The Heart Walk: 3.2 miles completed!

Hey yall! So, Saturday was the Charlotte Heart Walk, and I did it! With lots of support and help I raised $370 for the American Heart Association. The day started at 7:45am when me, Lindsey, Dinah, and Bo all gathered at our apartment to ride over together. I think we were all pretty shocked when we walked outside! I was wearing pants, a long sleeved shirt, and a jacket and I was still cold! We had a little bit of trouble finding parking, but Bo saved the day. When we finally got to the actual site, there were what appeared to be a bajillion people. And they were all dressed in red. Oops, I didn’t get that memo. There were also a ton of dogs, which was fun and adorable. We had a few minutes to kill before the walk actually started so we took some pictures and grabbed some free food. Then it started to drizzle. So there we were, in the middle of a bajillion people in downtown Charlotte, in the cold rain. Yall, I’m not exaggerating when I say you could see your breath. It was pretty gross out. Finally the walk started and everyone was lined up at the start line. Because there were so many people and the route wasn’t super well planned, there were a few times when the walk was more of a shuffle. All in all the walk was fun though! And I didn’t even pass out! By mile 1 I started getting a little bit warmer and could feel my ears again. There were definitely some uphill spots that made things a little difficult, but overall it was much easier than I thought it would be (especially with the rain and cool temperatures). But I did it! 3.2 miles complete. And I know it’s nothing extraordinary, but it made me happy. I’m happy that I raised money for a good cause and went out there and did something. So again, THANK YOU to everyone who supported me and donated. I really appreciate all of you!

Follow Friday: The Heart Walk

Happy Friday, yall! This weeks Follow Friday is gonna be a little selfish as I promote the American Heart Walk! I will be walking in the heart walk in 2 weeks on September 17th here in Charlotte, NC.

Here is a little bit of back story about my personal connection to the Heart Walk. 

In March of 2009, I experienced a few episodes of passing out, general shortness of breath, and other various symptoms. After visiting a few doctors, the cardiologist finally found that I have an ASD, or atrial septal defect. We figured that now that we knew what was wrong, we would be able to control the symptoms. Unfortunately, in February 2010 I visited the Emergency Room 6 times in a single month. I was having more frequent and more intense episodes of passing out. At this point I was unable to go to school and took a medical leave of absense for the semester. It wasn't until May of that year that I was diagnosed with POTS, or Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, which is a form of dysautonomia. Pretty much my heart and my brain don't communicate to each other very well which causes my blood pressure to drop and my heart rate to speed up.

So in 2 weeks I will be participating in the Heart Walk to raise money for the American Heart Association. Walking 3 miles might be a challenge for me, as my body tries to rebel with any form of physical activity. But still I am excited to be joining other people, including my roommate, to walk for the AHA. My goal was to raise $300 by the day of the walk and so far I have gotten $110. I don't usually like asking friends and family for money, but I know that this is a worthy cause. If there is any way you could financially contribute, I would be so appreciative. If you can't donate at this time, that's okay too! Even just spreading the word could be a great help. You never know who will be willing to donate. And remember, every dollar counts. Seriously.

I am so thankful for you guys and I can't wait to update yall on how the walk goes!

Here is a link to my donation page: http://heartwalk.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=456696&lis=1&kntae456696=01F9411F3411449FA85C51DA4E4C5B73&supId=332972661

                                                          THANKS FOR VISITING!