Racing for Daddy and Bryce

Hello and Welcome to my Team In Training home page!

Once again I am signing up as a Team Captain to complete an endurance event with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Team In Training (TNT) program. This time, I will be running in the Nike Women’s Marathon on October 19, 2008 in San Francisco AND the New York City Marathon on November 2, 2008.

I ran my first Half-Marathon in my Dad's honor and memory in January of 2004 because I lost him to Kidney Cancer and there is no amazing organization like LLS to help find a cure. Also, Tony and I had little George on 6/12/03 and between having a beautiful healthy baby and losing my Dad, I felt like I needed to do something to help. This led me to Bermuda with TNT, finishing a 13.1 mile run on a cold January day in 2004 with an amazing Team of runners all wanting to beat BLOOD CANCERS together!

Every five minutes someone is diagnosed with one of these cancers. Every 10 minutes someone will die from one of them. That is the sad reality. Lymphoma is the leading disease killer in men and women under the age of 35. Leukemia is the number one disease killer in children aged 1-14. As a mommy this fact just scares me and I will continue my little part to help.

LLS is continuing to strive to find cures for Leukemia, Lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and Myeloma, as well as improving the quality of life for patients and their families. LLS is making progress and a difference, and the five-year survival rates have risen significantly, but there’s still so much more that needs to be done.

This year I will be running again to honor my Dad’s memory. I have also decided to run in honor of a little boy named Bryce Anderson. He was our Honored Teammate in Summer 2006 Season, and was about 5 months older than our George. Bryce spent over 500 consecutive days in the hospital fighting AML (Acute Myelogenous Leukemia) and passed away from complications during our training season, in April 2006. His parents were an inspiration to us during this time and my Team followed his website (www.bryceanderson.com) and talked about him frequently. We cried when he passed away and I decided that we need to keep his memory alive with TNT as well. This summer and in San Francisco I will be running for Daddy and Bryce.

Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission.

• •A donation of $25 provides patients and their loved ones FREE booklets that contain the most up-to-date info on their disease so they can make informed decisions about their treatments.
• •$100 helps give laboratory researchers supplies necessary to carry out their search for cures.
• •LLS awarded $64.7 million in research grants in fiscal year 2007. (These funds came from people like you!)

Financial assistance was provided to 16,958 people this past year.

I hope to raise at least $4000. for LLS and am asking for your support in meeting this challenge. Please tell share my website and pass it around to your colleagues, friends and family. Every contribution counts!

I hope you check back often, as I'll update my website frequently through the season. Be sure to keep up with my progress through the miles.

Thank you so very much for your support -

Sara Ward, Team Captain

TEAM IN TRAINING

CHANGING LIVES ONE MILE AT A TIME

GETTING READY TO GO!!

SAN FRANCISCO HERE WE COME!

So early tomorrow morning Jane, Nancy, Crysta, Sereina and I will be flying to San Francisco to meet the rest of the DC National Area Chapter- VA/DC/MD teams and other teams from Team In Training from around the country as we prepare for the big day on Sunday! I can hardly believe it is here – the big day (one of two, anyway!) Approximately 20,000 runners and walkers will be hitting the streets of San Francisco – 96% women and most of which raising money to beat Blood Cancers! The race course will literally be a swarm of PURPLE and GREEN! Look for pictures after – before I go on too long, I just wanted to say THANK YOU THANK YOU to so many people for their good thoughts, encouragement, pats on the back, generous donations to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, I sincerely could not have done it without you all….I am dedicating each mile of this half marathon to some very special people….Look for this list to be expanded when I go for 26.2 miles in NYC!

Mile 1 – to Daddy – because it started for him

Mile 2 –.to Intact Donna for being my sunshine through this season!

Mile 3 to “Brycey Boo” in Heaven because his family touched me so deeply – Emily I hope it is ok that I use your name for him…

Mile 4 – to Jennifer & Ambrose our Honored Teammates – it has been an honor getting to know you and I hope we continue to do so -

Mile 5 – to My Doctors for believing I could do this-getting me back in shape and on the road

Mile 6 – to everyone for generously donated to this cause – THANK YOU !! this will do a world of GOOD to LLS!!!

Mile 7 – to my Team

Mile 8 – to my Coaches and LLS staff for guiding me through the season

Mile 9 – to my very supportive cheerleader friends!!

Mile 10– to my family for all your support and encouragement and

Mile 11 – for Amy in the hospital, get better SOON, come home soon! We love you!

