It appears I'll be going through with this hike. At 12:00 PM, on May 30, I'll be hiking with a group of veterans on the Tuscarora Trail, which runs parallel to the Appalachian Trail, until 12:00, May 31. The goal is to go 60 miles in 24 hours.
Every ten miles, a support team will meet us to make sure there aren't any health issues. At that time, we expect to eat, get fluids, and replenish our supply of snacks and water for the next ten mile segment. Julie Bombacino, at RealFoodBlends.com, has been kind enough to pledge some of her meals for me to eat during the hike. The hike organizers estimated that I'll need to eat about 250 calories per hour, so I expect I'll have a RealFoodBlend meal, combined with a Carnation Instant Breakfast, every couple hours. I'll also need to carry plenty of water. Other than food and water, I need to pack a syringe with 2 or 3 backup syringes, a cup to mix my blend with the Instant Breakfast before I push it through my tube, and extra hand-towels to spit into and to clean up messes.
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| The view from the starting point. You can almost see the 5-mile point from here... |
Every ten miles, a support team will meet us to make sure there aren't any health issues. At that time, we expect to eat, get fluids, and replenish our supply of snacks and water for the next ten mile segment. Julie Bombacino, at RealFoodBlends.com, has been kind enough to pledge some of her meals for me to eat during the hike. The hike organizers estimated that I'll need to eat about 250 calories per hour, so I expect I'll have a RealFoodBlend meal, combined with a Carnation Instant Breakfast, every couple hours. I'll also need to carry plenty of water. Other than food and water, I need to pack a syringe with 2 or 3 backup syringes, a cup to mix my blend with the Instant Breakfast before I push it through my tube, and extra hand-towels to spit into and to clean up messes.
It is also recommended that I bring a 'Power Element'. In their words, this is, "something that you bring that gets you charged - your favorite bandana, paracord bracelet, picture, whatever. Something that you might see at 3am that will give you that extra boost!"
I already have the perfect 'Power Element' permanently attached to my body. I'm talking about my feeding tube. When my legs are tired, when I feel exhausted and want to give up, I will look at my feeding tube to remind myself that I'm doing this for all the amazing people I've met online since I got my tube placed. I'm doing this for children who are afraid to eat in front of their classmates at school, for adults trying to schedule college courses around tube feedings, adults tethered to a feeding pump who are depressed because they can't do normal activities, or people who look at feeding tubes as a 'death sentence'. Feeding tubes are just another obstacle in life, and we humans are designed to adapt and overcome.
I'm with a group of veterans on this hike, eighteen last I counted. I don't know any of them, except Jeff Haugh. I think they all live in the Maryland/D.C. area, since the hike is on the Maryland/Virginia border. I've talked about Jeff before on my blog (Snowmass Part 2). He graduated a year behind me at the Academy, has M.S., and suffered a traumatic brain injury while he was in Iraq. He was the one who first invited me on this hike. We are raising money for Team Racing for Veterans (R4V), which is a charity to help and inspire wounded veterans through fitness. Specifically, Team R4V is giving the money to CrossFit Walter Reed, a non-profit gym where the clients are disabled veterans. You can see a short video about CrossFit Walter Reed here:
or on mobile devices: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bGSmbh1nCnY.
I'm a little biased because my sister and brother-in-law own and run a CrossFit gym in Germany (Reebok CrossFit Nuernberg) and my mom competes in the CrossFit warrior games (http://games.crossfit.com/article/oma-and-open), but I think CrossFit is an awesome way to get in shape. When you do a Workout of the Day (WOD) in a Crossfit box you all do it together. Everyone cheers for each other, no matter how many 'reps' of a given exercise you're able to accomplish. When wounded veterans are cheered on by their peers at CrossFit Walter Reed, they get inspired. They stop focusing on the things they can't do and start believing in what they can.
So, in addition to taking this hike to prove to myself that I can do it despite my paralysis and my feeding tube, I'm walking 60 miles to raise money so wounded veterans can also see their injuries in a whole new light. If you're inspired by this cause, and you have money to spare, please donate at my fundraising page: https://www.crowdrise.com/1VTforR4V/fundraiser/bliebenow. Our team has a goal of $20,000 and they've only got about $8,000 so any amount you could give would be very much appreciated!
I'll be sure to update my blog after the hike to let everyone know how far I got, even if I'm unable to make it out of the parking lot.
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