Thank you Let’s Move Together and Arthritis Foundation! You were the perfect starting point for me and now I have the fever to do more!
Saturday was a nice, sunny/overcast day for the walk. We got there early, a bit too early. Lots of waiting till things got underway. The kids were bored great. Even though they had to wait lots, tons, one and half hours till I left, they did great! The walk was at Silverdale Waterfront Park and there are lots of toys to play while waiting so they did have fun regardless of their whines. Daddy was kind enough to take them for ice cream while I was off on my walk, so it was ‘worth it’ to them.
When I read the itinerary, it said walk start time was at 11:00 a.m. At 9:45 they began the Tai Chi warm up which was not really a warm up at all. This was followed by dancing the Macarena, (It was fun if you let it be). When the song ended folks started milling about and nothing much was happening. So I headed back to the playground to hang with my family and then all of the sudden the millers grouped and started off. I was like ‘Oh is it time to go???’. It was, I missed the announcement. Well I had been planning on using the loo just prior to departure, this is a must for me, I have given birth and potty stops are very important to me now. So I was surprised that I had not planned this well. I dashed off to the loo and then dashed back to the start line which is now empty of all walkers. I was officially the last one out. But it was a necessary thing. I didn’t let it get me down, my goal wasn’t to finish first, but finish, in under an hour. This was not a race.
Kajika, my sweet and lovely dog, was my partner on this walk and even though she is very friendly to humans she has new dog issues. She does alright around other dogs, but is not so happy when they try to get really friendly in dog fashion. So starting at the back of the pack, (pun intended), was excellent for her to. All the other dogs were ahead of us and she got to have her space. Kajika was so good! Listening to all my commands and learning a new one along the way. There were sidewalks for part of the walk so to pass a group we needed to pass in the street. I had to give her a new command to understand my intent. I would call out to the group “May I pass on your left?’, (To which every group thankfully said Yes and I am sooo glad because I had no idea what to do if they said no!), followed by a quick “Hop Down Kajika”. Once we were safely past the group I gave “Hop Up” and she understood we could regain the sidewalk. Kajika caught on right quick to each new command! Proud momma I am!
Anyway, I digress…We left the Start Line at 10:09 a.m. and I was using a brisk pace, probably not all that brisk for people in real shape, but brisk for me. It was quicker than bus stop pace, (see Day Two). My goal was to pick a pace that I could do the entire way with no slowing down. I pretty much got it right. We reached the half way mark at 10:33 a.m. and had passed quite a bit of the crowd. I wasn’t sure how many we had passed, I wasn’t really paying attention. I just wanted to keep my pace and finish. The half way mark was a just a simple turn around and go back the way you came. They had a case of water should you need a bottle but I was good, I still had my Sigg on me, which to my chagrin I had not drank enough of prior or during the walk as I learned later. We began our journey back at the same pace. Shortly into our return not only was I starting to slow down a bit, but Kajika really started to slow down. She is five years old which makes her about my age so I was like come on girl, come on! She caught back up then I was having a hard time maintaining the pace. A side ache that was small at the one mile mark was now beginning to become noticeable and that wasn’t helping my pace goal. I had to slow down just a bit, about 10 min, drink some water, breathe a bit deeper, but not stop. We were not passing anyone much anymore. At one point I got a pick me up: my Honey and children drove by yelling shouts of “Go Mommy!” and waves! It was really awesome! I got my pace back up! When we got about 3/4 of the way there we passed a few more groups and made it to the finish at 10:53! I was breathing nice and quick, but not hard, had a bit of a sweat and kept up my pace well enough that I was happy with it. My goals had been met!
They handed us tulips for Mother’s Day and High Fives for finishing. I found my family and Grant asks me if I came in first. I was like no way, lots of others were in front of me. He then informed that I actually came back towards the front. Really? How many did I pass? I still have no idea but it’s possible I suppose. I was so happy to have finished and was supported by my family-thanks guys!
My next walk will be May 30 for the Kitsap Humane Society Pets Walk. Now that I have one under my belt, and I know more- I want to do more! I want to go there! I am also toying with the idea of a 10 mile ride for LiveStrong in June…
