Picture: Run Amuck (4 mile mud run & obstacle course) at Quantico, June 20, 2009.

THANK YOU!

Saturday, September 26 - 12 miles

Saturday, October 3, - 10 miles

Saturday, October 10 - 8 miles

1 week to the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, CA

I am over my fundraising goal!! Thank you all so much for your contributions. It means so much to me and to the patients and families these donations will help.

Quote of the week: "Unselfish and noble actions are the most radiant pages in the biography of souls." -David Thomas

The 20 miler!

Sunday, September 20

4 weeks to the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, CA

20 miles

This weekend was the peak of my training - the 20 mile run! It was definitely difficult, but I survived. And, according to all the experts, that means I'm ready for the marathon! The next few weeks will be shorter runs to give my muscles time to recover before race day.... 1 month away!

Quote of the week: "Anyone can run 20 miles. It's the next 6 that count." - Barry Magee

The Perfect Run

Saturday, September 12

5 weeks to the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, CA

18 miles

The weather could not have been more perfect for an 18 mile run. Low to mid 60's and overcast. One of my best runs ever!

Quote of the week: "The long run is what puts the tiger in the cat." - Bill Squires

Every Little Bit Helps!

Sunday, August 30

6 weeks to the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, CA

16 miles

What your donations provide:

$15 - Trains a teacher on how to assist a child returning to school after cancer treatment.

$25 - Covers the cost of one prescription co-payment.

$40 - Sends a comprehensive support and informational packet to the family of a child with cancer.

$75 - Supplies one tissue typing test that is used to become a bone marrow donor.

$100 - Helps supply laboratory researchers with supplies and materials critical to carrying out their search for cures.

$250 - Provides a patient with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma financial aid to support medical treatment and travel to medical appointments for six months.

Quote of the week: ""No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." -Aesop

A Training First

Monday, August 17

8 weeks to the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, CA

14 miles

Even though this is my third time training for a marathon, this week I experienced a training first: the ice bath. That's right, after my run I came home and literally sat in a bathtub full of ice & water. It was intense.

Quote of the week: "Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character." - T. Alan Armstrong

Recovery Week

Sunday, August 10

9 weeks to the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, CA

8 miles

This week was a recovery week, so our mileage dropped back down to 8 miles. Amazing how an 8 mile run felt so easy compared to the 12 miler last week!

Quote of the week: "Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or gazelle - when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."

This Is Why

Sunday, August 2

10 weeks to the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, CA

12 miles

This week, I'd like to share one of my teammates' stories:

"June 18th of this year marked the ten year anniversary of the passing of my son, Tyrell. Tyrell was diagnosed with Juvenile Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia; a very aggressive and one of the most deadly forms of leukemia, in October of 1998. Tyrell was given a stem cell transplant in April of 1999 after weeks of painful radiation and chemotherapy. Needless to say, the transplant was not successful. Looking back I have to say that my son was very brave. At the age of 4, I never once saw him sad or in pain even as he went through months of surgeries and treatments. If he was he hid it very well because he never once complained, about anything.

I usually dread June 18th and September 6th, his birthday, with a passion. But this year, I decided that I will honor Tyrell by being on the forefront of the fight against these deadly diseases. If I can spare one parent the pain of losing a child from these dreaded diseases, then my work will not be in vain."

Quote of the week: "Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles." -Alex Karras

Ian Gregory

Sunday, July 26

11 weeks to the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, CA

8 miles

This month, ESPN featured a young boy diagnosed with T Cell Lymphoma, his single dad fighting for him, and his dream of meeting the Dallas Cowboys. Click on this link to see his story.

This is why we run. Our endurance helps someone else endure.

Quote of the week: "Goodness is the only investment that never fails." - Henry David Thoreau

Run in the Sun

Monday, July 20

12 weeks to the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, CA

10 miles in West Palm Beach, Florida

It is HOT in Florida! But somehow I still managed to get in my runs, at 6am, in a feeble attempt to beat the heat. How did I ever train for an entire marathon while living there?! Oh ya, I started runs at 4:45am. Did I mention it's hot in Florida?

