Day 1 started with an inspirational opening ceremony which saw testimonies from survivors as well as family and friends of survivors. As always it was a timely reminder of why we do what walk: to support survivors, their friends and families; to ccontinue to raise awareness; and to raise funds that go towards research, improved treatments and community programmes. Walking 60 miles is nothing compared with fighting breast cancer or losing someone to that disease.

We walk for excellent reasons. We walk despite what we endure to walk. That said, the organizers of these walks usually choose excellent routes through the cities which help to captivate the walkers and motivate us to push through to the end of each day.

My prelude post to this one noted a bit of pre-event anxiety about the challenge of 60 miles in 3 days and excitement about walking in Boston. At the end of 20 Komen miles on day 1 (such miles do not include walking through pit stops, grap and go’s, lunch, national historic sites and more) I had in reality walked over 22 real miles. I even had a burst of energy around Komen mile 17 and increase my speed until I finished (I think it was the peanut butter and jelly graham cracker sandwich). I walked faster over those last 3 miles than I had at any other time during the day. Yet though I was tired, I was not exhausted. I was well hydrated and feeling good. I just needed to do the basic preparations (hot shower, foot soak, short walk, good dinner, short walk, foot soak, Aleve) to get ready for day 2. This assured me that my training over the past two months or so worked. Day 2 will confirm if this is observation is well supported or merely fallacy.

So the walk. It was great catching up with my friend and team leader who I have not seen for about 2 years. It was nice to meet new team members and get to know them a bit. We enjoyed each others’ company and had many laughs during the first 17 miles (… burst of speed). Walking through Boston was wonderful. I have not walked a lot in Boston and walking through most of the areas was a new experience for me. Boston captures so much of the early history of the US and its mix of historic and modern buildings, as well as extensive waterfront areas make for a beautiful city. The national historic sites that I had the opportunity to visit, albeit in drive-by-like fashion, was the icing on my proverbial cake. Of course I couldn’t help but take photos. Here is a selection of them. Captions will come later.

I’ll be stepping light and walking fast … ish on day 2!