Racing to Save Lives

Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

I'm training to participate in the Nation's Triathlon in Washington DC 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, but especially our team's honored hero, Eli Crowley. Eli is just 4 years old and has been battling Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia for 2 years and will complete his treatment in April 2010. He is the real hero on our team and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure for these deadly diseases that can strike at any age.

I am training for this event because I am lucky enough to be blessed with good health at this period in my life. The least I can do is put that health to good use in helping those that battle for their lives every day. If Eli can battle cancer for years at just 4 years old, I can conquer my own fears of completing an event consisting of swimming .93 miles, biking 24.8 miles, and running 6.2 miles.

Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission. All donations are 100% tax deductible and 75% of the Society's expenditures directly advance our mission.

If you'd like to donate via mail, please make checks payable to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and mail to:

Brianna Roberts, 1034 Delsey St., North Charleston, SC 29405

No donation is too small in helping me reach my goal of $4,100 by August 31st.

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

Update 6/28/09:

Whew first full week of training down. The hardest part may be waking up at 5am to get started since it gets so hot during the day. A little fatigue, but no pain, so all is well. Hope to have some pictures soon! Oh yeah, and sweat dripping sunscreen into the eyes hurts like a $#%@!!@$%.

Update 7/12/09:

Had a brief respite on our vacation in NC, but now I'm back at it and no slacking! Definitely looking forward to the benefit yard sale that is being held 7/18 in West Ashley with Lindsey. Be there for some great deals and yummy foods for a great cause!

Update 7/21/09:

I want to thank everyone who donated to our yard sale on Saturday - and everyone who came out to shop! A lot of people got great deals on a lot of nice stuff, and LLS got to benefit. This Saturday 7/25 is a fundraiser indoor cycling ride at Tempo - if you're never been, this is your chance to try them out. They're great! I bought some new flippers to practice the swim with, here's hoping they work some magic. Thank you again for your support!

Update 7/27/09:

The fundraising ride over at Tempo was great. I'm still sore from bootcamp! I guess that means I need to incorporate more squats and lunges on a regular basis. Definitely looking forward to tomorrow's session about stretching and injury prevention. And don't forget to shop at GAP, Old Navy, or Banana Republic from July 30th - August 2nd! Oh yeah, and I think Todd and I will be booking our tickets to DC tonight - it's going to be here so fast!

Update 7/31/09:

So starting to get a little nervous about Sunday's sprint triathlon. Eep! I'm sure I'll have an update after it on Sunday - it will be interesting to compare the two posts! Got a little pep talk from Kyle today - he confirmed that I will panic when I hit the water. Pep talk? Ok maybe better to call it a reality check!

Update 8/22/09:

The wetsuit arrived today. That makes the whole thing seem very real! I learned quite a bit from the sprint triathlons, and now it's almost time to put that knowledge with my training in order to finish an event twice as long. Just the other day we were able to go out to dinner with our heroes, Eli and Ian, and that simply reminded me again of why I am doing this work. When you see them, you wouldn't think that those are two little boys with cancer. The work of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society really impacts those with these diseases, and it gives these folks a chance to grow up and go to preschool just like everyone else. Thank you all again for your support, and if you can, please consider a small donation. There really is no such thing as giving too little.

Update 9/15/09:

I did it! You can see pictures here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=103089&id=616831480&l=7ebfd3bfdc

But just because I'm finished doesn't mean that cancer is! There's still time to make your donation to help those like Eli and Ian!