Racing to Save Lives

Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

I just ran the Dublin Marathon this October 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 ran in honor of all individuals who either have battled or are currently battling blood cancers, and the many people I personally know who have been affected by various other kinds of cancer. These people are the real heroes on our team, and they need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!

YOU can help make that happen. Please make a donation (large or small--every little bit helps!) to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission. Don't forget that all donations are 100% tax deductible!

I know everyone is dying to know how the race went, and it was awesome! I even finished a little bit faster than I thought I would (actually, 20 minutes faster than what I thought was an unrealistic, ambitious goal). I wasn't even in too much pain. My doctor gave me anti-inflammatory patches and creams and permission to load up on oral anti-inflammatories right before the run (a lot of people tell you not to do that), all of which I think helped a lot. The ice bath after the race (which involved a lot of screaming--the bath, not the race, although there was some screaming at the end of that too) helped a lot in preventing any limping the next day. I did hobble around a little bit, but it was mostly just from tight muscles. I'm still just so excited that I got through that 26.2, and in good spirits the whole way. The lesson I feel like I learned the most was how much of an impact proper training has on your ability to do the race. I'm sure there's a metaphor in there somewhere.

Everyone keeps asking for pictures, and I know I'm slow about responding. I'll try to get them on facebook soon, so keep checking my page there. If you want to watch a video of me at different points of the race and at the finish, go here and search for my name, then click on it: http://dublinmarathon.ie/results.php

I also cannot forget that the real winners here are all of the cancer patients and their families who fight so hard to finish their races every day. During my race I especially thought about my good friend Sharolyn, who at the same time I was running was finishing her LAST CHEMO TREATMENT. WOOHOO! I am so proud of her, and grateful for the opportunity I've had during my training to continue to keep her in mind, that I was doing this all for a purpose. To all of you who donated and gave so much encouragement, thank you for your support!

I'm still saying that all I want for Christmas this year is donations for my marathon in lieu of presents, so keep that in mind when you consider making a donation! You can still donate until Wednesday, November 17, and even though it looks like I met my goal, anything you donate it still going to make a significant difference to the fight against cancer; we still haven't reached the real goal of a cure.

When you make a donation, I smile like this: