Less than half a mile from my new house is a street called Marathon, which intersects with another street named SUCCESS! How could my marathon goal for Rebecca not be achieved with a clear sign like this?

I'm very sad to say Rebecca lost her fight with cancer early this week. I will attend her services tomorrow, the day before our first session for my marathon training season.

I met Rebecca that very first session five years ago, and we ran together all season because we were on the slower end of the spectrum. I am humbled by the fact that I can go back and do this race in her honor.

Thank you for all the support you've offered me and her family. It matters. It really does.

My friends, I have some sad news. The results of Rebecca's scan last week revealed that the cancer is growing too fast. The drugs she had been taking were not helping, and they are stopping the treatments and talking to hospice to make her as comfortable as possible. They don't know when the cancer will take over completely, but they're guessing it'll be a matter of weeks.

Yeah, I know. We went from having dinner 11 months ago to accepting sad, sad news less than a year later. Not fair. Not fair. Not fair. I could go on and on about how angry, how helpless, how very sad I feel about this injustice. But what can one do? Cancer has destroyed her lungs and taken over her body. She has fought the brave fight, and soon she will be at peace. We have no ability to stop this, as much as we would like to.

But something happened recently that gave me new hope for the future -- for people like Rebecca in your life and mine. After a team run the other day, a man and his wife were walking near our home base. They asked what we were doing, and I proudly announced that our little team had raised more than $60,000 and growing in the fight against cancer!

He paused for a minute and then quietly said, "Thank you." Five years ago, this man was given a few months to live, and now he was officially a cancer survivor. At the time, Rebecca was still going on the prognosis of "a few months," so all of a sudden it hit me that I had assumed that the doctors were right without factoring in Rebecca's spirit and the miracle factor!

So, even though it turns out that the doctors were right about Rebecca, there are people out there who survive cancer -- many, many people. And YOU make that possible with your support and donations. When you give money to LLS, you are helping fund valuable research that can help people with grim diagnoses.

So again, despite the sad news, I am full of hope that what we're doing here will make a difference in someone else's life. And I thank you for your help.

Dear friends and family,

I'm overwhelmed by your generosity. Team In Training defines a "Rock Star" fundraiser as someone who raises $1000 over her minimum. Thanks to the help of almost 60 donors so far, we have reached that goal.

Since we're all doing this for Rebecca, I put the Rock Star pin into the mail today for Rebecca. She's fighting cancer; she's the real rock star.

Thank you all for your support. The next major level is CHAMPION, which is $5000 over the minimum. That's where I am headed with your support. When I reach the Champion level, I'll receive a special Team In Training Champion Jacket, which I will send to Rebecca. Thank you all again!

Beth

PS -- Rebecca's husband's last post was "hanging in there." Continue to send positive vibes her way.

My amazing friend Pattie Keller finished the art for my TNT training shirt for the Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Marathon. The running guy on this shirt is the race's signature dude. I have him on the four RNR medals I have already earned (two marathons, one half and one relay). I'm so very excited to put this shirt on and run with my team on Saturdays.

Speaking of running, I'm not doing so much to prep right now. When the season officially starts at the end of January, I'm going to start back at Square One with my training. Team offers a day-by-day running plan to get everyone over the finish line, and I'm going to treat it like a workout bible. No cheating! I've learned that the Team In Training formula works if I actually follow it. So I will.

To tell you the truth, I'm pretty nervous about doing this marathon. I don't know if you realize this, but a marathon is 26.2 miles. Miles. Miles. That's insane. It was insane the first time I did it, and it's still insane as I head toward marathon #6. I'm a very, very good couch potato and a very lazy, injury-prone runner. You'd think my sport of choice would be a pie-eating contest. But no, I chose marathoning.

If I were doing this for myself, it would be so easy to back off the idea of a full and just go for a half. But I'm not doing this for me. If Rebecca can fight cancer with every ounce of energy she possesses, I can follow a running plan and grind out a marathon. I can stick to a workout schedule and focus on my nutrition. Compared to what Rebecca is going through, my efforts are pretty minor. So putting this as a priority is a pretty minor thing to do.

Thanks, thanks, thanks to everyone who has donated so far. I'm overwhelmed. I feel the support you're giving to Rebecca as well as to me, and it makes me want to work harder.

Happy New Year to all, and the biggest thanks again!