Confessions of a Former Drag Queen

Again, we were up before the dawn. Dr. George had instructed Mad to ice her leg last night and make sure to come to the Medical Tent first thing this morning. We were at the camp at 6:30 and in the tent at 7!

Here's Mad, waiting for Dr. George.

And here is Mad WITH Dr. George (who, by the way, I am in love with - his wife and kids notwithstanding. . . ) . Dr. George carefully examined Mad's calf and made the decision that she could walk (thank goodness - I was terrified he would send her home!) on the condition that she 1. get taped; and 2. LISTEN to her body. We were told we needed to walk AND use the sweep vans, so that she could give her leg some rest.

So we walked and swept - walking more than sweeping, all morning.

At the 2nd pit stop, I again confirmed my feet were not visually on fire, but on the off chance they were invisibly on fire, I rested them on a bag of ice for a while. It was sheer heaven, let me tell you.

We were thrilled to see Mad's Aunt Cooky at the first cheer station! We weren't expecting her, which made it extra cool to see her there, just waiting for a quick hello. It was so kind of her to take the time to stand and wait and watch for us. We really appreciated it!!

Check out this guy - he is walking ALL of the 3 days! Seriously. All 15 3 day events. I believe he is currently driving to Denver. If you are of a mind, he needs some fundraising help - go to 3day.me for more on his story.

Lunch's sandwich was soggy (mass produced food ain't easy). As such, I had Cheez Its and hummus. It was fabulous!

Here's what lunch time looked like. Because we utilized the sweep van, we had time to go to Medical, me for my calf, and Mad for her back. Mad got her first chiropractic adjustment, which she thought was weird - but effective. I was seen for this shooting pain in my calf. I was shocked, truly SHOCKED!! to discover that my muscle was hurting because of OVERUSE!! WHAT? REALLY?? 45 miles in, and my calf muscle was objecting to over use? Well, now. . .

We iced at the next pit stop as well. This pit stop was really important because our plan was not to use any more sweep vans. The next 7 miles were all for walking, if things went the way we planned.

Here we are walking in Mounds Park. We had just been replenished by Starbucks, courtesy of Mad's Dad, who was kind enough to take our orders, get the coffee, then stand on the route and fend off multitudes of walkers who also wanted our coffee while waiting for us to arrive. It was delicious. Fortified, we started the final 2 miles.

Only a mile to go when we came across this sign. I love it. I am so proud of Mad for all her hard work. She was such a trooper. She totally could have skipped this last day, with the perfect justification, but she plowed on, determined to finish what we started.

This guy was a source of inspiration throughout the walk. He was so cheerful and encouraging. His wife walked. Their kids showed up yesterday in the cheering section. Thank you Mullet Pig Guy!! You made it easier. Really.