The time has come! In less than 65 hours, I will be putting my conditioning to the test when I run my half marathon for Team in Training. As I read through my last three blog posts, I realize that I never mentioned where I would be running. When I signed up with TNT in September, I had a choice of two locations - Miami and Phoenix. Phoenix was my choice! The marathon I will be competing in is called the P.F.Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Marathon! You can read about it here: http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/arizona
Since there are only 4 of us, including me, from the Kentucky and Southern Indiana chapter of TNT, we have been grouped together with 14 other teammates from Kansas, Indiana, Minnesota and North Carolina. As a result, I am now on a team known as the "National Team". The TNT Coordinator from North Carolina and the TNT Coach from Minnesota will be meeting us in Phoenix and will be our support for the weekend.
I'm happy to report that, as of today, my fundraising total is $3,701!! That's $201 PAST my goal!! Thank you SO much to all of you for making this happen!!
As of today, I've run around 295 miles in preparation for this Sunday. I will run again once I arrive in Phoenix, but it will be a short (around 3 miles) distance.
The Rock 'n' Roll Marathon begins at 7:30 Mountain Standard Time - 9:30 for all of my EST friends. The temperature when I begin will be in the upper 40s, and in the upper 50s when I finish. This is a little warmer than I'm accustomed to, but at least I'm not running the full marathon for which the temperature at the finish will be close to 70. I've been training in the 20s, 30s and 40s.
The main highlight of the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon (and thus why it's called 'Rock 'n' Roll') is live local band music at each mile marker. I can't wait!! Plus, there will be local high school cheerleading teams rooting us on throughout the course. It's my hope that I will be so distracted that I won't even realize I'm running. :) The "World's Greatest Party Band" will be at the Finish Line -- the B-52s!! No kidding!! I'll be dancing to "Love Shack", "Roam" and "Good Stuff" soon after running 13.1 miles!
With all of the excitement in store for me this weekend, I haven't lost sight of why I'm heading to Phoenix this weekend. I'm running in honor of my dad and countless other cancer victims and survivors. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is doing great things for cancer research. Together We Train to Beat Cancer!!
Thank you SO much for your support!
Love to you all - and - Go Team!
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Amost There!
It's hard to believe that my race is only 3 weeks from today!
Thanks to my friends, family and a few fundraisers, I'm now only $93 away from my $3,500 goal!! Since my last blog, two of my friends hosted Premier Jewelry and Pampered Chef parties, after which The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society received a percentage of the sales. In addition, I'm the accompanist for my middle school's chorus, and the director agreed to hold a benefit concert for LLS. Between cash donations, poinsettia and candy bar sales, we raised $464! AMAZING!!
It's humbling to look on my fundraising page and see this:
Thanks to my friends, family and a few fundraisers, I'm now only $93 away from my $3,500 goal!! Since my last blog, two of my friends hosted Premier Jewelry and Pampered Chef parties, after which The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society received a percentage of the sales. In addition, I'm the accompanist for my middle school's chorus, and the director agreed to hold a benefit concert for LLS. Between cash donations, poinsettia and candy bar sales, we raised $464! AMAZING!!
It's humbling to look on my fundraising page and see this:
Of course, I'm still fundraising. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's need is ongoing - and although my $3,500 makes a HUGE difference, LLS would gladly accept donations above and beyond.
As you've read in my previous blog posts, I've been having issues with my knees, particularly my right knee, during my training. At this point, I've run 235 miles, and have to endure a pretty good amount of swelling and pain after each run. Sometimes more than others. So, I finally gave in and visited an orthopedic doctor who ordered an MRI. The MRI results showed that I'm missing a "chunk" of cartilage behind my kneecap. Since I don't recall an injury of any kind to my knee, the doctor thinks I must have been born without it. This makes a lot of sense because I've had knee pain all of my life and now that pain has been aggravated by the increased activity. At this point, I'm weighing my options, but I won't take any action until after my January 15th race. My options are 1) to do nothing 2) to have surgery. If I decide to do nothing, the doctor suggested I find an exercise other than running. So...surgery is a pretty viable option.
While this Team in Training voyage has been challenging, it has also been a BLAST! At the beginning of December, a few of my teammates and I ran the Reindeer Ramble 5K at Keeneland (the horse racing venue I mentioned in my last blog). Our theme was "White-Out Blood Cancer". We covered ourselves in "snow" and carried snow related items. I hope to never run a 3.1 mile race carrying a snow shovel ever again. :-)
Thanks again to all of my friends and supporters. This journey has been more worthwhile because of you!
If you know anyone who has been affected by Leukemia, Lymphoma or another form of cancer, please feel free to share my journey with them.
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Keep reading!! The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is doing great things!
