September 10th and 11th I walked and walked.......and walked! I made it....the whole 60km! :)
It was the Weekend to End Women's Cancers. After all the requests for donations and all the fundraising efforts (the Hip Hop for Hope "HHH" stuff).....it was finally here! I will walk you through my experience at this event:
Saturday morning was an early start....I woke up around 6am after pressing snooze quite a few times. Here we are in the car on the way to Downsview Park, where the walk started.
Go Team PINK DIAMOND! I got some lays from the dollar store for us to wear.....I wanted everyone to have a touch of pink on them!
Throughout the whole walk there were these cars and vans driving up and down playing loud music and cheering us on as we took each step. It was very encouraging to hear the upbeat tunes as we took our long trek.
A pic of the team in front of Princess Margaret Hospital! There's a smile on my face.....but I'm really crying on the inside. This was about the half way point that day, and my feet were already feeling like they were going to fall off!
The oldest walker that weekend....I believe she was 99 years old, or something crazy like that! Go grandma! I'm sure she cheated a little, and got the cars to shuttle her along the way....but I was still very impressed that she was out there in the hot sun doin' her thing!
I almost didn't think I would make it, but here we are at the finish line (see the pink flags in the background?). The end of day 1!!! YAAAAAYYY!!!
Day 2: That's a real man in there, which I knew....but he still startled me when he moved. I was surprised that I even attempted day 2, because at the end of day 1 I was ready to give up. I was so tired, my legs were cramping, and most of my friends didn't bother to sign up for the 2nd day. But I like to finish what I set out to do....so when I got up Sunday morning, surprisingly with the ability to feel my feet, I decided to push through go for it!
Didn't take much pictures on Sunday. I was in too much pain to think about pictures....I was just focusing on the finish line. After 2 days of walking.....and a total of 17 hours out on the streets of Toronto, the finish line was finally in sight! I actually got Wayne to walk on Sunday with me cause none of my friends could stay with me for the whole day and I didn't want to be alone!
Overall it was a great experience! It was wonderful to see so many people come out to support this great cause! As we walked along there were words chalked on the sidewalks, people with posters or signs in front their homes, kids and adults waving at us and cheering us on. We read and heard messages like: "We love you walkers!", "Thank you for walking!", "You can do it!", "Kick Cancer's Ass!"
The best part was that people set up tables outside their homes and offered things like lemonade, chocolate, freezies, coffee etc. It was so nice of them! And so refreshing for us walkers!
Thank you to everyone who supported me in my walk! It was a nice way to mark my 1 year anniversary since my diagnosis. I can't believe its been so long already. I was just so proud that after everything that has happened in the past year, I had recovered and was strong enough to finish all 60km. WOOOOHOOOOO!!!
[I've already signed up for next year, so feel free to join my team "Pink Diamond". The password is "Kristal".]