Mile 12 – to Tony and George – you two are the best little family ever thank you for letting me disappear for hours on end to train for this!!

Mile 13.1 – for my Daddy – because that is what gets me to the finishline

Thank you again everyone for taking the time to read this and taking the time to CARE!!! Good night-off to sleep for a few hours!

GO TEAM!!

Sara

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 29, 2008

20 Miles 20 Miles!

So the Virginia DC and Maryland teams came together for our longest run/walk of the season. For the marathon runners and walkers it was 13 miles…for the full marathon runners and walkers, 20 miles. Being that I am running half in San Francisco and full in NYC I did all twenty….it was again, amazing seeing so many participants working for one common goal – finishing the event and raising a ton of money to find a cure for blood cancers. Before the run we did a Top Five Fundraisers for each event and for Nike Women’s Marathon I am so proud that Sereina De La Rosa on my little team is the TOP Fundraiser – at over $23,000 –incredible to think of all the good that will do! I am almost at my goal of $4,000…and will get there too!

Anyway personally speaking the run itself was hard, but good – I did it myself among different groups of run-walkers…we were all at different intervals so we were ‘leapfrogging’ each other. I’ve covered the Marathon distance several times so knock wood I am confident for San Francisco and the 20 miles gives me confidence for NYC. Stopping and stretching a few times definitely helped my knee and arm and neck! There were a few others doing the same and it turned out to be really a smart move! The last 2 miles were tiring, especially without music! I took a cue from Paula Radcliffe’s NYC win a few years ago when she started chanting her daughters’ name right at the end, and started repeating DADDY DADDY over and over for like 2 miles….then that turned into Daddy Tony George over and over til the end – I just could not believe that with every ache and pain my body held out and will hold out…that everything is just improving – I am so happy! And I have seen others who have had their own issues improve over the course of the season too – injuries heal, muscles strengthen etc – it is really great knowing they’ll cross the finish line! A good friend of mine is coming back from a huge knee injury and this will be her first marathon in 2 years. I can’t wait to meet her on the start line in San Francisco! But for now it is taper now..shorter and shorter runs til race time! WHEW!

Please keep checking back here – I couldn’t do this without you – your support and encouragement is so appreciated!

GO TEAM!

Sara

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UPDATE SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

It has been a while since I have written and lots has happened...for our Rock & Rollers - well they DID their half marathon and betwen the three women JUST on my team running that racraised approximately $24,000. Now that is beyond impressive! And yes they all inished the race strong too!!

So for my training, some nerve pain and disk issues have forced me to take two weeks off training and have several procedures in my C-spine and lunbar spine ... it was boring and frustrating NOT being able to train. But I successfully completed my EIGHTEEN MILE RUN 2 Saturdays ago with my San Francisco Team- they were doing their 12 mile run-it was so much fun running with them-thee are the women I will be traveling to San Francisco to run the half maratghon with! We joked/chatted strategized etc...supported each other!!! It was AMAZING to see our VA/MD/DC teams come together once again in Reston cheeering each other and encouraging each other. It was tough but thrilling! The only down part was having to walk the last 3ish miles or so - oh well do what you can right? We even had teammates to "welcome us back" after our long run - it was great! and so was the diet coke afterwards!!

This weekend we do TWENTY miles - that is for those of us doing Marine Corps and New York...the rest Team Sara is doing only SIX Miles because they are tapering-everyone else going to San Francsico is doing a half marathon and six miles sounds like a piece of cake right now! in comparison! So this week will be filled with tons of water, pasta, chicken and spinach and peanut butter....YUM! Wish us luck!

Our honored teammate Jennifer Church is out of the hospital noww - finishing up her treatments - please see an excerpt from her email and have a good thought/prayer that she keeps getting stronger!

We just talked to Jennifer's sister Cindy and wanted to pass on an update.

She is just finishing up treatments and is getting released from the hospital. The great news is she will be at home next week and her blood counts are up.

The not so great news is she is very tired and weak and very susceptible to any kind of infection or bacteria. She can't even be around anyone who, for example, has had a LIVE flu vaccine.

For the next year, she has to be really careful (drink bottled water, eat only cooked food). Over the next two weeks or so, she may or may not be able to have visitors.....

thanks for reading! thanks for your support!

GO TEAM!

