It's football time! Which team to do you support? How much do you love your team? I'm out to discover which college football team has the most generous supporters. For the low, low price of $1.00 you earn a vote for the COLLEGE team of your choice. $5.00 equals 5 votes. $1000 equals 1000 votes. $10,000 makes you and your team an automatic winner for the national championship. (I can't guarantee that, but in my heart and facebook page you'd think they are.)

The best part? Every dollar you donate is tax deductible. No, that's just a good part. The best part is how your dollars will be used to fund life-saving research getting closer every year to beating Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Myeloma. You can help make cancer a thing of the past.

The another great part, the winning team will be represented at the Nation's Triathlon. Using my kinesio tape-- and there is a lot of tape: my arm, upper leg, lower leg, and even my knee-- your fandom will be celebrated in front of a large, sport crazy audience for a long time (mostly because I resemble a turtle.) You'll also win my full support of the winning team for the season (please be generous Tennessee fans). I'll wear your teams colors. I'll cheer for them (even if my brothers scalp me). I'll even proclaim your team's superiority.

Get out your wallets, it's good karma. Give for your team and watch the victories roll in. Give until it hurts. Give for every completed pass, touchdown, PAT, opposing quarterback sack you want to see this season. Give for the fight song, the cheerleaders, the students in the stands. Give for all the kids who'll be told tomorrow they have cancer. Give for a fighting chance. Cancer doesn't fight fair, but we fight harder. Even if all you can give is one dollar, you're still making a difference. NO EXCUSES!

Get your vote in before Thursday, September 7 at midnight. Be sure to leave a comment on the donation form for your team of choice. Make a donation on my secure fund raising website: http://pages.teamintraining.org/tn/nattri12/jpayne111y, or drop it off in person, or even give me call and I'll come by and pick it up! Help me help you fight cancer. I will announce the winning team Friday morning on my way to Washington, D.C. for the Triathlon.

Oh, and one lucky donor will also get a bonus $25.00 gift card to Road ID. You can check out their awesome product line at http://www.roadid.com/Common/default.aspx

Two weeks! I have 2 short weeks to be ready for Nations! The nail biting has begun! Socks or no socks? What am I going to pack? How will I finish my fund raising? Should I braid my hair for the race or go with just a ponytail? Do I like my visor or my hat better for the run? Will I be able to run? I hope my bike is really fast so I can walk if i can't run. I hope they have Gatorade without yellow #5. Will they use race tattoos? Will the race tattoos will come off in less than week? I really hope I don't forget to use my sunscreen this time.

I was feeling pretty good about my training in June. July wasn't as kind to me. There was the dehydration, the crushing fatigue, and then pain so bad in my leg I was certain something was broken. I caved and went to the doctor. After some confusing and depressing (temporarily) medical news, I was in the "Depths of Despair."

I wasn't training, fund-raising, or talking about it. Sometimes it takes a minute (or in my case, a couple of weeks) to get your head on straight. I've either got an injury or an illness. I'm not dying. My leg hurts. Not reason for the mopey pity party I've had going on. I can swim and bike. Running is iffy... I would rock an aqua jogging competition. I'm not doing this triathlon to "race," I'm doing it to raise money to fund cures for cancer. Besides, to despair is to turn you back on God. (Stole that from Ann of Green Gables.)

Thanks to research funded by TNT donations to the LLS, my dad got to meet his newest grandson. Anna, our honored teammate and the daughter of one of my actual teammates, got to start school with her classmates. This is what cancer research looks like. This is why your donation is important.

Sunday, the Tri Team had it's first brick workout. Just over 12 miles of biking followed by a quick 2 mile run. This was the first brick workout I've done where I felt like I will actually meet my time goal in September and I can't run much yet because of my knee.

I am part of an amazing team this season. Richie and Jim are great at giving the tips, fixes, and encouragement that make us go faster and want to work harder. I am excited as I watch my improvement and the improvement of my team. Dawn (whom I coerced into signing up) is an amazing runner and has an absolute need to push harder on the bike-- she's apprehensive about the swim, but the Team will get her there! Kristen was a collegiate swimmer and a natural athlete-- she's timid about going fast on the bike, but the Team will soon have her flying down the hills! I'm-- well, I'm a turtle in a former life. I like the slow, the easy, the sweat free. This Team makes me want to sweat.

You know what else would make me want to sweat? Your donation to an awesome cause! The LLS is improving the lives of countless individuals and families. A cure for cancer won't be found without a lot of hard work. You can share the load by making a donation

Ah, training! I could write a book on my love-hate relationship with training. The euphoria of a great workout often isn't enough to overcome the laws of physics: A body at rest tends to stay at rest, especially if that body is burdened with the ingrained habit of couch-potatoness.

That's why I've recruited a great group of motivators to keep me honest-- mostly honest. This morning, I would have skipped my swim. I was tired, I was up late, I had to work early... who needs an excuse when you're coasting on lazy. That's where my nephew woke me up at 5:50 this morning. He set his own alarm so I wouldn't forget him-- he slept at my house. He called to let me know this last night at 9. He's 7 going on precocious!

"I'm ready!" He announced standing in my bedroom door in his swim trunks, shivering in the morning cold. I groaned, put my head under the pillow. "Don't we need to get to the pool? You said you had to be faster than the cancer."

Faster than the cancer. That's exactly what I have to be. I'm training for a challenging event. I'm raising money to fund life-saving research. I'm getting the word out that everyone can make a difference. You can make a difference. Making a donation has never been easier. Let's be faster than the cancer. Help find a cure!

Last night, 9 days after crossing the finish line for my first Team in Training event, I signed on for a new adventure with the Team. I'm doing the Nation's Triathlon in Washington, D.C. on September 9th and this time around I need your help to raise $5000 to find a cure for leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma.

I'm going to train harder, finish faster, and raise more money! My team helped me get arcoss the finish line this May and this new team will help me again. Together, we train to beat cancer.

You can be a part of this team and you won't even have to break a sweat. Every dollar gets us closer to a cure. When you train with the team, you're not doing it for yourself, but for everyone effected by blood cancers. When you support the team, you're supporting every family dealing with blood cancers. Your support is a life-saver!