Day 102- March 11th Left Leg is doing great; Its a go for the race

Alright so I am happy to report that I got the okay to go and do my race in April (half marathon and more of the walking than running). I didn't tell anyone earlier but I was nervous that my PT,Anu, was going to tell me to take more time off. Luckily she said that I was making progress with building my hammy back up. Every time I go back she puts the pressure to my leg and piles on the exercises. Today I felt the burn (Thanks Jenny).  If you are looking for a physical theraptist in the area, Anu at Patriot Sports Medicine is the best  http://www.physiocorp.com/facility/16104/FAIRFAX/VA/Patriot-Sports-Medicine---Fair-Ridge

Hotel reservations are a go, plane tickets are reserved, working my endurance back up to par-a work in progress...many of you know that I am an auntie to a precious a baby named Jayden. Here are some of her latest kodaks:

Her big blue eyes and adorable dimples-my precious niecee

Thank you Aunt B for her pink converses.

She is getting so big!

Day 97- March 6th Friday night pow wows & Saturday morning bagels

In preparation for our training on Saturday, Jenn, Lindsey and myself usually get together on Friday nights to unwind from the busy week and just relax with the company of each other. In all fairness Jenn reminds us that we have to go to bed early and get a great night's sleep. Sometimes its hard to do when you haven't seen your buddies in a while. I do look forward to our Friday night sleepover. For the record we have invited our teammate Robbie over but he hasn't taken us up on our offer.

To start the morning off right, we make sure we get a champion breakfast for me its all about the bagel and banana. For Lindsey and Jenn, they love their waffles with peanut butter. With breakfast down and dressed to the nines in our running gear, we make our way to the site. Its the small things that make training a joy. 

During our training sessions, our team has trained at many places but I have to say that Rock Creek Park in DC is my favorite. The park consists of more than 2,000 acres (twice that of Central Park in NYC) and has trails for bicyclists, runners/walkers, and even horses are allowed. Its hard to believe that this place exists in downtown DC. I failed to mention that many of embassys are located near this park.  If you are in the local area and want to visit this beautiful place, here is the website http://www.nps.gov/rocr/index.htm

Day 96- March 5th Fighting cancer with Calories? Help us out

My mentor Jenn was super pumped about selling doughnuts at the Bethesda Metro on a Friday morning and I was happy to join her. Jenn was nice enough to pick up the doughnuts at o dark thirty in the morning and good ole Robbie and his dad, Pat brought a table and some cash to get us through the morning.  We had a blast just chatting it up about our runs and the crazy world of men and women. I have to say that I haven't had a dull conversation with a TNTer yet. In order to attract customers our way, we had our trusty guy Robbie to do the bellowing for us "Come get your doughnuts. We're fighting leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, melanoma...all the 'omas'. " We definitely got a good laugh hear Robbie whooping and hollering. Thank you Robbie for being our megaphone.

While we were there we got to meet some past TNTers (my shout out to the attractive young man with blond hair) as well as people who have lost loved ones or have battled the terrible disease. As strange as it may sound, it is nice to hear that people are winning their battles against blood cancer but we still have a long way to go. So the next time you see a couple of folks selling doughnuts for LLS, stop by and help fight cancer with calories.

Day 94- March 3rd Smart Peeple eat Chikin

My apologies for not updating the month of March. Today, Jenn, Lindsey and myself held a fundraiser at Chick-fil-A in Chantilly near the Dulles Expo. We are so grateful to the staff at Chick-fil-A for allowing The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to come to their restaurant. We were very fortunate to have met some incredible patrons both young and old while we were there. Thank you to everyone who came to support our efforts (you know who you are).

Me, The Cow, Jenn and Lindsey

A special thank you to Mr. Peter Kim and Rebekah at the Chick-fil-A in Chantilly.

Day 90 February 27 TNT is a team sport

On this Saturday morning I woke up on my own at 6:09am (this is still early for me on a Saturday morning) got the breakfast of champions (a bagel and banana), got dressed and headed up to Reston to the Washington and Old Dominion Trail. My team was running 16 and 20 milers today. I was there for team support- I didn't want them thinking that just because I was injured that I couldn't come to practice with them. I guess that's what makes Team in Training different from other organizations-we are team sport but we have a personal connection to every one on our team, our organization and honored teammates.

I got to training site early and chatted up with the TNTers and coaches. This was another combined training with our DC, VA and walk teams. I have begun to really enjoy these practice sessions because you meet people from all over the metro area and all have a stories of why they got involved with TNT. It's also nice because you can usually find one or two people who go at your pace~ love it. On this morning, I was fortunate enough to walk with a guy named Robbie and two ladies named Jenn (my mentor) and Erica. Jenn and Erica were both on the injured list with me and Robbie was great company to the trio of ladies.

No running was done with this group rather a light jog for me and a brisk walk for them. We had great conversation  everything from the "drive by," to things that make our coaches go crazy and the beautiful complexion of Erica's face. Hey she does have a beautiful face (picture to come to show you what I mean). We also talked about our families(Steve, Erica's son and my neice Jayden) and the possibilities of future races (Watch out folks Jenn is recruiting for the Triathlon in the Fall).

This training session taught me several things: Team In Training is a team sport-Some would argue but you're running. True but you are in presence of so many others that accompany you while running, cheering you on to the water stop or draping you with Mardi Gras beads and feeding you til your heart's contend at the end. You never take another step by yourself in this program. Learning about your teammates and their story is equally as important to the training. I think its what helps the organization keep the mission alive through personal stories from survivors, caregivers, loved ones and friends~We are all in it to finding a cure for blood cancers and improving the life of patients and their families.

Go TEAM!