Bring on the 2012 Bank of America Chicago Marathon! Yes you heard
correct my first ever 26.2 will be in the great city of Chicago, IL on October
7th! I cannot begin to explain my excitement… and skepticism as I am
about to embark on this journey.
Not only do I have to worry about training to run for 4 hours and
30 plus minutes (my goal time), I also have to think about fundraising $3,400 as
I have chosen to run this marathon as a member of The
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team in Training (TNT).
TNT, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the organization, it
is the largest world’s largest voluntary health organization dedicated to
funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services. TNT’s
mission is to help find a cure for leukemia,
lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma while improving the quality of life of
patients and their families.
An estimated 957,902 people in the United States are
living with, or are in remission from, leukemia, Hodgkin lymphoma, non-Hodgkin
lymphoma or myeloma. And another estimated 137,260 people in the United States
will be diagnosed this year. The cause of leukemia remains unknown. However,
the effectiveness of recently developed treatment methods and advances in
research bring us closer every day to finding the cause and probable cure of
leukemia and related cancers.
Like I stated before, my goal is to raise $3,400 for
the leukemia and Lymphoma Society and finish the race along my best friend
Kimiko! 75% of every dollar I raise
will directly support research for a cure and provide financial assistance to
patients and families struggling with the financial burden of treatments.
Please help me achieve my goal by visiting
http://pages.teamintraining.org/vtnt/chicago12/anothermileanothercupcake and generously donating to the fight against blood
cancers. Every bit counts! Oh and BOUNS… donations are tax deductible (tax ID #13-5644916)
Why join Team in Training and not just train on my own?
Fabulous Question! In
March of this year I decided to finally make good on one of my goals that I
have had for a year or so: to run a half marathon (13.1 miles)! It was an idea
that I had been throwing around for a while, so I signed up for That Dam Half
Marathon.
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| Finish Line at That Dam Half Marathon - Cherry Creek Dam |
I trained for it completely on
my own, which worked for me as I usually use running as a way to relieve stress,
but I could have desperately used the support of others who
were enduring the ups and downs that training can bring – injuries, lack of
motivation/discipline, etc. There were a few weeks during my training that I
had no desire to lace up my shoes and hit the pavement. Somehow I managed to
make it through and successfully complete the race (13 minutes under my goal
time!)! But it was not a pretty finish. Around mile 10 my IT band decided it
was done helping me run gracefully. Let’s just say the last 3 miles were a
combination of waddling, walking, and the occasional curse word and at one
point I even considered crawling. But nonetheless I finished!
While I was busy training
for my half marathon my best friend who lives in Georgia (Run Kimi, Run!) was
busy training for her first full marathon! But she went about her journey in a
different way than I did. Instead of training on her own she joined TNT to run
the Publix Georgia Peachtree Marathon. After the conclusion of both of our
races she began to tell me about the great experience she had with TNT,
including the support she received from the coaches, mentors,
captains, and fellow participants both throughout training and during the
marathon. But most of all she highlighted the cause and the mission of TNT (see
above). I immediately knew that it was something that I had to get involved
with.
After listening to her
experience and attending local information sessions I am now a proud member of TNT! Plus I figured I
was going to train for a marathon anyway so I figured I might as well create
some good along the way!
My first Group Training Session (GTS) is this
Saturday… wish me luck!
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