Raincharm’s Weblog

Let’s see. The walking would seem to be the easy part. Training over the last few months was sometimes sporadic, but got serious at the end and I thought I was ready.

 

Starts with a sleepover. This was not really all that necessary, but it saved Carl from an early morning wake-up and drive to the eastside. Since he has booked several cheering type support activities over the next three days, the least I can do is let him sleep in to his regular time.

 

Our team, the Pink Flamingoes had five members. (Yes, spelled incorrectly by a sixth member that spelled it wrong on the application, and then dropped out of the walk. So I decided it was really supposed to be Flamin-goes, sort of a walking thing. Then I noticed I managed to spell it Flaming on my badge – I think I got interrupted.) Back to the team – I had only met three of the four others. One I know well – co-worker, the second is a friend of hers – restaurant manager, the third a friend of the second – teaches wine making at a local college, and the fourth an acquaintance of the third – another restaurant manager. Four of us managed to get our “luggage” onto the appropriate luggage truck (H) and rendezvous at the opening ceremony.

 

There were 3200 women and a few men converging at the opening ceremony, and we use our flamingo hats as a way to readily find each other among all of the pink people. The fifth flamingo was nowhere to be found and because we had not met her she did not have her flamingo hat to help us out.

 

After some group stretches, moments to think about what it is all for and inspiring words, we are off. Well some are off. It takes quite some time to get 3200 people through the starting gate and onto the path. And it is also rush hour in the middle of a city (Bellevue for the northwest oriented), so there are stoplights to wait for, etc. Anyway, it takes awhile to really be on the way, and then it is much like being in a parade – hurry up and wait. And don’t even think about your favorite walking pace, it just isn’t going to happen for a while, until after a few pit stops when people get spread out a bit. Speaking of pit stops. The start was slow enough that we took advantage of the starting line of outhouses, even after we had gotten through the official Goes gate.

 

So we are off, and walking as four flamingos with a fifth wandering by herself. Since we availed ourselves of the outhouses at the start, we were able to just grab food at the first pit stop. [There is a pattern to the walk – outhouse, water, food, WALK, outhouse, water, food, WALK, and sometimes, food, water, outhouse.] Skipping the outhouses at the first pit stop is a good strategy for getting out of the parade and into some space, and avoiding really long lines that are at the first pit stop (because of all of the slowness at the start).

 

At the second pit stop we make telephonic contact with our fifth flamingo. She is a few minutes behind us, so we elect to wait and bring the fifth into the fold. She is finally hatted appropriately, and a true flamingo. Off we set, with a new bird to get to know. Lunch – nice to stop and change our socks at a beautiful park in the heart of Bellevue’s downtown. Rey calls – what timing, except that I cut the call short to eat.

 

Off again. It is about now that we find we have two different speeds going. Two of our flock are basically fast walkers, as we found on our training walks. Our fifth flamingo has some blister issues and is a bit slower. I take off trailing the fast twosome, and soon we are in two/three groups. The fast ones don’t know I am trailing them for some time. I was not sure this was my best option as I could burn myself out for Day 2 and 3, but what the heck – see what the body can do.

At one point I happened upon a woman who looked in pain, and alone, so I stopped and stayed with her for a bit. She had some nerve thing going on in her leg. The medics had her do some stretches at lunch that had relieved the pinch/pain, but it had returned. Some of her team caught up to us, and I left her in their capable and caring hands. At the next pit stop (outhouse and water for me) I found the fast duo waiting for me. So off I continued.

 

Compared with 2007, the first day of 2008 was slow. A larger group, slow start, and the numerous traffic lights to contend with continuously in Bellevue made it just slow. Except for the start it was never mall-walking speed, but … Finally reached camp. Find the bags, find a tent, find our space, set up tent – Shelley, my tentmate arrived during set-up, bonus. She reported that our fifth flamingo was even tenting in a different area (time of sign-up difference). We all got together for the evening’s entertainment.

 

Night 1: Food, Water and Karaoke. Well – limited Karaoke. 10-12 walkers that signed up earlier. A trio of judges choose the top three to compete the next night for the Rock Star pin. Nobody was totally embarrassing. A group of three provided their own words to “Lady Marmalade” (Christina Aguilera).

The chorus is all I can remember well enough to reprint, and it was complete with dance moves.

“Got to get your mammogramma,

Got to get your mammogram,

Got to get your mammogram,

Got to give your sisters a squeeze.”

It was hilarious, and they earned a standing ovation and a return trip to night two.

