Tired but Happy!

Me, Beckie & Dori bright and early on Saturday morning

The walk went awesome! There were 1200 walkers & we raised $3M! How cool is that????? Saturday was smoking hot but today was overcast and cool(er). It looked like it would rain all day but it didn't (Yea!). Last night at camp was fun with a runway show & free wine (from Yellow Tail) and free beer (from Wild Rose brewery). I also got free physiotherapy & accupuncture. It was my first time to try accupuncture & I was pretty impressed. My calves were crazy stiff & sore & the accupuncture worked miracles. I'm kind of glad I tried it in that setting b/c I never would have randomly thought "Hmm....maybe I should try accupuncture" b/c I don't really like needles.

The Weekend Catwalk show!

The walk took us through some of the prettiest parts of Calgary. We got to "window shop" for houses in some of the swankiest neighborhoods too!

Evan came to visit his mama!

Tent City

The bagpiper gets us started on Sunday morning!

I walked with my friend Beckie and her aunt Dori. We had a great time through stiff legs, blisters, blisters & more blisters. Everyone finished & that's what matters! It was definitely a great weekend but now I really, really, really need to go to bed!

Beckie getting her blisters looked after but still cheerful!

Can you tell how happy we are to have our "finisher" shirts?????

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It's Almost Time....

to start walking! I have to leave the house at 6:40 tomorrow morning to head down to the Stampede Grounds for opening ceremonies for The Weekend to End Breast Cancer. We will walk 35 kilometers tomorrow, camp tomorrow night in a tent and then walk another 25 kilometers on Sunday. There are usually around 2500 walkers & we raise millions of dollars for breast cancer research. This year I raised $2760 which was a bit short of my goal of $3200 but I'm still pretty happy with it. Though, if you want, you can still sponsor me here!

I wish that Nicole and Diana were walking this year. We had so much fun in 2006!

Well, as you are walking around enjoying your weekend, think about me walking my poor little feet off!

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I'm Walking..Yes Indeed...

I've decide to do The Weekend to End Breast Cancer 60 kilometer walk in July. Some of you will remember that I did this same walk in 2006. I took the last few years off b/c Evan was born in 2007 & he was only one in 2008. This year I had no excuse other than I didn't have anyone to walk with. Thankfully, I found out my friend Beckie is walking & doesn't mind if I tag along with her & her aunt. Game on!

I signed up this morning & through the AWESOME-ness that are my friends & family, I've already raised $775!!!!! I HAVE to raise another $1025 to participate. If you would like to help me on my way, you can donate here.

Keep me in your thoughts as I start my training routine to be able to walk 60k by mid-July!

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Greatest Photographer......Ever!

Mark Shannon, a local Calgary photographer, is great! He came out to the Walk to End Breast Cancer and took pictures of all the walkers. Instead of gouging all the walkers to buy pictures, he posted all the pics to his website and allowed them to be downloaded for free. If anyone wants high res images, we can buy them from him and all proceeds go to his walk next year. Too Cool! Here are my favorites among the images he took. Roll over the pics to see who/what they are.

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Great Family!

The kids visited this weekend while I walked in the 60k. I wish I had been around a bit more to get to see them. Dewey brought them out onto the course to cheer us on. Such a great family!!!!! Here are some pictures that Dewey took while they were cheering us on.

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$6 Million!!!!!!!

That's right....SIX MILLION DOLLARS raised to fight Breast Cancer! All my sore muscles are really worth it. We (Nicole, Diana and I) had to go in on Friday afternoon to watch a safety video (make a "eye contact contract" with drivers to make sure they're not going to run you down, etc), pick up our ID badges and to get our tent assignment. Nicole and I decided to stay in the camp on Saturday night while Diana decided to go home (more about camp in a minute). After getting all our info, we headed home to try to get some sleep. Unfortunately we had to be at Stampede park by 6:30am to get started so we had a sleepless night of "oh no I overslept.....no it's 2 am...3am....etc"

Doug and Di picked up Nicole and I so that we didn't have to drive too. When we arrived at Stampede park we went in to the Roundup Center for stretching and breakfast. At around 7:30 or so we got started. It was a bit frustrating at the beginning b/c all 2100+ walkers were clumped in a 1 or 2 block area. It was much better as we spread out. Today's route wound through North Calgary and along the river. We had stops every 2-5kms which helped the time go by much faster. We also had vans that drove along with us to pick anyone who got hurt or needed something. Crew members at each stop were dressed up in the "theme" of the stop. There was an '80s stop, the "Double D Saloon" stop, etc. We ate lunch along the route at a longer rest stop. Then it was back on the course headed towards camp. We made it to camp at about 4pm after walking 33.7km. Camp was set up at Currie Barracks in North Calgary. We decided to wait in line for physiotherapy as soon as we got there. My calves were very sore and Nicole found out that she has plantar facitis (sp?)(Diana was fine throughout the race....lucky girl!). After that I had a little spell of dehydration (I felt a bit loopy....okay loopier than usual) but all was well after eating supper. Diana left and went home to her comfy bed and Nicole and I got ready for our night at camp. After everyone finally got into bed it was almost 10pm.....not such a big deal if half the camp had not gotten up at 4:30am!!!!!! We were livid! The course doesn't open until 7am so there is NO REASON for anyone to be up at that ungodly hour. So we had to deal with sleep deprivation on top of everything else.