Quote of the week: You have a choice. You can throw in the towel, or you can use it to wipe the sweat off of your face.

Flip Cup for Charity

Monday, July 13

13 weeks to the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, CA

8 miles

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to the fundraiser on Friday! We raised a whopping $620 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society! (I'm pretty sure half of that was flip cup buy-back-ins.) I really appreciate everyone's

generosity. These donations will change lives.

Congratulations to Todd Batta for taking the filp cup championship title and the $50 prize, without ever buying back in! And a special shout-out to Karen Hohnecker for giving Todd a run for his money. Nicely done champs!

Quote of the week: "The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration, but its donation." -Corrie Ten Boom, Dutch Evangelist

The Kindness of Strangers

Monday, July 6

14 weeks to the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, CA

6 miles... almost

So, I didn't quite get my 6 miles in this Saturday due to too many Independence weekend BBQs, golf rounds, and margaritas. But, I plan to get it in sometime this week (in Orlando! There for work this week.)

Although this week was full of July 4th festivities, the highlight of the week was receiving a very generous donation from a perfect stranger. Without going into the details, someone I've never met found out I was fundraising for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and made the largest donation I've received yet! I am so grateful for his generosity and am inspired by the kindness of a stranger.

Quote of the week: "That best portion of a good man's life: His little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love." -William Wordsworth, English poet

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THIS WEEK

FUNDRAISER HAPPY HOUR

When: Friday, July 10, 5-9pm

Where: Madam's Organ (in Adams Morgan)

2461 18th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009

What: Drink specials, flip cup tournament, and raffle prizes

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This Is Why

Sunday, June 28

15 weeks to the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, CA

5 miles

This week after our team run on Saturday morning, we had our "honored teammate picnic" where cancer patients and survivors joined us for some mid-morning bagels and pastries. It was so inspirational to hear their stories and it felt incredible to be thanked by them for our fundraising efforts. I was particularly moved by one lymphoma patient who told us that he received an experimental treatment, instead of chemotherapy, in which he was able to RUN A MARATHON (with Team In Training, of course) WHILE UNDERGOING CANCER TREATMENT! Because of the research funded by the Leukemia & Lyphoma Society, it is becoming possible to avoid the devastation of chemotherapy, making life for cancer patients more liveable.

Quote of the week: "If you haven't got charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble." - Bob Hope

Run Amuck

Saturday, June 20

16 weeks to the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, CA

4 miles at the "Run Amuck" race at Quantico

The Run Amuck was fun, but HARD! This was my first trail race, which was interesting in itself because running on unpaved, uneven ground is quite different than on paved paths. But, in addition to the trail running, we encountered obstacles! There were hay bales to hurdle, tunnels to crawl through, barbed wire (ok, fake barbed wire) to shimmy under, mud pits to crawl through, water troughs above my knees, and HILLS, ridiculously steep hills, including some that had ropes or cargo nets to help climb/descend. Even though this was my PR (personal record) for the slowest I've ever run a race, it was a fun experience and a heck of a workout!

Quote of the week: Life's battles don't always go to the strongest or fastest man, but sooner or later the man who wins is the fellow who thinks he can.

Racing to Save Lives

Saturday, June 13

17 weeks to the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, CA

3 miles - first official training run!

2006: Marine Corps Marathon, Washington, DC

2007: Philadelphia Marathon, Philadelphia, PA

2009: Nike Women's Marathon, San Francisco, CA

Three years ago, I raised $2,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society while training for my first marathon. This year, I hope to DOUBLE that amount while training for the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, CA on October 18th.

Please help me reach my $4,000 goal and help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, and myeloma from taking more lives.

Be sure to check back frequently to see my training and fundraising progress.