Go Lauren!
Running to Save Lives
Lauren’s Team in Training Website
I did it! Many thanks to everyone who donated - you all are the best! I crossed the finish line with a chip time of 4:02:55. I also want to thank everyone with the Team in Training program for all their hard work. I could not have accomplished this goal without them!
If you still want to donate, it is not too late. Every bit helps in the fight to cure blood cancers!
I am training to run The Rock N Roll Marathon in San Diego, CA on June 4th 2006, as a member of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training. The goal of the Team in Training program is to raise funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives.
Personal Honored Teammates
There are several reasons why I decided to take on this challenge. The first is the physical challenge of running 26.2 miles. The second and more important reason is to raise $4,000 to fight blood cancers. I am running and raising funds in memory of my grandfather, who had leukemia, and in honor of my Mom, who is a survivor of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
LLS Honored Teammates
While participants can choose to run in honor of a personal “honored teammate(s),” the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society also selects several local people whose lives have been affected by blood cancer to join us as “Honored Teammates.” The 2006 Summer Marathon Honored Teammates are Marissa Hull and Bryce Anderson.
Marissa is 17 years old and a junior in high school. When Marissa was 7 she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic lymphoma and went through two and a half years of chemotherapy. This past year, Marissa had her “seven years off treatment” check-up and ran the Rock N Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach with Team in Training. Marissa is very involved with our training, getting up early almost every Saturday to cheer us on and man a water station during our training runs.
Bryce Anderson is two years old and was diagnosed with leukemia in November 2004. Bryce’s leukemia is currently in remission, but unfortunately he has suffered many life-threatening transplant-related complications. I have not had the opportunity to meet Bryce as he is currently in the intensive care unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Sad News: After a brave and tenacious 17-month battle with leukemia and bone marrow transplant complications, 2-year old Bryce Michael Anderson passed peacefully in the early morning of April 10.
Support
Please make a donation to support my participation in Team in Training and help advance the Society’s mission.
If you are interested in making a corporate contribution or if your company participates in a matching gift program, please let me know. Special recognition is given to organizations that give $500 or more through the TNT program!
If would rather send a check than donate online, please make the check payable to: The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and contact me at the email address below for my mailing address.
I plan to update this site often so be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Please contact me if you have any questions!
Thank you for your support!
Lauren
LCLobrano@verizon.net
Fundraising Events!
My fundraisers went really well, I raised $700.00 toward my fundraising goal!
April 6th:
I will be selling Krispy Kreme donuts at the Rosslyn Metro Stop on the morning of April 6th. Feel free to stop by to grab a dozen and support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Update:The Krispy Kreme sale went well! Jill and I sold 100 dozen donuts in three and a half hours. People were very generous and several stopped to share their personal experiences with leukemia and lymphoma. I am proud to say that I did not eat one donut, which is unfortunate because it will be a long time before I want to see another Krispy Kreme donut again!
April 11th:
Baja Fresh in Dupont Circle will donate 15% of the cost of your meal when you present my flyer to the cashier when you place your order. Please contact me for a copy of the flyer.
April 13th:
Please join two of my teammates, Sarah and Jill, when we host a fundraiser happy hour upstairs at The Big Hunt in Dupont Circle! The fun begins at 5:30 and we are asking for a $10 donation. All of the money from the cover charge goes directly toward our fundraising goal -The Big Hunt has let us have the space at no charge! For those that are not familiar, the Big Hunt has some fantastic happy hour specials, including $1 off ALL drinks; $3 rail drinks and $2.50 Bud House Drafts.
The Happy Hour fundraiser at the Big Hunt was a good time and we were able to give away some fantastic gifts. Many thanks to the following organizations which donated gifts for the raffle: Kavanaugh’s Pizza, SomaFit Spa, Tom Treacy and Sam Adams Beer, and Austin Grill. I also want to thank M. Todd Fowler, my “liaison” to the Big Hunt and party promoter extraordinaire.
During the happy hour I had an opportunity to meet Tim, who is currently undergoing treatment for lymphoma. Please check out Tim’s blog (www.timphoma.org) about his experience with lymphoma. I plan to dedicate one of the 26.2 miles that I will run in San Diego to Tim and his family.
Training Updates!
February 25th:
Today was really the beginning of the long training runs. Although this is my first endurance event, I am currently training at the “experienced marathoner” level, which meant an 8 mile run this morning. I am not sure if I will stick with this schedule for the entire training period, but for the past year I have been running between 20-30 miles/week, including longer runs in the 10-mile range so I am able to keep up with the mileage at this point. However, the #1 problem for most endurance athletes is over-training so I may drop back to the regular marathon training level if my body really starts to complain. Thanks for checking in and I will let you know how the 10 miles go next week!
