My Fundraising Page

Waking up early on the weekends is not one of my favorite things.

However, when my alarm went off at 4:15 am this morning, I rolled out of bed and threw on the clothes that I had laid out the night before. By 4:30 am, I was driving down the H1 towards H1 for the Norman Tamanaha 15K. Thanks to the perpetually warm temps here in Hawaii, races have rediculously early start times. Example - today was one of the later start times... at 6am. Most of my other training sessions and warm up series races start at 5:30 am... or 5am.... EEKS!!!! Needless to say, I'm honestly considering getting a hotel room the night before the 5am marathon start.

The race today was 15K (9.3 miles... although the course map had it at 9.7.... so it was one of those two). My goal today was simply to get the run in, ideally in under 2 hours, to finish feeling strong, and to be able to hit my running workouts hard again on Tuesday. I think I've accomplished all those things! Can't say for sure about the Tuesday run, but based on how my legs feel right now, I think Tuesday will be a go.

That all being said, my early wake up time, and the 15K that I ran today doesn't hold a candle to what patients with blood cancers go through every day.

With that being said, in honor of the 15K that I ran this morning, I would like to ask you to consider making a $15 donation to help me fight blood cancers! Your support is greatly appreciated!

Every 4 minutes one person is diagnosed with a blood cancer.

Every 10 minutes, someone dies from a blood cancer.

That's 145 people each day or more than six people every hour.

With your help, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, is making a difference!

The overall five-year survival rate for children under 15 years old with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) was 3% in 1964 - today it's 90.5%! The five-year survival rate for leukemia has quadrupled in the past 50 years, from 14% to 56.5%. Statistics have shown a significant imrpovement in the five-year survival rates of patients with myeloma during this same time frame - from 12% to 41.1%.

Hodgkin lymphoma is now considered to be one of the most curable forms of cancer. The five year survival rate for a person diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma has more than double fro 40% to 86.3% in the last 50 years. in children and adolescents ages 0 to 14, the five-year survival rate for Hodgkin lymphoma is 95.6%

In children and adolescent from 0 to 19 years, five year survival for non-Hodgkin lymphoma is now 84.7%. This represents a significant imrpovement: even in the mid-1970s, most children with NHL did not live five years after diagnosis.

Stay tuned tomorrow to hear about the patient services that Team in Training provides.

This past Saturday, I met my team mates and we started our journey to train for the Honolulu Marathon. The first work out went well - a nice 40 minute run along a bike path in Pearl Harbor. The best part though was being with my team mates. Together, we're racing against blood related cancers.

At this point you might be asking yourself, what are blood related cancers?

Excellent question!

Leukemia, Hodgkin lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), myeloma and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are typesof cancer that can affect the bone marrow, the blood cells, the lymph nodes and other parts of the lymphatic system. These disease are related cancers in the sense that they probably all results from aquired mutations to the DNA of a single lymph or blood forming stem cell. The mutated stem cell produces clones, which generate high numbers of abnormal cells (such as neutrophils, momcytes and lyphocytes). The abnormal cells mutliply and survive without the usual controls that are in place for healthy cells. The accumulation of these cells in the marrow, blood and/or lymphatic tissue interferes with production and functioning of red cells, white cells and platelets. Ultimately, the disease process can lead to severe anemia, bleeding, an impaired ability to fight infection, or death.

Please consider making a donation to help fight these diseases!

And stay tuned for more information about the mission of Team in Training and the Luekemia/Lymphoma Society, as well as tales from the trails (and trials) of my training!

PS - for those inquiring minds... yes, I did manage to accidently stick my finger in the puff paint on my training shirt... even after Jen, our fearless coordinator at TNT, warned me to be careful not to smudge the paint. Oops!

Aloha! Thanks so much for taking the time to check out my web site!

In 2007 & 2008 I had the amazing experience of training for the olympic distance Capitol of Texas Triathlon with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team in Training. Since that time I've been longing to do another event with Team in Training. I'm excited to say that December 11, 2011, I will be running the Honolulu Marathon with Team in Training!

Thus, I invite you to help me as I race.

I need your help to finish my race, but much more importantly, we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure! Each donation helps accelerate finding a cure for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Nearly 958,000 Americans are battling these blood cancers. I am hoping that my participation in Team In Training will help bring them hope and support.

Please consider making a (tax deductible) donation to help support LLS and Team in Training's mission!

The first official practice is a week from today. I'll keep you updated on my training and give you more information about the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!

Thanks for you donations and support!