As many of you know, last year my husband Derek battled lymphoma. After brain surgery and several months of intense chemotherapy, he won! During his treatment our social worker connected us with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society who assisted us through the hardest time in our lives.

The LLS is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services. Their mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and to improve the quality of life for patients and their families.

One of the many days we found ourselves sitting in the Lymphoma Clinic waiting room at MD Anderson I saw a brochure for "Team in Training." While reading I learned, that through endurance events around the world, Team in Training is the largest fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I was touched to learn that complete strangers were out there raising money to help us and others like us.

Now I'd like to do as much as I can to help other families that face the struggle of fighting cancer. In honor of Derek, I am training for the Nike Women's Marathon in hopes of raising at least $5,000 for LLS.

Derek and I would never have made it last year if not for the support of our family, friends and co-workers to which I will be eternally grateful. I am humbly asking for your support again as I take on something I have never done before.

Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission. Their research may have saved Derek's life. Your donation could help find a cure.

I hope you will visit my web site often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress and please share my link with others. Thank you so much for your support!

UPDATES

Monday, June 29

I have been training now for seven weeks. I am happy to report that this past Saturday I completed a ten mile run! It is amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it. I am training hard and feeling great! The heat in Austin is taking it to a whole new level but I am getting used to it. It has been 100 and above for the past few weeks so I just decided to suck it up and get sweaty -- very sweaty! My water bottle has become my trusted side-kick and I don't leave home without it. I also have a renewed love for Barton Springs where I cooled off after my run on Saturday. I hope to spend more time there this summer.

Derek has been going with me to our core classes twice a week and it has been great to have him there. He also joined the team for a Mission Mile that we ran in silence to honor those battling cancer. That was a special day for us considering last year at this time he was in the middle of his own fight.

Thanks again to everyone for your support, it's great to have you all in my corner cheering me on! I'll keep the updates coming!

Wednesday, July 29

I am still alive and well! I finished a 14 mile run a couple of weeks ago and will repeat it again this Saturday. At this point I am running further than I usually drive everyday! It is a great feeling of accomplishment when I reach the end, and an excuse to treat myself to ice cream!