Welcome my website! I am raising funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) as part of their Team in Training Program and have elected to participate their America's Most Beautiful Bikeride event in Lake Tahoe, NE. Although the ride incorporates 100 miles of challenging hills, the views will be breathtaking and the cause is so important to me. I am extremely excited to be starting this adventure and to be sharing it with you!

I am also asking that you please make a donation to my fundraising campaign and read my personal story below (February 23rd entry). Every bit helps so, so much. And come visit me anytime!! I will be updating this website frequently, and would love to share my progress with you.

May 7th, 2009-

So, although I have been neglecting my blog, I have been riding a fair bit these past couple of weeks. Last weekend was interesting. Saturday I did a 70 mile ride (my longest to date- and it felt great!) and enjoyed a wonderful smoked bbq afterwards - delicious! And Sunday, oh Sunday, I did the 5 boros 42 mile ride COMPLETELY IN THE RAIN! And I just returned from my second moonlight ride tonight - 25 miles of riding under the moonlight. I am looking forward to a nice long ride this weekend, as well as to drier weather.

And I would also like to thank everybody so much- I'm almost at my current goal of $4400 - and I could not have done it without you. So thank you so much! Fundraising has been going so well I believe that a new goal might be in order soon. I would love to reach $5000! And I think we can do it!!

April 27th, 2009-

What a wonderful weekend I had! And I cycled 114 miles (16 miles on Friday night and the rest on Saturday and Sunday). I feel great! I have also spent a lot of time sending out emails and approaching people in malls, on the street, and in businesses regarding the UNOs fundraiser this coming Thursday. I am hoping for a huge turnout and am really excited! So, about the fundraiser, remember:

1- Event takes place Thur April 30th (in 3 days!) at the White Plains UNO Chicago Grill, only, located on 14 Martine Avenue.

2- It is ALL DAY LONG and Unos is open from 11:30 am til 4 in the morning! So you can go for lunch, dinner, drinkies, and even for take-out!

3- You must present the FREE COUPON (ask me for it TODAY and I will email you one! My email is: dra_haley@yahool.com) when your bill comes and 20% of the bill goes directly to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society under my name.

It's that easy! And it's also a great excuse to go to UNOs on Thursday! And SPREAD THE WORD to family, friends, and colleagues since it's a super easily way to contribute to an excellent cause!

April 11th, 2009-

Today I road for 26 miles in the rain, and strongly advise against it! The tips of my fingers are still feeling the sting from the cold!

And, about the UNO Chicago Grill fundraiser, please remember:

1. The event is on THURSDAY APRIL 30th, a little under three weeks away.

2. It is taking place at the WHITE PLAINS UNO Chicago Grill, ONLY. The address is 14 Martine Avenue, White Plains, NY and it is walking distance from the train station.

3. A TICKET MUST BE PRESENTED when the bill comes for 20% of the bill to be donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Email me at dra_haley@yahoo.com for a ticket today!

4. EVENT GOES ON ALL DAY so please come with coworkers or friends for lunch and/or friends and family for dinner!

5. There is the option to order out takeout and have 20% go to LLS (15% if UNOs earns under $1000 for the day so let's make sure we get over $1000!) Just present the ticket when you are picking up the pizza/food to go. And, yes, all money earned will go to LLS under my name- hence helping me to achieve that $4400 goal I have. Refer to

And please help spread the word by printing out multiple copies of the tickets (4 tickets to a sheet) and distributing them out at work and to friends and family. And encourage those coworkers (esp if you work in or around White Plains!) to go to UNOs on the 30th!

I plan on stopping in and out throughout the day, and will likely be eating at UNOs around 6:30ish for those who would like to join. Please let me know if you will be joining me; I would love to share some mouth-watering pizza with you! I will pop in again around 8, so that time will also work. See how flexible I am? At other times you will see me at the malls or at the train station desperately distributing tickets!

April 9th, 2009-

Just returned from a 25.5 mile ride from White Plains to IBM Armonk and back. Felt terrific!

On other news, I am calling out to all who love the idea of donating to cancer simply by treating themselves out to mouth-watering pizza! Here's the scoop:

Join us at Pizzeria UNOs in White Plains on Thurday APRIL 30th and 20% of your bill will go directly to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society(LLS)! UNOs is located within walking distance from the Metro North train stop on 14 Martine Avenue. 9 pm we'll all meet at UNOs bar for drinks (how does a polmegranate margarita, wildberry lemonade, and rasberry colada sound?!) and, for those of you with even more stamina, after-hours party at my place!! Email me today for FREE TICKETS ; show the ticket when your bill comes and vuala! 20% of your check will automatically go to LLS!! Now that is what I call eating pizza guilt-free! My email address is as follows: dra_haley@yahoo.com. Looking forward to seeing you all there!

