Racing to Save Lives

Welcome to my Team In Training home page!

Viggo Mortensen and Perceval Press recently donated more books for me to auction for my fundraiser. I was able to auction them on eBay and raised $300. Altogether, the books raised $600!

I would also like to thank Marion Parrot, owner of Sedona restaurant in Bethany Beach. She had a fundraiser at her restaurant in November and donated all of the proceeds to my TNT fundraiser. The total raised and donated was $1,910. Please help me thank Marion by visiting her restaurant. It is located on Pennsylvania Ave in Bethany Beach.

I also sold raffle tickets for an iPod Nano donated by Best Buy in Dover and raised $160.

I know what you're thinking! What's that crazy Keyser up to now?! I'm going to run my first marathon! 26.2 miles! Mind you, I've only ever run 5k races... that's 3.1 miles for those of us who are metric-ly challenged. So I only have 23.1 miles to add on and I'm there! Easy as pie!

I'm training to participate in the Walt Disney World Marathon in January as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training.

So, why in the world would I subject myself to something like this? A couple of reasons... most importantly, 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 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! I am also looking for a personal hero to run for. If you know of anyone who is battling a blood cancer and would allow me to run in their honor, please let me know.

Another reason is the opportunity to challenge myself. If you had asked me 20 years ago (at the ripe young age of 16) if I would ever run a marathon, I would have said "no way!", but look at me now! Whooda thunk it?!

Another reason is the fact that I get to go to Walt Disney World! Need I say more?

I am extremely excited about taking on the challenge of running 26.2 miles and especially raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It's a wonderful cause!

Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission. If you prefer to send a check, please e-mail me at LJK218@comcast.net and I will send you my address. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

I hope you will visit my web site often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Thanks for your support!

12/14/08 On Friday, I officially reached my fundraising goal ($3800 required, $4,000 personal goal) and am ready to head to Disney for my marathon. I've been in physical therapy for a few weeks due to IT band trouble and won't be able to run the race, but I will be able to run/walk it. (You didn't think I was going to give up that easily, did you?!) You can visit this website and sign up to receive alerts during my race:

http://www.doitsports.com/results/MSG-signup.tcl?sub_event_id=4447

Thanks for all of your support and I'll be sure to let you know how I did. I'l tell Mickey and Minnie you said 'hi'!

11/23/08 Yikes! It's been a whole month since I've updated this site! Things have been CRAZY! My training was going well until my IT band started acting up. I haven't been able to run in over a week. I'm so miserable! I've started physical therapy and should be back on my feet very soon. Don't worry... nothing will keep me from running at WDW in January.

I have several more fundraisers in the works. I am still selling tickets for the iPod Nano; I just put three autographed books by Viggo Mortensent on eBay; I will be wrapping books and CDs at Amazon on Friday; and I will have a fundraiser at UNO Pizzeria on December 5th.

10/23/08 So I ran 9 miles on Tuesday . . . I remember when 9 miles was my LONG run! Now it's a measly little SHORT run! And I actually felt good the whole time. Amazing! Well, this weekend is going to be crazy for TNT. Tomorrow night I'm going to hang out at Sam's Club in Dover to collect donations and sell raffle tickets for the iPod and Viggo's autographed book. Early Saturday morning I'm meeting friends to run my 14 miles. Then I have to be at CR High School by 9am to collect donations and sell more raffle tickets during Rider Pride Day until 2pm. On Sunday morning I'm heading out to D.C. to run part of the Marine Corps Marathon with my TNT teammate, Jeanette. Shhh... she doesn't know I'm coming... it's a surprise! I'm exhausted just thinking about it!

(And my niece, Ashlee, wants me to take her to see High School Musical 3. I wonder if I'll actually get any sleep!?)

10/3/08 Psshhh.... I only had to run 6 miles today. Do you believe I just said 'only'? My training is going so well, that 6 miles is a piece of cake. My longest run this month will be 14 miles and I will be doing some hill training next Saturday. You might want to check back next week to find out if I survived that!

9/27/08 Well, I've done my longest run yet... 10 miles! And it felt great! Two months ago I couldn't get myself past 4 miles and look at me now. I am truly amazed and proud of my progress. Last weekend I ran a 5k on Saturday and set a personal record of 27 minutes and 27 seconds (my previous PR was 27:37). Then I ran my first 10k on Sunday and finished in 58:56. My goal was under and hour so I was very happy.

My fundraising is going well also. I've raised $1675 so far. I'm still waiting for my donation from Buffalo Wild Wings from my fundraiser on 9/5 and I just got the best news on Thursday. Viggo Mortensen, my all-time favorite actor (Lord of the Rings, Hidalgo, A History of Violence) , sent me a free copy of one of his books and it's autographed! He even personalized it for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! How amazing is that! I couldn't be more thrilled! I will let you know how I will "sell" the book soon (either through an eBay auction or a raffle). Another charity is currently auctioning one of his signed books on eBay and I want to wait until theirs is done before I begin mine.

Thanks for all of your support!

Marathon Factoid #2: The women's marathon was introduced at the 1984 Olumpics (LA) and was won by Joan Benoit of the U.S. with a time of 2 hours, 24 minutes and 52 seconds.

9/10/08 My training is going well. I ran a 5k last Saturday and came in 2nd in my age group (we won't talk about what that age group is). I ran a total of 16 miles last week over 4 days. That's not bad! I have another race this weekend at Killen's Pond and then, next weekend, I'm hoping to work at the Nascar Race at Dover Downs to earn a little money. My fundraiser at Buffalo Wild Wings went very well. I haven't heard how much money I made yet but there were a lot of people there.

Marathon Factoid #1: The name marathon comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek messenger. The legend states that he was sent from the town of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon. It is said that he ran the entire distance without stopping and burst into the assembly, exclaiming "We have won" before collapsing and dying.

8/30/08 Wow! It's been 2 weeks since I've updated this! Well, my excuse is that school started. I have 140 new names to remember! I ran 7 miles today and a total of 17 miles this week! That's the most I've done in a day and a week. I am so proud of me! You know, when I tell people that I'm going to run a marathon, they always say, "I could never do that!" Well, I'm proof that you can do whatever you put your mind to. I am thoroughly enjoying the training. I have met some truly amazing people (runners are VERY friendly). I encourage all of you to take on a personal challenge, whether it's physical or mental, and do your best to meet your challenge. If you believe, you can achieve!

8/15/08 So this week, I ran and did some cross-training. I tried a spin class at Gold's Gym and I am still feeling the effects of the seat, hence the expensive pair of biking shorts I purchased yesterday. Lots and lots of padding. I also tried a yoga/pilates class this week. It was pretty good. I didn't realize my body could get into some of those positions! Tomorrow is my second 6:30am group run and I'm going for 6 miles! You know, it just occured to me this week that I have essentially given up sleeping in on a Saturday until the middle of January. Talk about sacrifice!

8/11/08 This is a link to the map of the marathon run at Disney. I will actually run through all of the parks! Shall we take bets on whether or not I'll take a break at MGM to ride the Rockin' Roller Coaster? It is my favorite... http://adisneyworldsports.disney.go.com/media/dwws_v0220/en_US/pdf/08MarathonCourseMap.pdf

8/9/08 I had my first training run with Team in Training at Rehoboth Beach! It was wonderful! We had perfect weather and the streets and houses were a great distraction. I actually ran 5 miles! That's the farthest I've ever run! Look out Disney, here I come!

8/8/08 Tomorrow I start my first official training session with Team in Training. I have to be at Rehoboth Beach by 6:30 am! That means I have to leave my house by at least 5:30 am! What have I gotten myself into?!