Racing to Save Lives

Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

As some of you may know, I recently made a personal commitment to help find a cure for cancer with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). I have joined their training and fundraising program called Team in Training (TNT) here in San Antonio. Our mission is to develop the cure for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life for patients and their families.

On November 14, 2010, I will be running in the San Antonio Rock and Roll Half Marathon as a TNT member for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Ok, so perhaps you are wondering why I am training with Team in Training and why I decided to commit myself to fundraise for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Then again, maybe you’re just trying to figure out if I have completely lost my mind to think I can run in a marathon! Well, I will tell you that I am not having delusions of grandeur and I am not crazy (as far as I know).

I started running last November as a way to get in shape and lead a healthier lifestyle. But running wasn’t enough to keep me motivated, so I started to set goals. I recently ran my longest distance of 4.69 miles In the Beach to Bay Marathon Relay on May 15, 2010 and my next goal is the Rock and Roll Half Marathon (that's 13.1 miles) in November.

A good friend of mine invited me to join Team in Training in order to train for this event. Over the next five months, I will be training in the blistering Texas heat while fundraising at the same time.

I have a goal to raise $3,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society by October 29. I embraced the challenge even though I didn’t know anyone who had been affected by this form of cancer. At first, I thought that I didn’t have any kind of personal connection to the cause. But then I learned more about blood cancers….

Did you know that Leukemia is the number one Cancer killer of children? That every 4 minutes someone is diagnosed with a type of blood cancer and every 10 minutes someone dies from a blood cancer? That means that about 146 people die every day due to blood cancers…and how many of those people are children?

I recently met a woman who lost her son, Tre’Vaughn, at age 12 in 2005 to Non-Hodgkins T-Cell Lymphoma. I told her about what I was doing and she thanked me. As I hugged her, I thought of my sisters. Some of you may know that I have lost two sisters, although not to Cancer. My sister, Marlo, died at age 19 in 2004 in a fatal car accident and my sister, Monica, died of unknown causes in 2006. She was 10 years old.

Every child that dies of Leukemia or Lymphoma leaves a grieving family behind. I may not have a personal connection to blood cancer – but I have seen grief and I know the pain of loosing a child. It is a pain that never truly goes away. That is why working to save the lives of children is something that I want to support ardently.

This is where you come in. I can train every day between now and November 14th, but without your help I won't even make it to the starting line. If you're here because you got a letter or email from me it means we have some connection. We work together, or went to school together or are connected through family or community organizations. Regardless, you are someone I know cares about the world around you. Please help me to reach my goal of $3,000 by October 29th by making a donation. Every penny counts and no donation is too small. Furthermore, every donation is 100% tax deductible.

As an added incentive, if I am able to surpass my fundraising goal by 26.2% (that’s an extra $786), I will commit myself to running the full San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon – that is 26.2 miles!

Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission. Those big donations are great, but everything helps! So please give whatever you can. If I got $25 from everyone who came here, I'd be at my goal in a heartbeat.

Come back and check in on me as I plan to keep a log of my training and progress. Thanks for your support!

Love and Blessings,

Julia

P.S. Please also follow me as I blog my experience at http://saving-lives-one-mile-at-a-time.blogspot.com/

In Memoriam:

Tre'Vaughn La Var Payne

Col. Larkin S. Tully

Training Log

Week One:

• Mon, Jun 7: Ran 2.9 miles at Walker Ranch Park in 37 minutes (13 minute mile)
• Tues, Jun 8: Ran 4.2 miles on the San Antonio Riverwalk in 58 minutes (14 minute mile)
• Wed: Jun 9: Ran 2.6 miles at Brackenridge Park. Saw my friend Lindsey from the R.U.N. Group. She cheered me on and I finished strong. Did the run in 38 minutes (14 minute mile).
• Sat: Jun 12: Ran 2.2 miles on St. Mary's Street in downtown San Antonio. Was 30 minutes late but still finished strong. Did the run in 34 mintes (15 minute mile).

Week Two:

• Mon, Jun 14: Ran 1.78 miles at Phil Hardberger Park in 25 minutes (14 min/mile)
• Wed: Jun 16: Ran 3.0 miles at Brackenridge Park. Did the run in 40 minutes (13 min/mile)
• Thurs, Jun 17: Ran 4.02 miles on NW Military Highway in 54 minutes (13.5 min/mile)
• Sat: Jun 19: Ran 3.08 miles in the Carrabbas Half Marathon Relay. Finished in 47 minutes (15 min/mile).

Week Three:

• Mon, Jun 21: Ran 2.43 miles at Phil Hardberger Park in 37 minutes (15 min/mile)
• Wed: Jun 23: Ran 4 miles at Brackenridge Park. Did the run in 55 minutes (14 min/mile)
• Thurs, Jun 24: Ran 2.84 miles at Eisenhower Park in 38 minutes (14 min/mile)
• Sat: Jun 26: Ran 6 miles starting at Mission San Jose. Finished in 1 Hour and 32 minutes (15 min/mile).

