Racing to Save Lives

Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

I'm training to run the Hampton's Half-Marathon as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop blood cancers from taking more lives.

I am completing this event in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancer, but particularly for my grand niece Melissa Del Rosario who was diagnosed in January 2010 with Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML).

Mel, I will have you in my thoughts during every mile of the race. You and others are the real heroes on this team, and the heroes of the stories I shall one day tell.

And, to my husband whose incredible resilient spirit guides my every step. I love you dearly, and pray for your recovery. You are an extraordinary person, coach and chef extra ordinaire, I do miss deeply your strange international cooking.

It is really hard for me to ask you for a donation, especially this year given the economic crisis, but it's all I can do to fight for a cause that means so much to me and my family. To battle this, we need everyone's support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!

Please make a tax-deductible donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission. A minimum of $5.00 is fine, please do not hesitate. Each donation is one important step closer to a cure.

Sincere thanks to all who have donated thus far, and to all of my family, friends and colleagues., your kind words of support, and silent loving, hugs say it all.

Thanks for your support!

PROGESS REPORT

Zen Mind Beginners Mind

"In the beginner's mind there is no thought, "I have attained something." All self-centered thoughts limit our vast mind. When we have no thought of achievement, no thought of self, we are true beginners. Then we can really learn something. The beginner's mind is the mind of compassion. When our mind is compassionate, it is boundless. Dogen-zenji, the founder of our school (Soto Zen), always emphasized how important it is to resume our boundless original mind. Then we are always true to ourselves, in sympathy with all beings, and can actually practice."

Shunryu Suzuki-roshi (1905 - 1971)

Thank you !

It has been a great journey, and I thank you all for your support. My niece Melissa is doing great. She's just started her senior year at the College of Mount Saint Vincent. Thank you all for your prayers and support.

The Finish Line:

After the race my husband buys me this wonderful sweater. "Warm up, warm up." he says to me. He goes on about the importantce of warming up the body after a race. I am ecstatic that I have finished. 11th mile was the hardest mile. It took everything in my to continue. When I reached the finished line, he and Suki, our dog were waiting. A joy. Feeling blessed and fortunate. Full of gratitude. This is all for such a good cause.

Thanks all for your support, always.

Saturday, October 2, 2010 - The Hamptons Half Marathon

Well, I did it. took a picture of myself in action. Blurry, but ok.

It was pretty crazy in the beginning as there were so many people there. I tried to stay calm as I couldn't find any of my team in training members and then I realize that it was ok, it was ok to race alone. My husband says it is not good to talk to much during a race because you loose energy. So, it was best that I stayed focused. There are people who can run fast so when the bell rang, I couldn't believe the intensity and the energy. I paced myself, drank lots of water along the way, but little bits not gulps. I went to the potty as much as I could staying comfortable along the way, and I had some trail mix to gather some energy. I stretched along the way as well and calmed the thoughts for they are the worse, worse enemies if I let them. I practiced throughout the months my listening to Zen Mind, Beginners Mind by Suzuki and I heard this book on tape in my head again and again, it was great and profound.

I thought of you Mel, at every mile I thought of you. Whenever it got hard and I thought I could not make it, I thought of you and others who are saying every morning, "I can do it" and they get up every morning and they keep on depsite it all.

And Dave, I thought of you and your struggles and your strength gave me the strength to keep on and your love... well what can I say.

And then, I reached the finish line and my husband and Suki were there waiting for me. Then went back to the house and rested. Here's Dave and Suki... a very calm and loving little dog and a vey loving husband.

Friday, October 1, 2010 -The Hamptons

We arrived!

It rained all morning until our arrival at the Hamptoms. Wished more family and friends could have come with us. There were about five bedrooms and a huge living rooms with multiple sofas and a nice pool and amazing garden. An old friend who owns a house in the Hamptons was pretty happy to let us have it for the weekend. I was so taken by the beauty of his garden that I have about forty pictures of that garden and his house.

My husband, David, is the real runner of the house and the Heroe of this story, (besides Mel my niece ), so, when he has a race, he is solemn, morose and antsy, but it is my race and I am soooo different. I'm cool and calm and just happy to be here, but my husband thinks its his race so he's all ready, and he has that post race vibe.

Well, I've done everything my coach has taught me, from practicing on a regular basis to eating the right foods etc. My husband has taught me not to let three days go by without practice and so I didn't let three days go by without practice. I am totally ready. I know what my pace is and if I want to finish before 4 hours, I know exactly what I'll do.

I'm ready.

Last Practice -Millwood

Zen Mind Beginners Mind -

When you do something, you should burn yourself up completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.

