3 Days of My Life

Day 2 2001

We got up around 4:30, walked to the sinks in the dark to our brush teeth, then back to pack up our tent. Everything was wet from dew, but we got the tent done more quickly than last year. There was no way I was going to get that sleeping bag back into the duffel bag; luckily, Elma had a big garbage bag, so I stuffed it in there, labeled a piece of masking tape, slapped it on, and hoped for the best.

Saw Mom again at breakfast! Yay! Breakfast was as good as I remembered from last year: scrambled eggs, oatmeal, au gratin potatoes, fruit, yogurt, etc. It’s 6:45 and we are OUT of here! In other words, we got an early start. At various points throughtout the day, we were clocked in at being around 1,015, and 1060, so we knew we were near the front. Why the obsession with being near the front? Well, like I said, it makes a big difference in terms of lines at both pit stops, lunch stops, and camp.

We both felt fine, but...without getting too graphic, let me just say that Elma and I were both glad I remembered the Immodium this year. ’Nuf said.

My feet, however, were another story. They’d bothered me yesterday, but not too bad. Today, they were very sore early on. That’s kind of discouraging. Less than 2 hours into our longest day, and my feet are killing me. It’s that damn right orthotic and the fact that these shoes are just too wide, so the orthotic slides a bit and the edge of it digs into my foot. I took the orthotics out and felt better, but my feet were still really sore. No blisters or anything, just sore on the bottoms. Ouch. Poor me! But my back has been fine!!

I did meet the “right” Tim today. Hi, Tim! He was busy, but it was good to finally put a face to an e-mail address. When I introduced myself, Jackie, Echo’s friend who I’d briefly met the day before, said, “It’s YOU!” Hee! Echo and I are destined to meet.

Day 2 morning overall was not too bad. It was hot but thankfully not too humid. I remembered with dread that loooong stretch before lunch from last year—during which crew members kept telling us it was just “another mile” for about 5 miles. We must’ve taken a slightly different route, cuz that stretch was not a part of our walk this year. The lunch stop looked different than last year’s, but I think it was the same. Got to lunch by 11:10!!! I’d been eating the required banana halves, bagels, salty snacks all morning, so I didn’t feel too hungry. Plus my stomach wasn’t really in the mood for a cold bean burrito. I tried asking for a non-veggie meal, but, as I expected, they couldn’t do that, since they count out the meals carefully.

By that time it was pretty hot and sunny, and most of the few shady spots were taken. Elma and I found a corner of shade, which also featured, unfortunately, some mud, which I sat it. I hate that! The burrito was pretty bad: cold with cold, congealed cheese. It would’ve tasted a little better with the salsa provided, my stomach said no to salsa. But I did eat the chips, fruit, veggies, etc. Mmmm, and Oreos! We met a really nice woman walking by herself (again, there were so many solo walkers who didn’t seem to mind being alone at all). She said that, just like the woman who had spoken at announcements the night before about finding a lump while breastfeeding her daughter, SHE had ALSO found a lump while breastfeeding her daughter, and their daughters are both named Maura! Good luck to you, Maura’s mom!

Peel outta lunch. We are rocking!

Long, hot, kinda boring afternoon. Expected it tho. Met more nice people. Elma and I discovered many uses for ice: putting it down your neck, tucking it inside your Cool Tie, and slapping some under your baseball cap. After a while, we just started pouring water on our heads. We called it “dousing,” and I really think that saved us that hot afternoon. (In fact, when I saw Dave at camp later that day, he commented on how wet I was. Well, I’ve been dousing, I said. He was somewhat skeptical.)

Man, I”d forgotten how HOT those port-o-johns get as the day goes on!

YAY!!! We’re at Glencoe! As last year, a great cheering station. Lots of people. We were expecting to see Elma’s husband Steve, and there had been much speculation on the part of me and my mom as to whether he would surprise Elma again this year, as he did last year with a visit from her son, Steve. Well, Steve was there all right, with another surprise: Elma’s best friend Sandy and her husband Bill from Cincinnati! YAY! We stayed and chatted with them a bit (and feasted on a DELICIOUS popsicle some wonderful young lady brought out to us). Steve had brought reinforcements of Immodium, which I snatched out of his hand as soon as it was produced.

The rest of the afternoon was fairly uneventful, except for a brief meeting with Jeff, who opened my Gatorade for me. He and Elma had a nice chat about Laguna. Then: Hot. Dousing. Immodium. Boring walk by train tracks, then finally into some nice North Shore neighborhoods. As we walked along Gross Point Road, a church near camp greeted us with a wonderful sign.

We got into camp by 4:40. A big improvement over last year’s time of 6:30. GREAT cheering at entrance to camp! Love those people! My feet are killing me and I’m very tired. I saw Dad, Karl, and Dave before they saw me. Sat...ahhhh...and talked with them for a bit, but I was so tired and wired it was hard to concentrate. Dave apologized for forgetting to bring the Ding-Dongs and Ho-Hos he’d bought me as a surprise. Also saw Robin from aerobics who was meeting some family members who were walking. Elma went off to our tent (hopefully already set up), and I brought Karl and Dave over to the food tent to see Mom. Luckily she wasn’t too busy and there was no line yet. She was tickled to see them and be seen. She was about to get a break so I decided to eat then, so I could sit down and visit with the 3 of them, even tho I was NOT hungry. Anyway, as tired and hot as I was, it seemed like a good day to eat first and shower later. Our original dinner (listed in the “Three-Day Today” newsletter as...get ready: tofu cacciatore, had been bagged in favor of just cacciatore sauce with pasta, veggie burgers (which I skipped), breadsticks, salad, fruit, carrot cake. Ugh. Not hungry at all; had to force myself to eat. It WAS nice to have time with Karl and Dave, tho. They left after 10 minutes or so, since Dad was still sitting by himself at camp entrance. Very tired. I finished picking at my plain noodles and salad.

