes you slow down taking pictures on the route) or people who are too sore or banged up to make it to the next stop.  Having the option really helped make it a little easier to go on.  They were like mini cheering sections on wheels!

 

Cherrill and I walked together for the rest of the day.  And it was the longest day.  But in many ways, it was my best day.  I felt a lot better physically as well as mentally.  And in case you are wondering if I talked to Christine, I did.  It was at lunch on this day.  When I explained to her what was going through my head, she understood it.  And I felt a whole lot better afterwards.  Her family came to visit at lunch and it was awesome.  Even Buddy came.  And he was very well-behaved. 

 

 

This is me and Cherrill with Christine's mom, Joanne, and daughter, Marissa.  I love Joanne's outfit.  She looked like she belonged with the rest of the 3-Day walkers!  We stayed at lunch for a while.  It got a little crazy towards the end.  A stretcher and ambulance came.  The stretcher headed straight for the medical tent.  The person had fainted but once EMT worked on her, she was fine.  I think she had to skip the rest of the day though. 

 

After lunch we headed out to finish up the longest day.  Today was better because there were several cheering stations all along the route.  I didn't get too many pictures because let's just say it's a little overwhelming--with all the survivors, saying "thank you" and the little kids, dancing around and giving high fives, it's tough not to get emotional.  Some of the outfits people wore, especially the guys were awesome.  Here is one:



 

 

This is hysterical!  They also gave out candy so that made it even better.  It felt great to have so many supporters out there cheering us on!  I can't have a blog post without including a pic from the Team Stewie cheering section.

Kristina's mom, Arlene, who is a survivor, was on hand to give hugs!  Thanks for being there and giving me the strength and courage to go on!  You are a rock star and so amazing!  I had the pleasure of meeting them for the first time last year and the cheering section was awesome then, and even more awesome now that I was actually a walker this time.  It was the best!

I felt so much better on the second day overall.  Mentally and physically I would say it was my best day.  I was surprised because I had spoken to many people who have done the 3-Day before, who said that the second day is their worst day.  Just goes to show that EVERYONE'S EXPERIENCE IS DIFFERENT!  You can't always listen to everyone else you just have to let your own experience happen the way you want it to. 

If I have to give a negative it would be towards the end of the day.  Let's just say the Camelbak is a little too easy to use, so I ended up drinking a lot of water just not even realizing how much I was drinking.  Well, towards the end of the day, I ended up having to pee between pit stops.  No, there were no bathrooms in between the pit stops.  The first time I did it I was lucky to find a wooded area and go behind a tree while Cherrill covered for me.  But the second time, we were in the city with park areas, and pretty much NO coverage.  I ended up going behind this big shed.  I am pretty sure a homeless guy saw me.  Let's just hope he didn't notice, shall we?

And also, the last few miles Cherrill and I walked along the bridge by the side of the highway.  Well, those last few miles, the 60 shades of Pink sweep van kept riding by, and slowing down.  Cherrill and I were both pretty determined to finish without getting swept.  So when the van slowed down near us a second time, Cherrill yelled, "Don't tempt me, go away!"  And then she flipped them the bird.  The look on Alexa's face was priceless.  And she was wearing sunglasses!  But you could tell she was totally shocked!  Cherrill apologized later on at dinner.  But man was that hilarious at the time!  Unfortunately there are no pictures :( but use your imagination and I'm sure the mental image will come!

It felt so good to cross the finish line today.  I can't even tell you how much.  We ended up finishing up around 6:45.  The route told us 22.3 miles.  But Komen miles are longer.  Boy were we sore.  But we walked every single mile today and felt great afterwards.  Well, maybe not so much physically.  But mentally it was a great boost!  And those truck showers felt even better that night. 

On the plus side, I peed so much during the day that I only ended up having to wake up once during the night.  Thereby getting more sleep.  See there was a method to my madness!

Ta-ta for now, and stay tuned for Day 3!

Faith, Hope and Love,

Angela