March 4th:
This morning I completed a 10-mile training run in Vienna, VA, brining the total miles for the week to 28 (5/Tuesday, 7/Wednesday, 6/Thursday). The mileage wasn’t too difficult, but the cold weather and strong winds made the run a little more challenging. The weather called for a high of 50°F today, however when we started out at 7:30 am it was 27°F with a wind chill of 19°F!
Training started early this week so we could attend our Honored Teammate Picnic. The picnic is an opportunity for participants to spend some time getting to know the people that our fundraising directly impacts. The marathon groups have two honored teammates: Bryce Anderson and Marissa Hull. I have posted more about these two special people above.
The only other exciting news is a got a new pair of Brooks Adrenaline running shoes. For the past five years I have worn Adidas Supernova Control, but the nice people at Potomac River Running Company analyzed my running gait and suggested this new brand.
March 11th:
I was in Jacksonville, FL for work last week and stayed through the weekend to visit family. This meant that I was on my own for the 12 mile Saturday run so I mapped out a course before I left DC. Although my pace was much slower than usual (finished in 1:53), I view this run as a valuable training experience because the weather was similar to what I can expect in San Diego (overcast and 82°F) and I was running in the street and on sidewalks, not on trails (the marathon course in on pavement).
March 19th:
The long “Saturday” run was on Sunday this week: 14 miles in 2:07. I don’t have as many aches and pains as I did last week, but if you are looking for a good investment, I suggest stock in Ace bandages and Ace reusable ice packs.
March 25th:
This week’s 16-mile run was along the Mt. Vernon trail, which follows the Potomac River from DC to Mt. Vernon. The experienced group started near Belle Haven, ran 8 miles to Mt. Vernon and then headed back to the starting point. The trail is very pretty and includes some minor rolling hills (although the last mile on the trail, between miles 7 and 8 for us, seemed massive - think Mt. Everest steep…then we got to run back down it on to start our return trip!). I finished in 2:34.
April 1st:
I am not sure if it was an April Fool's trick, but our weekly run ended up being closer to 13 miles, not the 12 that we thought. I did not figure this out until after I finished (that is what I get for not paying attention to the mile-markers), and was a little surprised that it took me 2:02 to run 12 miles. I felt a bit better when I realized that we actually ran 13 miles.
The Cherry Blossoms are in full bloom in DC and the Cherry Blossom 10-miler is this weekend. Many of the regulars from our group participated in the 10-miler so we had a smaller (but quality) group. The weather was great, a few sprinkles during the first few miles, but sunny and warm at the end of the run. It felt great to be in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt! Wish me luck – next week is an 18-miler....
April 8th:
Eighteen Miles. Cold Rain.
This week brought the start of a new meeting time: 7:00 am; a new trail: Reston; and new distance: 18 miles. The trail was fairly flat, with the exception of some highway overpass ramps, but very challenging because of the rain and distance. This combination made the experience so ridiculous that all I could do was laugh and get it behind me. Time: 2:51.
April 15th:
With Easter on Sunday we had an “On Your Own” run this week and luckily it was short: 10 miles. (I am honestly a bit worried that in my mind 10 miles is no longer a “long” run.) Although the team did not officially get together, about five of us met at Fletcher’s Boat House at 6:45 am so we could run together. Unfortunately, my pace was somewhere in the middle so I ended up doing almost the entire 91 minute run by myself. The weather was nice, cloudy at the start, sunny at the finish.
April 22nd:
Another 18 miles in the rain, which would not have been so bad but the weather forecast called for a possible thunderstorm. This meant that instead of running farther out in either direction from our starting point, we had to stay within about two miles of our starting point. So we did several “back and forths” (two miles out, two miles in)…for 18 miles! The only other bad part about today is that I couldn’t find anyone to run with. The lead pack is a little bit too fast, but the next group was a little too slow so I was on my own. I did get to see a lot of everyone during our loops, but it is still nice to have someone to talk to…for the 2:45 it took me to finish. (which is 6 minutes faster than the last 18 miler!)
April 29th:
Today we ran 14 miles along the George Washington Parkway. We started near the Memorial Bridge, followed the path down past the airport, into Old Town Alexandria and back up to the Memorial Bridge again. This is the first time that I have followed the path into Old Town and it is a great route. Very pretty along the water, lots of people around, and the weather was chilly when we started but warmed up quickly. It was a very hard run for me, I never really found my stride and had to really concentrate on finishing, but I did in 2:07.
On Saturday afternoon, the summer TNT marathon team provided a warm meal to the families of children hospitalized at Georgetown Hospital. Laura Hull, the mother of one of our honored teammates, organizes this meal delivery often and I was able to go along for the delivery. For those wondering - no I didn't cook anything for the families! I just provided the standard silverware and cups (these families have enough to worry about without adding food poisining to the mix!).
