Our3Day.com

The past two weekends in a row Nikki and I have gotten up early Saturday morning to attend the Dallas and Frisco training kickoffs for the 2010 Komen 3-Day for the Cure. I have new pictures and stories to share, but I am still heartbroken that so many of our posts from 2008 are gone forever due to a blog-upgrade gone wrong. I am happy that she had posted this to her MySpace (does anyone even know what that is anymore?) back in the day so that we could retrieve it and repost it this year. I think this is a beautiful entry, and it might just be the inspiration you were looking for. I know it still moves me to read it, and I am so proud that she is my teammate and BFF.

I choose “Life” as the category for this blog, because that’s really what it’s about. Not necessarily MY life, but others’ lives. There are a couple of things going on here. First, let me tell you about my Mom’s friend Donna at work. A couple of weeks ago, Donna’s husband started complaining about being tired and not feeling well. They assumed it was nothing and figured it would go away. Eventually, he started feeling worse, and having other more severe symptoms. They went to the ER, and after quite a few tests, it was determined that he has cancer…of the liver, the pancreas, it had even spread to his intestines. All of this from feeling tired and “not well”. It’s too far gone to treat, and he’s been given just a couple of months. Donna had told my Mom about her disbelief of the situation. Just a week or two ago, they had been sitting on the back porch planning the landscaping for their yard, and now he’s going to be gone in less than two months. The cancer is too advanced to treat. They won’t even try chemotherapy.

Now, I am not telling you this to depress you. I’m telling you this because it woke me up a little. Despite the things that I have heard, seen, and read in the past couple of months since signing up for the Breast Cancer 3 Day, it never occurred to me how quickly cancer can steal a life. I’ve heard of the treatments that these women endure and how hard it is on their bodies, but I had never considered those treatments not even being an option. What do you do when all you have is a little time, and then it’s done? How does a mom with small children explain to them that she might not see the end of their school year, their next birthday, or Christmas? Now I feel like I TRULY understand the need for early detection. What could the difference have been if this had been discovered two months ago?

Yesterday was the official kickoff for training walks for the 3 day in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Laurie and I went down to University Park, which is a beautiful old neighborhood near SMU. We joined about 150 other women who were there to kick off their training with a 4 mile walk. It was incredible to see the people that turned out. There were young women, middle age women, older women, husbands, brothers, survivors, supporters… We started our walk through the neighborhood at the New Balance store (they’re an official outfitter/sponsor for the walk) and wound through the gorgeous neighborhood. The sidewalks were well shaded by the old trees, and the houses were absolutely incredible. Along the way, neighbors and kids came out to wave to us and clap for us. Some even thanked us. The sidewalks had been decorated with encouraging phrases (like, “YOU ROCK!”), arrows, and pink ribbons.

There was a “cheer station” where supporters were waiting to greet us with candy, give us stickers and cheer us on. There were cars that honked and waved as they drove by. At the finish line, we were greeted with even more cheering and high fives!

I knew all along that this was a good cause, and that this was a wonderful thing to do. I guess I just hadn’t really felt it as much as I did yesterday. Being around all those other women, many of which have beat the disease, really drove this home for me. I can’t wait for the big event now. I can’t wait to meet more incredible people with amazing stories.

My feet are sore, and my legs a little achy today, but that’s nothing compaired to what some of the other women there have been through. I’m just grateful to be healty enough to be able to make this journey. Next year, there may be more survivors walking, because of what we are doing this year. THAT makes sixty miles soooooo worth while, despite the horror stories of blisters and swollen feet we’ve heard. I’ll take some blisters for the team! We really are going to make a difference, one that we will remember for rest of our lives.

Love,
Nikki

The last of the 24 week training kickoffs ended in DFW this weekend, but there are more at the 16 week training interval. I highly recommend that you attend one. These are the closest things to experiencing the actual event (in an ultra mini dose, of course). Check the 3-Day calendar to find events scheduled in your area. It’s a great way to get motivated, inspired, and involved.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 22nd, 2010 at 9:24 pm and is filed under Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.