Racing to Save Lives

Welcome to my Team In Training home page!

I'm training to participate in the Twin Cities Marathon on October 5, 2008 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 running these 26.2 miles in memory of my grandfather, Ken Webb, who lost his battle with Leukemia in 2005. I'm also running in honor of all individuals who are fighting blood cancers today. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!

Will you please consider making a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission? My first donation goal is $200 by June 9, and I would like to reach my goal of $2,200 by September 25th. I will unfortunately not be able to accept donations after that date. Donations are 100% tax deductible. Please ask your Human Resource Director about matching gifts.

You can make a secure online donation by following the instructions to the left, or you can send your donation* to me at the following address:

Hannah Callender

3016 Colfax Ave S

Minneapolis, MN 55408

*Please make checks payable to LLS, and write "Hannah Callender" in the memo line.

For more information on Team In Training, click here. For more information on The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), click here.

I hope you will visit my web site often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Thank you in advance for your support and generosity. Your contribution will go toward research to find a cure for all types of cancer.

Much love,

Hannah

The precious ones I am running in memory and in honor of:

*Ken Webb (my grandfather)

*David Ebbens (friend of Holly Pinkerton, my coworker)

*granddaughter of Rev. Bill Hurdle (my college chaplain)

*Brad, friend of Eddie Anstey (friend from Nashville)

***If you have others you would like for me to run in honor or in memory of, please let me know so that I can add them to my list. :)***

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For those of you who may be interested in keeping track of my training progress, I have decided to start a running log. Thank you so much for your prayers and support!

Total miles run since the beginning of my training: 469.83

Sept 18: I finished my 20-mile race! Woohoo! My body was not too happy with me for the rest of the day last Saturday, but I finished, and did it 15 minutes faster than my goal. My time was 3 hrs 25 mins on the dot. I don't know how I ran that fast, since i'd been averaging just under 11 minutes miles during training, and my race pace was 10:15 minute miles. I guess it was just all the excitement of being in a race. Anyway, I'm still haveing minor aches and pains in several places (one especially annoying one in my right foot), but I'm pushing through, and I'm sooo ready for marathon day to be here! Please continue your prayers. :)

Sept 10: Less than 4 weeks until the marathon! I can hardly believe it! Training is going well…some days are better than others, but overall it’s going well. I’ve had to miss a couple of runs do to a late class I’m taking at the U, but fortunately it hasn’t affected things too much. I have my longest training run this weekend. I’m doing a 20-mile race around White Bear Lake, which is about 45 minutes away. I’m excited to incorporate a race into my training. This way I’ll hopefully get an idea of how things will feel for the marathon. Thanks so much for your continued prayers!

August 21: After buying new shoes and doing a few new exercises...guess what? NO KNEE PAIN!!! Woohoo! I'm so excited! I was beginning to think my knee was just going to hurt forever...dramatic, I know...but God has answered prayers and I feel really good. My training is going well. I ran the farthest distance I've ever run last Friday in the lovely town of Smyrna, TN. 18 miles! It took me about 4 hours, but I finished, and I was exhausted. I was a little bummed that my ipod slightly overestimated the run, but I was still happy to finish. Now that my body is doing better, I'm focusing on trying to push my heart a little more. Therefore, I'm trying to do more interval training for the shorter runs. I can't believe I only have 6 more weeks of training! It's gone by fairly quickly. Please keep up your prayers. I know I wouldn't make it without them. :)

August 7: Well, my knee has improved slightly. Most of my runs are met with little pain, though about once a week my knee gets quite angry with me...just to let me know it's still there, I think. Two weeks ago I ran 15 miles and it was not happy at all, but I still finished, and mentally it felt really good to finish. That's the farthest I've ever run. Last Saturday I ran 13 miles in the most beautiful city in America, San Diego. The weather was perfect and so was the scenery. I ran those miles very slowly and had a little pain that came and went throughout the run. Although I still have pain, it seems like it doesn't last as long after each run, which is awesome. I'm planning to run 16 miles this Saturday, so we'll see how that goes. Again, thank you so much for your support and prayers! I'm still in one piece! :) Aside from physical setbacks, I feel that my mental state is really strong, and I know it's because I have so many people lifting me up in prayer. Praise the Lord!

July 14: I've had to rest a little more over the past three weeks due to another leg injury. I've been going to a PT for therapy for my right knee. I was getting a little down since I wasn't seeing much progress and couldn't run more than a mile withoutt intense pain, but I've been doing exercises (most of them recommended by my best bud Jen), and I ran Friday for the first time in three weeks with no pain at all until mile two. Now, I'm still very far from being able to run long distances, but I'm staying positive. I ran Sunday for 7 miles with little discomfort. I probably could have gone more, but I didn't want to push it too much. Thanks for your prayers and support!

June 13: My training has been going very well so far. I'm enjoying running so much more now that I'm not trying to sprint the entire time. I did come across a small obstacle a couple of weeks ago, though. I was supposed to run 8 miles...but I ended up running closer to 10, and around mile 9 I started feeling a very sharp pain in my left leg, close to my ankle. I thought it would go away if I just kept going, but it didn't. It bothered me for several days and prevented me from being able to run more than a mile or so without pain. So I rested for several more days, went on a retreat with the young adults from my church, and ran 8 miles comfortably the day I returned from my retreat. Praise the Lord! So now I'm trying to back off on the mileage a little (I had been using the intermediate running schedule, because I was trying to be a tough girl...but now I'm learning that it's not all about being tough, and I've decided it would be wiser to stick with the novice schedule...since I am a novice at this, whether I like it or not), and my leg is behaving very nicely. I also have appointments with a PT just to make sure everything is okay. So, for now my spirits are up, I'm enjoying my training, and I am super encouraged by all the support I've received from my friends and family. You guys rock!