We are really on the home stretch now in our training season! My race is less than a month away and last week we hit a milestone with our first double digit run on New Year's Eve day.

It was a very foggy morning and we ran a portion of the Pacific Coast Highway that I will run on race day as well. It was a great confidence boost to get to test run the course before the race so I am well prepared for what's to come. After our run, some of the team went out for a big breakfast to refuel!

One of the most rewarding parts of this experience so far has been the support and bonding of teambuilding. Everyone on our team really keeps each other motivated to keep going through the long miles with a lot of conversation and positivity.

In addition to the great company, it has been amazing to hear everyone's personal stories and connections to blood cancers. One of my teammates who is just a couple of years older than myself, is running for her boyfriend who was diagnosed last year and currently undergoing chemo. Our coach runs to help raise money for LLS after his young son was diagnosed (and is a survivor) of leukemia.

We all support each other and when one of us hits the dreaded "wall", all we have to do is look around to our teammates to find the motivation to push through.

We do our team runs on Saturday mornings- early Saturday mornings. The past couple of weeks it has been rainy and cold when we've gathered in the park for our workout.

When my alarm goes off and my bed is so warm I draw inspiration from Kimie to get my butt in gear.

Kimie is the OC/IE Spring Team in Training honoroed hero. She is an energetic and charismatic six year old. You would never suspect that behind her infectious giggle, Kimie is battling a rare subtype of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

When Kimie was 4 years old and preparing to start kindergarten, the lab tech that did the processing read the requisition slip wrong and did a peripheral smear of her blood. He noticed that her white blood cells looked abnormal and instead of throwing the slide away and admitting he'd done the wrong test, he sent it to pathology.

Her primary care physician confirmed that she had 9% blast cells and referred the family to oncology. As a nurse, Kristine Metcalf (Kimie's mom) was in shock because Kimie did not have any symptoms of a child with leukemia- she wasn't pale or bruised and had tons of energy.

Kimie was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Lymphoma, which fortunately has a 90% survival rate with proper treatment. Kimie's doctor admitted her the next morning and she had a bone marrow biopsy, surgical placement of her port-o-cath and started chemotherapy. She spent the next week in the hospital without complications until a second blow was dealt.

When Kimie's bone marrow results came back her doctor informed Kristine that Kimie had more than they originally thought. In additional to ALL, Kimie has a rare subtype called AF4/MLL. For this type of cancer the prognosis is only a 30-40% survival rate and is typically associated with infants.

Because Kimie is not an infant, there is no known treatment protocol. Kimie falls outside of known treatment parameters.

Kimie has been treated with aggressively and her cancer has been in remission over a year. She will continue her maintenance routine over the next year and a half and then stop all treatments.

This morning Kimie was at practice (in her dino costume) with a huge smile on her face, giving us all a little extra motivation to run through the rain. Every time I feel a little tired or think my run is a little too difficult, I draw from Kimie's effervescent energy because I know that with every mile we are coming closer to a cure for her and millions like her.

Teams are made up of individuals. Without them, there is no team.

Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

I have a mission-to help find cures and more effective treatments for blood cancers. To accomplish that mission, I’m running the Surf City USA Half Marathon as a member of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Team In Training. I will be raising funds to help find cures and better treatments for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma. I’m improving the quality of my life by participating and with your support, I can help improve the quality of life for patients and their families as well.

Please make a donation in support of my efforts with Team In Training and help advance the research for cures.

Thanks in advance for all of your support. I can't wait to keep you up-to-date throughout the season!