Erika Zahnle's Race for a Cause
Saving Lives One Mile at a Time...
10/27/06: I wish to send a heartfelt THANKS to everyone that donated to this wonderful cause. I have raised over $2500. It was not enough for my original $3800 goal, but it makes such a HUGE difference for all the people affected by this disease. So Thank you! I will be running the Rio Grande Marathon this weekend in Las Cruces.
7/31/06: Update on my marathon Training -- Click Here!
6/30/06: Update on my marathon Training -- Click Here!
Greetings!
Thanks for visiting my Team In Training home page!
I, Erika Zahnle, am training for a marathon!
This is not just any marathon mind you, but a marathon where I am participating as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is the world's largest, not-for-profit, volunteer health organization dedicated to finding cures for leukemia, lymphoma and other blood cancers.
All of us on Team In Training, over 30,000 nationwide, are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives.
I am completing this marathon in memory of my dad who died of kidney cancer 10 years ago. He died much too young. My dad was only 65 years old. He was about to go into retirement and enjoy all the things he had been putting off such as golfing and traveling around the world with my mom. He never got to meet his grandchildren, my kids, either. He passed away just 4 months after giving me away at my wedding. There are so many things he did not have the chance to see and do because he lost his battle with this disease.
I am also running in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers and other cancers. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!
My goal is to raise $3,800 by August 15, 2006 for this worthy cause, and I need your help to get me there! Of the funds I generate, 75% will go directly to cancer research, patient and community services, advocacy and education.
I am asking you to please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance the Society's mission. Your generous donation -- of any size -- will make a difference. All donations are 100% tax-deductible.
Just click on the button next to the amount you want to donate on the right-hand side of this page and then click the "Donate" button. Fill out the donation form, click the "submit donation" button, and print the receipt for your records. That's all there is to it.
I hope you'll visit my web site often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress.
I cannot thank you enough for your support!
With Gratitude,
Erika Zahnle
6/30/06: Update on my Marathon Training
Hi All!
First of all, THANK YOU to everyone that has supported me in my effort so far. You guys are awsome!
Now, as for my training efforts -- My marathon training has been going surprisingly well! We are now running up to 9 miles. Last week after my long run, I spent the rest of the day veging out. The marathon training is taking a toll on my body. I have aches and pains in places I didn't think there could be aches and pains! Yet every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday I strap on my running shoes to continue training for the marathon I'm running on October 22nd.
Every week I push myself to go further and/or faster. Just this past Tuesday I ran 3 miles in 33 minutes which equates to an 11 minute mile. This is quite an accomplishment for me! When I first started, I was lucky to be running a 15 minute mile. The first run of my training in May was a 2 mile run that felt like the 26 mile marathon to me! Now it's only the end of June and I'm up to almost 10 miles at one time! Me running 10 miles was a thought completely foreign to me just 6 weeks ago!
The rewards are so great!! Whenever I don't feel like running, or when I feel pain, I just have to think about the real heros, the real reason why I'm doing this -- the people currently battling cancer, those who have battled in the past and won, and those who were not so lucky, the ones who lost their battle. These are the people that inspire me to go further every time I go out there. We need to cross that ultimate finish line and find a cure!
God Bless...
Update: 7/31/06
I am now running up to 14 miles! I ran the 12 miler by myself during our family vacation to Colorado! I did the run at my brother-in-laws neighborhood in Franktown, Colorado just outside of Denver. The first 6 miles were really easy, I felt really good. I thought "Wow, this is starting to get easy" ...then I realized why. The route I chose was a gradual down hill! Now I had to run the next 6 miles back UP the hill! Oh man was this difficult. By around mile 10 my legs felt like rubber and my feet felt like they had burning concrete bricks attached to them! I ended up walking the last 1 - 1 1/2 miles. I hurt everywhere. I finished though, which is my goal. To finish.
The donations have pretty much come to a stop now. I still have a little over $1,200 to go to reach my goal. I will be selling some raffle tickets through Team-in-Training in the next couple of weeks. If you buy raffle tickets (1 for $5 or 10 for $45) you have a chance to win some pretty awsome prizes, such as a pair of round-trip tickets from Southwest Airlines, a $400 gift basket from Dillards, a gift certificate for a dinner for two at the Standard Diner, a gift certificate for a Glider Ride with Sundance Aviation, and lots more cool prizes. If you're interested in buying raffle tickets, let me know per my email: ez@nuro.com. Otherwise, PLEASE, if you have the opportunity, ANY amount will get me that much closer to my goal, will be greatly appreciated, and, of course, will go to an incredibly worthy cause -- helping to save peoples lives!
Thanks to all!