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society will Help Support Curis Drug Candidate
By Chris Reidy
Curis Inc., a Lexington drug company focused on cancer, said it could receive up to $4 million from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to support the development of a treatment for patients with B-cell lymphoma and multiple myeloma. Curis has designated the potential treatment as a drug candidate called CUDC-907. Under the agreement, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society will fund about 50 percent of the direct costs of the development of CUDC-907, up to $4 million, Curis said in a press release. According to the society’s web page, lymphoma is the name for a group of blood cancers that develop in the lymphatic system. In 2010, about 628,415 people were living with lymphoma or were in remission.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
6 Weeks To Go!
Wow, what a journey I've had with The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training so far!
Since my last blog post, I've raised an additional $967.78 and I've run an additional 50 miles!
As of today:
Amount raised: $2,417.78
Total distance run: 162 miles
Thank you so much to everyone who has supported my efforts up to this point, either through donations and/or words of encouragement.
I'm still having a lot of trouble with my right knee. It has stopped hurting while I run, but, especially after my long runs, it swells and becomes painful and tight. I've been to physical therapy and am trying some exercises - along with my ice and ibuprofen regimen. Friends have encouraged me to have an MRI, but I'm afraid that I will be told not to run...and that's NOT an option. Stubbornness comes from both sides of my family. :-)
To date, my longest run has been 10.23 miles! It's hard to believe that I've gone from 0 to 10.23 miles in a little over 10 weeks. Only 6 more weeks and I'll be running 13.1 miles!
My run with the best scenery was just last week, on Thanksgiving Day, at Keeneland here in Lexington. While we didn't run on the race track during the "Thoroughbred Classic 5K", we ran on the grounds what has to be one of the most beautiful horse racing venues in the country.
The Orange Leaf fundraiser was a success - earning over $67 for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. That's over $271 of yogurt consumed - 553 ounces (if I'm doing the math correctly)! Quite a few of my friends were thankful that I gave them a reason to eat yummy frozen yogurt - for a good cause. :-)
My current fundraiser is a Pampered Chef online/catalog party, of which 15% of the sales goes to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. You can visit the online store here:
http://www.pamperedchef.biz/juliepetroze?page=host-search-results&showId=3419071
The last day to order is December 18th, with products guaranteed to be delivered by Christmas. Please visit the site and consider ordering Pampered Chef items for friends and/or family.
Thanks again to all of my friends and supporters. This journey has been more worthwhile because of you!
If you know anyone who has been affected by Leukemia, Lymphoma or another form of cancer, please feel free to share my journey with them.
http://pages.teamintraining.org/ky/pfchanges12/GoJulieG
GO TEAM!!
Since my last blog post, I've raised an additional $967.78 and I've run an additional 50 miles!
As of today:
Amount raised: $2,417.78
Total distance run: 162 miles
Thank you so much to everyone who has supported my efforts up to this point, either through donations and/or words of encouragement.
I'm still having a lot of trouble with my right knee. It has stopped hurting while I run, but, especially after my long runs, it swells and becomes painful and tight. I've been to physical therapy and am trying some exercises - along with my ice and ibuprofen regimen. Friends have encouraged me to have an MRI, but I'm afraid that I will be told not to run...and that's NOT an option. Stubbornness comes from both sides of my family. :-)
To date, my longest run has been 10.23 miles! It's hard to believe that I've gone from 0 to 10.23 miles in a little over 10 weeks. Only 6 more weeks and I'll be running 13.1 miles!
My run with the best scenery was just last week, on Thanksgiving Day, at Keeneland here in Lexington. While we didn't run on the race track during the "Thoroughbred Classic 5K", we ran on the grounds what has to be one of the most beautiful horse racing venues in the country.
The Orange Leaf fundraiser was a success - earning over $67 for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. That's over $271 of yogurt consumed - 553 ounces (if I'm doing the math correctly)! Quite a few of my friends were thankful that I gave them a reason to eat yummy frozen yogurt - for a good cause. :-)
My current fundraiser is a Pampered Chef online/catalog party, of which 15% of the sales goes to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. You can visit the online store here:
http://www.pamperedchef.biz/juliepetroze?page=host-search-results&showId=3419071
The last day to order is December 18th, with products guaranteed to be delivered by Christmas. Please visit the site and consider ordering Pampered Chef items for friends and/or family.
Thanks again to all of my friends and supporters. This journey has been more worthwhile because of you!
If you know anyone who has been affected by Leukemia, Lymphoma or another form of cancer, please feel free to share my journey with them.
http://pages.teamintraining.org/ky/pfchanges12/GoJulieG
GO TEAM!!
--------------------------
Keeping reading!! The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is doing great things!
Below is an example of a drug that has been FDA-approved because of research funded by LLS, but has been picked up for clinical trials to treat patients with many other cancers.
Thanks to LLS research funding, immunomodulatory (IMiD) drugs are helping many blood cancer patients.
Thalidomid® is FDA-approved for newly diagnosed myeloma patients and Revlimid® is approved for myeloma patients who have undergone at least one prior treatment.
LLS-funded investigators continue developing these drugs for patients with myeloma, MDS, CLL, Hodgkin lymphoma and NHL, acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myeloproliferative disorders.
Thalidomid and Revlimid are helping other patients too.
