Racing to Save Lives

My stepson, Casey, was diagnosed with lymphoma on July 8, 2008 - his 6th birthday. He has gone through several rounds of chemo, plenty of blood transfusions and too many nights in the hospital to count. He lost his hair and his eyelashes, but never his strength and determination. He has given me the courage and motivation to embark on a journey of my own.

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, Hodgkins disease and myeloma from taking more lives. I am completing this event in honor of Casey and 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!

My goal is $2000 which is 10% over the minimum I have to raise in order to particpate in this awesome event. 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 and pass on the link to anyone you know. Thanks for your support!

MY TNT JOURNEY

11-25-08

TNT is just amazing. I have never met a group of people quite like the TNT participants. They are so supportive and motivating, you can't help but want to train everyday! I am currently training 4 days a week. I train on my own or with my daughter during the week and with the group on Saturdays. Those days are invigorating. Not only is it super cold at 7:30 in the morning, but it feels really good to be out there training 4 miles before most people are even awake! I did my first 4 miles this past Saturday and when I finally finished, everyone who had already finished and the trainers and other participants who ran in with me were cheering like crazy! They were woohooing and pumping their fists in the air like Rocky and there were high fives from eveyone when I made it to the end. I never realized finishing 4 miles was such a big deal. The whole time I was panting and thinking, "How in the world am I ever going to get to 13.1 miles???" But after that grand reception, I realized I'm definitely going to be able to do it. How can I not do it with this amazing team cheering me on?? Not to mention, 13.1 miles is really a piece of cake compared to chemo.

1-20-08

I had a little setback in my training. On Christmas, I was having terrible abdominal pains and by the next Tuesday, they were excruciating. My husband finally got me in the car Tuesday night and took me to the emergency room. Turns out, I had a serious gall bladder attack and had to have surgery on New Year's Eve. Unfortunately, this pretty much puts me back at square one for training, but I don't want to give up. I'll find out next Tuesday when I can start training again. I'm hoping I can start soon. I have a lot of catching up to do if I want to run 13.1 miles by April 5th!!