Day 0My journey started on the 20th of November. I just finished packing my bags at 6:30am and was getting ready to catch my 9:30am flight. My friend Shawn showed up just as I was getting antsy to go and took a shortcut to the airport. Upon getting to my gate I noticed three women sitting together talking and one of them was wearing a Breast Cancer 3-Day t-shirt. This is when I met Laurie, Sarah, and Lisa, three fellow Seattle-ites who were going down to do this event. I chatted with them a while as we waited to board our flight, making arrangements to share a cab down to the Orientation once we got to San Diego. As we boarded the plane, we noticed other women sitting around us were talking about the 3-Day. Amazing, we were surrounded by people from Seattle going down to participate. We all talked about how much (or little) we trained and how nervous and excited we were. As the plane reached cruising altitude we all grew quiet and grabbed some sleep knowing what was ahead of us. As we touched down in San Diego, we all stretched and gathered our belongings. After we get to baggage claim and, well, claimed our baggage, we parted ways promising to "See you at orientation!" or "I'll be seeing you on the route!" Laurie, Sarah, and I then headed out to find ourselves a taxi. As soon as we went outside we all rejoiced in the warmth of the southern California sunshine, having just left a cold and snowy Seattle 3 hours before. We jumped into the first cab we saw (note: literal jumping inside of cabs is frowned upon and could lead to a stern talking to) and headed off to the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Who knew I would have to give the driver directions. Once we get there, the excitement takes over. We're greeted by hundreds of other walkers and smiling crew members as they politely point the way. We drop off our bags and head over to watch the orientation video. I was expecting a tear jerking and emotionally inspiring video but I instead it did a good job in scaring the bejeebies out of me. Oh sure, there were heartfelt moments that made me a little misty. There were lighthearted moments too, like when we learned our motto was "No Whining!" as was our theme song and rallying cry. But then came the ominous part of the video. "Make sure to drink plenty of water AND sports drink because otherwise...YOU COULD DIE!" Okay, dehydration and hyponatremia are pretty serious and in extreme cases could lead to death, I'll make sure to drink lots of fluids. "While you walk you're body will be sweating and losing sodium. If you only drink water it will dilute the amount of sodium in your body, only making it worse and causing you to...DIE!" Okay, okay, I get the point. "If you don't have to pee at every pit stop, that means you aren't drinking enough, which means...YOU COULD DIE!" Hmmm...I wonder if there is any risk of dying doing this... "While you're walking, make sure you pay attention to your surroundings. We'll be crossing busy streets and going through neighborhoods. If you aren't careful you could trip and fall, run into something, or...DIE!" Geez, enough with this already. Who knew walking was so dangerous? "Just remember, hydrate and STAY ALERT, STAY ALIVE!" Well that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. At that point I was ready to get signed in and get going to my hotel. We all headed off to the check in area where we got our tent assignments, handed over our medical waivers, and turned in any last minute donations we may have had. I then jumped on a bus to head over to the lovely Courtyard by Marriott in Solana Beach. On the bus is where I met Angie, Dee Dee, Nancy, Ginger, and Carrie. Once we get to the hotel we noticed the Courtyard by Marriott isn't as lovely as we expected. The lobby is gutted as they're in the middle of remodeling and once I got to my room I noticed the construction being done on the other side of the wall from me. It was about 2:30 in the afternoon when I got to my room and I was dying for something to eat. I didn't feel like straying very far from the hotel so I decided to wait until the restaurant next door opened at 4:00 to order some takeout. While I waited I decided to watch Oprah and some weird behind the scenes for a Looney Tunes movie. It couldn't be 4:00 soon enough. Once it was time, I called over and ordered a chicken parmagian dinner so I could get my protein and carbs in one meal. I also walked next door to the convenience store to load up on Gatorade. The clerk in the store greeted me with a, “How's it goin' big guy?” I answered that I was doing pretty well but I really wanted to let him in on the dangers of not drinking enough sports drink. I refrained and went back to my room, where I proceeded to pound 32 ounces of lemon lime goodness to make sure I was nice and hydrated and full of electrolytes for tomorrow, because as the video earlier in the day taught me...I COULD DIE! So, I thought since this room was nicely outfitted with a refrigerator and microwave that it would have some utensils hidden away or that the restaurant would stow some in the bag with my food. I was wrong on both accounts. So that evening I sat at the desk in my room, eating my chicken parmagian and penne pasta dinner with my fingers. At one point, I figured out how to use pieces of bread to act as primitive utensils. But that only lasted until the bread got so soggy with sauce I had to eat it. After finishing my meal I decided to head to bed at 7:30 so I could be up at 4am, giving me enough time to get ready before the bus showed up at 4:45. Ahhh...there's nothing like falling asleep to the sound of hammers and power saws. |