April 7th, 2009-

I just came back from my very first 26 mile moonlight ride. Did I mention I'm in heaven right now? What a wonderful ride. I could not have asked for a better conclusion to my day. Thank you Don for inviting me on this ride. And thank you, Nick, for a great ride. Okay, yes, I am done w all this thanking for one night!

April 4th, 2009-

Another wonderful ride. Although I did have two flat tires today! It was definitely a crash course in changing tires.

On other news, I just received my first donation from the Czech Republic! Thank you, Misa! xo.

March 31st, 2009-

I am ending this month speechless. My friend's generosity today left me without words. And, although he wants to be hidden from the 'Thank you' list of names, I want to thank you again for your sweetness and extreme generosity. I have always known that good people come from Arlington High School; I really do mean it. Thank you.

One thousand more to go and I have reached my official goal. Hmm let's see if we can surpass it!

March 23rd, 2009-

Another great ride this Saturday. 40 miles and lots of hills! My legs were feeling it that night. I also brought my bike in for a few repairs and was quite impressed with the man doing my repairs (Saul). He is in his 60s but has been riding/racing bikes since he was 14 years old so he knows a tremendous amount about bicycles and cycling. Lucky for me he appeared to love to share his knowledge so we spent over an hour talking.

March 12th, 2009-

To give you an idea where your very generous donations are going:

$1,000 Will help the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society fund a researcher to find a cure.

$500 Will provide patient aide to a person with leukemia or a related cancer for a year.

$100 Will provide a patient with transportation costs associated with traveling from home to the cancer center.

$75 Will provide bone marrow typing for a family member of a patient with leukemia.

$50 Will register one person to be a bone marrow donor (I'm one!).

$25 Will pay for the cost of a patient's chemotherapy drug prescription co-pay.

And any donation at all will help continue the research needed to find a cure.

I thought you should know.

March 10th, 2009-

I want to congratulate Yannis for being my very first donor living outside of North America! A huge thank you to Yannis from Mykonos, Greece!! Efxaristo, Yannis!

March 9th, 2009-

Today was a very moving day for me. I was very surprised to find out that a friend of mine from high school was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2006 (currently in remission thank god). I have supported him with his fundraisers in the past and have donated to his current fundraiser but I had not been aware of how personal this cause was to him. I am learning that part of this overall experience will be the stories I will hear that will help me to realize how blood cancers touch my life even now, and that, although we do it all the time, we cannot take our current health status and the current health status of those we love for granted. And, I know I can be pushy about it, but that is why I feel it that is so incredibly important for us to do what we can to support societies such as the the LLS.

By the way, thanks to Nadine's incredibly generous donation, I am current over the halfway mark and at $2,220!

March 7th, 2009-

I cycled 42 miles today! And the weather was perfect.

March 6th, 2009-

Only $195 to go and I have officially reached the halfway point of my $4,400 official fundraising goal! Let's make this happen by the end of this weekend- if not sooner! I would also secretly love to more than double my official goal by June and fundraise close to $10,000, if not more. What can I tell you? I have always been an overachiever! So please, please do your part to make that happen! Any amount donated goes a long, long way so whip out that credit card and give, give, give! You will be glad you did. I can absolutely assure you of that.

March 2nd, 2009-

I know I keep repeating myself but, wow, thank you so much. Everybody has been so incredibly generous with their donations and so very supportive; I am incredibly touched.

March 1st, 2009-

I reread my story and am feeling more morose today. I am also realizing that I will likely spend my entire life saying goodbye to Ondina. I just can't help but wish that not only could she have known me as the shy kid that I was when she was alive, but also as the much more expressive adult I turned out to be. So I am realizing that I have also taken on this challenge as a way to continue saying goodbye to my grandmother.

February 28th, 2009-

Today was my first 30 mile bikeride with the Westchester Team in Training group. I surprised myself with the strength of my riding and I could not be happier. The route was also so beautiful. It felt good to be out and it feels good to be alive. And when I got home and checked my site, well, I was floored with the generous donations people have made. I did not expect this at all and I feel very, very lucky.

