This week Leya challenges us to share our pictures of feet and shoes. Today for LAPC #161 I will share about the time I walked 60 miles in three days for a cause.
The Real Story Behind the Susan Komen Walks
Twelve years before I got breast cancer, never dreaming I would EVER get breast cancer, my nameless best friend said, “There’s a three-day walk for breast cancer coming up in November. We love to walk, we should do it.”
Wow – a walk with a cause! That did sound like a good idea.
My friend and I averaged about 3-5 miles of walking a day at that point in our lives and 20 miles a day was a wee bit of a stretch, but I agreed and signed up with a group from Porterville through a friend of a friend. My walking partner forgot to sign up.
The group out of Porterville was very serious about walking. They started training in June. So, I did too. That should have clued me in that this was much bigger than a 3-mile-a-day walker should attempt.
I shopped for the best shoes and got some rocker shoes based on the recommendation of a work colleague who knew about all things healthy.
They might work for some, but they gave me a sciatica problem. I could barely move after a few days. I had to climb in and out of our pool on my hands and knees. My colleague who recommended them bought mine from me and I bought something flatter.
We raised money. I’m not super good at that, but one of the Porterville girls was and she raised enough for both of us.
Finally, the big day came.
We booked into a motel and one of the girls stubbed her toe on the bed and broke it the night before the walk. She walked anyway. I misread the instructions and had a pedicure a few days before and scraped off all my protective callouses, thinking I was doing the right thing. I wasn’t.
Let the 60-Mile Walk Begin
Sore feet were the norm. There were tents set up along the way for injuries. I checked in five miles into the first day to have my blisters treated and wrapped.
You could take a bus back to camp if the walking got to be too much. Yes, we tent camped. My borrowed air mattress needed electricity to blow up. Ooops, no electricity.
As you can tell, this was a BIG SHEBANG. I forget how many thousands of people showed up that weekend. Policemen from San Jose rode bikes and dressed in many layers of bras to show their support for Breast Cancer Awareness.
Even though I was all alone in a crowd of thousands, when I could catch my breath, there were plenty of people to talk to and lots of people driving by waving, vans dressed in bras, and crazy stuff all around.
The ones who weren’t walking had a lot of fun.
They provided entertainment along the way. People dressed up to cheer us on. They passed out candy and water. We lacked nothing.
I had also heard that since we were walking so far and burning off thousands of calories a day, we could eat everything that came along. The meals at night were huge and delicious. Sandwiches and other goodies cropped up all along the way. I had no problem with that advice.
- So, I walked, and walked and trudged up and down hills, not realizing that San Diego had so many.
- I made it 60 miles and cried going through the cheering line for at least a half-mile at the end.
- Twelve years later I got breast cancer, had great care, and didn’t die – at least not yet.
- I gained ten pounds. It never came off. 🙂
This is my second post today, so I won’t bore you with what’s coming up.
Marsha Ingrao - Always Write 
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