The Turning Point

Blisters are the most common problem for walkers. Yeah, I know. Big surprise, right? I was very careful to change my socks to keep my feet dry, reapply Glide each time I stopped, etc. But the sheer number of steps in the journey finally started to take its toll. By late morning on Sat, I was starting to get blisters. Not a big deal for me, definitely not a show stopper at all. Just a minor inconvenience really. It meant that along with a 5-10 min rest for my feet, a trip to the bathroom, applying sunscreen and refilling my water and Gatorade, I had to stop at the medical tent each time to put new piece of moleskin on the sore spots on my feet. I saw so many women who had problems much worse than mine plus I was taking Advil every 4 hours anyway so the pain truly was a non-issue.

Lunch time was a turning point for me, both literally and figuratively, despite the fact that I didn’t actually eat anything. Literally, it was the farthest north that we were walking and when we were ready to leave the lunch area, we started back along the rec trail we had walked on all morning.

Mentally, it was a turning point too, which was far more significant for me. I got there at 12:30. That was the 13 mile marker. I had walked 13 miles in just over 5 hours. I had 8.5 miles to go to get back to camp and 6 hours to do it. Even taking into account the fact that fatigue and tired muscles would probably slow down my pace, it was enough time. This was a huge revelation for me. I was overwhelmed by the 22 miles because I didn’t think I could maintain a pace that would allow me to complete 22 miles in 12 hours.

For the first time that day, I began to believe I would do it, that I would complete the 22 miles on my own two feet. Can you imagine what that did to boost my mood?

So I took care of all my stops and sat down for a few minutes to rest my feet and change my socks. I turned on my phone to check in with Dave and Aaron and several friends who were updating other friends of my progress. Each time I would turn on my phone I would find at least half a dozen message of encouragement from friends back here and all over the country. Those messages strengthened me and helped me to know that I was the one taking the steps but I was not walking alone.