On June 30th, my family of four loaded up the van and headed to Mascoutah, Illinois for our first annual Don’t Sweat It Walk 2012, to benefit the NFED.

As you all know, Mister and I are both affected by a syndrome of the Ectodermal Dysplasias, which results in our inability to sweat properly.  As a child, I didn’t tolerate the heat very well because on my inability to sweat properly.  My Sister and I often ran around outside in the summer with wet clothing on. Just as Mom knew the importance of keeping us cool, she also knew the importance of letting us set our own limits and even let me run track– though the doctor said it was ill-advised.

It goes without saying that our family knows full well the benefit of the NFED, so we couldn’t resist the opportunity to do whatever we could to help raise funds and awareness for this organization.

Mister enjoyed meeting the clowns, who were there to entertain the kiddos before the walk got underway.  He was officially dubbed Mister the Clown.  LOL.

Before we set off, I soaked my cami and custom rhinestone t-shirt, which was embellished with “Don’t Sweat It” and a star, as well as  Mister’s shirt.   Hubs carried a backpack that also had Mister’s cooling vest and plenty of water in it, just in case we needed it.

About halfway into the 5K, I used some of the water we had on hand to rewet Mister’s shirt and scalp.  Often times, cooling techniques like that are popular even with those who can sweat, and Sister was soon begging to have water poured over her head.  Of course, I obliged her.

With only a mile left to finish, Mister’s ears started turning as bright red as my Don’t Sweat It Star shirt, so I put his cooling vest on him (we use a swim flotation trainer with the foam removed and ice packs inserted as a cooling vest).

The NFED had two air conditioned rest stops and cold water stations set up along the way, for those who wanted or needed them.  Not that we used them.  Oh no!  Mister needed the shirt that I was wearing, because he was the real Don’t Sweat It Star!

He insisted on running part of the 5K… which meant that I had to run part of the 5K… in 104 degree heat.  When I asked him why he was running, Mister said that he wanted “to win this race.” So as long as he wanted to run, I ran.  Hubs agreed to stay behind and tag with Sister, as she is our observant one (read pokey).  Mister and I finished the 5K in roughly an hour and twenty minutes.  Hubs and Sister were fourteen minutes behind us.

After the walk, I needed to cool off, so Mister returned the favor and sprayed my scalp.  Of course, he was THRILLED to be giving Mommy a dose of her own medicine.

Overall, our first Don’t Sweat It Walk went better than I even expected, considering the heat wave.  Our family raised close to $700 for the NFED, and had a blast doing it.  In fact, we had so much fun, we are registering to walk in another Don’t Sweat It Walk for September.

***Custom shirt provided by Just Jen***