Walking for a Cure - The 3Day Part III: Heartbreak Hill

The first day also turned out to be my lowest day for mileage. After marching through parts of NW DC and Georgetown we ended up on Embassy Row--a long slow rising hill that had me wishing for some of the short steep ones we climbed in Georgetown. I had done a little more than 13.5-14 miles by that point and I was slowing down a lot. My walking partner's pace was much faster than mine and I had told her that if she needed to pull ahead, don't worry about me. We setup a pattern of her walking ahead at her own pace then she would stop and stretch while I catch up. It worked pretty well for the first half of the day, but have you ever noticed that it can be a lot harder to slow down your pace to match someone?

Getting to Lunch meant we had done 12.5 miles. When I got up from lunch my ankles really had a few things to say. As we made our way up Embassy Row and the incline just got longer and longer it got harder for my ankles to bend. My partner got quite a ways ahead of me when I had to stop and sit down for a while. To my surprise, she was waiting for me much later when I had finally caught up to her again. By that time I knew I had little choice. My ankles had stiffened up to the point that walking meant shuffling along more than anything else. I wasn't going to get much farther today. I encouraged my partner to continue while I waited for the next Sweep Van to come by...

It didn't take long. The Sweep Van came by within 5 minutes... We saw them frequently from about mile 3 onward. This one was decked out with western themed directions and a saloon door decorating the passenger entrance to the van. The girl who leaned out the window at me said sympathetically, "Are you OK? Do you need a ride?"

Gentle. That would describe every single one of the Sweep Van shotgun riders. They would put down a stool and help you climb into the van being cautious and careful with their every move. First offer would be cool water and next on the list was Chocolate. And finally, just an offer of snacks and reassurance. Like every other member of the Crew we met, Sweep Teams were concerned about your well-being, greatly encouraging and cheerfully kind. "Don't worry, just take a rest. There is still plenty of route to attack later"

And of course, there most certainly was...