Our 20 mile walk Pictures and weekly update

This week has been a very exhausting and exciting time in our training. I walked 42 miles this week and that brings my grand total up to 204 miles over the past 10 weeks. It is amazing to me that I have done this and I can't believe that I will be walking 39 miles in 2 days in just 3 short weeks. It has really made me feel better physically, emotionally and spiritually. Just to know I am doing something I have never done before and creating a habit that will hopefully last a lifetime.
Saturday and Sunday were huge walking days for us, we walked a total of 29 miles (20 on Saturday and 9 on Sunday) and it was an eye opener to how hard this is really going to be. Up until then it had been challenging but not as hard as it was on Saturday. The weather didn't help much. When we started walking at 7 AM it was hot and humid. So humid in fact that 2 hours into our walk it began to rain. This continued on and off for the full 8 hours we walked. Despite our wet feet, clothes and hair, it was really rewarding to know we could do it, even though we felt we crawled the last 3 miles to the car! We started at mile 0 in Mount Vernon and walked all the way to Roosevelt Island just before the Key Bridge to Georgetown. Marcia parked her car there and walked back towards us and we met about 6 miles out from the car. We saw some great sights and it you really appreciate your surroundings when you take the time to take it all in and this is nearly impossible to do in a car. After the walk we ate in Georgetown at this high end pizza place (good pizza - but really, anything would taste good after walking 8 hours!). We also had some yummy cupcakes for dessert.
Sunday was almost harder since my body hadn't fully recuperated from Saturday's walk. We again started at mile 0 in Mount Vernon and walked to Chicken Out in Old Town Alexandria (where my car was parked). It took us a little over 3.5 hours to walk the 9 miles and my body just hurt. Thank goodness for yoga on Monday! I also started noticing how many bridges we cross when we walk and I was amazed to note that we walked over 26 bridges on Sunday and over 40 bridges on Saturday. This week we will be walking 22 miles on Saturday and 10 miles on Sunday. Hope I make it! :)
Thanks to all who have donated and supported me in this cause, especially those who donated last week. I am now at 81% towards my goal of raising $1800. I am about $348 away from 100%!! Please Please, if you have told me you would donate and haven't yet, please do this soon as I am anxious to know I have made my goal and my training hasn't been in vain! I know I can do this and have been so grateful to all of you for your support and generosity. Every dollar that I raise makes me work and push harder to make sure my body is fit and ready to walk on May 3 and 4.