Only three days now until Wednesday, when I'll set out, with all of you behind me in spirit, for Door County. I'll have lunch with my father in Eau Claire, spend Wednesday night in Wausau, wander around a bit in nearby Rothschild, which I called home from the last two years of high school through college, maybe climb Rib Mountain (ha!) and pull into Alpine Resort in Egg Harbor on Thursday afternoon. Let the party begin! Our team of eleven, six of us new this year, is going out to dinner together to start getting acquainted. More meet 'n' greet festivities await us back at Alpine. Day One dawns bright and early Friday - we depart on shuttle buses for the first day's 20-mile walk at 7:25 AM.
I've logged 805 miles since mid-March, which is more than during any other of the ten seasons I've been doing Challenge Walk. Although Challenge Walk has always been in September, I've never before done a Challenge Walk at the end of June as well; hence the extreme mileage. No wonder my custom orthotics are showing the wear. On the other hand, I've not had the opportunity, at least not since March, to train in weather like we're most likely to get, which is lows in the 30s, highs in the 50s, and probably some rain. My theory on packing at the moment is just to throw everything into the suitcase that I might possibly need!
Challenge Walk Door County will probably be a once in a lifetime experience for me, so I intend to enjoy and be inspired by the people I meet, gawk at the fall colors and scenery, and generally have the time of my life. After the extreme brutal heat of Challenge Walk Twin Cities at the end of June, I and many others vowed never to do another summer Challenge Walk. The MS Society got the message, and next year's Twin Cities event will be back in September where it belongs.
If you're interested in seeing our daily route maps, here are the links:
Friday: http://challengewig.nationalmssociety.org/site/DocServer/Friday.pdf?docID=57605
Saturday: http://challengewig.nationalmssociety.org/site/DocServer/Saturday.pdf?docID=57607
Sunday: http://challengewig.nationalmssociety.org/site/DocServer/Sunday.pdf?docID=57609
Patience! These may take a while to load. The little numbers along the route are the mile markers.
Be watching for one last post-event post (sorry, couldn't resist) when I return that will include a link to my Door County photos. Until then, thank you for all that your support means to me personally and to the fight to end MS forever. We're now $12,182 closer to that goal.
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