Ouchie! :P My body is still aching from yesterday's 6 mile AIDS Walk. I thought I prepared enough by jogging on the elliptical for 3 miles but I thought wrong. Hehe, very wrong.
About a month ago, my husband and I were in the city and I kept seeing AIDS Walk SF banners on the side of light posts. I've been wanting to participate in a Walk for a long time and what better cause than AIDS? Actually, there's a bunch of great causes but I decided to start with the AIDS Foundation of SF. When I got home, I immediately registered and mass emailed all my friends and family to sponsor me. Realizing that most people hate receiving emails about donations, I figured I wouldn't be able to raise as much as I'd like. I set my fundraising goal at $100 and immediately donated $25 myself. Yes, I sponsored myself. A couple days later, my friend, Justine, sponsored me and I realized I was half way done with my goal! I had to set a higher goal. So I decided $300 should be challenging enough and still realistic. Sure enough, after posting a couple status updates on my Facebook, Josh, Eric, Ryan, V and Jeff sponsored me and I was able to raise $225! Although, I was really close to my goal, I was really ecstatic about the outcome. Thank you guys for all the support! :D
Along came Sunday, when I woke up at 6am, too excited to sleep any longer. My husband and our friend, Josh, decided to join me on my Walk. I signed in as a Green Walker, which means I did all my fundraising online without using any paper. I got an AIDS Walk SF 2009 tshirt and pin! :D We watched the opening ceremony to listen to a few inspirational speakers and a lovely song by Goapele and headed for the starting line. The photo above is where we were in the line. I don't think I've ever been around so many people in one location!
The clusters of people were slowly breaking apart and I realized the line was moving. The walk started! I was eager to get near the front of the line when out of nowhere, a fly flew into my right eye! Within the first mile, I was already down. :P We "pulled over" and my husband tried to get it out of my eyeball. He was freaking out because the fly was crawling all over my eyeball. Eww! After a few attempts at squishing the fly dead first, he finally got it out of me. Note, don't keep your eye wide open when you see something fly at you. Hahaha, I may be the only non-responsive person when it comes to this though. :P After recovering from loss of tears, I headed back up the front of the line. Every mile we completed, there was a band playing which was really motivational and made it fun. :D There were lots of supporters on the sidelines cheering us on... and I distinctly remember a couple sitting on their lawn chairs, sunbrella in the ground, smoking a cigar, eating snacks and thanking all the walkers for participating. I had to laugh. I think the biggest challenge for me was after the 4th mile. My legs were cramping and my back aching, but I kept my power walk on all the way until the finish. :D
I have to say, this was a rewarding experience personally. First off, I was able to participate in a great cause which I helped raise money for. The AIDS Walk SF raised over $3.5 million! And second of all, I actually did it! I walked/powerwalked 6 miles without stopping! I haven't been an active person since I was in elementery school and I have to tell you, it felt so good physically and mentally to push myself towards a goal and make it. :D Thank you Husband and Josh for being there to support me and walking with me.
Have you participated in a Walk before? :)
