Racing to Save Lives

Hello friends,

I know for some of you, it’s been a while since I’ve been in touch. I just wanted everyone to know that I, Susan Haarman, life long indoor kid, will be doing a triathlon.

That’s right – a triathlon. On September 13th 2008, I will run the Olympic Distance Triathlon at Pacific Grove. I’ll swim for .93 miles, then I’ll immediately go bike for 24.8 miles, and then I’ll immediately run for 6.2 miles.

I am participating with Team in Training (TNT) of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to compete in the Triathlon at Pacific Grove. In exchange for commitment to raise funds to help find a cure for the leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, myeloma and other blood-related cancers, I get intensive training and support from triathlon coaches and a personal mentor. I pity the person who’s gonna try to make me like running.

Honestly I’d been thinking about doing a triathlon for a while. Since coming to California, I’d made some good choice health wise – I’ve quit smoking and now swim a mile five days a week. Doing something athletic seemed like a great way to fight off my quarter life crisis. I figured I’d run a triathlon so I felt like I’d actually achieved something in my 25 years on earth. BUT THAT’S JUST WHERE THIS STORY STARTS.

A few months ago my life started hitting some serious snags. I’d begun to question whether or not I should have gone into law school instead of theology school. I’d been dumped out of nowhere by a man I thought I had a long term future with. I was tired of school, I was hurting from a painful and confusing breakup, I was knee deep in self pity and all I could think about was MYself and MY pain. I decided to do Team in Training because it would make ME feel better.

But then something happened…

I began to read the statistics on Leukemia and Lymphoma.

Leukemia is the #1 killer of children under the age of 15

Every 5 minutes, another child or adult is diagnosed with a blood-related cancer

Every 9 minutes, another child or adult is expected to die from a blood-related cancer

Research is working---25 years ago, only 5% of children diagnosed with leukemia survived; today the survival rate is 81%

As I mentioned my plans to others, people began to tell me the stories of the people in their own lives who had suffered from blood cancer and related diseases. I heard stories of heroism, suffering, untimely loss, but most of all courage and love.

I’m beginning to realize that me finishing an Olympic Triathlon is not the point of Team in Training. This was never about me and it isn’t going to be from now on.. I’m doing this, not for myself, but to help find a cure for cancer.

The next three months, I’ll face some definite challenges. Running in particular makes me nervous. I make it a point not to run unless I’m being chased by things, like bears or oncoming trains. But those challenges are nothing compared to the physical and emotional challenges faced by a person going through cancer treatments or the emotional challenges faced by the supporters of a cancer patient.

I’m excited to be starting this three and half month journey and even more exciting to be starting it for what now feels like the right reasons. Your support and prayers are going to be essential in the days to come (especially on running days). I for my part want to go out of my way to keep you informed about how training is going and keep my focus on why I’m really doing this. As a result, I’ll be blogging (that’s keeping an online journal for my not-so-tech-savvy father) about my training. Starting June 1st, I’ll be updating susanhaarman.blogspot.com every few days. I’ll talk about my training, being on a team, and in general how this process is changing me. I hope you’ll check in on me and make sure I’m focused on the real goal – finding a cure for cancer.

Hopefully, one day there will be a cure for all types of cancer but until then I will be changing lives one mile at a time. I have set a personal fundraising goal of $4,000 to help cancer patients and their families. I hope to raise this amount by August 15th, 2008.

If you would like to help change lives and make a 100% tax deductible contribution to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society or learn more about LLS, please visit my website at http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/pactri08/shaarman

Please feel free to forward this on to anyone who may be interested. Remember your donation is 100% tax deductible.

Of course you can send in your contribution any time, right up until race day, September 13th, 2008 (you can even donate more than once! Jesus will love you!). A minimum of 75% of your contribution goes directly to research and patient programs. 100% of your moral support and well wishes goes directly to me.

Peace,

Susan