bc3d 2011 - day one

day one theme: fake it to make it.

both meghan and i let our training get sidlined by the massive heatwave that covered most of the country in july... so we were a little worried as we set out on this three-day adventure.  hence the first day's theme - fake it to make it.

brian drove us up to the cities thursday night, since opening ceremonies started at 6:30am.  our hotel was convientely located across the street from the site.

after posing for our traditional "opening ceremonies" photo:

we went and queued up to enter the opening ceremonies pen, because as we learned last year (when we were in the back of the pen) the first in are the first out!  

they play "inspiring music" (i put this in quotes because i guess it depends on how inspiring you find the black eyed peas...) and have beach balls floating around, people are snapping pictures, there's anticipation in the air!

the opening ceremonies were as inspiring and beautiful as they always are.

and then they opened the pen-gates and we filed out to begin our three-day journey.

there are so many people in the crouds cheering us all on - it really is amazing!

(and yes, there are lots of people each year who walk in tutu's.)

right before lunch we walked through the walker art museum's sculpture garden and past minneapolis' iconic cherry on a spoon.

here we are cheesing it up as we enter the lunch site.  

this was my favorite sign they had at lunch time.  ah, root vegetable themed cancer-hating puns... what could be better?

after lunch we walked through downtown minneapolis, which was crowded with workers out to lunch.  it made for good people watching, but for very slow progress.  eventually we made it out of the hustle and bustle of downtown and to the scenic calm of the mill ruins park.

yay meghan!!

yay melissa!  (please note how good i am at "fake it to make it."  that may be my most forced smile ever.)

here's one of the many pit stops and grab and goes along the route.  they're always decked out in fun breast cancer related themes.  this one was all bras.  

we walked and walked and walked some more....

we came to a big bridge...

which crossed the mighty mississippi.

then we walked some more.... and i stoped taking pictures because i was focusing on putting one foot infront of the other.  the last two miles of day one may have been the hardest two miles of the enire weekend.  

but we made it!  yay!!  boarded the bus and headed back for camp.

and now we get a story for which there are no pictures... on the (very bumpy and jerky) bus ride back to camp i got hit with some terrible motion sickness (as i am known to do).  and when we got back to camp i was dizzy and not right at all.  this freaked everyone out, they were worried i was dehydrated (i was not, i had been drinking and peeing at every pit stop like a good little walker).  yet i was very dizzy and nautious, so they sent me up to medical in a gator where i was throuroughly and lovingly checked over by the medics.  once i was feeling back to normal they cleared me to leave.

so we left and went to get our gear and set up our tent.  now i must add that each previous year i've done the walk there have been whispers and rumors about children (girlscouts, boyscouts... the details vary, but the theme is the same) who set up your tent.  well i had heard the rumors but had never been lucky enough to meet these "tent elves."

until this year!

hooray for the highschool hockey boys who carried our gear and the camp angles who set up our tent!  what a wonderful surprise!

and speaking of surprises - thank you susan for my chocolate treat!  it was delicous indeed!!

so once back at camp, we ate dinner, showered, and went to bed.

seriously.  i think we were in bed by 7:30pm.

and thus ends day one.

Comments

[meghan]

even though I lived it I was eagerly awaiting your blog post! thank you for so wonderfully reporting the adventure of the 3day for all of our cancer hating friends! I can't wait for you to post days 2 and 3! AND oddly enough I can't wait to walk again next year! LOVE you! :)

[Kathy]

you guys look awesome. Have you ever mentioned how long it takes to walk 20 miles, typically? I'm curious about that. Because running the marathon at the end was 1/2 about getting through the tired and pain and 1/2 about getting through the boredom and just wanting to be DONE. Love the pics. And I love the elves for taking care of my cancer-hating girls.

Oh, and can I get a close up of the women perched on the nipples of your team shirt?

[cmvs]

wow, what an incredibly exciting day that must have been! pure adrenaline (for the first few miles at least!)
so glad that your dizzy spell wasn't more than that-- i hope you were taking vitamins!
and yay for seeing the tent elves. looks like a fabulous day one!