Week Four:

• Mon, Jun 28: Ran 3 miles at Phil Hardberger Park (n the pouring rain) in 40 minutes (13 min/mile)
• Sat: Jul 3: Ran 4 miles starting at Mission San Jose. Finished in 1 hour (15 min/mile)

Week Five:

• Mon, July 5: Ran 4.7 miles at Phil Hardberger Park in 1 hour and 7 minutes (14 min/mile)
• Tue, July 6: Walked 2.9 miles at the Riverwalk in 46 minutes (16 min/mile)
• Wed: July 7: Ran 2 miles In the SARR Zoo Fun Run and won 1st place in my division. Did the run in 27 minutes (13.5 min/mile)
• Thurs, July 8: Walked 2.51 miles at Eisenhower Park in 46 minutes (18 min/mile)
• Sat: July 10: Ran 5.8 miles at the Enchanted Rock. Finished in 1 Hour and 25 minutes (14 min/mile).

Week Six:

• Tue, July 13: Ran 2.17 miles at the University of Texas in San Antonio in 33 minutes (15 min/mile)
• Wed: July 14: Ran 3.4 miles on the University of Incarnate Word track in 49 minutes (15 min/mile)
• Sat: July 17: Ran 4.23 miles at Rogers Ranch. Finished in 1 Hour and 7 minutes (15 min/mile).

Week Seven:

• Mon, July 19: Ran 2.28 miles at the Phil Hardberger park in 38 minutes (16 min/mile)
• Tues, July 20: Ran 3.0 miles at the San Antonio Riverwalk in 44 minutes (14 min/mile)
• Thurs, July 22: Ran 2.39 miles at Eisenhower Park in 36 minutes (15 min/mile)
• Sat: July 24: Ran 6.0 miles at Rogers Ranch. Finished in 1 Hour and 35 minutes (15 min/mile).

Week Eight:

• Mon, July 26: Ran 2.45 miles at the Phil Hardberger park in 40 minutes (16 min/mile)
• Tues, July 27: Ran 3.25 miles at the San Antonio Riverwalk in 45 minutes (14 min/mile)
• Thurs, July 29: Danced Zumba at the McNay Museum for 1 Hour.
• Sat: July 31: Ran 8.1 miles at Brackenridge Park. Finished in 2 Hours and 5 minutes (15 min/mile).

Week Nine:

• Mon, August 2: Ran 2.62 miles at the Phil Hardberger park in 34 minutes (13 min/mile)
• Wed, August 4: Walked 2.24 miles at Brackenridge Park in 35 minutes (15 min/mile)
• Thurs, August 5: Ran 4.51 miles at Shavano Park in 1 hour and 8 minutes (15 min/mile).
• Sat: August 7: Ran 10.29 miles though La Cantera. Finished in 2 Hours and 25 minutes (14 min/mile).

Week Ten:

• Mon, August 9: Ran 2.26 miles at the Phil Hardberger park in 32 minutes (14 min/mile)
• Thurs, August 12: Ran 4.02 miles at the San Antonio Riverwalk in 50 minutes (13 min/mile).
• Sat: August 14: Ran 12.1 miles though La Cantera. Finished in 3 Hours and 2 minutes (15 min/mile).

Week Eleven:

• Mon, August 16: Ran 2.3 miles at the Phil Hardberger park in 35 minutes (15 min/mile).
• Tues, August 17: Cycled 4.95 miles at Brackenridge Park in 41 minutes (8 min/mile).
• Sat: August 21: Ran 14.1 miles though La Cantera. Finished in 4 Hours and 2 minutes (17 min/mile)

Week Twelve:

• Wed, August 25: Ran 4.57 miles at Brackenridge Park in 1 Hour and 6 minutes (14 min/mile).
• Sat: August 28: Ran 10.6 miles though La Cantera. Finished in 2 Hours and 37 minutes (14 min/mile). I actually was supposed to run 12 miles, but I hurt my foot and walked the last 2 miles

Week Thirteen:

• Mon, August 30: Ran 2.43 miles at Hardberger Park in 38 minutes (15 min/mile).
• Wed, September 1: Ran 3.29 miles at Tobin Park in 46 minutes (14 min/mile).
• Sat: September 4: Ran 14.1 miles through Olmos Basin. Finished in 3 Hours and 37 minutes (15 min/mile).

Week Fourteen:

• Mon, September 5: Ran 5 miles in the SARR Whine Run in 1 hour and 14 minutes (15 min/mile).
• Wed, September 1: Run Cancelled due to bad weather :-(
• Sat: September 11: Ran 6.39 miles through Olmos Basin. Finished in 1 Hours and 47 minutes (17 min/mile). Did not finish as I hurt my foot and could not walk much less run :-(

Week Fifteen:

• Wed, September 15: Ran 3.77 miles through Tobin Park in 53 minutes (14 min/mile)
• Sat: September 18: Ran 7.62 miles through Olmos Basin. Finished in 1 Hours and 42 minutes (14 min/mile). Only ran the half-marathon distance as I had to be somewhere at 9am..

Week Sixteen:

• Mon, September 20: Ran 4.2 miles through Hardberger Park in 57 minutes (14 min/mile)
• Wed, September 22: Ran 3.5 miles through Tobin Park in 49 minutes (14 min/mile)
• Sat: September 18: Ran 12.5 miles through Olmos Basin. Finished in 3 Hours and 7 minutes (15 min/mile). I did a great job on this run until my foot became too painful...I fell out at about mile 12 or so... Had an X-ray done and turns out that I have a stress fracture.