Diana met us at 7am on Sunday morning to get moving...only 27.3km to go!!!!! The second day's route wound through South Calgary. Much of it was not very picturesque so we entertained ourselves by yelling at cars going by trying to get them to honk at us. We had a great time (though we annoyed some of the other walkers). Whatever you need to get through....right?? After we finally wound our way back to Stampede park, it was around 2:30pm. We went through the throng of people welcoming walkers. It was very touching to see everyone there cheering us on. At 4pm the "Closing Ceremonies" started. All the family and friends went into the Stampede corral while all the walkers were in "holding". We all walked in together (blue shirts)...then they brought in the walkers who were survivors (pink shirts) and then the crew came in (white shirts). It was a very touching time. We then got to hear from one of the survivors and from the CEO of the Alberta Cancer Association. You definitely felt like you were part of something huge!

We all had a great time walking, talking, yelling at cars, etc. I will definitely do it again. Nicole and I are discussing doing a walk next year somewhere in the US (since she came all the way to Calgary for this one). As soon as we figure out what we're doing I'll let you know!

We met so many amazing people....walkers, crew members, people cheering us on. My favorite were (wish I had pictures!):

Chad: The Calgary walk was his 3rd of 4th Weekend to End Breast Cancer this year. He is doing all of the Weekends in Canada. That is 9 or 10 walks.....each 2 weeks apart. He raised at least $2k for each of them. I never got his story but I was really inspired by him. At one point I said "Way to have a cause and really own it!"

75 year + Man: Not sure of his name. I saw him a couple of times during the weekend. Always with a smile on his face. Today I found out that he was walking b/c he lost 3 daughters to breast cancer (3rd hand info so I'm not 100% sure of the story.....either way he was awesome).

The whole "Boobs on Bikes" crew: This was a biker "gang" who dressed up their bikes with bras, boobs, etc. They rode from intersection to intersection to stop traffic for the walkers. They were the most upbeat people ever. They definitely made it easier to keep going.

The girl with the Popsicles: She came out on Saturday morning and handed out popsicles. We love her!

And many many more! I would definitely recommend this as a great way to get moving and raise money for a great cause!

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Only Three More Days....

until the Weekend to End Breast Cancer. Nicole arrives from Kentucky tomorrow night. I am so excited to see her & to do the walk. I'm a little scared of the 60km part of it, though, b/c I trained but not enough. Not sure how much training Nicole or Diana got in either. I'm pretty sure we will all be fine, though. It's a mind over matter thing.....right? So long story short.....keep us in your thoughts this weekend while we're walking. Or better yet, come out and cheer us on. There are cheering stations at the following locations:

On Saturday:
- Confederation Park - 9am - 12pm (corner of 25 Avenue NW & 9th Street NW)
- Green Space on 45 Street SW between Graham Drive SW & 29 Avenue SW - 12pm - 5pm
- Green Space between Crowchild Tr. Overpass & Memorial Dr. Pedestrian Overpass - 10 am - 2pm

On Sunday:
- Glenmore Athletic Park - 7:30am - 10 am
- Windsor Park Community Association - 11am - 2pm
- Greenspace on Churchill Drive SW between Clark Rd SW and Colleen Cr SW
- Closing Ceremonies begin at 4pm at the Corral at Stampede Park

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The Weekend to End Breast Cancer.....

is almost here. As of today (Tuesday), it is 10 days until the big (60k walk). So far I have raised $2922! I'm on a team with my friend from Kentucky, Nicole, and my friend from Calgary, Diana. As a team we've raised $7,240!!!!!! That is so much more than we thought we would be able to raise. So THANK YOU to everyone who has sponsored me (or our team)! If you haven't sponsored me and would like to, click here. Keep Nicole, Diana and I in your thoughts on the weekend of July 29 & 30 as we walk 60k to kick Breast Cancer's butt!

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Walk to End Breast Cancer Update

I met my fund raising goal! Yea! I've raised $2,050 (my goal was $2,000) so far and I'm still working to raise money. Even though I've reached my goal, I want to raise as much as possible b/c it's such a good cause. Soooooo, for any of you who haven't donated yet click here to donate. For all of you who have.....THANK YOU!!!! I will keep giving updates on my progress as the walk approaches.

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I would walk 500 miles.....

and I would walk 500 more just to......End Breast Cancer. I am going to walk 60 km in The Calgary Weekend to End Breast Cancer on July 28-30. I have to raise $2000 for cancer research to participate. You can help me reach my goal by donating to the cause at this website. I will keep everyone posted on my progress through training and the race. Together we can find a cure!

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