Hi everyone! For those of you who are my friends on Facebook, you may have noticed that I have not been posting about running or uploading my stats from NikePlus. That's because I have not been running. It's ridiculous, because the race is in a little more than a month, but I allowed life to get in the way and made excuses for why I couldn't run--finals for my European Security Studies class, packing up my apartment, moving, and then unpacking/furniture shopping/setting up the house. Not to mention all the traveling I've been doing for my SCHS Class of 2000 10 year high school reunion, visiting Grandma Whitman in Pennsylvania, and back to Cali for Kat's wedding--AND all the extra hours I had to make up at work for being gone all the time. Let's just say it has been a really busy summer.

I made up my mind that I was going to attend practice today, and run the 18 miles despite not running for a month. I half-convinced myself I wasn't going to make it. I bargained with myself to only go 14 or 16 miles--18 miles was too much. Running with Team in Training is so much better than running alone. It's hard to feel sorry for yourself when running with cancer survivors, whose hair has yet to grow back from chemotherapy. As you run by TNT members, you smile at each other, yell "Go Team!", encourage each other, and cheer each other on. It reminded me a lot of the sense of team I felt in the Army--and it motivated me even more because I didn't want to let my team members down, and even more so my donors who believe in me and support me 100 percent. Lastly, they provide several water stops--crucial as the mileage increases.

I broke up the 18 miles into increments-- 5 miles out, turn around, 5 miles back to the original start point, then 4 miles out in the opposite direction, and 4 miles back. It was really depressing when I reached mile 9 and realized that it was only my halfway point. I found team members to run with: There was Dan, who I estimated was in his late fifties, training for his third Marine Corps Marathon and cheering everyone on that he passed. Or Ashley, who was running the Nike Women's Marathon in honor of her mother, a breast cancer survivor. Hearing their stories motivated me--I love the positive energy I get every time I go to a TNT practice. It makes me forget about my aching knee, my cramping muscles, how much my back hurts, how thirsty I am.

My last two miles, I told myself "this is just a PT test" and I pictured myself back at Fort Hood and imagined all of my battle buddies cheering me on like they used to, telling me, "Sergeant Twellman, you can do it!" and it gave me the strength I needed to finish strong. I was really proud of myself for finishing the 18 miles this morning and can't wait for the marathon! GO TEAM!

For the past month, I have been fundraising for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training.

I attended the Team in Training Kickoff for the Fall Training Season this morning. All of the people in my team are other women who are running the Nike Womens Marathon and we all started crying when a Leukemia survivor told us her story- She found out she had cancer her sophomore year in college and managed to graduate on time in spite of chemotherapy and radiation treatment. She has been in remission for 12 years, has run a triathalon with Team in Training and just bought her first home with her husband. "Imagine the thing that scares you the most in the world, the thing that keeps you awake at night...and then imagine a room full of people like this, smiling at you and telling you that they are willing to fight it for you by raising money and putting in blood, sweat and tears. I don't think you would be afraid anymore, and I thank you for that."

It was intense and so inspiring. If she could graduate college while receiving cancer treatment, kick cancer's butt, and complete a triathalon to raise money for research and treatment while in remission, than I--a perfectly healthy person--will be able to complete this marathon and raise $2,900.

Since its inception, Team in Training has raised a billion dollars for cancer research and treatment. I am so proud to be a part of the team.

Training was both humbling and gratifying this week. I learned both my body's limitations and that if I prepared my body properly, I could push it beyond what I believed I could achieve.

On Saturday, I slept through my alarm and did not make it to the Team-in-Training group run in Vienna. Arrogantly, I decided to run the 12 miles by myself in the heat and humidity. It was about 0930 when I started, rather than 0700, and I did not know what I was getting myself into. One of the perks of the group run is having people to run with, even if you are running behind them, you know that they are with you. I am pretty competitive so it motivates me to keep going, to run faster, and not quit if I am running with other people. Another perk is the coaches are there to correct my form and there are water/Gatorade stops that they provide for us.

