I had a minute to update

I had a minute to update and after fighting with blogger - I finally gave in - the blogs are posted out of order - so scroll down and start at the beginning if you want to or just read them as they are - either way I hope you will enjoy them

Love

Joy

The 39.3 miles that changed my life ... Conclusion!!!

Okay, here are the last photo's from My Avon Walk

day one - opening ceremony 

Day one mile 12

Day 1 mile 23 ( isn't that obvious?) 

Mile 26 ... it was pretty congested 

Finish Line Day One 

My tired feet day 1

big huge blister 

so pretty I though you would want to see it twice 

breakfast.. for anyone who knows me... this was
hard to eat , thank goodness for
ketchup 

Waiting for the finish line day 2 

My feet - day 2 

My pretty pretty flowers from my mom & dad
 Thanks for all your love
and support !!!!

if you haven't already ... go donate PLEASE www.avonwalk.org/goto/joywilliams 

if you ever get the opportunity to be a part of this walk - I highly recommend it - immediately after I crossed the finish line I told Kate I wanted to do it again!!!

39.3 miles that changed my life Part 3

So I have been fighting with blogger - and blogger is winning
Here is another post
So we got to Wellness Village at the end of Day one and it took everything I had not to break down and cry - I was so overcome with emotion- emotion from the amazing people I had met and stories I had heard, the heartbreaking losses so many had to go through that brought them to this point, the emotion of actually making it the entire 26.2 miles - when at points I thought I was not going to make it another mile. I called Ryan and I almost broke down, I called my mom and I almost lost it.  It's a combination of excitement and exhaustion, pain and pride.... it's unlike anything I have ever experienced before.
Once we were at Wellness Village we got foot and back massages, went and got our tent and set it up.. (yeah we had to pitch our own tents....) ate ( Kate and I both went back for seconds... yeah for pasta) showered. And then we went to the Med tent... see during the walk, I could tell that my foot hurt but I didn't dare to look- if I had I don't know if I would have had the will power to go any further.  I had the hugest blister on my left big toe.  Actually considering my feet and my history with loosing toe nails and getting blisters ALL THE TIME ... I consider this a success... only one blister - it was just HUGE.  After getting my blister drained... it was so gross. We headed back to camp and went to sleep.   
 We woke up early the next morning ( early then we were planning thanks to our noisy neighbors) Went and had a delicious breakfast of eggs and potatoes ( yep I had to break down and eat eggs ....luckily there was ketchup) We set off for day two feeling tired, and sore, somehow 13.1 miles sounded a heck of a lot further today then it did yesterday.  
But we did it - the last 3 miles were horrible - we were tired , my back was killing me, Kate's ankle's were swelling more then normal for a pregnant person (although probably exactly as much as they should given the fact that she had walked 40+ miles)
We made it - and it was AWESOME !!!   Don't forget to visit My Walk Page  I just $460 from my fundraising goal.... every donation makes a difference!!!

It's hard to see but I was trying to
get a picture of all the walkers behind
us - Day 2

Day 2 mile 7 - so really mile 33.2 miles
this was a little more than half way
day two !

One of the many rest- stops where we could refill water
go to the bathroom and get medical attention if needed
Each rest stop had a theme I think this one
was old Hollywood 

Here we are just outside the closing ceremonies
waiting to cross the finish line - Day 2

Inside Closing Cermony - it's basically a sea of pink

Still waiting.. the finish line is in sight!!!

Here are my feet - 39.3 miles later ... bandaged and broken
(not literally) but it was all worth it 

We did it !!!! 

I did it!!!!!

39.3 miles that changed my life Part 2

So here we are Day one complete - there was so much
traffic at the "Official" 26.2 mile
marker that we borrowed this sign
from on the the people cheering
at the side lines

Here is our address for the event. E88, sleeping in a small tent on the hard ground never felt so good.  

Here is our tent .. home sweet home ! 

