You'll Never Know if You Don't Tri

Just four months ago, something amazing happened. On an average run through Central Park, someone called me a hero. That's strange, I thought, but then, New York is full of crazy people. I kept running. A few moments later it hit me - I'm wearing a Team In Training shirt, and the people who wear these purple tees are indeed heroes, logging miles and miles over months and months to raise funds for blood cancer research.

So four months into my new job at Team In Training, I'm ready to live up to the title that stranger gave me, by doing my first fundraising event, the Wildflower Triathlon. I'll be racing in honor of my brother, Jeremy, who is a Hodgkins disease survivor, and one of the strongest people I know.

In Jeremy's own words:

"I was diagnosed with Hodgkins disease in October 2001, a month before my 23rd birthday. It was scary but with the support of my incredible family and friends, and the amazing doctors and nurses at Weill Cornell Hospital, I continued to live a pretty normal life even while I was sick. I refused to let Cancer change who I was or keep me from doing the things I enjoyed. My hope is that we continue to commit the necessary resources to improve treatments and ultimately find a cure for all types of Cancer."

I've set a lofty goal: $10,000, more than double the fundraising minimum for this event. But hey, Team In Training and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society have set a pretty lofty goal too: finding a cure not for just blood cancers, but all cancers.

I've also set a lofty event goal: swimming, biking (some sort of awful hill called "Nasty Grade" is involved), and running! All in one day!

And I'll keep you updated on my progress at my training blog: www.gratefultread.blogspot.com.

So why donate? There are a lot of reasons, but for now, I want to mention two of the aspects of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society that I think makes this organization so special:

Patient Financial Aid:

Imagine you're a patient being treated for cancer. Treatment itself isn't cheap, but on top of that, you now have to get yourself to and from the hospital for regular treatments -that's something insurance just doesn't cover. Patient Financial Aid is there to ease the burden by helping defray some of those transportation costs, as well as costs associated with chemo, medications, radiation therapy and blood and bone marrow lab tests.

Funding Research Grants:

In 2008 alone, LLS funded 129 research grants. In recent years, grants have helped researchers develop drugs like Gleevec, which has been shown to normalize blood cell counts in nearly all patients with CML. An oral drug with dramatically decreased side effects, Gleevec is enabling patients with CML to live more normal lives.

In addition to training updates, I'll also be giving more details on how your money is being used by LLS, as well as stories about other honored teammates.

Thank you in advance for taking this journey with me.