My 6th grade Earth Sciences teacher, Ms. Beckie Witherington, passed away after a long battle with ovarian cancer.  She was an incredible teacher and taught me how to be a student.  Before her, I had a messy binder for all subjects and never kept it organized.  While I feared her surprise binder checks, becoming an organized student prepared me for life as a middle-schooler.

Shocked by the news, I broke down in tears. I’ve been taught that hatred is a bad feeling, but I cannot help it. I hate it. I hate cancer. I never thought I’d be capable of this feeling. But then again, I never thought so many would be taken away without explanation.

I just want this battle to end.

In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made to the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center in memory of Beckie Witherington. Checks should be made payable to Sylvester and mailed to Sylvester Development Office, P.O. Box 016960 (M-867) Miami, FL 33101. Please designate your gift to Ovarian Cancer on the memo line.

As the cherry blossoms bloomed and the days became longer and warmer, I, with open arms, welcomed the changes brought on by spring.  Although I’m still cold in this weather, for many, spring is the perfect balance between hot and cold.  Eventually, I hope to reach that balance and get accustomed to this cooler climate.  In the meantime, I have beautiful trees to admire, trails to run, and games to go to, all while wearing my Miami Hurricanes hoodie.

It’s been almost a year since I made the life-changing decision and traded my flip-flops and heels for Uggs and running shoes.

For the past few weeks, rather than evaluating the past year through a balanced lens, I’ve been too focused on my Body Intelligence. A few days ago, a Forbes contributor explained the merits of finding a balance between your body IQ, emotional IQ, moral IQ, and your intelligence. Reading the article made me realize, I, like the once bare cherry blossom trees, had to change.

As I’ve gotten older, moving on has become more difficult.  Lately, I’ve been reflecting a lot about my health and all the different health issues I have had and still have.  For the past year, I’ve been taking time to take care of my health.  I’ve missed a couple of doctors’ appointments here and there, but I’ve managed to take care of things.

Most of the time, when someone asks me, “How are you feeling” I feel like I’m lying when I say well.  The rest of the time, I complain about how I feel and then feel guilty.  No matter how much I complain, allergies will continue to plague me.  Complaining will not do Midol’s job and complaints will not be nearly as effective as hormones to help with my PCOS or hypothyroidism. Maybe it’s genetics or maybe it’s just bad luck, but I have to live with this and learn to move on.

I have come to the realization that it’s not bad luck and I don’t really care if it is genetics.  It’s time to move on.  Everything seems to have a solution or a treatment.  Allergy shots should take care of my allergies.  Eating a gluten-free, sugar-free, and yeast-free diet should help my digestive system.  And taking two daily doses of 5000ic Vitamin-D should take care of my Vitamin-D deficiency.

The problem is I complain too much about my physical symptoms and do not focus enough on my emotions.  But as much as I’d like to wake up one day without feeling stuffy or eat donuts and pasta, I need to get over it and stop complaining.  I’m happy.  Seattle is finally growing on me.  I’m surrounded by people that care about me.  I have a loving dog that doesn’t leave my side.  Best of all, I have found my soul mate.

I cannot even imagine what a cancer patient feels, both physically and emotionally.  It sure as hell does not compare to what I feel. My miniscule problems will go away, but cancer will always be uncertain until we find that cure for cancer.

It’s time to change.  I’m redirecting my complaints and using them to fuel my passion for fundraising for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  I whole-heartedly believe that we can find a cure for leukemia and other cancers.  I do not believe being involved in this cause is a waste of time or money.  Every single dollar makes a difference.  Every single phrase of support keeps me going strong.

I have moved from the fall and spring seasons to the summer season, and once again I will be moving back into the fall season, where it all started.  But I cannot go at this alone, I need your help. Your words of encouragement mean the world to me.

As I move into a new season with Team In Training, I’m happy and excited to meet like-minded individuals that sacrifice their free time to find a cure.  To my previous and future teammates, thank you for waking up at ungodly hours to go on a morning run in the rain. Thank you for supporting each-other’s fundraisers. But most of all, thank you for jumping onto this life-changing journey.

Congratulations to Team A Lo Bien for winning the Championships!!

XBOX FIFA 12 Soccer Charity Tournament

Do you think you’re a FIFA 2012 pro? Here’s your chance to show it!

Pick a teammate and show off your skills against pro soccer players.

Win the tournament and score some awesome Sounders memorabilia.

Join your favorite Seattle Sounders players for a Charity XBOX Tournament on Tuesday, April 3rd at the Microsoft Store in Downtown Bellevue at 6:30 pm PT.

The event, benefiting The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, will feature an 8 team XBOX FIFA Soccer 12 Tournament with guest participants from your Seattle Sounders.

Registration is now open at http://xboxfifa.eventbrite.com

Take 5 minutes to read about what I’m doing to help find a cancer cure and find out how you can help with this initiative.

5 Dollars

Take 5 dollars that you would normally spend on coffee and make a tax-deductible donation on my fundraising website: http://bit.ly/doingitagain2

5 Reasons

• One new person is diagnosed with a blood cancer every 5 minutes.
• Two $5 donations provides 2 hours of microscope use to determine if a new medicine will stop a life-threatening lung infection in a bone marrow transplant patient.
• Three $5 donations will cover the cost of sending 3 newly diagnosed patients information about their disease and how to get support
• Four $5 donations pays for a bottle of nutrients that will nourish 10 million leukemia cells grown in the lab for a week, enabling scientists to test whether a new anti-cancer drug halts their growth.
• 5 is the number of years some cancer patients have to stay in remission to be considered cure

5 Friends

Forward this page to 5 friends and encourage them to make a difference.

