Milestones are always a big deal, especially in the life of a breast cancer survivor.
This is my 10th year as a survivor. Also, it's my 10th year of walking and captaining a team for Georgia 2 Day Walk for Breast Cancer.
In 2014, I was on an adrenaline rush to do all the things that in 2013 seemed impossible due to active treatment, including 16 rounds of chemotherapy and mastectomy!
I started looking for all things adventure, which started with my finishing a triathlon in August that year. After the triathlon, I kept looking for ways to move. However, this time - I searched for something that would also be community related -- A give back opportunity. I didn't have to go far to find it. At the time, it was called the Atlanta 2 Day Walk for Breast Cancer. I recruited a few friends to join me & they in turn recruited friends to join.
When you look at each of our "whys", there may be a range of reasons. However, we share the desire to help others who are impacted by this dreadful disease. This is the foundation on which every other 'why' is built.
It's been a while since I've endeavored to do the complete 30 miles. In years since COVID, I've done 10 and 20 miles. This year,
my fellow survivor friend, Nina, helped me tackle the 30 miles! Prior to the walk, we asked one another and ourselves if we wanted to head back to the hotel after lunch (10 miles) vs doing the complete 20 miles on Day 1. When we arrived at lunch, we felt better than expected. We decided that we would try a few miles to see how we felt before jumping on a sweep van. Two miles became four, six, eight until we were arriving back at the hotel for 10 miles after lunch.
We did it! 20 miles on Saturday & 10 miles on Sunday!
What this year's walk taught me in this 10th year of survivorship is that no matter what the adventure or occasion, a little help from friends (and family) goes a long way.
I'll remember this year's walk as the one that reminded me that SELF-TALK is important. We can talk ourselves into and out of most things.
Saying "Yes, I can" may just lead to "Yes, I did".
Congratulations and job well done to the staff, volunteers, crew, and walkers who helped make this year's walk weekend such a beautiful one!
$855K raised this year for Georgia breast cancer programs!
Huge shout out & thank you to the team I captain, Simply the Breast, who has raised over $174K over a 10 year period. They are all kinds of Rockstar to me!!
