Thursday, November 5, 2009

3 Day Walk - 5 Day Recovery





Top Ten Things I Learned the Second Year

1. First year was beginner's luck: Great weather, over-training, wide-eyed innocence, no blisters
2. There's no way of knowing how the events of the preceding year will effect one's ability to experience the 3Day. This year we started in Sand Key in Clearwater Beach and crossed the Clearwater Bridge, passing the Oaks, where the Knuckle lived. Had this route been on last year's walk, she would have been out on the sidewalk with her buddies. This year, she was not.
3. I will never look at someone's scowls or bad temper without asking first, "Could she/he be in pain?" Pain is a great filter and it changes everything. To rise above pain and smile is a mark of great strength, humor and understanding.
4. I don't have those qualities.
5. Yet.
6. Pain makes you paranoid, slows you down and tricks you into thinking it's a reflection of your quality, popularity and intelligence.
7. Pain makes you lonely and retards compassion. It deafens you to applause.
8. No matter how slowly you must walk, there is someone behind you. To reduce your speed to theirs is to hurt yourself further. We must all walk at our own speed.
9. I will love it better next year.
10. Just because it hurt doesn't mean it wasn't a victory.

So, not as magical as year one. Well, what is?
Blisters do heal.
It didn't rain.
The temps weren't always in the 90s.
With just 1,400 walkers (far less than 2008), we raised $4 million.




3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow. That's a whole lot to learn in 3 days...while wearing pink. I'm feeling very lazy and way behind the learning curve here.
But you have given me several new things to ponder. Glad you did it and told us about it. Now, can we go to lunch? Cyn

Sending Pages Out to Dry said...

of course!

sparringK9 said...

so proud of you. yeah - and the second year isnt the new so you dont overlook the hardships. but you got it done.

you know, when you click on your name when you leave a comment somewhere? it takes you back to your profile and you cant see your blog. you need to unhide it in the settings.