3-Day Report Day Two

I didn't sleep well that first night. True, I was finally dry and clean, but some of my gear wasn't dry and I was severely disappointed that I hadn't been able to go the full distance. The concert in another area of the park seemed to go on forever, and the sound of porta-potty doors slamming in the distance also never seemed to stop. I eventually fell asleep with thoughts of calling Eric and demanding that he come and rescue me.

When morning finally arrived I lay in my sleeping bag and listened to the sound of other women getting up and moving around until the call of nature became too urgent to ignore. After waiting in a line for the porta-potty I came back to my tent and got dressed in my walking clothes and packed up for the day. My wallet was still soaked, so I put it in a spare plastic bag and took out my money and ID and put them in my badge-holder with my Walking credentials. Putting my contacts in without any mirror was a new and difficult experience. I then rolled up the tent and carried the tent and bag to the waiting trucks.

From there I went to breakfast and while I sat at breakfast I realized that I had just had the most miserable night I'd had in a very long time. And, while it wasn't the worst night possible, it didn't really fit the spirit of the Walk. I also recalled the doctor's very stern warning the night before... if I had any trouble at all today I was to get in a van and stop walking.

After breakfast I went into Medical to get my blisters tended to. Because one blister was between my toes, I chose to have the medic team work on it. I later felt a bit guilty about it, as there were many other women with much worse blisters. I considered taking photographs of the worst, but I decided not to. I didn't want any of my readers losing their meals while reading my blog.

Ahem. Anyway, the medic bound the two small toes on my right foot together with "second skin" and tape, and the blister on my left foot that had formed between my toes got more "second skin" and tape. This turned out to not be the best idea. However, the medic also suggested that I "lube up" the area between my toes with anti-bacterial gel (she gave me a bunch of little packets), and that turned out to be the best advice of the day.

After I was fully taped and gelled, I went to the starting area and hit the trail. The first length was from our camp in the depths of Marymoor Park to Luke McRedmond Park, which is right next to the apartments Eric and I used to live in before we got our house. It was all trail walking and very pleasant. I even stopped and got a picture of my typical view of the other Walkers. We had to contend with bicyclists, and every once in awhile you would hear "BIKE!" from the folks behind you and everyone would move to the right. At one point I tried to yell "cyclist!" but it came out "BIKE-LIST!" Everyone moved over anyway, and the folks around me giggled with me at my new word.

After the first pitstop, the climb was uphill on Redmond Way up to 148th, where we turned South. I got to the top of the hill and realized that I couldn't go on. My left foot was already beginning to cramp up. So I flagged down a Sweep and got a ride to the next pit so I could have my foot examined again to see if we could figure out what was wrong with it.

Another woman was already in the sweep van, and as we went around a corner we spotted yet another woman with difficulties. We picked her up and she told me she was having hamstring trouble. We picked up two more before hitting pit two at Lake Washington High School.

Well, there was, again, nothing obviously wrong with my foot. We iced it again for a few minutes, and I started out again, determined to at least get to the first cheering station, and hopefully all the way to pit three.

It was really hard going. A spike of pain would go up my foot every other step or so. I wanted so bad to go the full distance, but my foot just hurt so much I could cry. I made it to the cheering station, which gave me quite a lift in spirit, if not in body, and I continued on hoping I could make it to pit three. The route took us down a steep incline to the shores of Lake Washington, and as I got to the bottom I realized I could go a little way, but not much farther. It hurt entirely too much. At that moment a sweep van stopped to ask if everyone was ok, and I asked how much farther it was to the next pit. I figured I could make it if it was only a few more blocks. They admitted it was nearly a half mile. I needed to have my foot checked again, so I hopped on.

This was the Scoobie Boobie Sweep, and as I got on they handed me some Scoobie Snacks. We went to Pit Three, which was as she had told me nearly a half mile away at the Kirkland Marina. I didn't get out of the van because they were discussing taking me all the way to camp at this point, or at least to lunch. Finally they got word from Sweep Central to take me to the lunch stop and have medical check me out there.

So off we went! Now, I want to point out that I used to work in this area, and when my co-workers and I went to lunch, we sometimes went down the road the Walkers were going on. Literally, "DOWN" the road. The hill the Walkers were climbing from the Marina is one of the nastier hills in the area, even by my standards.

Lunch was at Juanita Beach Park, and was pleasant even though I realized after a short visit to Medical that my day was through. I wanted really badly to go on and at least visit each pit and cheer people, but I hurt and the medics weren't sure what was wrong with my foot. They suggested I get on one of the buses and go right to camp, but I didn't want to.

I met up with the lady who had a hamstring problem again at Medical. She was sobbing with frustration because she, too, couldn't go on. She had, in fact, been informed by the medical director that she was done for the day... and if she was caught trying to walk any farther today she would be sent right to the hospital. If she didn't walk any more today, they would let her walk on Sunday. Her team had given her everything they didn't want to carry and she was headed for camp. Like me, though, she didn't want to go right to camp. She wanted to go to each pit stop and cheer her team as they arrived.