With this new concept I will be…

Better, Faster, Stronger

This morning I ran my first negative-split in 38 minutes.  Don’t know what a negative-split is? No worries, I didn’t know what it was until this morning.  At first I thought it was something we should never do, especially since it contained the word negative.  After all negativity wont help us find a cancer cure. Little did I know that running negative can have a positive effect. (Yeah, yeah, I had to do that.)

As Coach Shelby explained, a negative-split keeps you from hitting the wall at the end of your run.  The concept is that if you run slower in the first half of your race, your body will be warmed up and it allows your body to conserve precious resources.   This allows you to push yourself a bit harder without much effort. If you’re doing it correctly, you should be able to pick up the pace to finish with speed and strength.

While I’m no expert, I believe I completed my first split today.

I also never thought I would say this, but…. Heyyy, check out my splits.

*CORRECTION* The highlighted stat should be under Average Pace. (Sorry I was out of it when making this nice little excel table... which of course I forgot to save.)

My second half was definitely faster AND I didn’t hit any walls! From looking at the Average Pace stats you can definitely notice that as time progressed my average pace got better and better. WOOHOO!

If I’m patient and keep up with my negative splits, I’ll be able to run a full marathon in no time and continue fundraising for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society so that one day we may find a cancer cure. Little things like this in my training, give me the motivation to push myself even harder.

That same year, my OB-GYN found some abnormalities; he ran a series of exams and eventually ordered a biopsy.  The biopsy revealed precancerous cells, which tend to precede cancerous cells.  The doctor caught this in time, and I was able to remove the cells with cryosurgery.  Had it not been for the health insurance I had through my job, I more than likely would not have been able to afford the diagnosis and treatment.

In May, my doctor scheduled me for a biopsy the following week.  Once again I had abnormalities.

However, I had the peace of mind of having a great insurance that allowed me to seek treatment.  However, there are millions of Americans without health insurance and reports show that these people are most susceptible to death by cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society:

The report shows that people with no health insurance or inadequate health insurance face four main challenges when it comes to cancer:

• They’re less likely to get screened for cancer.
• They’re less likely to get counseled about cancer prevention.
• They’re more likely to get diagnosed late, when their cancer is harder to treat.
• They’re more likely to die from cancer than people with adequate health insurance.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) not only funds blood cancer research, it also provides people with the information and services needed to fight blood cancers.  LLS provides financial assistance to help patients with significant financial need.  With the help of LLS, treatment for blood cancer is not just for the privileged, it is for everyone.  Aside from financial assistance, LLS provides counseling and support for blood cancer patients.  Many of the services LLS provides come free of charge and make a distinct difference in a patient’s life.

Please join me in supporting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society by sponsoring my upcoming half marathon runs with Team in Training.

My goal is to raise over $3,000.00 by the end of March and to train arduously to run 5 half marathons between now and July.

Please help me reach my goals as well as help fund cancer research and patient services by donating to my fundraising efforts.

Grouch-o, this race is for you and your family.  You showed me courage and strength.

Encourage scientists to pursue blood cancer research.

Grants to young scientists. Your money helps grow research talent even as federal research funding becomes increasingly limited.

Develop “targeted therapies” that kill cancer cells selectively.

By hitting specific molecular targets, these treatments don’t harm patients’ healthy cells, resulting in fewer dangerous side effects.

Test immunotherapies.

Immunotherapies strengthen a patient’s own immune system.  This helps a patient fight infections and attack cancer cells, reducing the need for damaging chemotherapy.

Improve the safety of today’s cures.

LLS funds research to predict, manage and prevent complications in patients most at risk for long-term and late effects of treatment.

Help patients and their families make informed decisions.

LLS supplies information and counseling to help guide patients through their cancer journey. LLS also provides access to current treatment and clinical trial options.

Provide financial aid and co-pay assistance.

A cancer diagnosis is hard enough without having to deal with its financial burden. We provide programs to help relieve the economic strain of a blood cancer diagnosis.

Offer community services.

Among the wide array of programs LLS provides are those that link newly diagnosed patients with trained volunteers. This helps young cancer patients return to school after an absence resulting from treatment.

Encourage our state and federal legislators to support blood cancer issues.

With your help, LLS brings to the attention of lawmakers the urgent need for increased government funding and support of research and patient access to affordable treatment and quality care.

Facts from Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Donations are paramount to finding a cure for blood cancers. Your donations will help the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society reach its goal of providing a better quality of life for patients and putting us one step closer in the eradication of this disease.

Please make a 100% tax deductible donation today. Any amount will help LLS. Whether it is $5 or $100, your contribution helps.

http://pages.teamintraining.org/wa/eugene12/ctorob

Saturday Morning I joined the Summer Team as a mentor to kick-off the season!  The Summer Team has over 100 registrants starting their journeys to run in San Diego and even Seattle.

As a mentor, I will be helping my mentees fundraise for their races and I will become their personal cheerleaders.  Fundraising can be quite daunting at first, but it gets to a point where passion for a cure overcomes all obstacles.

As a runner, I know how difficult it can be to stay disciplined during the training. I also know that there are friends, brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers suffering from cancer, and do not even have the opportunity to get up to go for a run.  Staying disciplined for the next couple of months cannot compare to the pain and suffering a cancer patient undergoes.

Completing a race will not eradicate cancer, but for every dollar I can raise along the way, will go towards the mission of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I’m proud to once again be a member of Team In Training and I really look forward to meeting dedicated members that run for a cure.