See you Sat. Muriel and Bob

UPDATE AUGUST 24, 2008

Well LOTS to update this time! In the last two weeks I had to do my long runs on my own since we were away on vacation....those were 10 and 14 miles. I did 14 before we left and 10 when we got back. When we were away I ran my short runs alone and they were really great. I have to say I felt the strongest ever during this time so that was encouraging.

When we had our group run yesterday we covered our longest distance yet - 16 miles...last year at Marine Corps Marathon I had to walk after that because my leg gave out because of my c-spine problems really fizzled my training. But this time it was totally different. First my Mom came down for the weekend and volunteererd at the waterstop at the halfway point so she was such a welcome sight....and I ran with a woman who was a two year Lymphoma survivor. She told me that her vanity saved her. She found a "cyst" on her neck that she thought ugly and wanted removed from her neck. Turned out early stage Lymphoma and curable-not remission-but curable. We took a long time to cover 16 miles but it was EASY and she was INSPIRING! So she is running as part of our Team In Training! Hats Off to her..we finished happy!

Now an update on our honored teammate/patient Jennifer Church. So we remember why we are running with TNT and what we are trying to accomplish and what The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society can do with the funds we are raising for people like Jennifer.

"I completed my 4 spinal injections last week and am still recovering from them….chemo on the brain…literally now! I’ve had a really hard time with this one...the headaches have been bad. I still don’t feel good and am questioning whether I should have gotten a blood patch now. I also found out last week that I still have 10% of the cancer still remaining, even after the additional chemo. So this means that I need a donor transplant rather than try to use my own cells. Thankfully we found out that my brother is a match. We go to Baltimore tomorrow for a few more tests and I have a consult with a radiologist too about a full-body radiation treatment. It seems that we need to be more aggressive with my cancer since it hasn’t responded to chemo alone..great huh. Oh well, I guess I’ll already be in the hospital anyway, why not? I’m trying to take this in stride and not get overwhelmed by it all….not so easy to do. I have about 2 weeks to get some strength back before I go into the hospital.

How is your running going? I know it gets long out there but hang in there! I actually walked one mile yesterday on my treadmill and thought about how hard everyone must be pushing it to run on the trails. My one mile was probably equivalent to your long run but I did it and you can too! Keep running strong and know that you are making a difference!

from an email from Jennifer Church -That is what keeps me going every week......I hope the next one I get is of her feeling much stronger.....

Our RockN Roll Team leaves this weekend to run the Rock N Roll Half Marathon in Virgina Beach this Sunday....wish them LUCK! For some, it is their first endurance event - they have trained really really diligently for it! For the rest of us next weekend is a "down weekend" which means we run only 10 miles then start creeping up in miles YAYYY!!! Exciting stuff!

GO TEAM!

UPDATE AUGUST 3, 2008

Two things happen every season-one is that I NEVER get to run at Burke Lake! That is a fact! The last time we had training there, I was the hospital with a weird infection and big fever. The second thing that happens every season is that we get to have our training run in the rain! Yes there is some whining and moaning and groaning (from me) but we all knew that there really wasn't much choice. On race day you really can't stay home if it is RAINING!!! So off we went for eight miles of running in the rain -w e stayed close though in case it started thundering and lightning - Donna and I ran together - one mile out and one mile back -we were like piping pong balls! But we did what we set out to do and felt good about it!!

Next week is FOURTEEN MILES - That will be more than alot of our team has EVER done - wish all everyone luck!!!

GO TEAM!!!

Sara

UPDATE JULY 28, 2008

So I learned a few things this weekend! The main thing is that I cannot be left ALONE, on my own for a weekend- disaster! Saturday morning I met my team for a 12 mile run, went to get GU and some gum from my trunk and locked my car and housekeys in there! Thankfully my awesome friend Michelle (a TNT Alumni) was running on a nearby trail and has my housekeys and got my valet key and met me for a keyswap! But that jarred my run! Anyway thank God for Michelle! So I ended up running alot on my own, then with Michelle and her friend Nichole and then my good friend TNTCAPT Donna and her friends for what I think amounted to a total of somwhere between 10 and 12 miles (I backtracked). But the run felt good and no real aches and pains which was great, I felt really strong!! After training the team met for breakfast at Panera which was about 1.5 miles away - I GOT LOST! but one of our Honored Teammates joined us, and Ambrose is so full of life and is such a storyteller he had me smiling in no time - he told us of his journey with Blood Cancer & his "special hairy cell cancer" and told us women to make our husbands / brothers / boyfriends / brothers / sons/dads stay on top of their health-because he did not, his wife and nurse did. Ambrose is healthy, amazing healthy, EXCITED about life and celebrating 45.5 years of marriage! He also cheered us at our waterstop. GO ABROSE!