The other two that moved on were just really talented singers.

 

Time for bed (9 PM is lights out). A few notable events. First, Shelley & I were heading for the outhouse row and she jumped about one foot up and two feet sideways – “Snake!” Now, it was dark enough to have our headlamps on, and grassy, and there was a shape in the grass. Upon closer inspection it turned out the snake in the grass was just a stick. I almost wish she had really screamed (I have seen her have this reaction to snakes before), because we had just passed a cop patrolling the campground. I bet he would have come running. Second, snorers. There was one in close enough proximity to be well heard. Luckily for me, snoring does not keep me awake. I think it is actually soothing. But all the others with me said it continued through the entire night. Third, which made the snoring a moot point, was the concert going on in the park. Some sort of rappish music. Carl said is was F____ (don’t remember the name) of Jamacian descent, although it didn’t strike me of much of anything except repetetive. Not exactly soothing. But tired as we were we all got some sort of sleep. I also had the middle of the night call of nature. Cold, damp/dew, but I won’t sleep well if I don’t take action. So – off with a few others at 3:30 AM to find the nearest outhouse. Now this is fun camping.

 

Day two

Walk – We split into two groups from the start – fast and slower, only this time I went slower. It is not really slow, just slower than fast. Our fast duo finished 20 miles in the top 160 (they count to keep track, not as a finishing spot). Our three wended our way through Redmond and Kirkland, following along. The Kirkland Hill was notable, an average grade of over 5% for almost 2 miles – It was great. At the top of the hill was a cheering station – the number of people that turn out to cheer you on is always amazing. Just off of the cheering station our fifth flamingo announced she wanted to stretch at the corner. I noticed a rail fence that would be good for the task and redirected us to the side of the road. Of course, what I had not noticed, but the others did, was the pile of horse shit just on the other side of the fence. We did manage to move about 20 feet down the fenceline and actually stretch, all the while laughing uproariously to the bemusement of other walkers. To our further laughter a few others decided to stretch there as well, and ended up right in the same spot we had started. Returning to the sea of pink tents by late afternoon was a relief.

 

Night 2: The Karaoke finals were another round of great music, with a member of the Seattle Women’s Chorus taking home the coveted pin. (Important stuff this competition) The remaining hour was spent dancing – yes even me. It apparently uses different muscles. Then off to bed. I think they just try to get you so tired that you can’t help but fall asleep.

 

General memories: The Cowbelles from Texas cheering us on in full cow regalia, Flamingos from Florida (aka Peg’s Legs), and a wave of pink in front and behind. Showers in a truck. Rows and rows of outhouses. They even put pictures and jokes and quotes in them to keep your mind off the fact that you are in a port-a-potty. Carl’s daily supply of a diet Coke for Shelley. All the people along the route that give you a thumbs up. And especially those that greet you as you pass their homes saying they are a survivor and thank us for raising money for research so more don’t have to be “survivors”. [1 in 8 women will get the diagnosis. One of my supporters, that I had seen earlier this year, had received the diagnosis between our visit and my request.]

 

Day 3: This starts with a bus ride into Seattle – groan. Not the ride, but the hour wait in line to get on the bus. [For a really well run event, this was a low point.] We finally got started, out in two groups again – to meet deadlines for people along the route. Started through my neighborhoods. Arboretum, Green Lake, Lake Union, Pike Place Market, Sculpture Garden, Seattle Center. Bonus for the slow start – not a long wait at the end. And the end is spectacular – the walk into the Seattle Center is just an emotional hug – so many people cheering and yelling at you.

 

Then we walk into the stadium. Carl calls this part the Estrogen Bomb. I am amazed at the number of people in attendance, and more inspiring words – all to the goal of Finding a Cure and No More Breast Cancer. 3200 walkers – $8.6 Million dollars raised. WOW

 

Most frequently asked question – will I do it again? Maybe. Next year Seattle’s walk is in October. It sounds darker and colder and probably wetter. Still, I can be tough. But wait – what about … Michigan? It’s a thought, just a thought at this point.

 

1 week later I attempt to play soccer. The first five minutes provide an immediate reminder of the last weekends exploits. The bottoms of my feet are killing me. Cleats mean points instead of the nice continuous regular shoe bottom, and we are playing in dirt, wet dirt. Footing is interesting by everyone’s standards. By the end of the game, the foot bottoms soreness has faded from the primary complaint to just plain tired, and feeling slow. [By the way – we lost, but W-L is not why I play. I play to keep moving and playing as a team can be fun and it motivates me to keep moving during the rest of the week.]

