I'm Ready

Dear readers - this is a blog post that I wrote just prior to leaving for my walk for breast cancer this weekend. I did not get a chance to post it, so I will post it now. I hope to give you a full report of this unbelievable event very soon! This was definitely a life-changing experience!

Tomorrow I leave for my 3-day walk for breast cancer in San Diego. I can hardly believe the day is here. When I started thinking about doing this over the summer, November seemed so far away. Now it is here and I am excited, anxious, and nervous. I have trained for months, and I feel ready. My first long walk of 7.5 miles was exhausting. It left me tired and weary the entire day of that walk. I wondered how I would ever walk even 20 miles in one day. It didn't seem physically possible. Since that time I have built up endurance and strength, and I have walked 18 miles in one day. I have yet to walk 20, but I will do that on Friday and again on Saturday and again on Sunday.

Think of me and thousands of others walking this weekend. It feels great to be a part of something that is positive. I am walking this weekend because I wanted to challenge myself physically, and I am walking because I have never done anything remotely like this before. I am walking in honor of the many women in my life who I love and who I hope never have to walk the path of breast cancer. I am walking in memory of my grandma who is no longer with us, but who was a breast cancer survivor. I am walking for my aunt and my other grandma who are breast cancer survivors. I am walking for my mother and mother-in-law, my daughters, my nieces, my sisters and sisters-in-law, my girlfriends, my blogging buddies. I am walking for the mom at our school who is undergoing chemotherapy right now for breast cancer. I am walking for my friend's mother who died too soon, after a very short fight with a very aggressive form of breast cancer. I am walking because I am thankful for my health and my strength. I will be in awe as I walk alongside breast cancer survivors and patients this weekend. I cannot believe I am doing this, but I am so glad I am. I can hardly wait to share the details of my adventure with you in the weeks to come.

My family has been an unbelievable support to me. There have been many Saturday mornings that I have away from them, walking and walking and walking and walking for hours upon hours. Brad has been whole-heartedly supportive of my desire to do this. He has been my walking companion in the early hours of the morning over the past couple of months, and we have now seen many sunrises together. I look forward to continuing this early-morning ritual!

I am absolutely amazed at the generosity of many who have contributed to help me raise over $2600. My team of 10 women has collectively raised over $30,000! Now that I am ready to leave, I regret not being more proactive and assertive in my fundraising. Next time . . . . I will do more. But as I walk this weekend, I will be forever thankful to the donors (many of whom are faithful blog readers) who have helped make this possible.