Shunryu Suzuki-roshi (1905 - 1971)

Extraordinary Coach - Ferrel & Harriet (missing in the picture)

I want to thank you both for all that you have taught me throughout this period. It was not only about learning how to walk appropriately, but it was also about giving me the opportunity to be this walker runner that I am without feeling that I had to be either or. I appreciated your compassion, your guidance and your amazing creativity. I learned about not only proper alignment, and right sneakers and stretches (definitely stretches - before and after), but also about creative fund raising. Although I was slow in reaching my fundraising goals, I don't think I could have done it with out both of you. You will always be remembered.

TNT members:

Barbara, Martha and I. Well, there are so many others missing with whom I have shared so much with. I thank you all for sharing with me and hearing my stories about hope, loss, sadness, joys. We have spoken about dreams, and the power of dreams, dream interpretation, writing, therapy, the divine matrix, Zen, Buddhism, Psychotherapy, current events, nature, old loves and new loves, pets, children, the power of love and forgiveness, about holding on and letting go, about non attachment and the impermanence of life. It has been a healing experience. Thanks to all.

Saturday, September 25, 2010 - Millwood - 6 miles - Final Last Practice

There is this point when I reach Croton and I am standing there on the bridge and I feel so awed by the beauty of nature. So, here we are raising funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Foundation, but we are also creating community, honoring those we love and cherishing the memories of those who are gone, and in the process this inner transformation is developing as all of this is going on.

I am connected to the beauty of nature and to its changes and this too is a metaphor for my own connection to myself and my own changes. There was a time when two miles was a lot and then four miles was just too much and I couldn't think of doing six miles and 13 miles was just unimaginable and then I reach a place where my body has a memory of three miles and it doesn't mind going to six because three is nothing and then five is nothing and then seven is just a little bit and I just endure more and more until I reach my goal.

It is an endurance practice, a body practice just like meditation, just like Zazen.

This is my practice audio book

Zen Mind Beginners Mind - Shunryu Suzuki-roshi (1905 - 1971)

"In Japan we have the phrase shoshin, which means "beginner's mind." The goal of practice is always to keep our beginner's mind. Suppose you recite the Prajna Paramita Sutra only once. It might be a very good recitation. But what would happen to you if you recited it twice, three times, four times, or more? You might easily lose your original attitude towards it. The same thing will happen in your other Zen practices. For a while you will keep your beginner's mind, but if you continue to practice one, two, three years or more, although you may improve some, you are liable to lose the limitless meaning of.

Saturday, September 18, 2010 - Tarrytown - 8 miles

This morning when I drove down the lake it was so magical. I tried to capture the mist on the lake, but I couldn't. Then later while running along the lake, I started to slow down and just watch how beautiful the lake looked. I loved the reflection.

We did an 8 miles run and after last week, this was a good easy walk along the lake.

Saturday, September 11, 2010 - Tarrytown - 13 mles

The weather was wonderful despite fears of a storm approaching. The team met in Tarrytown to practice a 13 mile run. I was scared. Could I do it?

I tried not to focus so much on the 13 miles, and more on the just being in the process of running and walking. I talked to a team member on and off about life. About death. About Angels and about the Divine Matrix. It was great and the time flew.

Finally, when I arrived and layed down and took a sigh of relief... this was the view. You can see that the leaves are changing colors. There is something so exact and truthful about nature. It keeps its promise. The summer becomes autumn and then it becomes winter and then spring. Just like life. We change as promised.

Well, as you can tell I love trees and water... I love nature. When I was a child I felt so deeply that it was there I could find God in the silence.

Zen Mind - Beginners Mind

Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure. But unfortunately, although it is true, it is difficult for us to accept it. Because we cannot accept the truth of transience, we suffer.

Shunryu Suzuki-roshi (1905 - 1971)

September 8th, 2010, Everything is Illuminated

Preparing for a longer run this week. Wuff...13 miles this coming Saturday. I ran for 3 miles today around my house and it was cool and windy after such a long hot summer. As I ran up to Penny Bridge, I suddenly realized that the world seemed illuminated. I know this photo does not capture the beauty of what I saw, it was as if the trees were glowing in the wind.

Thanks to all of you for your support. Please spread the word.

September 4th, 2010, Tarrytown New York, The Rockefeller Preserve

My husband decides he will be coaching me today. He's excited. First time on the preserve since 2008, and he jogs with me. He who knows the Rockefeller Preserve like the lines on his hands is now coaching me.

