Racing to Save Lives

Thanks for your intrest and support!

I'm training to run in the January 2010 Disney Marathon as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. I'm 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. I will be using this site as a blog to communicate you and the rest of my supporters.

Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Thanks for your support!

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7/30/09

Many of you may think, Todd,a marathon?

I thought the same thing just a few weeks ago.

Stress from the daily grind can get to all of us. I feel it all the time as I feel I have a full load with completing my degree and holding down a career at the same time.

On top of the daily stressors we encounter, the economy is making things worse for everyone. I'm sure there has been says days where every one of us sits and thinks, "Life is just not fair......" I know because I have felt it before. Having surgery on my back only a year and a half ago I've felt like the victim many times through out my recovery.

I stumbled across the team in training website a few weeks ago and started reading about all the children who suffer from leukemia and other cancers and suddenly I got a huge reality check.

A slumping stock market? Tired of the heat? Gained a few pounds? Missed lunch? Suddenly all my problems felt so miniscule.

Imagine, for a few seconds... life through the eyes of a child who was recently diagnosed with cancer.

I did. My problems were belittled and I knew right then, if a 6 year old boy or an 11 year old girl can battle cancer and do it with such charisma and hope, then I could run a marathon.

I hope you will join me and step back from your life for a few minutes today and really enjoy what we have been blessed with.

Todd G.

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8/1/09

I just finished my long run for the week. early this morning ...Thanks to everyone who has made donations. Aside from the patients I'm rasing money from your donations also encourage me....

Todd G.

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8/6/09

The Coral Raffle Is On! Thanks to everyone whos participating. For details here is the link.

http://www.pbmas.org/board/index.php?showtopic=3209&pid=22246&st=0&#entry22246

Todd G.

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8/8/09

"Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired in the morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired."

- George S. Patton, U.S. Army General, 1912 Olympian

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8/15/09

Today we did our first team run. Getting up at 5:30am on a Saturday is not something I ever imagined myself doing but you take life as it comes.

It was a good run and my dad came out to run with me today. I can't imagine the sense of accomplishment after completing the marathon in January because even our small runs feel good.

Thanks to everyone who has donated. It’s really a selfless act and you are doing an amazing thing.

Thanks for your support!

Todd G.

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8/17/09

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional....

141 days left of training...

Todd G.

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8/23/09

Quoted from a previous Disnety Marathon Runner, "The marathon begins as it ends - in the parking lot outside of Epcot. It is dark and sometimes cold as everyone begins to gather for the race. Runners begin arriving around 3 or 3:30 am. The start area is well lit where you can find some pre-race refreshment, live music on stage, the baggage check area and rows and rows of porta-potties."

Todd G.

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8/30/09

Training seems to be getting easier even though were increasing in mileage. Smalll steps but I'm making progress towards the 26.2 miles. I've seen two people on the team drop out due to injury already so I'm trying my best to take care of my self.

Todd G.

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9/3/09

It seems I've had a small set back in training. The last few weeks my knee has had a lot of pain during and after our runs. Turns out its just a strained ligament and infammation. The good news is the injury isn't serious and I can get back to training in a week or two...

I've decided to raise my personal goal from raising $2,500 to $6,000 as I still have 4 months till the race. If you dont set the high enough theres nothing to reach for....

Todd G.

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9/5/09

I ran for the first time in a week today with the team for 45 minutes with minimal pain in my knee. I'm going to take is easy and get back to 100% hopefully in the next week or so.

Todd G.

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9/11/09

Thanks to everyone who has supported me thus far. Im only 5 weeks into this journey and have already met amazing people. I've been lucky to get such great support from my family, friends and in some cases complete strangers.

I want to give a special thanks to everyone who donated in Memory of Pei Pei Jiang. Its a great way to remember her.

Todd G.

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9/19/09

It seems as though the odds are stacked agaisnt me.

There were 382,000 marathon finishes in 2005. With the U.S. population at 295 million in that year, it works out to about .13% of Americans have ever completed a Marathon.

Although the odds are stacked high I will prevail.

Thanks for everyones support!~

Todd G.

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9/20/09

The Corals for Cancer Raffle was a sucess. Congrats to Ron Storms of Lake Park Fl.

I would like to personally thank each and everyone of you who made this happen.

We raised a total of $925!

Todd G.

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9/27/09

Well we did a 6 mile run yesterday, about a quarter of the way there. Still a long way to go but a lot of improvment from 0 to 6 miles in the last 7 weeks. My knee is paying for the run though. Its obvious there is still an issue with my knee but I'm hoping I can address that after the race in January.

I just signed up for the Palm Beach Half Marathon on December 6th so that should help with some of the race day jitters. by Decemb er 13.1 miles will be a walk in the park.

Todd G.

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10/06/09

I would like to thank all of the ATT Employees who have made donations!

Conrad Gonzalez

Beverly Paugh

Patty Howell

Louise Zehnder

Beverly Paugh

Herbie Blanton

Donna Dugan

Rick Dechert

Peter Rezzonico

Sandy McNulty

Gary Smith

And a special thanks to Louise Zehnder, Cindy Williams and The Pioneers for making a generous donation of $2500.

The ATT Pioneers will be represented on our race day jerseys.

