I'm Running to Help Save Lives, and I need your help to reach my goals!

Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

I'm training to participate in Walt Disney World Marathon, an endurance event where I will run 26.2 miles, 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 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.

Thanks for your all your support! I have such amazing friends, family, and community members making this possible. Your support both in the dollars you donate, your kind words of encouragement, and your patients for all the time I'm on the road instead of with the family is amazing!

Thanks again,

-Heather

I know some type of cancer has hit many of our families! As I am training and talking about LLS and during my fundraising to help find a cure for Leukemia, I am hearing more and more stories of people who are surviors and those who have lost family members due to some form of blood cancer. I want you to email me (HeatherB@BeachbodyCoach.com) and let me know if you have a special someone who has been diagonosed with some form of blood cancer. I'm starting a list of names here to honor these folks. I want to share all the names with everyone that reads my page so you know who and why I am out there running everyday for!

Here are the people I am running for:

Ryan Close, a 10+ year survior!

Dave Briggs, Passed away, Oct. 2009

Jennifer Ramone, 9 years old when she passed.

Todd Owens

Ryan Howard, Currently undergoing treatment but doing really well and is almost done with his treatments.

Cody Dixon, Currently undergoing treatment but doing really well and is almost done with his treatments.

Robin Martin

Diane, Stage IV Non-Hodgins Lymphoma 1 year ago, and is currently doing great!

Francis Gallella, passed away from Leukemia

Sharlot Robinso, currently in stable condition and can take the next 4 months off her treatment.

Carl Mason, 3 time Survior, read his inspirational story below!

I' want to share Carl's story. When people ask me why I run, its to hear stories like Carl's and to help others!

This is all directly from Carl's website:

Many of you have asked, "What is the significance of the moose tat on my back?" (Carl's entire back is a large tattoo of a moose! I wish I could show the picture here for you. )

So here is the story...

At 27 years old and less than one year after marriage, I was diagnosed with stage 4b Lymphoma. By the time that diagnosis came, I was bedridden, I weighed in at a meager 107 pounds, I felt death knocking on the door. After 7 months of chemo and high dose steroids, I went into remission.I began dealing with the aftermath of all the drugs that had saved my life but ravaged my body in other ways than the cancer had done. But I was hopeful; confident that full recovery was certain in time.

About a year later, a mysterious hip pain developed. Another diagnosis followed. Once again, I began treatment. A hip fracture left me in severe pain and on crutches with very limited activity. But overall, things seemed easy compared to the first run. Remission came quickly, leaving behind a badly eroded hip structure and constant pain but no signs of cancer.

It was a short 6 months later, on my birthday, that I developed severe abdominal pain; pain that was paralyzing; pain that came in unaanounced and in violent outbursts. A sip of water would cause violent rounds of vomitting. It soon beacme nearly impossible to eat or drink without experiencing a crippling episode. I rememeber driving one day when an attack hit. I could not control the car and required the aid of a friend in the passenger seat to avoid a wreck. My weight began dropping rapidlly and I was bed ridden within weeks. A third diagnosis was made and this time it was truly grim.

Cancer was found in every vital organ and even with treatment I was given a few months to live. Initially I refused treatment opting only for pain management. The pain however was too severe to be "managed". I gave up...decided that I was done...that life could not be lived that way...I decided it was time to surrender...it was time to accept death.

Time was very short. Everyday, I could see and feel the rapid progression of the disease. There were a few small dreams I wanted to accomplish. One seemed rather easy given the fact that we lived in Breckenridge Colorado...I wanted to see a moose in its natural habitat. My Oncologists warned me that even a small bug bite could kill me, but I forged ahead on my journey to Rocky Mountain National Park. After a grueling day of hiking and searching for moose, I began a disapponinted departure from the park. It was then, that my dream became reality. I soon found myself standing before three large, mature bull moose. There was no fear by moose or man....just a silent, surreal peace. One bull laid down mere feet away.

In that moment, I felt what I believe to be the presence of God. And I hheard, in what was to me an audible voice,"Choose Life. I have Life for you. Choose Life." I knew that I had the opportunity to live. I also had the opportunity to die. I chose life. the next day, I began chemo with the understanding that remission was medically unlikely if not impossible. But just a few months later, I miravulously went into remission.

At that point my oncologist insisted we seize the opportunity and undergo an immediate and complete bone marrow transplant (almost a death sentence itself). I refused and prayed for another answer. That is when, after much prayer, that in a meeting with a client, I discovered niutrition. I stepped out in faith, stopped all treatments and made radical canges to my nutritional plan to one of whole, clean foods. That was nearly 13 years ago! I have not seen an Oncologist since.

It took nearly 10 years to fully heal and recover from all that had ravaged my body. But I slowly began working out. I eventually discovered P90X and my life changed yet again. A year and a half later, i am in the best shape of my life, celebrating 13 years of health and now fitness and strength.

To this day, I have a connection with moose. I am blessed to spend part of my year where they visit the property, raise their young and allow me the joy of their presence.

I am blessed! And because God used those moose to remind me that there was Life, and because God fulfilled the promise, I have dedicated my back as a memorial, a testimont and reminder.

That's my story; my testimony!