 

As Ashlan said, “If you made it through this – it was your choice.” Thanks for listening. And thanks to Carl for his great support. He made 4 of the 5 Cheering stations with treats (strawberries and blueberries) and the finale, including picking up Shelley’s and my luggage and toting them back to the car before the closing ceremony. It basically consumed his weekend as well, and he is a great sport – wearing a pink hat, toting a blowup flamingo, and punching traffic light crossing buttons in one case. He said so many people thanked him for that small action, thinking he was a volunteer. (He really was, just not official.) Here I go again.

It was kind of a grey day today, after many, many sunny days in a row.
So I decided to try a different sort of exercise that I hadn’t done all summer – elliptical, or walking in place.
It had been long enough that I had forgotten most of my pre-workout ritual
Music or News, stretch a little by riding the bike first, maybe a book.
So I just start “walking”.

Since I don’t have my usual diversions from the sweat machine I started staring at the little readouts that cover the front.
I was focused on trying to see if there was a pattern in the last digit of the “calorie counter”. Even, even, odd, odd, odd, even, even, even, even, odd, odd, odd, etc, etc, etc
That was good until it hit 100. Then no more decimals to follow.
So on to the next thing – comparing the last digit of the calories with the last digit of the distance. Try to guess when they will match and if they will change to the next number together.

Hey – it beats prime numbers in my numb brain.

I can walk all day and just glow, but 20 minutes of “aerobic #2” and I am sweating. But it was good to use some slightly different muscles. Hopefully it will help me be ready for soccer season, since I haven’t played all summer. Well there was one game with Ashlan’s team in my walking shoes after a five mile training walk.

I know machines are not for all, but it does provide a quick, aerobic workout that feels good after work.

Getting back to reality has not been easy for me this year.
When you are on the 3-day you are in a cocoon of sorts.
Everything is focused on the walk – food so you can walk, drink so you can keep walking, hanging out with walkers and crew, dancing with walkers and crew, sleeping (or trying to sleep) with walkers, being cheered on as a walker, … and you don’t know what is going on in the rest of the world – like sports, teacher strikes or hurricanes.

Going back home has been focused on trying to reorient my body – sleep and begging for foot rubs.
Going back to work has been focused on trying to stay focused. I am still tired.

I want to tell you all about the walk, at least the highlights – but that will need to wait for another day or two (or 3?)

24 hours have passed since I went to sleep after finishing the 60 miles.
I went to work today, and was not the most focused I have ever been – tired mind and tired eyes.
But it was all worth it.

Our team of 5 all finished (for a t-shirt!), even though one of us had blisters pretty badly.
Weather was fantastic – cold and foggy at night and in the morning (probably mid-50’s), and mid to high 70’s by the end of the sunshine. Not a hint of rain. So much for the physical part.

Seattle had 3200 walkers and raised $8.6 Million for breast cancer research.
There were so many stories of women lost, and survivors and some that have been diagnosed as recently as three weeks earlier. 1 of 8 women will have The Diagnosis at some point in their lives.

As the women that walked with me will attest – statistics and analysis – a sign I am an engineer. Even so these are important statistics. Some of my less important statistical suggestions through the weekend. 1) When they Redmond cops handed out bracelets, how many put them on the right wrist, and how many on the left. (I discovered two of my teammates put them on the lanyards around their necks)  2) When you get up in the morning, do you get your food first to your table and then go back for coffee, or do you get the coffee first to warm your hands while  you wait, even though it is hard to carry it all together in the end.

Like I said, I am tired, so I will close with a picture of 3 of us 5 and 2 of us 5 (we kind of spent a good part of the walk as 2 + 3 (fast and slow). Really it was 4 + 1, then 5, then 2 + 3, then 3 + 2, then 5, then 2 + 3 then 5 again. More about this at a later date. Lots of patterns and ways of walking. (I also don’t have a full 5 picture on my camera)

With mom out on the 3-day and living sans computer (GOD FORBID!), she asked me to take over her blogging duties for the weekend.  So you lovely loyal readers are gonna get a new perspective for a day or two.  First though i want to give mom some props because not only is it a great thing that she’s doing, but she also worked soooo hard at it for such a long time.  Not just the physical aspect (which was undoubtedly impressive) but also in getting donations – sending out hundreds of envelopes and keeping at it until she had reached her goal.  I’m really proud of her and hope that she’s having an amazing time.  She totally deserves it.

