Racing to Save Lives

Here is my "before" picture ~ chemo in 2001...

... and here is my "after" picture ~ finishing my first 1/2 marathon with TNT in 2009!

And now I'm training to walk ANOTHER half marathon with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training! I'm officially a hooked addict now! This is my third Team in Training event ~ last year I walked Virginia Beach's Rock & Roll Marathon, in June I survived a hot, humid, and hilly Annapolis, MD, and now I am the Mission Mentor for the fall season and will be doing it again in San Francisco in October!

All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. As a survivor of Hodgkin's Lymphoma, I desperately want to help find & fund a cure for blood cancers. We need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!

If you don't want to donate online, you can make out a check to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, put "Catherine Schlawin ~ Nike San Franscisco" in the memo, and mail it to me at home (652 Eric Court, Herndon, VA 20170). Please remember that no amount is too small, and it's tax deductible! Every little bit will help research a cure for cancer or help a patient and their family navigate the maze of cancer diagnosis & treatment!

I hope you will visit my web site often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Thanks for your support!

~ Catherine

10/5/10 ~ While I was waiting to see my oncologist yesterday for my yearly check-up (my blood looks "great"!), I finally pulled my next Cheesecake factory winner.... Cindy Vance! And I'll be seeing her tomorrow, as luck would have it, so I can give her the card in person! Thanks again to all who donated this year. Your support means the world to me, and I'll be thinking of all of you on race day on the 17th! I actually have ALL of your names pinned to my singlet ~ I'll be taking pictures and sharing them with all of you after the race.

9/3/10 ~ Just realized that one year ago this weekend was my very first half-marathon. Now I'm preparing for my 5th! Pretty awesome. I could not have done it without all the amazing support of those people whose names you see on the side of all 3 of my fundraising pages. You all keep me motivated! San Francisco is now NEXT month, and I'm getting really excited! This weekend I'll throw everyone's names back into the hat for another Cheesecake Factory gift card raffle. I'll take out Casey since she won the last one, but everyone else will be thrown in there!

8/16/10 ~ Congrats to Casey Matos, my first winner of a Cheesecake Factory gift card! I have a couple more cards, so I'll continue to throw all your names in my hat until the season ends! That goes for all past and future donors to this Fall season!!!

6/27/10 ~ This season, I have some Cheesecake Factory gift cards I’m going to raffle off. I have 3 of them, so I’ll be giving those away in July, August and September. Whoever donates any time this Fall season will be entered in the raffle, and I'll pull a name out of the hat each month.

6/8/10 ~ Yes, Annapolis was hot, humid, and hilly, but my family came, so that made it extra special. Bob, Eric, and Jack walked the last half-mile with me and got me to the finish line, so that was amazing! And now I will switch gears and focus on Fall season and San Francisco 100%! Wahoo!

5/5/10 ~ May 10th was the day I got my life-changing cancer diagnosis in 2001. It's not the most pleasant of "anniversaries", but it's a good reminder of why I am walking and trying to raise money ~ to find a cure to prevent anyone else from having to go through chemo & radiation. Please consider a donation this week in honor of my special date. Thanks!

4/19/10 ~ Did 7 miles yesterday, and it went well. I tried running a short interval every half mile, and I did it! I'm not running for very long at any one time, but I was doing 14-minute miles, so not too shabby! Fall Season kick-off is May 15th, so I'm already getting excited for NEXT season, before I've even completed THIS season! But this weekend I'll get to train with the summer team again, so we'll have 8 miles of bonding on Saturday!