20 Miles Walked / 2 Yards Crawled to the Car

It's done! 20 miles!

The Place

• Suavie Island outside of Portland, Oregon
  (view 1937 drawing of island, view satellite image with route)

The People

• Walkers: My sister Barb and Phatgirl
• Supreme Support Team: Barb's husband John

The Pace

• 14:41 minutes per mile pace in 4 hours and 53 minutes.

The Prize:

• A stunning day with comfortable temperatures in the 60's - 70's.
• Scenery that included farmland with corn crops, pumpkin patches, apple orchards and pastures of sheep and horses. Country roads lined with wild blackberry bushes. Tree-covered mountains in the distance and houseboats on the river's edge. (View photos of Sauvie Island)
• An absolutely flat-as-a-pancake 20 mile route primarily on roads with little traffic.
• The company of my sister Barb that provided plenty of conversation, a surplus of laughter, and well gosh, I love you Sissy even if you don't believe the excesses of my verbosity and how I over-saturate my stories with a plethora of adjectives.
• The support of my brother-in-law John who was always just down the road waiting with another bottle of ice water.
• The most extraordinarily delicious cheese sandwich I have ever had in my entire life after the walk. Just bread and cheese but it was magical.
• Finishing 20 miles. Me. Anita. 20 miles. Get outta town!

The Pain Per Mile:

• Mile 1 through 9: Everything felt great. No pain to report.
• Mile 10: Predictable lower back pain kicks in that's annoying but tolerable.
• Mile 14: The Evil Twin Toes chime in to announce their arrival and full participation in today's event. My big toes however, are strong and healthy.
• Mile 16: Lower back pain has progressed to certifiable pain requiring frequent stops to stretch. Massive quantities of whining ensues. The soles and bridge of both feet begin to swell, no doubt cheered on by the Evil Twin Toes. My hooves are hurting. My left elbow feels fantastic!
• Mile 18: Minor leg pain. Back pain has spread to sides of the back and I switch to shallow breathing to minimize discomfort. Each foot weighs 121 pounds and are the size of pickel barrels. My left ear lob is in perfect condition.
• Mile 19: Back pain has traveled up and around right shoulder creating sharp pains around the front of arm. My feet should be surgically removed. I want my Mommy. My nose is ready to take on another six miles.

The Aftermath, Six Hours Later:

• My back is a little stiff but there's no pain.
• The Evil Twin toes are as ugly as three-week old lunch meat but after some draining and soaking they've gone back into hiberation until the next 20 miler.
• General but minimal stiffness in my legs.
• The soles of my feet are still so tender walking has been reduced to hobbling and shuffling with overtones of wincing.