And now back to me….

favorite family portrait ever.

i don’t really have anything to say, so this post is going to be mostly made up of observations from my desk.  i apologize.  feel free to stop reading, it may in fact be mind-numbing to continue.

richie sexson is staring at me.  which is fine.  i’m not complaining or anything.  just stating a fact.  and for those of you who don’t know i’m talking about the little bobblehead that’s sitting on my desk.  it really looks like him.  uncanny.  my friend lauren says that he looks like a brontosaurus.  i disagree.  i don’t know how a human could possibly look like a brontosaurus.  it’s ridiculous.

a lot of secondhand smoke gets into my room.  it’s annoying.  i live on the second floor and have my window open constantly because the sun starts beaming in here at 10 and does not quit until 4.  so it’s HOT.  and there’s only one small window that can be opened.  i tried to sleep in this morning but once the sun came in i started roasting (the sun comes in even with the curtains closed b/c the curtains themselves are not long enough and my bed is right next to the window).  but don’t worry, i close the window and deal with the heat when there are people smoking outside.  it’s just gross though.

craisins are delicious.  no explanation neccessary.

you know when you decide to watch obama’s appearance on letterman on youtube for the hell of it and then you see in the related videos box some fox news “analysis” video of something and you can’t help but click on it and then after 5 minutes of listening to bill o’reilly and charles krauathammer talk you’re starting to seethe at the mouth and then when you go to the kitchen to get something to eat and cool down (because not only are you angry but your room is boiling) and you start to complain to your roomates they look at you blankly and say “who’s bill o’reilly” and then you remember that you live with canadians and that canadians don’t know jack shit about the politics of their own country let alone yours?  that’s annoying.

Grapefruit flavored airborne = still gross but not as gross as lemon lime.

I won a huge blow up spiderman sledge hammer thing at the fair two weeks ago and it’s sitting in my window for the whole world to see.  jealous much?

Even though it doesn’t really snow much in Vancouver, it’s still quite fitting that they call it the “great white north”.  then again, just “the white north” would probably work fine too…

this picture should be shared with the world.

i apologize for not being very deep and philosophical, but may i remind you that you made a choice to read this.  anyways, this was fun but i don’t think i’ll make a habit of it.  thanks for stickin with me til the end!

love to all, Ashlan

Now – put one foot in front of the other.

Repeat

 Here is our headgear – from last year (same this year)

Should be packing for three days
Have: Started laundry, watched a video of Carl’s promo spot with the Mariners, written three recipes for the girl, written this post, eaten a bowl of noodles, generally avoided what I need to be doing before I go to bed.

So – time to start packing.

But first – try to add video – oops, no VOB type shows in their easy load thing.
Probably need to add to YouTube – never done this, shouldn’t spend time tonight – so – PACK.

Tonight we sat in the “Terrace Club” seats at Safeco Field for tonight’s baseball game. These are more pricey than ours, but they had offered a special where you could just trade your regular tickets for Terrace Club seats for one game – so we did. They were very nice seats, really – they were padded! The view was about directly across from our normal seats, so 180 degrees different. Good to change it up. Carl chatted with our neighbors – a sister of a former major leaguer that Carl had followed and even corresponded with once. Then we found some friends just a short distance away and caught up with them as well.

But my real reference is my own need to adopt a different point of attitude. These last few days I have felt snippy and snipey, and have not always had my filter in good operating order. I am hoping a few hours of sleep will help – so it is time for bed. It had better. I don’t think I can stand myself like this much longer. Time for some wine to quell the whine.

Last night turned into a late night, but not on purpose. Back home after Carl’s game (update from yesterday – they were declared the winner 8-3) Hanging out doing little things with the TV on in the background. End of the news says, “Thanks for staying up with us.” ???
Check the clock – 12:30 – AHHHHH

Off to bed. Up earlyish (not early enough).
Carl makes lunch – try to finish off a chore, take out some recycle, get to work.
Look for yogurt – NO YOGURT – not only that, no lunch at all. Sitting at home on the table (actually back into the refrigerator by then).

Moral – try to get to bed earlier.
Bonus – Carl doesn’t have to make me lunch tomorrow.

Day full of different things for Carl & Jay, but we both ended up a Carl’s baseball game. They are in the playoffs with 1 loss. Another loss and their season is done.

His team got off to a slow start, down 3-0. But a big inning later and they were up and cruising along. Then in the middle of the 8th inning the lights at the field turned off. The moon was only at half strength, not enough to play by.

No idea what the outcome will be. Finish later? Or let the team ahead when the lights went out win?
I am routing for the latter.