"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do." - John Wooden

Yes, it's true ... I'm training for a marathon! With the help of the awesome people at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training, I'm training to run the San Diego Rock n' Roll Marathon on May 31st. All of my Team In Training teammates are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives, and 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!

Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission. Better yet, if you can can also refer this page to 5 friends or family members who you think would be interested in supporting this cause, I'd really appreciate it!

I'll be tracking my training and fundraising progress ... please be sure to check back often for updates! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!

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WEEK ONE: We did our first group Sunday run. I finished with two others in the lead pace group, running at a comfortable speed and a 4 minute run/1 minute walk strategy.

3 miles - 28:40

WEEK TWO: Note to self - there's always 45 minutes of "housekeeping" before our group runs ... wear something other than shorts and a tanktop when it's 45 degrees out!

Based on my time in last week's run, I was placed into Group One with about half a dozen awesome teammates. We did a 5 minute run/1 minute walk strategy this time around.

4 miles - 38:00

WEEK THREE: Thankfully the weather managed to hold out for a third consecutive weeek! Prior to the run, we were motivated by Krissy Kobata, one of our honored teammates, who has MDS; the only cure is a bone marrow transplant (http://www.teamkrissy.com). We ran from the Santa Monica Pier to Marina del Rey and back == 5 miles roundtrip at a 5 minute run/1 minute walk pace. Our group kept it loose, heard some entertaining comments from Venice boardwalk "residents," and enjoyed an all-around great run!

5 miles - 49:00

WEEK FOUR: I want to extend a GIANT THANK YOU to those people (listed on the right) who donated in the past week!! I am over halfway to my fundraising goal, thanks to your generosity! This week's run (alternated 5 min run/1 min walk again) started at the Santa Monica Boardwalk, headed north on Ocean, east on San Vicente (uphill!) to 26th Street. We then looped back on a mirror route, finishing at Santa Monica City Hall. Unbelievably warm March weather and Skittles at the water stop definitely found a fond place in my heart. :-)

7 miles - 1 hr 14 mins

WEEK FIVE: Change of scenery this week ... we started out at Dock 52 at the Marina (del Rey), and headed south on the beachfront bikepath. Group 1 is starting to ween as we crank up the mileage ... and the pace. We kept the same 5 min run/1 min walk pace again, but averaged 9 minute miles! Another great day in the sun, at the beach ... working up a sweat to make people's lives a little bit better.

8 miles - 1 hr 12 mins

WEEK SIX: Double digits for the first time as a group! Back to Santa Monica Pier this week, with a couple loops up and down San Vicente for good measure. We didn't run as aggressively this week (read: slow!) but it was slightly overcast...made for great running weather!

10 miles - 1 hr 42 mins

WEEK SEVEN: This week was our first reprieve (sort of) as we cut back our distance to 8 miles. The trade off? We ran a trail in the Santa Monica Mountains, up to the NIKE Base and back. Yes, it was a fairly steep grade, and yes, it was raining. No pain, no gain, right? It was a welcome change of scenery/challenge, and though I was a bit under the weather, the Team enjoyed itself.

8 miles - 1 hr 32 mins

WEEK EIGHT: The reprieve was only temporary. :) We cranked the mileage back up this week, hitting 12 miles. Group 1 has slimmed down ... there's only 4 of us left ... but we're having a blast!

12 miles - 1 hr 56 mins

WEEK NINE: I was on a mini-vaction in Scottsdale, AZ for our usual Sunday morning group run, so Kelley (our assistant coach and a high school friend of mine) and I ran 13 miles on Monday night. Though we weren't pushing too hard until the end, we only took one walk break halfway through, and finished the run in good time!

13 miles (1/2 marathon) - 1 hr 38 mins

WEEK TEN: We had another "recovery" week this week, running 10 miles in the 'Suicide Hills' (Pacific Palisades/North Santa Monica residential area). As you might imagine, the nickname was derived from the steep grade/hilly nature of the course. While the inclines were challenging at times, it felt great to mix up the scenery and type of running!

10 miles - 1 hr 44 mins

WEEK ELEVEN: What a day for running! We ran 15 miles this week, up and down the coastline on the boardwalk & Ocean Avenue. Even with a 7.30am start, it was in the low to mid-80s. It was a great run, and our longest to date as a team. Group 1 took it out easy, but we built our run and were running sub-7 minute miles for the last 2 miles!

15 miles: 2 hrs 33 mins

THE BIG DAY!!: To anyone actually periodically checking back on this page ... I apologize for the drop-off in updates in the weeks leading up to the marathon. Between the training schedule, work, moving to a new apartment, etc. I neglected to update. But, the big race was last Sunday and it went REALLY well. Miles 1-11 were fun, as I was running with 4 of my training teammates. Miles 11-23 were kind of lonely, as I picked up the pace and was running by myself (especially miles 17-22, when I was fending off some vicious calf and hamstring cramping due to incredibly humid conditions). I cranked up the last 4 miles of the race and finished strong, passing about 1,000 people during that stretch. I largely owe that late burst to Coach Craig, who ran with me the majority of the 4 miles and helped me bring my pace down from 9:00 / mile to (at one point) sub-7:00 / mile. I knew all that speed training at the end of training runs would come in handy!

The final verdict? 3 hours, 46 minutes. Not too shabby for my first marathon, I say. I came in under 4 hours, and actually was right on my target of 3:45. My legs finally feel "normal" again today -- 5 days later. And though I've taken the week off from excercise (no, not even a gym session), I'm going to turn around and run the Camp Pendleton Mud Run this Sunday. It's only a 10k, involves mud pits and obstacle courses, and is a total blast. This'll mark the 4th year in a row that I've done that race.

So now what? It looks like a long-distance relay race in Las Vegas is in my future (on my birthday weekend), followed by the Honolulu marathon in December. Yes, the race course does run up the side of a volcano. :-) I'm also looking forward to being a mentor for the Team in Training program for the Fall/Winter season

** AGAIN, THANKS SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO DONATED!! YOU ALL SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE INCREDIBLE OUTPOURING OF SUPPORT ON RACE DAY. OUR WESTSIDE L.A. GROUP RAISED IN EXCESS OF $360K AND COLLECTIVELY TEAM IN TRAINING RAISED $8.5 MILLION JUST FOR THE SAN DIEGO ROCK N' ROLL MARATHON ALONE. SUCH A WORTHY CAUSE, AND A TRUE TESTAMENT TO HUMAN COMPASSION AND GENEROSITY.**