not a Viking

I posted earlier this month about participating in the Viking Challenge. It is an annual event held here on base. It is a 24 hour team walk to raise money for the Fisher Houses.  Since I first heard about it, I wanted to participate. For various reasons (travel, inability to find a team with empty spots in it, etc.) I couldn't participate the past few years. When a friend of mine posted on facebook that she was organizing a team, I jumped at the chance to join! I got so happy and excited. I fundraised as much as I could and I even got my mother-in-law to send us decorations and fun accessories for the day of. I could not wait to participate.

This past weekend, Terry and I went to Nuremberg for the weekend. On Saturday, I woke up with both of my feet swollen and developed a rash that started around both ankles and went up my legs. It was so painful and hard for me to walk that we ended up having to cut our trip short and didn't get to see all of the World War II sights that we wanted to. After seeing my doctor on Monday, I was told to rest and keep my feet elevated and to stay off them as much as possible. I was hoping that by tomorrow, I would be well enough to at least walk a few laps. The rash has thankfully gone away but unfortunately, after being out today, my feet have started to swell up again, and I had to come to the painful realization that I just can not walk tomorrow.

I am proud of all of the work that I've done in fundraising and am very grateful to all of my friends and readers who have donated in support of me. I know that this was something that I could not have planned for and did not do on purpose, but I can't help feeling like I'm a failure and that I let my team down.