Racing to Save Lives

Welcome

to my Team In Training home page!

I'm training to

participate in The Walt Disney World Marathon On January 10th, 2010 as a member of The Leukemia &

Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. All of us on Team In

Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin

lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I am completing this event in memory of my mom, Cynthia Martin. She lost her battle with Hodgkin's Disease in 1990, 2 years after her diagnosis. I am also completing this event in memory of my husband's stepfather, Frank Dodd. He lost his battle in 2005. I am running in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers. These people are

the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the

ultimate finish line - a cure!

Please make a

donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance

LLS's mission.

I hope you will visit my web site often.

Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Thanks for your

support!

August 30,2009

Yesterday was my very first group training session. I woke up excited and nervous to meet all my teammates. We had a great first run, completing a bit more than three miles! I look forward to adding up the miles and training with this group.

Thanks to everyone who has vistited my site! GO TEAM!

Amber

September 4, 2009

I am overwhelmed by the support I have received already in my first 2 weeks from my friends and family. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your support.

Through my fundraising efforts, I have learned that far too many of us have been touched by cancer. I thank those of you who have shared your stories with me and my heart goes out to all of you who have lost someone and to those still fighting. I will be running for all of you.

"The hills are alive with the sound of music"...from my ipod.

These words came to me today after I went on my six-miler. I wasn't able to run with my team this week, so I laced up my sneakers, turned on the ipod and headed out my front door to go tackle the intimidating hills ahead. It was recommended that I take a different path (i.e. the same course backwards = more downhill = easier.) I decided to go on the way I had originally planned. Hill training is good, right?

It was a great run. Quiet except for the tunes from my earbuds. Beautiful rolling hills, a nice old man walking, a few dogs, a chipmink, and even some cows on the home stretch.

I wont lie, the hills were tough and there was some walking on my part. It was a challenging run for me, but it got me thinking, this was nothing compared to the challenges of cancer patients and their loved ones. They are always running uphill, there is no easier course. And so I will run uphill because I am running for them.

Amber

September 21, 2009

I had a great run on Saturday morning. It was a cold start (36 degrees!), but we finished on a high note. We did slightly more than 7 miles. We have some of the greatest chats during these runs and it is amazing the things you share with (almost) strangers when you are running together.

Next week is a recovery run, so we will only do 5 miles and I am looking forward to it.

My fundraising is going really well and I thank all of you who have helped me out so far! Your donations mean so much to me! Please share my link with all of your friends and family and keep spreading the word!

Next up: Charity yard sale to benefit LLS next weekend!

September 27, 2009

Yesterday we did a 5 mile recovery run. It was a tough run for me. I was very tired and the previous week I was only able to get out once. But in spite of that, we all finished on a high note. I am always happy after the group runs.

After the GTS, I had the garage sale . We had a few people stop and made a little money, but we were not as successful as I was hoping. But oh well, I had fun hanging out with my gramma!

October 3, 2009

For some reason, 9 miles intimidated me. I was thinking about it all week. "How am I going to run 9 miles!?" It seemed so far to me. I admitted this to one of my mentors and a teammate, who both assured me I would be fine.

Toward the end of the run Kristy, my mentor, said, "so, do you want the good news or the bad news?" We had already done 9 miles (this was the good) and we still had a bit more until we were back to our cars (bad news). There was cheering and we all couldn't believe we had made it through 9 miles..all chatting away the entire time!

I am really enjoying learning what my body is capable of. You never know until you push it.

I ran 9.5 miles miles and I was smiling the entire time!

My fundraising is going great thanks to all of you! Thank you all so much for your continued support!

GO TEAM!

Hi Again!

October 24, 2009

Wow..it has been a few weeks since my last update.

So anywho, the last few weeks have been awsome! I have reached my fundraising goal!! HUGE thanks to all of you for making this possible. It has not all been counted on the site yet, but you all have helped me raise $4,200 and some change! We still have a lot more time to do even more. So, thank you, thank you!

My team and I are up to 12 miles this week. This morning was wet and dark, but we all had smiles throughout! Running with these guys is great. i never imagined 12 miles could go by so fast!

Oh, and this is for Stacy: no more trying to make me play math games on the runs..it hurts too much! I still don't quite get it. "BUZZ!"

:)

October 31st, 2009

Today was a tough one for me. It would be my mom's 46th birthday. I was supposed to run 13 miles this morning, but I ended up doing 6.

I sufferered an injury last week and my coach recommended I only do half my miles. I think I did some overtraining and my leg is telling me to slow down.

Aside form my leg hurting, I was emotionally drained this morning. I just couldn't get my head to shut up.

Moral of story: cancer sucks. I am even more convinced that I need to be doing this.

Oh, and ice baths suck, no matter how effective they are!

Thank you Monica, Mary, and Emily for getting me through this morning.

November 11, 2009

As of today, I am now training to run the Walt Disney World Half Marathon. My leg injury turned out to be more serious than I thought. I have been diagnosed with a severe stress reaction in my left leg. I was very upset and discouraged when I first got this news. By the time I recover from this, I will be too far behind in training to complete the full, but the half is still a possiblity and I am determined to finish!

My new mantra, "the cause is more important than the distance."

I hope to someday be able to complete a marathon, but for now I am happy knowing I have raised so much money with the help of all of you and we are making a huge difference!

So, I thank you all so much for your generousity and your support!

January 3rd 2010

First of all, Happy New Year!

We have begun the final countdown to Disney. My team and I leave on Thursday morning for Florida, which cannot come soon enough considering the frigid weather here.

I have been back to training now for the last 3-4 weeks. I feel great, although I am being cautious so as not to reinjure myself. Thank you all for being supportive and thank you to my doc and physical therapist for helping me to get back out there!

See you in Disney!