Where do I begin?  There is so much to tell about this past weekend, but I am not sure my brain is ready to start processing it for sharing yet.  Still, if I don't share now, I will start forgetting little details.  But I feel a little like I told misshap how I felt after the first time I saw Dances With Wolves in the theater...I couldn't talk to anyone for at least an hour afterwards.  My brain and my heart and my entire being were so affected by that movie, I was unable to produce a cohesive sentence that did not include blubbering.  I don't necessarily feel like I will blubber now, but you get the idea.

The short version is that my long weekend in Chicago walking in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer was one of the most fun, memorable, moving, and inspirational weekends I have ever had.  Walking with misshap and my friend Maria and meeting mostlymopar, wendyinchicago and tess as well as the Hapster and assorted other friends and relatives of misshap was amazing -- everyone was as sweet, generous, and friendly as could be, and truly made me feel like a part of the family.  I learned a lot about the great city of Chicago and gained a new appreciation for its beauty, community spirit, and abundance of cultural experiences...and great food!  Can't forget the food!  I am so glad that I talked my friends into signing up for the Chicago walk last September in Long Beach, and even though only Maria followed through and did it with me, she was the one I most wanted to join me in Chicago.

In some ways this walk was much more difficult than the Los Angeles (Long Beach) walk last year.  For example:

• I didn't train as well as last year
• It was much more humid than I'm used to (80% instead of 8%)
• There was constant threat of rain
• I was in a time zone two hours off from mine and operating on little sleep
• It was difficult to get donations after having just fundraised 9 months ago
• There were 3,600 walkers (as opposed to 1200 in LA) making the crowds and lines longer
• I didn't train as well as last year

Yeah, that training thing deserves two mentions, because it is the reason I got such sore muscles this time around.  My feet actually fared much better -- only two small blisters instead of the four biggies I got in 2006.  The humidity on Saturday was pretty brutal, plus we were all carrying extra weight in ponchos and jackets because of the looming rain clouds.  It rained pretty much the entire weekend  except for the hours we were walking!  I did the math -- between 6:30pm Friday (at dinner it poured) and 6:30pm Sunday (it started raining the minute we got to our hotel) it rained on and off for about 24 of the 48 hours.  We walked for about 19 of the 24 dry hours, so you can't tell me that someone wasn't watching out for us!

I arrived at Midway airport on Friday afternoon and proceeded to do what seemed perfectly logical and natural to me but what was apparently quite astonishing to some of the less citified girls -- I took the train downtown and then switched at The Loop to another train out toward O'Hare where I was rescued collected by misshap and one of her girlfriends who was part of our group.  We headed over to registration to hook up with Maria, and all this time it was very unlikely that misshap's training partner would be able to walk.  Her dad had been in ICU on a vent all week, and we really did not expect her to join us.  We all knew that misshap was feeling heartsick about this, both for her friend as well as for the months and months of dedicated training they had shared in anticipation of the event.  Her third girlfriend whose mom had just died earlier in the week was also most likely not going to make it, although we found out later that she had shown up at registration to turn in her donations and get a wrist band just in case -- only hours after burying her mom.  Now, that's dedication, whether you walk or not!

After getting our goodie bags and shopping for a variety of pins, bracelets, and pink ribbon doodads, we headed off to a very cool Italian place for carb loading and a meet-up with misshap's sister who is my hero for the incredible job she did as our hostess, chauffer, cheerleader, and all around go-fer.  She housed us Friday and Saturday nights where we rested our weary bones and recharged for the walk, including kicking her beautiful and polite kids out of their rooms.  She shuttled us all over the place, picked up stuff we were tired of carrying along the route, delivered jackets or changes of attire when needed, and made us feel like rock stars.  My other hero is mostlymopar who jockeyed cars and luggage around to make all of our transitions easier, and besides that is a really, really nice guy.

At the last minute Friday night, misshap's training partner showed up to stay over and walk with us on Saturday, and there was much jubilation over her arrival.  The five of us walked the entire 26.2 miles together on Saturday, with a very brief stop at mile 18 to meet up with tess and wendyinchicago along with misshap's hubby and son.  It was their 28th wedding anniversary, and I think we were all so tired that we did not do justice to the occasion.  By the time we reached the finish (12:18 after we started), we were really looking forward to the mini back and foot massages we had been promised by the Avon folks.  Sadly, the personal massage therapists we envisioned were instead chairs with Homedics back massage pads and electric foot massagers, most of which were broken by the time we arrived.  We did get some fluffy pink socks and a vigorous pummeling by the back massagers, and then a hearty dinner which most of us were too exhausted to do more than pick at.  After enjoying a bit of the "Fireside Follies" (various announcements followed by a very loud live band), our shuttle van arrived to take us back home for a hot shower and immediate collapse.  I know I slept like a log, and I think everyone else did too.

You've heard from snuggs about the situation with misshap's feet on Sunday.  Let me tell you, those were some monstrous blisters, and most people would not have considered continuing to walk.  Maria had some pretty gnarly ones going too, but we all bandaged and lubed our feet and headed back to the walk, this time minus misshap's two friends who had to attend to family issues on Sunday.  The weather was pretty delightful on Sunday, a welcome change from the previous day's heat and humidity.  Throughout the walk, we got such a varied taste of Chicago that I felt as if I had seen the whole city in representative bites.  From the quaint neighborhoods filled with interesting old red brick bungalows to the lakeshore to the city streets lined with skyscrapers to the urban neighborhoods of long flats and apartments to the immense variety of parks and forests, it was a sampling that any Chicagoan would be proud of.  Not only that, but everywhere we went, there was an incredible display of community support that overwhelmed even the most jaded of us.  I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it was even better than LA, and that is saying something.  The Avon Walk crew did their usual outstanding job of taking care of us, making sure we were hydrated, fed, supported and encouraged.

