Bellevue --> Issaquah

My walking buddy, DeAnn, and I had decided the week before that we needed to push ourselves further. Although DeAnn isn't walking The 3-Day with me, she's been a constant driving force on this journey; she gets me excited to walk even when I'm not feeling 'it'. I honestly don't know how prepared I'd be right now if I didn't have her walking with me on the weekends.

Our journey started at 6:30am on Sunday. I rolled out of bed, threw on my walking clothes, and grabbed my backpack that I had packed the night before. DeAnn was already sitting on the stoop ready to roll.

It was a great morning for a walk; the clouds were high and provided a nice cover from the heat of the sun.

I had forgotten I was going to document this walk. But! I remembered about two miles in.

This is, believe it or not, a bike path/board walk thing. It parallels the I-90 freeway from Seattle -> East.

So, we walked and we walked and we walked some more. I, again, forgot about the documentation thing. Because if I'd remembered, I totally would have taken a picture of the motorized scooter that was just left on the bike path about three miles after the above picture was taken.

OK, so the scooter itself wasn't scary... It was the fact that it was just abandoned in the middle of the path! It spooked us, so we ended up jogging past it. Hey! Don't judge us! It was creepy!

The scooter story is relevant too. I learned a very important lesson by jogging past that scooter: Never walk 5 miles on an empty stomach then jog a few yards. Oy. I felt so so sick for a few minutes after my heart had settled down. Had to stop for a minute so I could eat one of the granola bars I'd stashed in my backpack. You might be asking yourself why I had them in my backpack and hadn't actually eaten one before this. The answer is simple: because I didn't feel like it. Lesson learned.

Moving on!

This picture was taken by DeAnn (unknowingly as the shutter button is very sensitive). I actually like this one best of all the pics taken on our little outing. So, you see me with my pastey legs and unkempt hair, you can see a little bit of the freeway that was our constant (noisey) companion and the freeway signs that denote entrance to Issaquah, all with the sillouette of Tiger Mountain looming in the background.

One great perk about walking all the time when it's light out for me is my hair starts to lighten up. There are days when I forget that I actually have red hair. This is about 8.5 miles into our walk.

We made it to Issaquah! We're standing on an overpass looking back at the way we'd come. If you squint and tilt your head juuuust right, you can kind of sort of see where the last picture was taken - waaay down at the other end of the freeway.

After all that walking, who couldn't use a little refreshment? I'm pretty sure the baristas thought we'd lost our minds as we both walked in with huge grins on our faces and dripping (it was overcast yes, but it was muggy as hell) wet. (How do you like my wings? Gotta love wispy hair!)

But we weren't done there! Oh no. How could one possibly visit Issaquah and not go to the worlds greatest store?

Wings fixed and walk accomplished!

10.5 miles flew by. It helps when you and your walking partner get along and neither of you shut up. The walk did take us longer than we'd thought it would for 10.5 miles, however. We clocked it at 2.75 hours. Still, though, that's not too shabby considering we stopped a couple times for various reasons. (There was a very cute, very expensive model house along the way and we had peek into the windows to see the floorplan ^.^)

All in all it was a fantastic time and I can't wait to get out and do it again!

The Girls

Let's talk about boobs, shall we?

Well, that got your attention.

Specifically, let's talk about breast cancer.

You knew that was coming. This site is, after all, dedicated to the Breast Cancer 3-Day... how could you have expected any differently?

One in eight women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. Based on a two year study, 12% of women born today will develop breast cancer at some point in their lives. I don't know about you, but those numbers scare the crap outta me.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure is out to change those numbers. Almost all the money donated to the foundation (85%) goes toward education, research, and preventative measures. The other 15% is divided between administration and fundraising. Doesn't seem too shabby in my book.

This foundation has literally touched every faculty of breast cancer research and education for the last 25 years. They help people stay afloat while in treatment and they help bring awareness to the world that this is disease needs to be stopped.

Komen takes it's role very seriously. How could it not?

Susan G. Komen for the Cure was founded 25 years ago by Susan G. Komen's sister*, Nancy, when she promised her dying sister she would do everything within her power to end breast cancer. *Don't click on that link unless you're ready to cry.

While The Breast Cancer 3-Day is not an actual Komen event, 85% of the proceeds go directly to the foundation with the remaining 15% going to the National Philanthropic Trust for Breast Cancer.

Need more convincing to donate?

This is the video that actually pushed me over from just thinking about walking to actually signing up to walk 60 miles.

Respite

Boy, I am really very bad about keeping this up-to-date.

Where was I?

Oh yes, last we met, I talked about my shiny new shoes and how I was getting blisters every time I so much as thought about walking. Well, since then I've been trying to figure out a way to eradicate the little buggers from my life.

I cannot happily report their demise, but I can at least offer a silver lining: I have not gotten a new one!

This is what's working for me (for now): new socks (Wigwam) and an anti-chafing smear-on product called Body Glide. Yes, yes, I know it sounds like something shady that can only be picked up at your local sex shop. But it seems to work. What is it exactly? Well, I like to think of it as a cross between Vaseline and deodorant. It's supposed to reduce the friction on trouble areas... OK, you know what? I'm going to stop right there before it starts sounding worse than absolutely necessary.

I took a full two weeks off from walking to give my feet some proper time to heal. And, for the most part, they healed. I still have one pesky blister that refuses to stay away, so every time I walk now it puffs right back up. I might take a friend's advice and lance the fucker (on the side - because that's apparently the best place to do it) and drain it so it goes away.

I'm getting back into walking again now. Though, it makes it hard when it rains and I haven't thought to pack anything in my backpack to cover up with on my walk home. So, when it doesn't rain, and I don't have any pressing engagements, I'm walking home again.

Oh wait, did I mention before that I've started walking home at all?

*checking archives*

OK, yes I did mention it! Phew!

That's it for now. Expect more frequent updates from me from now on! Must get in the habit!