My fundraiser yesterday afternoon went well - a nice group of women getting together for a GREAT CAUSE! We bonded over makeup, skincare, home decorating and fun things. Thank God for Janet, my friend and neighbor who helped me set up and helped me all afternoon. And Dawn and Lisa from Arbonne and Peggi from SouthernLiving were fantastic with their products and presentations too - Hopefully lots were purchased so we can donate LOTS for LLS!

This weekend we have a little bit of a break, only 8 miles to run -but then up to 14 miles!

thanks for taking the time to read!

remember we are SAVING LIVES ONE MILE AT A TIME!

GO TEAM!

Sara

UPDATE JULY 17, 2008

My friend David Green has graciously offered to talk to me LIVE on his RADIO SHOW TONIGHT at 9:30PM about my TNT fundraising effort, a little "Girls Afternoon" I am hosting on the afternoon of 7/27. If you are a home decor shopper or skincare/wellness fan in the NoVa area come on over! Just email me for details - 12:30pm. We'll also talk about about the awesome organizations TNT and LLS and my fundraising and the season so far in general . Here are Dave & Dave show details- www.daveanddave.org

Dave & Dave is broadcast on WEBR (fcac.org/webr), Fairfax, VA Cox digital channel 37, Cox basic channel 7, and Reston, VA Comcast channel 27.

Email Dave & Dave at Dave-Dave@cox.net

I will be talking to Dave & Dave TONIGHT! 9:30PM - I hope you all tune in!!

UPDATE JULY 14, 2008

BACK ON TRACK!!

(cautiously optimistic!!)

Week nine of training and definitely getting closer to the starting line! SO what has been happening? Well, we went on a family vacation to NY and VT and I had an eight mile run in Vermont and the hills made me think I had a preview of San Francisco...then a little four mile flat run on Long Island was a nice change to that. And what was really cool about the start our trip was driving over the Verazzano Bridge and thinking "I'm going to run over you!!"

We had a great TNT TEAM training run this past Saturday. My team had a large showing and for some, it was the longest distance they've run - ever - ten miles! That's actually the distance I ran too! One of our Honored Teammates came out to visit us as well and we had a chance to chat with her. Jennifer has had a setback and needs to undergo a bonemarrow transplant as soon as it can be arranged. She has an amazing sense of humor and spirit despite the situation though-despite having to wear a surgical mask in crowds, and losing her hair and all the assorted accompanying questions. Talking to Jennifer really brought home the seriousness of the mission and what we are running for. Jennifer said one day she'd like to do what we do. And I told her that it would be awesome if when she is all better she joins us on the trails! She was so positive and touched by seeing us all and in turn it was really moving to know that what we are doing really DOES mean something.

That's it for this week, it was fantastic seeing so many people come together and show how much they care and TOGETHER want to BEAT BLOOD CANCERS!!

Remember, with YOUR help and support WE'RE saving lives one mile at a time!!!

GO TEAM!

--SW

UPDATE JUNE 17, 2008

Ups ,Downs, and Back on Track!

So we are in week six of our training already! I can hardly believe it. I've had a setback that caused me to miss 1.5 weeks of running - including our Honored Teammate Picnic, Bryce's foundation's picnic - George's soccer game, even Date night with Tony and Girls' night with my BFF Pam! A really weird skin infection had me in the hospital for three days and it was miserable. Couldn't keep the fever down or blood pressure up. I could not EAT!!! TRULY miserable! Antibiotics and painkillers helped and it could have been lots worse, but I hated missing everything that weekend! On a happy note I found out that I got into the NYC Marathon (11/02/08) - YAYYY!!! This morning was my first run back and it was a little slow and creaky but my friend Michelle kept me company for four miles and that was great - we enjoyed ourselves so that was what mattered! Looking forward to tomorrow's three mile run and training this weekend with the team-SEVEN Miles!! My team is doing a great job getting their running in and really taking off in fundraising, so I am very proud of them! if you can, please consider donating to this worthy cause so I can reach my fundraising goal and remember, we are literally saving lives ONE MILE AT A TIME!

GO TEAM!!!---SW