The last few days have lead to some amazing and heartfelt conversations with friends. Some of them I knew had lost people and others I had never knew had been that close to cancer. This whole process has been more for me than raising awareness and money for Leukemia and Lymphoma. What it became was a chance to connect with the people in my life and get closer to what they have gone through and have it change me in the process. I knew joining Team in Training would be something I would gain a lot from but I assumed most of the benefits would be physical. I was wrong. I "leveled up", to quote Brett, so many emotional levels through all of this. When I want to give up because my side is aching and my lungs feel like they are on fire, all I have to do is take and breath and remember why I am here in the first place. All the people who have supported me in this are amazing individuals and I would not be at this place without them.

This has been a long journey and it is so close I can taste it. I have had too many colds and am now questioning whether or not my knee will hold out but I am so proud to have been part of this team and this season. The people I have met are amazing and this was only a start to what will be an experience that I will do again

Teams are made up of individuals. Without them, there is no team.

Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

I have a mission-to help find cures and more effective treatments for blood cancers. To accomplish that mission, I’m participating in a sports endurance event as a member of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Team In Training. Like the other members of TNT, I will be raising funds to help find cures and better treatments for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma. I’m improving the quality of my life by participating and with your support, I can help improve the quality of life for patients and their families as well.

Please make a donation in support of my efforts with Team In Training and help advance the research for cures.

Enter to Win a Kindle Fire! Proceeds to benefit The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Tickets are $5 each or 3 for $10. To enter, just make a donation on this site.

For TNT teammates, you can also get your tickets from Amy Grimm, Amy De Leon, or Steve Kajihiro. Drawing is on June 1, 2012.

Today would have been Kenny's 36th birthday. Facebook popped it up like it was just another cheery reminder to say hi to a friend. What it reminded me of instead was that cancer stills takes too many people's lives. The more money I help raise, the more driven I become to do even more to help in the fight against cancer. When I run today Kenny will be in my heart and in my thoughts.

Running hills has also made me think a lot about challenges in life. Illness can make small daily activities feel like you have just run a hill when you have only gotten up and walked across the room. Patients being treated with chemo will often end up extremely tired on a daily basis as a result of the life saving treatment. We take for granted being healthy and being able to do everything we want our bodies to do. I've been thinking about this a lot and it has been causing me to look at my own habits of how I take care of myself in order to make me healthier.

I am almost at my minimum fundraising goal ! Thank you to all that have been with me on this journey so far and I look forward to having more people to share this with as it goes on !