They call this tent city - you can see the shower trucks in the
background... once again, I have never enjoyed showering
in a tent so much 

yep, as if getting up at 6:00am to the thought of walking another 13.1 miles
wasn't hard enough... we had to take down our own tents 

Tent City 

Tent City @ night 

Here is the tent where we ate dinner and breakfast while at Wellness Village 

These are my feet after day one.. I haven't taken my socks off yet
to see the 6th toe I grew on my left toe 

  Here we are at the official END of the Walk on Day ONE 

39.3 miles that changed my life

 I know, I know... my Avon Walk For Breast Cancer was officially 41 days ago... but I have been uber busy with school and teaching and Ari and life - and it seems like I almost never get a free moment to update my blog.  But alas it seems I might actually get a chance to do it right now- so here it goes.

On September 11th I participated, along with 2800 others, in the Avon Walk For Breast Cancer Santa Barbara.  It was one of the most amazing events I have ever been a part of and I am so glad I made it my New Year's resolution oh so long ago... 

It started out with my best friend forever Kate, who just happened to be 5 months pregnant at the time, flying all the way from Alabama to participate in the walk with me- LOVE YOU KATE 

Kate flew in on Thursday night, Friday we were busy all day tying up loose ends to prepare for the walk, and Friday night we had a great pasta dinner at Buca di Beppo's.  Early to bed for us (although I was so excited I could not sleep!!!) 

We got up EARLY 4:30am to drive the hour drive to Santa Barbara so we could be ready for the walk to begin

This was Opening Ceremonies when we first arrived.. so EARLY 

The view in front of us -  Opening Ceremony 

The view behind us - Opening Ceremony 

it was cold and foggy as we waited with the other walkers and crew - but we were excited and eager to begin.
As we got started we met the most remarkable people, people who were walking in honor of loved ones they had lost, people walking while fighting their own battle with breast cancer, and people who had fought and won their battle - proud to announce that they were now cancer free.  Some of the most amazing people we met were the people who spent their Saturday and Sunday camped out on the sides of the roads cheering us on, handing us treats, and thanking us for walking. Every time I felt like I couldn't walk any further- someone, either another walker, Kate or someone from the sidelines said just the right thing to keep me going.

Picture Opportunity with John Wayne Mile 12

 We were so busy walking and enjoying the time we had to catch up with each other... (I hadn't seen Kate in years...) that honestly the first 12 miles sort of flew by.  I am happy about that because I take it to mean that all the time I spent walking with Ari and training at the gym paid off.  Around mile 11 or so we started to walk up what the walk organizers had described as moderate hills... yeah right - these hills were STEEP and that sucked, but at mile 12 the John Wayne Cancer Foundation had a mile marker and a photo op spot for the walkers ( who can resist John Wayne) as well as pink bandannas dipped in ice water that were PRICELESS!!!! They were so refreshing!

Me and Kate showing John Wayne some love!!! 

13.1 Miles on day one- the official half way mark

Mile 20 and still feeling pretty good. My foot had started to hurt but I didn't dare look at it. I figured ignorance was bliss at this point.  We were so excited to only have 6.2 miles left of our walk... for the day.  I don't think I have ever been more excited about the prospect of pitching a tent and sleeping.  By this time of the day - that sounded like the Ritz! 

This was attached to a motorcycle that belonged to the
 group of bikers who were working the event. Most of the
bikers would blast music from their bike stereo and
they would dance to keep our spirits up.  They were
awesome people (most of them were men)

Day ONE - COMPLETED !!! 

We met some of the most inspiring people during the walk, as well as some of the nicest. There was a group of bikers, mostly men, who had signed up to volunteer and direct traffic. They would park their bikes at the intersections where we had to cross and most of them had their bike and themselves decorated for the occasion. They cheered us on, and had candy and gum for us.  One of the motorcycle crew members had this on his bike - we saw him several times throughout the weekend and he always made us laugh. (it helped that he looked a lot like Santa Claus)