I DID IT!!!

In case you missed it - last weekend I walked 60 miles in 3 days.  Can you believe it? I hardly can!!!

Honestly, I have never dedicated myself to a physical activity like I did with the 3-Day.  Besides raising the required $2300 (thank you for all of your help, ladies!!!!), I had to train for months in order to get my body prepared for the endurance it would need to succeed. 

My training started exactly 6 months ago, on February 15. I walked 3.2 miles that day - which seemed so long at the time! Overall, I walked 276 miles in my training - and the hardest weekend was the weekend I walked 18 miles on Saturday and 15 miles Sunday.  I burned calories like crazy, altered my eating to fuel my walks and learned a lot about long-term workouts and nutrition.

There were 1600 walkers in Chicago with me last weekend. Many, however, weren't as dedicated to walking every step as I was.  They were cool taking what's called a Sweeper Van to camp once they got time.  For me, however,  it was about proving something to myself. 

And I did :-)

I officially believe I have what it takes to be an athlete. No one up there knew I used to weigh 195 pounds. For them, this is who I am and they saw me as fit enough to finish the course. Whenever I attempted physical activity in the past, particularly in the heat, people constantly came up to me asking if I was ok (heavy breathing tends to be a sign of issues, I guess). But it wasn't until I was limping on Day Three that someone felt the need to ask me. I guess, I really have come a long way.

When I arrived in Chicago, I was shocked to hear that I would probably GAIN weight from the walk. I was even more shocked when I got home the following Tuesday and realized that they were right - I'd gained a pound!

Weird, right? I didn't believe them when they told me. I figured I knew enough about the right foods to eat to fuel my body correctly without gaining weight. I tracked the foods I was eating at each pit stop along the 22+mile route we walked on Day One. When I found myself with blurry vision and cold in 88-degree weather, I realized I was wrong.

The more I thought about it, however, it more sense it made.

1. I was drinking at least 200 ounces of water each day.
2. I was eating something salty and sweet at every pit stop to fuel my body (though I skipped the potato chips and opted for the pretzels).
3. I ate carb-heavy meals all three days.
4. I didn't have a bm (ahem) after the morning of the first day until Tuesday of this week.
5. My muscles were freaking out by Day 3 - and barely holding me up - I know they were sucking up water faster than Sadie after a 5-mile walk.

Looking at the pictures from each day, I can definitely see my face getting puffier and puffier as the days progressed.  So, it makes sense. I'm just hoping things work themselves out by next Weigh Day.

In the mean time, any cardio activity I've wanted to do this week was put on hold by a slight injury from the 3-Day. My nail beds were extremely sensitive after all that walking. When my friend's dog jumped on my foot, I nearly lost my toenail! As it is, the nail bed is very bruised and I am only just now able to walk on it without limping.