Finding the time.....MS Walk Weekend!

Well,
I just had to make the time to get these pictures off my camera, saved to the computer, and uploaded to Blogger. It definitely takes time!

So, as I sit here listening to the kids wrestle with their Dad; and it sounds pretty intense!; I'll try to write a little about this past weekend in San Antonio.

Coach and I took off Friday afternoon around 1:00. His mom was here to take over with the kids for the weekend and we headed out! Thanks Nana!

We stopped for a little shopping along the way and made it to our hotel that evening. After resting awhile, we headed out for some great seafood!

Saturday morning seemed to come early as we got up, got ready, and headed for the AT&T Center around 8:00 a.m. Thankfully, Nana loaned us her GPS and we really had a lot of fun on our trip using it! We dubbed her 'Lucy' as she talked to us and gave us all the directions for anywhere we plugged in.


So, here's the AT&T Center as we approach. Home of the San Antonio Spurs basketball team. It was all decked out in MS colors of bright green and orange.


After we checked in and got our wristbands, we walked around a bit. The event didn't begin until 9:30 so, we had plenty of time! Starbuck's was there with teas and coffee. There were tents with banana bread, bananas, and orange slices for the runners/walkers to fuel up! And, plenty of water and Powerade on hand.


This area was full of tables, chairs, and balloons. It was VERY windy and the balloons were going wild, slapping at everyone and wrapping around people. We found the prize table and claimed our t-shirts.

We sat for a bit and Coach got his playlist on his MP3 player ready. (I forgot to tell Wendy this.....I had my MP3 player with me although, I had left my headphones at home! We were going to find the nearest Wal-Mart and get some but, I decided I wouldn't need it. I just occasionally asked Coach what was playing and then I would sing along!! HA! Wendy, you know what I am talking about!! I was laughing the whole time, thinking of you!!)

I sat and 'people watched'. Always very fascinating. There were lots and lots of people! There were a good number of teams of people who were all walking together in honor of someone. I saw some very interesting shirts. The ones that Coach and I wore were very unique and looked great compared to some! There were quite a few dogs as well as you could bring your pup on a leash to participate.

I was quite impressed with the number of people who have MS who were there. They all were given bright green t-shirts from the MS Society that said, "I have MS, this is why I walk" printed on the back. Some seemed to have no physical challenges, some had canes or walkers, and some were in wheelchairs. It was neat to see!

I carried an MS champions bandana for Aunt Suzanne and Coach picked up one from the table and carried it for the person who's name was on it. We'll send her a note, letting her know that he walked for her.

Here's the start/finish line. The balloon arch was very neat but, in all that wind, did not last long! Piece by piece, it broke off and blew away before we even got started!

Here we are before we got started.

OK, this guy on the stage with the orange poms-poms was a nut! They were playing YMCA, full blast from the speakers for warm up. They were encouraging everyone to get pumped up, stretched out, and ready to go. He was really having a lot of fun and I thought he was hilarious to watch!

We noticed that his green shorts said 'Baylor' so, we figured he was from our neck of the woods! Quite shocked that he should know how to dance and party like that attending a Baptist U!!! :o)

We didn't take any pictures during the walk....I wish we had taken a few. We were moving pretty quickly and didn't want to stop. There were a good number of people running the 5K. We walked.....very briskly.......up some hills.......winding around and back around......and against some very strong wind. We finished in about 43 minutes. It was not a race but, it was fun for us to see how fast we could go and finish. We would slow at a drink station, just to grab a cup and keep moving while we drank.

At one point during the event, they blew a very loud horn. We had been told at the starting line to stop when we heard that signal. Because MS stops people from moving, they had everyone stop for one minute in honor of, and in remembrance of, those who are stopped every day!!

It was very emotionally moving for me!

This is the one picture during our route that we took.....for Jman of course! We went through some construction and thought of him so, we had to take this one!

Here we are, the finish line in sight. Our group was thin because we were in the front. I felt like we were just getting started good and that I could have kept on going!

Coach snapped me here, as I grabbed an orange slice to refuel and get some refreshment!

And here we are......at the end. Not looking as 'fresh' as when we started! Never mind what that wind was doing to my hair!!

We had a great time doing this together!! It was so important to me, to be part of this event. I'd never been a part of something like this before. All those people, together in one place, working and fighting for one cause.........it's just hard to explain that feeling. I was so excited to be a part of something that I knew was helping to make a difference for my sister and others like here!!! I e-mailed the lady over the event and the first rough estimate of the number was 2,700 to 2,800 walkers/runners!! I'm not sure yet how much money was raised for the MS Lone Star Chapter.

Coach and I spent Saturday afternoon and night together.....doing anything, everything, or nothing that we wanted to do! It was great to go down on the Riverwalk together and have that time away together. Overall, it was just a fabulous weekend!!