I'm thinking of my mom today as I face a very challenging run. I'm up for 18 miles and I have to admit, I'm intimidated! Big time!

I know I can do it, I've been trained to do so and I had better be able to considering that in less than a month I have to do 26.2, but nonetheless, I'm intimidated.

I'm doing all of this in her memory and any time I am challenged I always think of her. I think of how strong she was, how incredibly strong she had to be to go through what she did. I know I can do this because I came from her. If I have an inkling of what she had, I can do this!

I have heard that when you have had cancer, it's hard not to think sometimes, "what if I get cancer again?"

I've never had cancer, but I was there when the doctor told my mom that hers was back and our options were limited this time.

"options are limited"

The words that changed my world.

The words that still haunt me today, almost 7 years after they were spoken to us. The words that make me think, "what if I get cancer?"

I worry about it... a lot. More than I should. I have to admit, I have thought, "what if I can't run this race because I get diagnosed before then." It's aweful! I was never that kind of person before. If anything, I was guilty of thinking nothing bad would ever happen to me or my family. But it just does something to you from which you can't escape.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there that understand just what I am saying and even more so than from the perspective that I have.

I don't mean to get so "heavy" but today I'm feeling very honest.

I will continue to work for Team in Training. I am making a promise that I will use my talents to help Team in Training raise funds to help fight cancer and help the families that are affected by blood cancers. Emby Taylor Photography will continue to work, donate, and fundraise for TNT and LLS.

My prayer is that sooner than later, a cure will be found and the worries will subside. That one day I won't worry about the consequences of a potential something that I have no control over.

But that is nothing compared to the prayer that a cure is found to help those who are going through it now.

This little girl has been on my mind and in my heart for a while now.

This amazing little girl from China Grove, NC was first diagnosed at the age of 3 with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and underwent 2.5 years of chemo. After being off of chemo for a little over a year she relapsed on her 8th birthday. So on February 27 2012 she began her treatment again. She will under go 2.5 more years of chemo.

Today she is in the hospital receiving yet another dose of chemo. After the chemo, she will be given "rescue" drugs to get the chemo out of her system. If the chemo stays in too long, it can do too much damage, but if it doesn't stay in long enough, it won't kill the bad cells. This is over-simplifying it completely because there is SOOOOOO much more to it. There are also all of the risks of her "numbers" not cooperating. Savannah's body has to be in the perfect condition to be able to accept such treatment.

Family and friends hang in agonizing suspense to find out whether this will all come together as we all hope it will. It breaks my heart for everyone involved. This precious little girl and all of her family has to deal with this rather than the ordinary cares in an 8 year old's world.

Please pray for Savannah and her family and keep them in your thoughts and prayers as they go through these tough times.

Feel free to keep up with Savannah's updates at https://www.facebook.com/groups/183716085089349/

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On a personal note:

While I may feel like it's tough to wake up so early on Saturday mornings to get my long-run in, I am thankful that I am able to do so.

Want to help fight blood cancers? Want to use your ability to run (whether you know you've got it or not, most of you have the ability to run!) to help those that can't?

Join Team in Training for their Winter season. It may be too late to come to DC with me, but you can always join in to run in the Disney Marathon, Kiawah Island, or even in Honolulu for this winter's season! Sign up with Team and Training and tell them I sent ya!

If that's too tall of an order to fill, every little bit counts here at the fundraising page. My team alone has already raised over $57,000 for this fall season and we still have plenty of time to keep bringing in the bucks!

Thank you all to everyone that has donated and to everyone that will!

I've been on vacation in Sedona, Arizona for 2 weeks, so I've been running with the team only in spirit.

I thought about them a lot on my training runs in Arizona. Although I was on vacation, I didn't stop training.

While I was gone, the team celebrated Jordan's 8th birthday with her!!! It's so exciting to see stories like hers. 4 year old Jordan was diagnosed with AML on September 16, 2009. But her spirit and strength have persevered and her 1 year post bone marrow transplant has confirmed she is still in remission!!!

I hated to miss her birthday celebration, but I heard it was a blast.

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On a personal note, I had a beautiful place to train while I was out in Arizona. The longest run I had while out there was our 8 mile run.

I felt great that day, the dry climate made it a bit easier, and I felt like I was "cheater-training" at that high altitude.

The success of that run was due to hydrating the day before and morning of, eating a great pasta dinner the night before, the beautiful scenery of the run, and my awesome support team (aka hubby) creating water stations for me every 2 miles. What a sweetie! I thought he would be bored out of his mind, but he said that with it being such a beautiful and relaxing area, he enjoyed the time to himself to relax for a moment.

Anyways, I had some of the best runs of my life while in Arizona and I'll always remember them (partly because I ran with my phone as my iPod, so I took a few pictures on the way) ;)

Thank you, thank you, thank you all so much for caring. What an amazing feeling to see such an outpour of caring and support for this week's push we made with fundraising. All of my friends raised over $600 in two days to support The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I cannot thank you enough. I truly well up with tears when I think of what you all have done to support me and my cause.

Next, it's on to the corporate sponsors!!!!! Speaking of which, if you have donated, be sure and find out from your employer if they "match." Some companies do and it's as simple as filling out a form and then your donation has all of the sudden doubled! yippeeee!

I am so grateful to have all of you in my life and I will be thinking of you all on race day!

You'll be hearing from me here and there and I'll keep you all up to date on how training is going and you will all be right there with me in my mind while I'm running those 26.2.

Thank you!

My own personal mission moment this week is tied into my training.

This week was our 6 mile run. I went to the Dilwroth area to run with the team this week. It was beautiful but hilly. The first 5 and 1/4 miles were beatiful and fun. I found a great running partner, Laura, and as we ran, we told each other our life stories. We talked about our personal ties to LLS, our background, and she told me all about marathon running. It was great to hear about her experiences (she's run 4, so I was all about hearing her advice/stories) It was great.

But then, with about 3/4 of a mile left to go, after a long steady hill, I slowed to almost a screeching halt. I told Laura to go ahead and I fell back. After I saw her running off in front of me, it just didn't feel good about it. I was immediately disappointed in myself.

I thought of a little inspiration quote I saw this week, "You'll never know your limits until you push them." Then it was back on!

I'm not going to say that I just got this burst of energy and caught up... oh no, not hardly. But I did start running again and I ran all the way back. No more walking.

I couldn't help but think about my mom at that point.

Many of you know this, but I think of it so often that I'll share it anyways.

I stayed the night in the hospital with my mom on her last night. I was giving my dad a little break because he had been there for days straight. My sister was in town and so he was at their house with her.

The next morning when my dad called, he asked how Mom was doing and I said that the doctors had told us it was time and we probably had the day with her but that was about it. So I told him that it was ok if they took showers etc. before they came so that they could be here for the long haul of that day and into the night.

At that moment, my mom grunted a bit. She was supposedly unconscious so this was a great surprise to me to get even such a little noise.

But now I know what she was wanting to communicate. She was holding on just say they could get there. She was so ready to let go.

When they arrived, we all sat with her, at her bedside and she passed away shortly after they arrived.

I think of how hard it must have been for her to hold on when it was so obviously her time.

She fought so hard to make sure we all were able to be with her when she passed. I can only aspire to have such strength. It's not something that will come easy, obviously I'll have to work for it, but I am her daughter. I know I can make her proud and become the strong woman she wants me to be. The strong woman that she was.

My mission moment for this week is this one. It inspires me more than ever to help and make a difference!!!

Please help me in my mission and donate to LLS. NO AMOUNT IT TOO SMALL!!!

I'll be posting this week's fundraising challenge soon, so please check back!