Found Elma at our tent, which HAD already been set up. Side note: after the walk, I talked to a woman named Natalie in my aerobics class, and it turns out her 10-year-old daughter was one of the Girl Scouts who helped set up camp on Day 2. I tried to express to Natalie just how much this meant to us; not only the tents but all the sweet little notes they passed out along the way. THANK YOU GIRL SCOUTS AND BROWNIES! WE LOVE YOU! And way to go, parents and troop leaders. What a great experience for these young girls. A special thanks to: Troop 1467, Cadette Troop 1214 (Chelsea, Stephanie, Sammy, Kristina, and Cynthia), Brownie Troop 3051, and Daisy Troop 2563. I know there were more, but these are the ones I remember.

Our tents were a lot closer together than the night before, and we had no grass outside our tent, just dirt patches. Oh, well. It’s not like we’re staying here very long! This time, we tried putting both duffel bags against wall of the tent, but neither of us were quite comfortable sleeping that close together. So, I snuggled up against the tent wall again.

I met my walker coach Quincy! I had seen her introduced at the previous night’s announcements, so I knew what she looked like. But it was Elma who blurted out, “She’s...your’re...She’s your walker coach!” Hi Quincy, and thanks for all the hard work.

Unpacked and headed to the shower. My feet hurt.

But what a great shower! First, there was a small line of 3 or 4 women, but there were chairs in the shade, and we all sat around and chatted. I saw Jane from aerobics, and she was doing just fine. She said her mom had to come in with only 5 miles left due to bad blisters, but otherwise she was doing fine, too. Saw Pam...running, no less! In the shower, they were playing great music (Fatboy Slim: “Praise You,” that had me singing and dancing in my little shower stall. Afterwards, I felt quite perky.

Elma was off meeting Steve, Bill, and Sandy, so I walked over to the food area (in my turbie twist!), and sat down on the ground to chat with Mom, who was on yet another break. She said as she was riding the bus into camp, just south of Great Lakes, she saw a dark-haired woman with 2 small children holding up sign that said, “Go Elma and Julia!” WHO ARE YOU? We could NOT figure out who this woman might be. Is there another Elma and Julia? I hardly think so!! Mom looked tired, and said this was the hardest thing she’s ever done.

I headed over to the dinner tent and listened to announcements. I talked to several women, two of whom had actually passed out that day, but felt fine afterwards. I can’t imagine that! I think if I passed out, I’d be done. Then I met a really neat woman who said that she’d been pounced upon by the medical staff at one of the pit stops because she’d been limping. They insisted she be driven back to camp where she could get proper medical treatment. She BEGGED them not to take her in; she really wanted to complete the day on her own 2 feet. They asked her if she wanted to walk on Day 3, and if so, she’d better stop right now. So she did. But she was crying as she told me how hard it was to “quit,” as she said, even tho it certainly wasn’t quitting at all. As Jeff was making his medical announcements, and reminding us to listen to our bodies and STOP if we need to, this woman started crying again, and said, “It’s so easy for someone else to say that!” I hope she made it to the end on Day 3.

At any rate, she—and many of us—were lucky to be sitting at camp that night. According to Jeff, more than a dozen people had been taken to the hospital for dehydration and hyponutremia (caused by drinking TOO much water and thus diluting the salt levels in the body AND, which I just found out, can be enhanced by anti inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen).

On a lighter note, Mikey is out, Tim is in! This was due to the many “Tim” signs along Day 2’s route. The speakers were four beneficiaries of the funds raised by the 3-Day, all from the Cancer Center at Northwestern. One of the things they mentioned was that someone along the route had been handing out gold coins to walkers, and asking that they be donated to the cause. A place at camp had already been set up for walkers to drop off the coins.

Also during announcements, we were warned of the things we had to adjust to after returning from the 3-Day. Don’t forget to flush your toilet! Don’t use a hot dog stand as a Grab & Go. If you call out “Passing on the left,” as you walk by a group of people, they will most likely give you a LOT of room.

And finally, “The Top 10 Reasons to Do It Again”

You’re getting knee surgery after this, you may as well get your money’s worth
There’s nothing good on TV next year
My cat needs more time alone
The in-laws are coming that week
Maybe I’ll win this time!
PB&J crackers at every meal (these were very popular at the pit stops)
Mikey has a twin
Come back? I never made it home!
Windows in the men’s showers!!

OK, that’s only 9. I forgot the last one, something about Erik Estrada memorabilia on sale at the general store?

Dan Pallotta spoke next, but I didn’t stay. I wish I had, but I had told Mom I’d be back at my tent by 8.

No sooner had I gotten back to the tent, but who should show up... Echo!!!! We talked briefly, and Mom showed up and took our picture. I wish I’d had my wits about me and asked her to walk with us the next day. Elma came back from visiting with Steve and friends. We chatted a bit and then TRIED to sleep, but people were up and about till 10:30. Lots of families came to camp, bringing pizza, picnics, and so on. At least it was a nice cool night. Once I did get to sleep, I slept VERY well, about 5 good uninterrupted hours. Elma told me later that my alarm clock went off some time during the night, and she hissed at me to turn it off, which I did. I don’t remember that at all!

Home

Day 3 2001