My Fundraising Page

Racing to Save Lives

Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

I'm training to participate in an endurance event 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 am completing this event in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!

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

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

REMEMBER: DONATIONS ARE ACCEPTED THROUGH FEBRUARY 16, 2009!

1/13/09: 13.1 miles in 3 hours? No problem!

You read correctly! I ran my third half-marathon in 3 hours, 3 minutes and 51 seconds this past Saturday!

I woke up at 2:00am Saturday morning in order to get ready for the race and meet the team by 3:15am. We boarded a bus to Epcot around 3:30 and then sat around in the parking lot for a little over an hour to wait for the corrals to open (a corral is basically a holding area before the start line). Before heading to our corral, my teammates Kim and Lisa and I stood in a THIRTY MINUTE line to use the port-o-johns! And once we got there, they didn't have any toilet paper! Of course the maintenance guy brought more right after we left! Anyway, so we went to the start line and waited our turn to cross. Crossing the start line is very exciting. At that point, you know you wouldn't have crossed if you didn't think you could make it to the finish!

The course was abnormally crowded this year! Our initial plan was to run the first 7 miles on a 2-minute-run-2-minute-walk interval, but soon realized we would be wasting energy trying to run. We waited until about mile 7 when it cleared up a good bunch to really run. To make up for lost time, we switched to a 2:1 run-walk interval and ended up just running for as long as we could. We started to make good time between miles 8 and 12. After passing mile twelve, the adrenaline started to build. A few of our teammates who ran the full marathon on Sunday were there to cheer us on and we knew we could book it to the finish line and at least attempt to reach our under-3-hour goal. Running through Epcot at the end of the race is exhilarating. At that point the park is open and all these random people stop and cheer for you as you pass them. I sprinted the last few hundred yards to the finish line! I received my medal and walked out to meet my parents. Almost

everyone I passed congratulated me and I found my parents and other participants on my team at the Team in Training tent. They were all so proud of me and I was proud of myself.

My TNT experience has been so incredible. I was blessed with 3 of the best coaches out there (Jim, Colin and Rich), 2 awesome TNT staffers (Keri and Martin) and the most motivating mission captain (Tina). Erin, my team captain, was also a big motivator. She would always tell me how she would never have trained for a race, or raised money for cancer at my age. And even though the other participants were impressed by my dedication, I was accepted as one of them. We spent countless hours running together on early Saturday mornings in 30 degree weather and shared our concerns about fundraising and gear for almost 5 months! I have made life-long friends in my season with TNT. I don't regret giving up most of my Friday nights to get up early on Saturdays to run. I know that I have been working for a good cause. I plan to train with TNT again next winter.

If you have not donated, please consider doing so. You have no idea the impact your donation could have for someone. One man on our team, Karl, was able to train for his first marathon with TNT while being treating for his cancer. Your contribution could help him in the future as well, as doctors say the cancer will most likely re-develop at some point. Just remember the impact your donation will make for someone who is suffering. It will be worth it! Donations will be accepted on my webpage through February 16, 2009!

Thank you again for all your prayers, donations and encouragement. I hope that you will continue to support me in my training with TNT.

1/5/09

Happy 2009! This past Saturday was the last run with the whole team! This weekend I will be going with the Disney tean to Orlando for my race (WHOPPIEEE!) and the next weekend the P.F. Chang's team will be leaving for Pheonix, AZ. The TNT experience has been so rewarding for me. I've made some amazing friends who have supported me in things even outside TNT. I will definitely do this again in the future!

12/29/08

We ran the full 13 miles 2 weeks ago and I will DEFINITELY finish in my goal time, which was under 3 hours! It was a challenge, but I made it through with God, my running mates, and knowing the incredible impact and cause I run for. Last week was the start of "tapering". We don't run big mileage any more because we are letting our bodies rest up and prepare for the race (WHICH IS IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS!). We ran an easy 8 miles this past week (Never thought I would say that four months ago!).

The race is in two weeks and I am continuing fundraising until February 16th! Please share the link to my page with anyone and everyone!

Fundraiser Announcement!

THIS SUNDAY DECEMBER 7TH @ 1:30pm there will be a BENEFIT CONCERT at Jammin' Java in Vienna, VA. If you can make it, the tickets are only $10. If you can't make it, please feel free to donate $10 directly to my fundraising page!

12/1/08

Training is going well. I've found that the more regular I am with my schedule, the better the Saturday runs go (hm...imagine that!). So the Saturday before last we ran TEN MILES! I'm very proud of that run. Not only did my partner and I keep up about a 12-minute mile pace, I got my first callus of the season! YEAH! You haven't lived training for a long-distance race without at least one callus!

This past week was 6 miles, which was easy as cake!

This Saturday is the big test...TWELVE MILES! Please keep the Team and I in your thoughts and prayers Saturday morning (or Friday night if you aren't a morning person) as we will be completing the most mileage EVER this season!

11/24/08

Training is going very well right now. My training parter Cyem and I averaged about a 12 min mile on Saturday running 10 miles! We are getting up in our mileage now! Only three more miles and we'd be running a half-marathon, which is obviously the goal. It's getting cold, so layers have been keeping me warm when I would much rather be in bed under the covers. :)

10/20/08

The past couple weeks training have had varied results. I had a bad week training where I started having cramps again, but I figured out I wasn't hydrating enough during the day, so I've been carrying a water bottle EVERYWHERE lately! October 4th was the best group training! It was an 8-mile run at a 4 minute-1 minute run-walk pace and we finished at an average of a 12 minute mile! YAAAAAY! The next group training was inexplicably difficult. We were at only about a 15 minute mile. This past week was inbetween at a 14 minute mile. I took last week off because my feet really started to bother me, so I'll be kicking it back into gear this week!

9/25/08

Training has been going really well lately, though it is starting to get to the point where the first mile is the toughest and I enjoy the last half of the run and am disappointed to have to stop. (Running too much over the training schedule can be bad.)

This Saturday I will be running 6 miles with the Team and a Nutritionist will be speaking to us afterward about our general nutritional needs for pre-run, post-run and throughtout the week.

Thank you to those who have donated and offered support and prayers! Continue to spread the news and support for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and Team in Training!

9/1/08

This will be my 3rd year running the Walt Disney Half-Marathon and I am so excited to be doing it with Team in Training (TNT). Everyone has been so supportive so far. Two of the coaches, Jim and Colin, even waited for my mom and me to finish our shopping at the running store after the group run in Reston this past Saturday. Coach Rich is also very nice and has helped me figure out why I had been cramping when I first started training.

This past Saturday when really well. It was the first "real run" as a group, since I don't consider track work as a long run. I was grouped together with a group who wanted to do 3 mins running, one min walking intervals and we hit it off great! After the run everyone met back at the Potomac River Running in Reston Towne Center and those who were interested, me included, stayed to learn about how to buy the best shoes. One of the employees watched me run down the street (they have a camera hooked up behind a treadmill in the store to get a closer look, but apparently I can't run on a treadmill!) and I was "diagnosed" as being an severe over-pronater. My feet roll too far in when I run which can damage my knees and my hips in the long run. So I ended up buying new shoes that correct my over-pronation. Now I can run healthy!

I will continue to keep you all updated on my progress (I will try for once a week!).