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10/14/09

With the progress I've made so far, our long runs are now a 1/3 of the way (9 miles) and increasing a mile or so each weekend, I'm gaining the confidence I needed to be able to enjoy the whole experience. In the past 10 weeks I've learned a lot about myself and how if we just push our selves we can accomplish more than we ever thought imaginable....

I’m still not really sure what brought me to the team in training meeting a few months ago. It’s really still hard to articulate when someone asks me but when all is said and done, I will have completed a marathon, raised money for a great cause and inspired many along the way.

Todd G.

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11/02/09

Only 4 weeks away from the Palm Beach 1/2 Marathon and im feeling really good about it. Over the weekend we did out long run which was 11.5 miles and then I did another miles shortly after. Knowing I can make the distance and feel good after allows me to focus on the more important task of the real thing. 26.2

The Disney Marathon is only 65 days away is is on my mind for a good portion of each day. Whats my pace, how will it feel, what if i dont wake up ect ect ect....

Im more than half way there at almost 13 miles which is more than Ive ever ran before at a time... and probably more then I ran in the last three years combined...

Ive been able to raise over $5,000 at this point so my goals are becoming realities...

Todd G.

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11/14/09

Well i never thought Id ever run this far in my life.. did 14.5 miles today. Im proud of my self but a little nervous of 26.2 miles though.

Well I still have a good 4 weeks of hard training to get ready for it!

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12/06/09

Today I finished my first half marathon is 2:11 with my brother in law and wife. Even with a hurt knee( hurt it running 16 miles on thanksgiving) I still beat my goal so Im very happy with the run.

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Well on Saturday I got up at 5 am to watch my wife run in 30 degree weather with sleet and snow. I was on the side line with my family miserable in the cold weather, yet she was the one running 13 miles that day. My wife Jennifer is still getting over the same bronchitis that I have yet she pulled though and made the best of it.

After watching her I was inspired and decided nothing would stop me, so we went back to the hotel and tried to get prepared mentally for 26.2 miles. My day started at 2:30am to catch the bus at 3:00am in the lobby to get to MGM to line up for the race. It was 25 degrees out, the water at the water stops were frozen, roads were all iced over and with over 24,000 people lining up to start the race only 16,000 finished. I’m able to say I was one of the 16,000 that finished.

With that said it was definitely one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. Being sick and having an injured knee made each a lot harder than I ever trained for. I ran the first mile feeling great, striping off layers of clothing as I warmed up. Mile 2 my knee started aching and I knew I would have to slow down. Around mile 4 I was limping really bad and was reduced to slow walk. At this point my first few layers were wet from sweat, my top few layers were thrown on the ground a few miles back and I started to get really cold. By now I completed 4 of the slowest miles I have ever ran and it occurred to me that there was no way I could finish.

I spotted my family around that time and they gave me some encouragement telling me to try and just take it slow and that they would see me around mile 9. So off I went determined to make it to mile 9. I ran into a friend out on the course soon after and she told me that my hat had ice all over it from the frozen sweat. At that point I was shivering from the cold, so I picked up the next jacket I saw on the ground that another runner tossed aside earlier. I put it on and it was a perfect fit.

From here I just wanted to make it to mile 12 so I could hop onto the monorail and go back to the hotel. I was very angry with how things played out up to this point because I didn’t sign up to hobble though a marathon. I kept thinking back to just one month ago I ran a half marathon in 2:12 (which for 4 months of training was a respectable time) but this time because of uncontrollable circumstances it was 3 hours before I made it to mile 12.

Finally I made it to 12 and spotted my wife and family again. This was it I finally had an out. I quit! My wife hoped over the gate and told me she would walk the rest with me. That was the highlight of my year. I knew she was sick and hurting as well( ran 13 miles in the cold just the day before) but she didn’t hesitate. She knew I didn’t really want to see me give up so away we went. For the next 9 miles we walked talked and on occasion tried to run. After walking for a few minutes I’d forget how bad it hurt to run so I’d say lets try and jog. This was cut short in just a few short steps so back to a fast walk it was.

Around mile 18 I could see Jennifer was in a pain as she has had problems with her knee as well so I told her I could make it the rest of the way on my own. So here I am 18 miles in, 8 miles to go trying every trick I know to fool my brain into thinking 8 miles isn’t still a long way. The next few miles were hard because we were in the middle of nowhere on Disney’s Highways going up and down the same over passes, bridges and toll booth that we just drove in on a few days before. Those roads seem long even in a car let alone with slow foot after another.

From there I finally found some positive thoughts and made light of the situation and decided to give it my best. It was getting closer and closer and when I got to mile 24 and saw 1,000s of people lined up inside of MGM it really hit me that I was going to finish. The people along the way gave lots of encouragement and reminded me to smile I was about to finish a marathon.

All the previous negative thoughts and anger from not being able to finish in the time I trained for went away. I was overcome with joy to see the finish line up ahead. Did I break a world record for the fastest marathon? No, but I’m happy to say I followed through on the promise I made to myself 5 months ago that no matter what happened I would finish the 2010 Disney Marathon.

As I previously stated this was by far the hardest thing I’ve done in my life and with that said I will do another marathon as soon as I as get my body ready. It wasn’t pretty and truthfully wasn’t much fun at all but I proved to myself and others that I could do it.