February 27th, 2009-

It is almost 2 am so I should definitely sleep soon, but, before I do, I wanted to get the chance to send out a special thanks to my anonymous donor today. Thank you so much for your very generous donation. I appreciate it very much.

February 26th, 2009-

This evening I have my first Strength Training for Endurance Athletes clinic. I have no idea what this will be like but I am so excited!

Endurance clinic turned out to be a talk about exercises specifically for endurance athletes. It was an interesting talk and I will make a point of incorporating those exercises into my weekly routine. I am now an endurance athlete- wow, feels good!

Before I sign off for the night, I also want to mention that I am absolutely blown away by everybody's generosity. Thank you so much. I am doing so much better than I could have ever imagined thanks to all of your very generous donations. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Time to hop on that bike for some more training before bed!!

I just finished Chris Carmichael's Trainright Time Trial DVD. Now THAT is one hour of intensity! I am wiped! Well, would we expect any less from Lance Armstrong's coach? Speaking of Lance Armstrong, I recommend reading his autobiography. It is an easy read and very motivating. Considering he is a world-renowned cyclist that was struck with testicular cancer, seems fitting for this website. He is an incredible man.

February 23th, 2009-

My story...

The Passion Behind My Purpose: The Powerful Impact that My Grandmother's Struggle with Cancer Had on My Family and Me

My grandmother, Ondina Belbey, was an incredible woman. She spent most of her life in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she raised my mother as a single parent and became a very successful and published lawyer for the Argentine Ministry of Education.

In her late sixties, my grandmother decided to give away most of her life possessions, uprooting and moving to the United States to be with my parents, my siblings, and me in the United States.

My two sisters, my brother, and I were in awe of this woman who had so much spunk and life! So we were thrilled when we heard she would be coming to the United States!

My grandmother created a beautiful apartment for herself very close to our house and would often invite my sisters and me over for movie night. We would all curl up in her bed, eat grapefruits and kiwis, and watch movies until late into the night.

She also enjoyed working; therefore, she went on to become an English teacher at Greenhaven Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison. Even the convicts adored her, as well as the cookies she sometimes brought them!

So, one summer day, after a wonderful barbeque at my home, my family was shocked to see that my grandmother, the woman with such life, the woman who looked so much younger than her actual age that many mistook her as my mother's sister, collapsed onto the grass in a heap. She had fainted.

My grandmother was rushed to the hospital and soon diagnosed with lymphoma. A blur of hospital visits ensued.

I stood there during one visit staring at the elegant scarf wrapped around my grandmother's head and at her perfectly painted face to shield us from the pain and the destruction that the cancer was causing her, and thought how stunningly beautiful she was. And I also remember the wave of shock and horror that went through my body as I heard her discussing what would be done with her furniture once she died. I knew her chances of survival were 30%. But didn't that mean that she would live?

Soon after being diagnosed my grandmother, my beautiful, kind, spunky, independent, intelligent, and generous grandmother, went from being a person full of life to one lying in a bed, pumped with morphine, and dying.

My mother, my sisters, my father, and even my five-year-old brother, were so strongly affected by this impending loss that we could barely look at each other, barely speak a word about what was transpiring before our eyes.

Finally, soon after the start of the new year, one cold January day, eight months after my grandmother was diagnosed, as we were preparing to welcome our first Hospice visitors, my father came up behind me and gently said, 'She's gone. Ondina is gone.' I then began to hear a rasping cry as I stared in amazement at my father, at the man who I had never seen cry before. And, at that moment, and for years to come, I bled inside, silently, for my grandmother, and for the pain my family was suffering.

So if you ask me 'Why are you doing this, Anabel? What inspired you to take on this incredible challenge as part of the LLS's Team in Training Endurance Event?' I find it easy to give you a response. I am putting my heart into this event in memory of my unforgettable grandmother, Ondina, and because I strongly believe that if we all go beyond ourselves to put energy and time into fundraisers such as this one, that other families will be saved the absolute pain and anguish my family went through when my grandmother was diagnosed with lymphoma, during the months my grandmother was dying, and during the years following her death when my family and I were trying desperately to live without her.

In memory of my grandmother, Ondina, in honor of patients and families currently battling all types of blood cancers, and in hopes that one day soon things will be radically different than they were for my grandmother and my family, please donate as much as you possibly can to support my participation in Team In Training and to help advance Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's mission. After donating, reach beyond yourself to donate just a little more.

Thank you for so much for reading my personal story and for your generosity. Words cannot describe my gratitude.

Sincerely,

Anabel Haley