Thanks to all of my amazing friends, family and co-workers, as of right now I am 90% of the way to my $4,000 personal fundraising goal. Woo hoo! Less than $400 to go! Who can help push me over the edge? If you have been waiting, now is the time, because in 3 days I will be headed to Chicago with these two great team mascots, Power & Strength, and we are going to have an awesome race in support of LLS and Team Haley.   

Thanks all! Kellie

Power & Strength pictured at Abby's 7th Birthday Dinner at Brier Pizza.

I am excited and I am nervous but I am not scared! :) I am just over $800 from my personal fundraising goal of $4000. Please help me reach my goal if you haven't donated, and a continued THANK YOU for those who have already shown their support by donating!

We are less than two weeks away from the Chicago Marathon and I am officially as ready physically as I'm going to get - though I wish I had a little more time... From now forward is about the mental toughness of not letting your mind and body convince you that you can't do any more. 

This past Saturday was the start of our taper period where our longest runs are over and we are recovering our bodies from the greuling miles in final preparation for the 26.2 miles we will be running soon. The two weekends prior that were our longest runs of the season. I ran 19 miles and then 21 miles on back to back weekends, AND I did the longest run after a work trip during the week to Europe. I figure if I can do 21 miles while still jet lagged, I can do 26.2, right? 

Also, other exciting news is that Team Haley reached our goal of raising $100,000. That meas that all of our fundrasing money will go towards Childhood Leukemia with Haley's name linked. This is an amazing accomplishment! 

Below are some recent pictures...

Kellie

Saturday team practice on 9/24 - beautiful run on Sammamish River Trail out of Woodinville.

Team Haley Friends and Family

Abby supporting me by joining me in an Ice Bath after one of my longest runs

I can’t believe that it’s almost September! Time has really flown this season. Just this week I reached my fundraising minimum and I’m less than $1200 away from my personal goal of $4000. That is thanks to all of you who have supported me and donated to LLS!

Yesterday was our longest run of the season so far at 3 hours and 20 minutes. Yikes! Our run this week was on trails off of a beautiful state park called Rattlesnake Lake. As I’m running every week, enjoying the beauty that we get the benefit of in the Northwest, I feel ever so lucky to get to live in such an amazing place.  This next week is a taper week, which means that we go down in mileage and time, so I “only” have to run 2 hours and 40 minutes… The two weeks after that are our longest runs of the season – both in the 20-22 mile range.

Although running these long distances is daunting and painful, I am getting extra motivation from a wonderful 10 year old little girl named Haley, our Honored Teammate this season. Haley was diagnosed with High Risk Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on May 21, 2015 and I have officially joined TEAM HALEY in support of Haley and in finding a cure for childhood Leukemia.

ALL is the most common cancer in children. Many children can be cured with intensive multi-drug treatments, but these can have debilitating side effects. More effective and less toxic therapies are urgently needed for patients of all ages. This is an important and exciting opportunity for us all -- through TEAM HALEY -- to help directly fund research that will benefit Haley and so many others like her who are fighting ALL.

AND, Exciting news . . . As of this week TEAM HALEY surpassed the $75,000 mark!! I’m so incredibly proud to be a part of this team. If we raise the full $100,000, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society will let us put the money directly towards the childhood leukemia research portfolio and Haley’s name will be honorably linked to the portfolio. I imagine Haley as a young adult looking back on this time in her life and thinking how incredible it was to have her community rally behind her in such a significant way. It would be an incredible legacy for Haley to know that her community directly changed the face of childhood leukemia.

Please help be a part of reaching this incredible goal by donating today. I’ll be running the Chicago Marathon in Haley’s honor. Here’s a link to my fundraising page: http://pages.teamintraining.org/wa/chicago16/KLacabanne

I appreciate your support. No amount is too small! Every bit helps us reach our goal!

Wow! We have arrived in July with a bang! In the past two weeks I've had a 10 and then 12 mile run on the subsequent Saturdays along with speed training during the weeknights - something I'm in real need of. These are really the longest distances I've run since 2013!

I feel energized AND very sore but am so thankful to have such great teammates and coaches to help motivate and guide me. During our 12 mile run on Saturday, someone asked me which race I was doing, and after saying Chicago I shrugged and said, "because I can!".  Then I realized just how true that is. I run because I can. Because I am alive to do it and healthy and strong enough to fight for those who cannot. Will you join me in the fight?

I was always going to run "just one" full marathon. As a Hodgkins Lymphoma Cancer survivor I had decided that I needed to have my one and only marathon be with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training, so I completed my first full marathon with Team in Training in 2013 and I raised over $7,000 during that fall season!  (Side note: My story, if you don't know it, is in the next post down.)
 

It turns out that the special kind of torture that is marathon training is something I actually enjoyed...! Or rather, I got a thrill out of completing 15 to 20 mile training runs and realizing that I could indeed still walk, and that, even better, I am here and able to do this because of amazing organizations like the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. So, because Cancer still exists and we are still fighting to find cures and help those struggling with Cancer, I am back for another season with Team in Training. This fall I will be running the Chicago marathon! I also figured that my 40th year would be a good one to celebrate my good health which allows me to continue to run. :)
 

My goal this year is twofold; to raise $4,000 in the next 3.5 months for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and to cross the finish line at the Chicago Marathon on October 9, 2016! With your help, I can do it! Please join me in my fight against Cancer. You can help by donating to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Every dollar counts! 
 

I will post regular progress updates to my fundraising page as well as to Facebook. http://pages.teamintraining.org/wa/chicago16/Klacabanne
 

Thank you for your support, 
 

Kellie Lacabanne, survivor since 1999