13.1 Miles for Mickey
Racing to Save Lives
Dear Friend of Mickey,
On Saturday, May 5, I will be walking in the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon in Indianapolis. This is my first endurance event and I am participating in honor of my daughter, Mickey, and in memory of Donovan.
Mickey was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) on December 7, 2004 at the age of 7. She has undergone over 2 years of chemotherapy with numerous blood and platelet transfusions, spinal taps and a few bone marrow aspirations. She will finish her treatment on February 1 of this year. She will continue to have regular blood checks to make sure she is still in remission for the next several years. Mickey is a fun loving 9-year-old now. She loves all things Princess and pink, but is partial to Cinderella. When she grows up she wants to be a dolphin trainer and looks up to the dolphin trainers we have met at the Indianapolis Zoo. With her grit and determination, we have no doubt she will achieve whatever she sets her mind to.
Donovan was born on December 9, 2004, just two days after Mickey’s diagnosis. He was diagnosed with Infant ALL when he was just over a month old. Donovan fought leukemia his whole life, suffering several relapses and undergoing two stem cell transplants. Unfortunately Donovan lost his battle with this disease on January 20, 2007, almost 2 years to the day from his original diagnosis.
It is estimated that every 5 minutes, someone is diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease or myeloma. Every 10 minutes someone dies from a blood cancer. Now, on the threshold of a new era, the hope is that with accelerated funding for research, all blood cancers will be CURABLE by the next century. Not only does The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society use the funds raised for research, they also help patients who are currently undergoing treatment. Personally our family received financial assistance in the form of reimbursement for chemo prescriptions and travel expenses. That alone was a major blessing during the past 2 years.
So, you ask yourself, why is Jenny putting herself through a 13.1-mile walk? I have 3 reasons:
1. I want to raise money for my Honored Hero, who happens to be my personal hero, Mickey, and all of her friends who are fighting leukemia.
2. I want to raise money for leukemia research.
3. I get to walk a lap around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway!
Now, here’s where you come in. Would you please consider sponsoring my walk? My goal is to raise $2500. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation of $25, $50, $75 or whatever you can give to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. With your support and generosity, we can help the LLS continue to make strides in fulfilling its mission: a CURE for blood cancers.
************************************************Feb. 5 - Training officially started today. I feel like I'm really on the way to getting in better shape and ready to walk 13.1 miles!
************************************************Feb. 15 - After being snowed in for two days I'll be getting back into the gym tonight. I did go for a mile-long walk last night over ice and snow drifts. It sure felt like longer than a mile!
************************************************Feb. 17 - Webster defines insanity as "a deranged state of the mind usually occurring as a specific disorder". Jenny defines insanity as "joining a group of people and going for a 4 mile hilly walk on snow covered roads with snow falling the whole time." Yep, I did my first group training today. We had a good time even though it snowed the whole time. I am sore, but feel so good about doing the walk! Yea me!
*************************************************Feb. 24 - Wow! Today was the Polar Bear Run/Walk, my first organized race. It was incredible! I averaged just under 15-minute miles. It was great fun to be walking with all these other people. I look forward to my next race in March.
************************************************March 3 - today we did our group training walk at Eagle Creek in snow flurries. We did 5 miles in 1 hour 15 minutes! That's pretty good for snow, ice, and hills. I'm at 93% of my goal for fundraising! Just a little more to meet the goal!
*************************************************March 22 - I just realized I'm behind in updating about training. Two weeks ago training was great! I did 5 miles in just over an hour! Last week training didn't happen for me as I was getting over the flu and had very little energy and a killer cough. Hopefully I'll be able to do the 8 miles I'm scheduled for on Saturday!
****************************************************************April 10 - Well, I slacked off again on training updates. But I can honestly say I have not slacked off on the actual training. Aside from the week I was sick, I have put in at least the number of miles suggested in our training program. Two weeks ago we walked 15K (9 miles) at Eagle Creek. We started out in rain, walked most of it in sunshine and then barely made it to the van before the heavens opened again. Last week I did a 5K race with Michael. We placed 9th and 10th for walkers! We were very excited about that. This Saturday is a 15K training series race. It will be the biggest race for me so far both in length and in number of participants. I'm scared! Then only 3 more weeks till the Mini!!
****************************************************************May 2 - Here we are only days away from the Mini. I can't believe it's almost here. Training has been going great. I did a 15K race a couple of weeks ago. It was a good indicator of how the Mini will go. Except the Mini will have about 30,000 more people involved!! Please check back next week for my final entry. I will have the official total for my fund raising by then. Plus I'll share a little bit about what it was like to walk 13.1 miles for my hero, my daughter.
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