So Nichelle and I conspired to make that happen. We talked with a sweep van and convinced them to pick us up right outside the pit and take us to the next pit stop. They did so, and we started a jumping pattern from one pit to the next via Sweep Vans, waiting only for her teammates to come into the pit and cheer them. At the Inglemoor High School pit I found a four-leaf clover and presented it to Nichelle in the hopes that she could safely go the distance on day three.

Also at Inglemoor we met the assistant principal, who told us that he had arrived at the school on unrelated business on Friday and found all the porta-potties that had been set up were knocked over by some mean-spirited prankster. He called in the problem and they were all cleaned and set upright well before any Walkers arrived.

We also talked awhile with one of the motorcycle sweep riders. These fine folks traveled up and down the line watching for problems, and they also stopped and directed traffic at intersections with heavy traffic. They all had decorated their motorbikes, including one guy who put bunny ears on his helmet and another who had a very large bra across the front of his bike (it wasn't his, I noticed it still had a price tag on it). I think they came out just for the sheer joy of being able to ride their bikes up and down the streets honking at everyone.

On one of the sweep rides we heard about a woman who ran into a fire hydrant while walking. Our van headed there are quickly as possible, because 911 had been called. When we got there we saw the hydrant, hidden slightly behind some bushes that had been hacked away by other Walkers. There was a bit of blood in sight. From the sounds of it, the Walkers who called 911 believed that the cut went into her muscle, but the paramedics who cleaned it up said it wasn't as bad as it looked. It gave new meaning to the signs along the route that said "Stay Alert, Stay Alive".

From Inglemoor we hopped a van to the next grab and go, which was at Log Boom Park, where I've spent a bit of time during my training. The sweep van drivers were from out of town, however, and weren't sure where they were going, so I spoke up and directed them, explaining where the roads go and what to watch out for. With the massive repaving project going on in Lake Forest Park, it became really clear to me that they would've gotten very lost without me. I'm sure they would have eventually found their way back, but the directions they had did not match up with the street names. At the grab and go, nobody wanted to leave so they took us to the next pit, at Lake Forest Park Elementary school. We got out, and I lost Nichelle somewhere in the heat, as I went down to cheer people on the road where there was some shade available.

Once I realized Nichelle was gone I decided to head right up to camp, and got in with a sweep. The route was insane. So far, all day, the hills had been relentless. But right here, at the end of the route, it got worse. One of the other women said that where she comes from (East coast) these things we call "hills" are called "mountains". I said that it isn't a mountain in the Pacific NorthWet (not a typo) unless there is snow on it year-round. She just shook her head in disbelief.

I was pretty disbelieving myself when I saw where the route took us. Right up 15th Avenue and up Perkins road, a steep hill that I don't even like to drive. It wound around a bit and the route finally reached the Shoreline Community Center, where we were let off in a parking lot before the day's finish line. We marched in with the other Walkers, and I felt guilty that I was being cheered when I'd only walked maybe 4 miles that day, out of the 20.5 in the route. True, my foot hurt, but I really felt like I didn't deserve any cheers.

At that point I just wanted, more than anything else in the world, to take a hot shower and use a flushing toilet. I called Eric and begged him to take me home for an hour or so to indulge me. He was kind and did so. I went home, flushed the toilet, took a shower, flushed the toilet, got clean fresh clothing on me, flushed the toilet, and Eric took me back. On the way, we saw the last pit being closed up and the last Walkers leaving. A little ways down the road I saw some of my teammates walking, and knew they were coming into camp really late tonight.

The Community Center was chaotic. In addition to the normal activities, there was the 3-Day of course, taking up a huge amount of space. There was also a swim meet at the pool, and the folks taking their kids to the meet where really upset that there was no parking whatsoever within easy walking distance of the center. But then, you can't really complain to a 3-Dayer about "walking distance".

After Eric dropped me off I checked back in and got dinner, then went to find my gear and set up my tent. As with the first night, the boy scouts had come and gone, and my tent was already standing. The Bouncing Betties sign was next to my tent. I set up my mattress and bag, then went out to the truck to wait for other team members to arrive. When Beth got in, I helped her carry her bag to her tent.

It was a really mild evening. I took some pictures, blogged a bit, avoided the area of camp where the services and dinner were set up because of the dust on the grounds. It got into your shoes and crawled up your legs. I'm not sure how the women who attended the dance managed... yes, there was a dance, and yes, Walkers were dancing.

I checked my blisters, and everywhere I'd been bandaged during the day the blisters had gotten worse. I wasn't sure what to make of it, but I found myself wishing for a bandage that didn't hurt more than it helped. I only walked four miles... how bad would those blisters have gotten if I walked the full distance?

I was able to sleep nicely that night until about 2 am when I woke up, wide awake. I heard the call of nature and heeded it, then went back to my tent (which was an adventure to find in the dark even with a flashlight) and tried to sleep. I couldn't, so I pulled out my cell phone and checked for messages. There were two. One was from a well-wisher, Laura. The other was the Aquaman on Smallville message from Eric, which I reported here. It was difficult to sleep after hearing that, but eventually I faded out.