Grateful for the Support on My 3 Day Journey!

I could not have made it through the 3 Day experience on my own.  The support from others made it possible.  First, my husband was in my head constantly.  He had talked to me throughout training and assured me I was going to be tough enough.  The support of my kiddos was great too, and I loved seeing them at one of the cheering stations complete with signs! In addition, my parents even made it out to the family night at camp! In fact, I think my mom is even going to give it a shot next year with the 20 mile walk!

What helped a ton was this text that my husband sent:

"Pain goes away but the feeling of accomplishment will be felt forever!"

It was very much needed, as I had a lot of pain, but was looking forward to the accomplishment!  In fact, I often visualized the pride I would feel crossing the finish...which (each time) brought tears to my eyes throughout the walk. Thanks Brandon for being my #1 supporter!!

From start to finish, there were people cheering, giving high fives, and dancing for us.  There were people at every point offering snacks, sunscreen, tissue paper, popsicles, much needed ibuprofen, and a slew of other appreciated treats! People honked their horns and waved or yelled out words of encouragement. There were pit stops and grab and gos along the route which gave us something to look forward to.  The police on the route, as well as the intersection motorcycle helpers were awesome.  They played music, cheered us on, and even thanked us for our efforts.  All of this support and the people throughout the routes made it worth it!  

Here are some of my favorite supporter memories from the Michigan 2017 3 Day Walk:

To kick off our walk in Walled Lake, Sheri, a friend of some of our teammates, gave each of us a Starbucks gift card for the walk!  We enjoyed using it while walking through downtown Northville!  Thanks Sheri!

Then another friend of 2 of our teammates became our #1 Fan of the day!  Erica traveled with us all over Walled Lake and Novi, with her younger son in tow.  She cheered, honked her horn continuously, and even serenaded us with inspirational songs nearly the whole morning. It made us smile and giggle each time she popped up...but mostly it made us feel encouraged!  Thanks Erica!

She shared the road with some other important vehicles...the sweeper vans!  They were essential as well, as each van was thematically decorated and constantly honked, cheered, and even cow belled! They were also there to check on us to make sure  we were OK, remind us to drink water, and be there if anyone needed a ride!  

Another way we felt encouraged was through music, and dancing became a nice way to break up the walking or distract us from the pain and/or exhaustion. There were several women along the route playing awesome music and dancing.  Music kept me motivated, especially when we danced through intersections with the motorcycle helpers.  It made it more fun to wait for the lights to change or give us a beat to stretch to!  

I appreciated the trail angels!  One guy, that I called The Medicine Man, had a table stocked with all essential items including ibuprofen and tylenol in small condiment containers, sunscreen, GasX, Tums, blister bandaids, tampons, and so much more.  He placed himself at about 4 stops each day, and he was such a welcome sight!  We chatted with him each time!  My fellow teammate Amanda struggled with blisters from day 1, and he was sooooo proud of her at the end.  He came up to her and gave her a huge hug, as he really didn’t expect to see her finish all 60 miles.  We so appreciated his gifts...including an ice cold one on the final day of the walk!  

In addition to him, there were people along the route offerenting water, snacks, candy, bathrooms, and even some extra special adult treats! The best was a Dearborn neighborhood that went ALL OUT! We were in awe of how they came together to show their support and have fun!  Boy did it help!  

The people coming out to support us from family to friends and the 3 Day Staff to strangers, made it possible for me to walk all 60 miles...even when the pain seemed unbearable.  They were able to make me smile and make it worth doing.

Finally a huge thank-you to my teammates “The Girls” for encouraging me, telling me they were proud of me, and sometimes being more patient and waiting. It was so awesome to truly feel like a team throughout the 3 Day journey!  I enjoyed getting to know them better and share this wonderful experience with them!

Thanks for reading! I have one more entry to publish reflecting on the internal strength needed and gained from my 3 day journey! Stay tuned!

Seeing Brighton in a Different Way

All summer I have been training for the Susan G. Komen Michigan 3 Day Walk which just commenced yesterday!  Walking a total of 60 miles throughout towns including Walled Lake, Novi, Northville, Plymouth, Livonia, and Dearborn, I had to spend much of my summer prepping for the the walk.  Living out in Hamburg Township, I had a lot of great roads to train on for the shorter miles, but as I got into longer walks, I decided it would be best to have access to public restrooms.  Therefore, in July I began using Brighton for my training walks. While walking, I spotted many things I have never noticed before.  There are streets that I have drove down hundreds of times in the 15 years I have lived here, and yet, it was like I was seeing things for the first time.  It showed me the importance and the joy of slowing down and taking sights in!  

As Brighton is gearing up to celebrate its 150th Birthday this Sunday, I thought it would be neat to show you some of the things I found neat during my walks!

Learning About and Celebrating Brighton’s Past

To help celebrate the 150th Birthday, there are images of some of interesting people from back in the day, and each one includes information about the person!  It has been so cool learning about them as I walked around around town.

The Taste of Brighton

I was able to stroll down Main St. before the Taste of Brighton opened up, and I got to see all the hard work that went into making it such a wonderful event for our community!  I also walked through the streets when the festival was in high gear.  It motivated me to have a date night with my husband there later on that evening!

The Brighton Farmer’s Market

I sing in the worship band at Brighton First United Methodist, and I tracked down one of our band members (who is heading into his senior year at BHS) at the Farmer’s Market.  It was such a treat to see his talents shared with the folks shopping from tent to tent!  Great job Parker!

The Charles and Albert Parker Families Nature Preserve

On this particular day, I started and finished my walk in the Target parking lot.  On my way back down Charles H Orndorf Dr., I noticed the sign below.  I was so curious about it, as I had never noticed it before.  The sign states that you need to authorization to enter, so I followed the rules and just peeked in.  However, upon extra research on the web, I found out it is open to the public and owned by the Brighton Library! My husband and I took the trail on one of my last training walks, but I wasn’t able to go all the way through, as I didn’t want to get my shoes mucky in the marsh. Maybe next time!

Mill Pond Manor

In the past couple of years, Brighton First United Methodist has adopted the residents of Mill Pond Manor apartments.  For the life of me, I never really knew where it was.  I kept thinking about apartments right near the Imagination Station or somewhere in that main area and never could quite picture it.  I am embarrassed to say, it took me walking down 2nd St. several times to make the connection that it was there!  On the walks previous, I was always noticing how much property Corrigan Oil had and also how they have expanded into other areas of expertise outside of the propane world. When I finally went on the opposite side of the street, I noticed a cute gazebo, and only then did I notice the sign saying Mill Pond Manor Apartments. Glad I know where it is now!!

Brighton State Recreation Area’s Penosha Trail

My family and I took a hike at the Brighton State Rec Area’s Penosha Trail on 4th of July weekend.  The Penosha Trail is around 5 or 6 miles, so it makes a great 2-3 hour hike!  We were able to stop at Bishop Lake and check out the new Jump Island.  Along the trail we enjoyed looking at the wildflowers, and my kids enjoyed finding a lean house!

Though my 3 Day training has come to an end, I still hope to keep up my explorations of Brighton.  We have a wonderful community, and I look forward to finding other treasures along the way! Happy 150th Birthday Brighton!  Thanks for being a big part of my #Mi3Day journey!