Hello Friends and Family,

I’ve decided to join Team In Training (TNT) to prep for the Seattle Rock n Roll ½ marathon on June 23, 2012. For those that don’t know Team In Training, they’re a group within the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society that focus on athletic events for fundraising to help fight blood cancers. By signing up one gets a structured ramp to physically train for the event and a lot of encouragement and support along the way.

I initially got involved because my wife is active in helping to find a cure. Her brother died when he was 5 back in 1982. I’ve seen how this loss still affects my wife and her family even today. They repeat their stories about him (he was quite a character), they celebrate his birthday and they mourn the day he passed away. Since we’ve been together, we’ve found a way each year to help raise money.

Also, I was diagnosed with diabetes 3 years ago which has forced me to reevaluate “being healthy”. I’ve found that as I exercise I am able to control the sugar levels better. The benefit of this is no long term impacts such as eye disease, organ damage and other scary things you hear about.

Last week was our kick-off where we met our teammates, mentors and coaches. It was also an opportunity to hear stories from others who have been impacted by this disease. The highlight was hearing the stories from survivors. It energized me to put everything I have into not only training to successfully finish my first ½ marathon but to raise as much money as I can so there are even more survivors.

Over the next 5 months I will be keeping a blog of how I’m doing. After watching Laura do this, I know there will be much to share. Along the way, I will have fiscal goals, too. I hope you can help support me in my efforts to help end blood cancers.

Thanks,

Paul