Misshap basically tip-toed the entire 13.1 miles on Sunday since her heels were so sore from the blisters.  She is a superhero!  She finally decided to have her biggest blister lanced a few miles from the finish, and of course the two germophobes (me and Maria) had to point out that the needle used appeared to be of the multi-use (sans sanitizing) variety.  I'm sure with the all-day porta potty use, city grime, sweat and general grunge, that was the least of our concerns.  But still....eww!  I made it through the entire 39.3 miles unscathed, and then gashed my leg on a rusty iron tent stake at the closing ceremonies.  Now I have to get a tetanus shot!  Unbelievable. 

The Chicago walk set new records for Avon both for participation and money raised, but for me it set a new record for a spectacularly good time spent with friends old and new doing something that is not only fun, but supports a truly worthy cause.  If there is an Avon Walk in your city, I encourage you to check it out and either walk, crew, volunteer, or just get out there and cheer the walkers on.  You have no idea the smiles you will make and the spirits you will lift!

I have not done a very good job of keeping my Avon Walk blog up to date this year...I apologize.  Part of the reason is I have not been as gung ho about my training as I was last year.  I'm not concerned about the walk, because I feel like I have done an adequate job of training (or adequite as Lindsay Lohan would say)...just not a stellar job like my good buddy misshapavonwalk has done.  At this point, it is what it is and all I can hope is that I don't get any blisters! 

I leave Friday morning on a 6am flight for Chicago -- wish me luck!

With the walk rapidly approaching on June 2-3, there are only 4 weekends left to train.  My training is nowhere near where I was last year at this time, but I am strangely serene and unbothered by that.  I don't know if it is just a general state of apathy or if I recognize that I'll do fine even if I don't kill myself training.  Aside from a couple of blisters, I had no difficulty at all last year during the LA walk.  I will put those remaining four weekends to good use, and I'm sure everything will be fine in Chicago.

I got in just over 31 miles this week, including a 10 mile walk today.  I can't believe how much having that silly iPod helps!  It cuts the monotony-effect down to a fraction of what it was.  I have been walking with Mr. Labs during the week when he is home, so that is an added bonus.  He used to complain that I walked too fast for him, but now I am the one scrambling to keep up with him! 

I'm getting really excited about meeting up with misshap in Chicago and meeting her walking buddies.  Less than 5 weeks to go!

Like I mentioned before, we have had strange weather so far this spring.  One thing we always have around here is wind -- the valley is named for it, in fact.  But most times of year, the wind doesn't really start to pick up until 1 or 2pm.  Lately it's been whipping up before noon, so walking in the morning has been an exercise in getting finished before the wind kicks up.  Otherwise, it becomes a much more arduous and unpleasant task.  Did I mention the other day that not only my hat but my earphones kept getting blown off?  That and the dust exfoliation of my face are almost enough to keep me indoors.

Today I managed 7 miles before the winds settled in, but just barely.  As I made my final approach to the house, I could see the dust clouds swirling across the valley, and by this afternoon at my son's t-ball game, it was brutal.  My total is 20.5 miles for the week so far, and if the weather holds up, I will walk again tomorrow.

My donations are finally starting to post that I sent in to the Avon Walk.  I had to laugh when I checked my total today -- $1444.19.  What?  It would seem that the $50 donation from my Canadian friend equated to $44.19 US.  I'm not sure if I've seen a fundraising total with cents before. 

This week has been Mother Nature's chance to laugh at all of us mere mortals, telling us, "Ha!  You think you can tell *me* when winter is over???  You fools thought it was safe to plant flowers just because I let you enjoy 80 degree weather a few weeks ago?  Ha!"  Last year we got our last memorable snowfall on Easter.  This year, good old Mother Nature seems to be trying to one-up herself.  In the span of one week, we've had gorgeous 70's with clear blue skies, gale force winds, dust storms, hail, and snow.  Kinda makes it hard for a girl to map out a consistent training plan!

Still I'm up to 13.5 miles for the week, nothing close to misshap's standards, but with a good walk tomorrow, it should be a respectable week.  I had planned on 5 miles this morning, but my walk was interrupted by a guy looking for his lost black lab.  I asked him the dog's name and where he lived, and continued on my way.  Sure enough, about a half mile later, I spotted Raider (must be football fans) scampering between houses, sniffing and peeing on every green thing in his path as well as most things that weren't.  He looked *exactly* like Abe!  After a few tries, I succeeded in getting him to come to me and started trying to lead him back toward his home.  I realized how well-trained Abe is and how accustomed I am to a dog that will heel even when not on a leash!  Our path toward his home took a crazy zig-zag pattern that probably quadrupled the actual mileage, but I eventually got him back home.  His owner was very appreciative, although I grumbled to myself as he told me how often this happens (then why do you keep leaving him out without a fenced yard?).  By this point, I was so far off my intended route, I just turned back toward home, shaving about 1.5 miles off my walk.  Oh, well...a shortened walk is better than a lost dog, no good deed goes unpunished, and all that stuff.