Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3Day - Day 3

Apologies to my 2 loyal readers for the lapse between updates. A broken laptop and no internet will do that...

On to day 3 of the walk ...

Day 3, we were bussed to Lincolnwood, so we'd be walking mostly in the city. This meant that Matt & Claudia's husband Keith would be meeting us along the walk at one of the cheering stations. I cannot tell you how encouraging that was for me.

Sunday morning Claudia, Jen and I all bussed together (Dawn and Angie took the bus directly to lunch to ensure they'd be able to walk at some point during the day). Knowing that Jen and Claudia walked much faster than me, I anticipated spending a lot of the walk on my own. Because we were in the city, I really had little problem with that.

Turns out, I was able to keep up with them. I'm attributing that to being excited to see Matt at the cheering station along the lake and Addison. Interestingly enough though, it was mid to upper 90s, which meant hydration was key. Previous days I had set rules for myself for drinking (everytime I crossed a street, went under/over a bridge, crossed railroad tracks, made a turn, etc), this day, I made sure to enforce them.

8.5 miles were finally over and I could hear the people at the cheering station. My eyes were darting all over the crowd looking for Matt and Keith. I was a lot more excited than I anticipated, knowing they were there really helped my morning walk on sore and tired feet. I eventually spotted them and headed over to them. Matt offered me a beer (ha!), but I eventually took water. We hung out with them for a while, but not too long, as I didn't want to lose my pace.

We had a mile until lunch, and the walk was directly along the lake, so it was great. We made it to lunch, where we met Dawn and Angie and sat down to eat. This is where I realized I had hit a wall. I wasn't hungry, I started to get the chills, followed by the sweats, and eventually had to lay down with an ice filled bandanna on my face. I was exhausted and a bit nauseous. I tried to hydrate some more, assuming that was the problem, but it wasn't helping.

There was a sweep bus taking people to the next pit stop, which was about 2.5 miles away. I decided to get on it, if anything, to cool off. It wasn't leaving for another 20 minutes, so I figured I could change my mind if I wanted. I ended up staying on the bus and taking it to Navy Pier.

I was now on my own and making my way toward Soldier Field. I made it to the last pit stop before Jen and Claudia, so I texted them and let them know I'd be waiting there for them. This also helped me to cool off and not push myself too much.

We only had 2.5 miles to go, and we made our way. It seemed like it was more like 5 miles, probably due to the long walk and the heat combination, but we eventually made it toward Soldier Field. The last 1/4 of the walk was inside of Soldier Field, so that was sort of cool. I was a bit choked up when crossing the finish line, as on Friday during the rain, I figured there would never be a way that I'd be able to walk across the finish line.

Matt and Keith again met us at the finish line for closing ceremonies. This time Jen and I both happily took beers from Matt. I never really understood people drinking beer after races, but it looked and tasted delicious to me.

Closing ceremonies were quick & less emotional than I expected (opening ceremonies ended up being more emotional, but neither were as emotional as I was expecting). We eventually got into the car and headed home.

I was asleep in my own bed within an hour of being home.