In Lieu of the Zone: Three Days of Fun (for a good cause)

Above is me crossing the Key Bridge on Day 3. I really liked waving that flag around.

Our team about to embark on the 3-Day journey! Day One began before daybreak.

At the White House on Day 3.

The MD CSP crew with our faculty member, Susan Jones.

Okay, so we have a political viewpoint...

The whole team on Day 2.

Me holding a flag. This one was BIG!

Never forget... I honor my grandma, Jean Drechsler, with my efforts.

Finished!

Our poor feet, after the walk.

I wanted to give you a brief update, after successfully completing the Washington, D.C. Breast Cancer 3-Day last weekend. I am immensely appreciative to all of you who supported me through donations, prayers, encouragement, and as companions in my training. I could never have done it without all of you!

The walk began last Friday in Woodbridge, VA, in the very scenic parking lot of an outlet mall (ha ha!). It was still dark outside, as we gathered to meet our team and witness the opening ceremonies. Those of you in the greater metro D.C. area may have seen us on the news that morning - seems the helicopters normally reserved for covering traffic were out early to see the sea of walkers in pink. Our team included myself, my friends from the Maryland CSP doctoral program, Kristan Cilente and Kirsten Fox; my best friend from way back in my master's program at CMSU, Sacha Dodson (formerly Wilkins); the effervescent Chrissy Tumolo (Sacha's college friend); and Lindsay Warnes and Laura Wagman (neither of whom I had met, but they fortunately were amazing!). Kristan, Kirsten, Laura, Lindsay, and I walked together; Chrissy and Sacha played integral roles on the 3-Day event crew. All in all, we were an awesome team!

The first day, we tackled about 22 miles of walking in suburban Virginia. For those of you who have never participated in this type of event before, it involves eating a lot of snack foods (to stay fueled), drinking a ridiculous amount of liquids (namely water and Gatorade), and using port-o-potties every few miles. In addition, on Day 1, our pace was molasses-like, given that the whole pack of 3,000 walkers left opening ceremonies at the same time. It was a tiny bit frustrating for those of us who typically maintain a 4-plus-mile-an-hour pace, but we learned to "savor the experience!" We ended the day at our home-away-from-home - the Occaquan Regional Park. There, we ate piles of pasta, showered in trailer trucks, slept in pink tents, stretched a lot, and generally hung out.

On Day 2, we were back in the neighborhoods of Virginian suburbia. On this day, we met many hills in our roughly 20 miles of walking. As a team of walkers, we were slap-happy this day, so we created some AMAZING cheers about our experience. These made us very popular with our fellow walkers. Day 2 is notoriously challenging, mostly because you're tired from the first day, and the whole walk just seems endless. But, our team spirit - along with meeting some very cool other walkers such as Mr. April, from the 60-mile Men (http://www.60milemen.org/) - carried us through.

Finally, on Day 3, we were sure we were gonna have a great day. We got off to a rough start when the bus driver who was tasked with getting us from Occaquan to Arlington, VA, to start the day's walk, got lost in Alexandria, VA. Confused? So were we... but, never fear! Our trusty Mistress-of-the-Maps, Kristan Cilente, intervened to help direct the driver to the appropriate locale. On this 3rd day, we actually saw D.C. Our 18-mile walking route carried us through Arlington, across the lovely Key Bridge into Georgetown, through Dupont Circle, past the White House, over to the Capitol, back to Chinatown, through numerous city squares, and to many other familiar places. We continued with our cheering and singing on this day. I think we might cut an album... we really do a rocking round of "Walk, walk, walk your feet" (to the tune of Row your Boat), can sing the first verse of nearly any female empowerment song (e.g. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Natural Woman), and have no shame in yelling about boobs to passersby. Seriously, it was a blast, and we even adopted a stray walker who's team had left her behind. She told us she didn't know how she'd make it to the end of the walk - but our energy and singing was carrying her along. Awww...

The event ended with a ceremony in another lovely parking lot; this one was located in Chinatown. We all got a little teary, but were so grateful for having such an outstanding experience. 60 miles completed!