We jog and take in the morning air, and it is glorious. The world in the morning is not the same as the one when the world is awake. The earth seems to be breathing with every step I take. I took pictures of the brook near what my husband calls Pocantico Corners. He showed me how to create a route that is the length of what I want to practice. There was a brook with the sweetest sound.

You can probably hear it on my blog as I cannot put video here.

http://annecybaez.blogspot.com/

Feeling blessed. Thanks for all of the support.

August 28th, 2010- 10 Miles, Tarrytown, New York - The Lake

The day was so clear, I was able to go to the lake and take a picture. I still want to go in and touch it. There is such a mystery to nature.

Well, it is amazing how the more you walk and run, the more the body gets used to the routine. Today we went longer, and I was fine as if my body remembered the previous routine. Training prepares you to become stronger, teaches your body to endure more and more and then what was once hard now becomes easy.

At work, someone spoke about running as a "high", and mentioned how runners have an addiction to running because it makes them feel good, but maybe that might be for some people. I like running and walking, but I don't get "high" on it, there is something else that happens to me in nature, this connection with something greater than myself. I become more present. More mindful.

When I don't want to do it, when the doing gets hard I think of Mel. She's has stayed strong even in the most difficult moments. So when I think of her, I get up and put my sneakers and I go out and I do it and when I'm doing it, I do have fun. I do enjoy it. I see the world differently.

August 21, 2010, Tarrytown, New York - The Wishing Tree on Main Street.

Our Team in Training walked and ran down the hills of Tarrytown to the Village. It was a great morning, but too hot. I talked about Dreams and the power of Dreams and about Robert Moss who wrote The Three Only Things: Dreams, Coincidences and the Imagination. One day, I'll blog about dreams some more here as I have taken various workshops with Robert, and I have also taken his Dream Training workshops.

As my running partner and I spoke about dreams, we suddenly spotted a tree on Main Street. I thought they were poems attach to a tree and blowing in the wind. Once I had seen a tree of poems, but then I thought "it might be a dream tree". Dreams and wishes attached to the limbs of the tree.

I got close.

it was a Wish Tree.

I started to read them: "I wish..." and "I wish.." and I stood there and wished.

Coincidentally, as I am googling Robert Moss' website, I happen to find another website called (coincidentally),The Dream Tree. A resource for dreams. I know Robert Moss. He would smile in this way he has, and he would say "Um..." and that would say it all.

Wishing your dreams come true.

July 12, 2010, Sugar Loaf, New York

Picture taken at Sugar Loaf, NY

It is amazing how time passes, and suddenly it is July. I joined Team in Training in May, and began to follow my running schedule soon after that. Today, I finally edited my fund raising page, and began the process of sharing this page with others. I just have to be ready for my friends who will say, "And when do you have time for that?" and my family, "Oh there she goes again, another challenge."

So. Time. Challenges.

We make time for what is important.

I love meaningful challenges.

My husband, who is a coach, began to guide me. He's amazing. Despite his mentorship, we have great mentors at the TNT, and I've met wonderful people who are all committed to this cause. On Saturdays, we meet with our Team, and we run. In the heat, we run.

Our coach will devise a running plan as needed for us, and we follow it. I tend to run walk and that works for me. The mentors are great, always running with us, keeping an eye on our pace and helping us with it. Last Saturday run was in the Rockefeller Preserve, my husband's favorite running place. Wished he was there.

As for me, I struggle during the hot days. Run/walk late when the sun is down and the heat has lessened. In the morning, I walk, a little walk. The mornings are great, the air is still and the world is silent. At night, it seems like the earth is pregnant with the scent of flowers, and the air is different than the light morning air. I noticed things more now that I run regularly. In the past, the world seemed to pass before me, but now, I noticed things, little things I didn't notice before.

Running is like meditation if you are not forcing an outcome. The only thing that stops me from running is going to the hospital, and it seems like I'm in a hospital a lot. The smells and scents of the hospital have become familiar and almost comforting knowing that everyone is working hard to help others live their lives. I've been thinking of running early in the morning instead, but I have to be at work at 8 am. So, that stops that. All in all, I run and sometimes I run/walk more than I run, and that's ok for now.

I will be sending a signed copy of my short story collection, My Daughter's Eyes and Other Stories, to the first few donors. My Daughter’s Eyes and Other Stories (2007), is the winner of the Curbstone Press Marmol Prize for First Latina Fiction, it is a collection of fourteen interrelated stories about young Dominican women living in the Bronx as they deal with the choices they make in their everyday life.

All other contributors will receive one mini art card from my collage collection "Freedom". To see more of my collages visit me at Collage Art.