This was not the case when I decided to run by myself on Saturday. I made things worse by using the port-a-potty around mile 2.5. It was as hot as a sauna in there and it reminded me of using the port-a-potties in Iraq, except it was cleaner. It literally sucked all of the energy out of me. I picked a spot in the distance and told myself to make it to that point. It was a little past 3 miles and I realized that I couldn't go on because I would run out of fluids and pass out if I tried to go any further. Even though I hated doing it, I forced myself to turn around. At this point, I was so exhausted that I couldn't even run home. I was forced to walk the 3 miles back (although I did manage to jog 1/3 of it) because I didn't have my cell phone to call David to pick me up. It was soooooooooo hot and humid.

You guys know me, and I am not a quitter. I vowed to make up the 12 mile run so yesterday, I hydrated all day. I told myself that instead of running the W&OD trail towards Vienna, which is out in the middle of nowhere, I would run the the trail in the opposite direction, which I knew had numerous 7-11s off the trail and also a water fountain at mile 3. I headed out this morning and went for it, allowing myself to drink every 4 miles. Around mile 4.5, my iPod died because I forgot to charge it (note to self: ALWAYS CHARGE iPOD WHEN GOING ON LONG DISTANCE RUNS). Around mile 5.5, I passed Sterling Blvd. and realized I was down the street from the office where I work. I was shocked and also dumbfounded when I realized that I still wasn't at my turnaround point, and still had to run there and all the way back before driving right back to where I was.

Without the music, my run became a religious experience. It was so beautiful, the sun in the trees, the flowers, the blue sky. I could hear the sounds of nature and began thanking God for my health, that I was alive and able to run so far. I prayed for the survivors that I knew, Nick and Solangee, that they would stay in remission. I prayed that if cancer ever struck my family, that the money I raised would help find a cure for them. I thought of all the people who believed in me, who donated money despite the recession, even high school friends and Army battle buddies that supported me even though I haven't seen them in years. I thanked God for the shade when I ran through it, and imagined that God was personally sending the breezes to cool me off and help me along. I thought of A.J. Creighton and imagined he was running with me, singing the "My Girl's a Vegetable" cadence, his easy smile encouraging me. I thought of my soldiers and how I used to call running cadences in my "SERGEANT" voice, loud and thunderous, and how people used to be shocked that such a big voice was coming out of me, the ultimate girly-girl. I sounded off like I had a pair...of LUNGS! I miss how they used to encourage me by telling me, "YOU PUMP ME UP SERGEANT TWELLMAN!" and how they motivated me as much as I motivated them. I also had my superficial moments, such as when I ran by girls that had ridiculously flat bellies and wondered, "When am I going to start looking like that?" LOL

As I ran up my last hill before the last stretch, "Eye of the Tiger" started playing in my head and I began sprinting to the finish line, detrmined to finish strong, my heart bursting with pride. And as I crossed that finish line, I began to fist pump, Jersey Shore style, and had to stop myself from giving the old man staring at me funny a high-five. I did it. I finished what I started. Even if I had to quit on Saturday because I knew my body's limitations, I knew that if I prepared myself properly, I would be able to accomplish what I set out to do. Thank you to everyone who has supported me thus far, and I promise not to let you nor myself down.

Racing to Save Lives

Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

I'm training to participate in the Nike Women's Marathon on 17 October 2010 in San Francisco 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 did not know how many lives these diseases have touched around me until I started fundraising, but so many people in my inner circle have been affected. I am completing this event in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers, but especially for Tonico Beope Jr., who is in Heaven, and Nick Twellman and Solangee McNeal, who are in remission. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!

Every 4 minutes one person is diagnosed with a blood cancer.

~ Every 10 minutes someone dies from a blood cancer. That's 146 people per day.

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

~ $25 donation provides literature to patients and their families that contain up-to-date info on their disease.

~ $50 covers the cost of one CT scan, or makes a Family Support group possible.

~ $100 helps supply lab researchers with supplies and materials critical to carrying out their search for cures.

~ $150 provides financial aid to blood cancer patients to use during treatment, for things like transportation to treatments or the cost of a bone marrow transplant.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services. They have invested more than $680 million in research since 1949 - over $69 million in 2009 - specifically targeting leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Most of the funds raised for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society go to research and patient care. Funds are used to offset the cost of a patient’s chemotherapy drug prescription co-payment, register a person to be a bone marrow donor, provide bone marrow typing for a family member of a patient with leukemia, provide a patient with transportation for traveling to and from a cancer center, provide patient aid to a person with cancer for a year, or help the Society fund research efforts to find a cure.

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