Other clinical trials are ongoing for patients with AIDS-related Kaposi sarcoma, and for patients with liver, kidney, ovarian, prostate, pancreatic and colorectal cancers.
In addition:
Two-Drug Combo May Help Hard-to-Treat Leukemia
A combination of two drugs -- the chemotherapy drug Fludara and the biologic drug Campath -- may allow people with hard-to-treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) to live longer.
A combination of two drugs -- the chemotherapy drug Fludara and the biologic drug Campath -- may allow people with hard-to-treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) to live longer.
Ruxolitinib
On November 16, 2011, the U. S. Food and Drug Administration approved ruxolitinib (Jakafi oral tablets, Incyte Corporation) for the treatment of intermediate and high risk myelofibrosis, including primary myelofibrosis, post-polycythemia vera myelofibrosis and post-essential thrombocythemia myelofibrosis. Results of two randomized controlled trials in patients with intermediate or high risk myelofibrosis comparing ruxolitinib to placebo (Study 1) or to best available therapy (Study 2) were the basis of approval.
On November 16, 2011, the U. S. Food and Drug Administration approved ruxolitinib (Jakafi oral tablets, Incyte Corporation) for the treatment of intermediate and high risk myelofibrosis, including primary myelofibrosis, post-polycythemia vera myelofibrosis and post-essential thrombocythemia myelofibrosis. Results of two randomized controlled trials in patients with intermediate or high risk myelofibrosis comparing ruxolitinib to placebo (Study 1) or to best available therapy (Study 2) were the basis of approval.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Great Beginnings
When I signed on the dotted line on September 19th to commit the next 4 months to fundraising for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and training with Team in Training, I had no idea what was in store for me. While I was a little scared and overwhelmed (we're talking $3,500 and 13.1 miles!), I was also very excited and eager to begin this challenge -- knowing that if my dad were still alive, he would have been my biggest cheerleader.
Almost 2 months into my training and fundraising, I'm happy to announce that I've raised $1,450 and I've run nearly 112 miles! Thank you to all of my supporters! The money you have donated is going directly to fund research dedicated to finding the cure for blood cancers, and to developing drugs that also benefit other types of cancer. It's so exciting to see the work LLS is doing!
My initial fundraising effort included sending 100 letters to family and friends, and it has yielded great results. It has been amazing to me the amount of support I've received, not only in the donations, but also in the words of encouragement. What seemed to be an overwhelming task at first now seems easier and more attainable with the support I've been given.
As far as training, my longest run so far has been 8 miles.
2 months ago I never would have believed that I would already be running that distance! Other than falling in a local park...while running...in the dark...in the rain...by stepping on a tree nut that I didn't see on the trail, I've truly enjoyed every step I've taken. My knees are giving me a little trouble, but hopefully a little physical therapy and a lot of ibuprofen will get me through the pain. A few of the morning runs have been pretty chilly (lower 30s), but that just means I get to go to Dick's to buy new winter weather running clothes!
My coach and my teammates have been amazing. While I'm the sole participant with Lexington's chapter of Team in Training (TNT) this winter season, I rarely run alone, accompanied by TNT alumni and/or my coach. They are helping to make this experience both enjoyable and rewarding.
If you know anyone who has been affected by Leukemia, Lymphoma or another form of cancer, please feel free to share my journey with them.
Almost 2 months into my training and fundraising, I'm happy to announce that I've raised $1,450 and I've run nearly 112 miles! Thank you to all of my supporters! The money you have donated is going directly to fund research dedicated to finding the cure for blood cancers, and to developing drugs that also benefit other types of cancer. It's so exciting to see the work LLS is doing!
My initial fundraising effort included sending 100 letters to family and friends, and it has yielded great results. It has been amazing to me the amount of support I've received, not only in the donations, but also in the words of encouragement. What seemed to be an overwhelming task at first now seems easier and more attainable with the support I've been given.
I'm excited about my next fundraising venture! Orange Leaf, which is a local self-serve frozen yogurt place, has given me an entire day dedicated to fundraising for LLS. Anyone who takes a flyer to the Orange Leaf on W. Tiverton (by The Lexington Athletic Club) and purchases frozen yogurt will be donating 25% of their total purchase to LLS. This amount will also count toward the $3,500 I've committed to raise. This fundraiser takes place this coming Monday, November 14th, and lasts ALL DAY.
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| If you would like to participate in the Orange Leaf fundraiser, you can print this image or show it to the cashier from your smart phone! |
As far as training, my longest run so far has been 8 miles.
2 months ago I never would have believed that I would already be running that distance! Other than falling in a local park...while running...in the dark...in the rain...by stepping on a tree nut that I didn't see on the trail, I've truly enjoyed every step I've taken. My knees are giving me a little trouble, but hopefully a little physical therapy and a lot of ibuprofen will get me through the pain. A few of the morning runs have been pretty chilly (lower 30s), but that just means I get to go to Dick's to buy new winter weather running clothes!
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| After running a 5K, my first race ever! |
If you know anyone who has been affected by Leukemia, Lymphoma or another form of cancer, please feel free to share my journey with them.
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