-Carl

MY TRAINING JOURNAL

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Training Journal Week of Oct 13 to Nov. 9

I just wanted to update you on my marathon training. Currently I have probably run at least 127 miles in my training. October 10, as most of you know, was my first half marathon. As I probably mentioned, I finished about the 50% mark of all the racers and completed the run in just 2 hours 21 minutes! I was quite happy with that considering I just started this whole crazy running adventure 7 weeks before the race then got sick the entire month of September! The week after the race, was my recovery week. I ran a few days during the week at about 2-3 miles per night. My long run on the recovery weekend was 6 miles, so not so bad after just completing 13 the weekend before. It was nice to have a little time off.

This past week, I seemed to have been slacking. My week night runs are getting harder to be motivated for as it is getting cold and dark by the time I get home from work. Plus, I'm just tired, like many people, having put in a full day at the office. Therefore, I did miss a few of my scheduled runs. On the days I did get out, I decided to do at least 2 miles, but I thought I would do more of an interval training type run to help increase my speed. Therefore, I would run as fast as I could for a minute, then slowed or walked for a minute. I continued to do this for the whole 2 mile run. Yup, that is one sure way to tire you out quickly!

This past weekend, I was back up to running 12.4 miles. It's funny when you walk out the door and I say to Michael, I'm only running 12 miles today! When did 12 miles become an only??? I guess anything less then the 13.1 miles is now considered a short run for me. I have to say, I was not prepared for my run this week. I did not eat properly beforehand and boy did that show. I was totally low on energy! That last mile was a good/bad thing. It was good because I could see the end! I knew my car was parked just over the hill. But, that last hill had a lot of little walking spurts in there. Thank goodness for the other Team members who were also with me that last mile! So, as I increase my miles, I really am learning more about my body and what it takes to fuel it as I burn so many calories in the 2 hours + of running! I am also happy to say, that Sat. was a long and lazy day after my run. My legs were a little sore and my feet just said, stay sitting. But, come Sunday I was amazed at how well I felt. Not sore, no aches or pains. I guess that means its time to jump up and get ready to run again. I'm not sure what the miles look like for this weekend, but I'll look at those when I get to than. In the mean time, my goal for the week is to do my 3-4 miles 3 nights and maybe some extra morning yoga for a good stretch!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Training Journal Week of Nov. 9 to Nov. 22

This has been an incredible 2 weeks!

It started off with me running 16 miles! OMG, is all I can say. Do you know what goes through your mind when you are on the road for 3.5 hours just running! I swear, you do math in your head. I just ran xx miles, in x hours that equals xx minutes per mile. Ok, so maybe its just not math. If I had a pen and paper, I could have my whole To Do list and goals for the week written down. With all the goofy thoughts and lyrics that swim through my head, I could probably have a book written! Ok, so it may not be a book anyone will ever read, but it sure would be interesting. But, at least those crazy thoughts keep the mind from thinking about the pains your body is feeling. The foot that feels is being beaten by a bat with each step, or the knee that just wants to stop, or the butt! Can you say, buns of steel! Yes, that is what I think will be another bonus of all this running! So, 16 miles is my first big jump. It was a sure test of will power and self evaluations! This coming Sat. I jump back to 18 miles, and those just keep adding up, until one day its 26.2!

This past weekend was even more special for my team. One of our teammates, CJ was supposed to run a half marathon in FL this weekend. Her daughter got ill and was scheduled for surgery, which meant mom couldn't travel with the team. She was dedicated to reaching her goal of running her first half marathon (13.1 miles), that she had

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

November 29

This was my longest run ever! I just completed 18 miles. Can you believe someone would actually run 18 miles? Oh, it gets better then that. Could you imagine someone wanting to do it again, and YES add more miles to it next time?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

December 5, 2009

Today was supposed to be a recovery week, but still a long run. I am scheduled to run 14 miles today. Yes, 14 miles is a short run these days! But due to my foot, I decided to take this week off and try and let it heal a little.

Being, I can't quit anything. I decided to do a 5k run this morning for some Arthritus Charity. It was a Jingle Bell Run. I went all decked out. I decided to buy a santa hat with Big Mickey Mouse ears! Yup, Mickey is on my mind all the time now. I'm getting so excited to see my big day come! I had bells tied in my hair to ring with every step as I ran. I also had on pj's (of course over my Under Armour). The shorts were red with snowflakes and the top was for my "ski team". That outfit was so appropriate as it was pouring when I got to the race to register. But, my race time it was snowing! And it was coming down hard. Ok, a lot of rain mixed in with that too. But, I had fun! The running in the snow just put me in the Christmas Jongle Bell spirt. Ok, windshield wipers would have been a good idea to keep those snowflakes out of my eyes, but otherwise it was a blast!

I ran hard, but not has hard as I could have. Remembering, I was supposed to be letting my foot heal. But, 3 miles these days seem like nothing!

But, I did great! I came in 106 out of 573 racers. I came in 16 of the 99 women in my age group. And, I completed the race in 28:27. I'm ok with that! I actually found it funny that today's Jingle Bell was my first 5k. I actually ran a 1/2 marathon before ever doing a shorter run. Yup, when I have something stuck in my head, I go all out!

Next Sat. I have my longest run before the race. A 20 miler! I'm hoping to have a foot that will be somewhat painfree. I'm thinking that the next month, that will not be the case. Per doctor's orders, I will be taking Advil 3 times a day, lots of icing and just a whole lot of prayers that I can get through the next month and the marathon without any serious injuries!