Haley Carter's Team In Training Page
A Mile At a Time for a Cure
I'm so glad you're here -- WELCOME!
23 June 2008
It's been nearly a month since I stood in Pen 7 at the Edinburgh Marathon starting area, along with many of my Silicon Valley/Monterey Bay team mates. We were all optimistic, enjoying pre-race banter and people-watching. There was no thought that perhaps not all of us would finish, which is as it should be. Pre-race optimism is a well-earned perk!
I won't go into the race details, especially those around the frustrations of being closely followed by the course police and the sag wagon. Instead, I continue to be proud of those 16 miles that I did finish, despite the 25 mph headwinds that began about mile 3. Every time someone saw my TNT purple shirt, or shouted "Well done!", I knew my purpose was fulfilled.
One of the best aspects of being part of Team In Training is that the goals I had set for myself made it possible to find the upside in all that I experienced. After all, I had committed to the following:
1) Raise awareness and support for finding a cure for blood cancers -- WHICH I DID!
2) Raise at least $5,000 for LLS -- WHICH I DID! In fact, I've raised nearly $6,000.
3) Embrace the team experience, and attend all track and training sessions -- WHICH I DID! Thanks to the wonderful team support from coaches, captains, mentors and team mates, I had such a great time with TNT that I have volunteered as a co-web captain for the Summer '08 SC walk team.
4) Improve my technique and skills by doing whatever the coaches advised -- WHICH I DID! In fact, I was able to shave a full minute off my timed mile, and I know I'll just keep getting better and faster with every week that I practice and train.
I have nothing but good thoughts about my experience in Scotland, and am eager to continue sharing what I've learned, and learning from those around me. There is no doubt in my mind that LIFE IS GOOD!
Go Team!
Haley
If you're here on this page, then you already know that I'm raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). I hope you'll join me on the adventure of training for the Edinburgh Marathon, which is 25 May 2008.
My goals are simple:
-- Raise at least $5,000 in charitable contributions. Thanks to many generous friends and colleagues, I've exceeded my goal. Let's see how far past the goal we can go!
-- Raise awareness (including my own) about the progress toward curing leukemia and other blood cancers
-- Have fun while training with Team in Training (TNT) for the Edinburgh Marathon
In 1998, I did the inaugural San Diego Rock & Roll Marathon with TNT. The money I helped raise then funded research that resulted in a life-saving drug called Gleevec. One of my teammates, Greg, is also an Honoree this season, and he attributes his survival to Gleevec.
The mission of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Your contributions are 100% tax deductible, and make such a difference to many. Seventy-five cents of every dollar goes directly toward patient care and research.
One of the updates I received from our team captain was very exciting to me, as she described one of the research projects funded by LLS near where I live:
THE SOCIETY AT WORK (or where does my money go?): Last year, Stanford University researchers won a $6.25 million grant from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The money will be spent to create a special research center for interdisciplinary work on a possible lymphoma vaccine. Researchers on the project come from the university's departments of medicine, oncology, molecular pharmacology, health research and policy, chemical engineering and from the Stanford Genome Center. The Society made the grant as part of its Specialized Center of Research (SCOR) program. Ronald Levy, M.D., a Stanford medical professor and chief of the university's oncology division, will oversee the program. He developed the lymphoma drug Rituxan for Genentech Inc. Researchers in the program will try to create a vaccine that is tailored to each patient's specific lymphoma. Such a vaccine -- the Holy Grail of cancer research – would attack a patient's cancer cells without hurting the immune system the way traditional chemotherapy does.
And if you don't have $6.25 million to contribute at the moment, consider the following:
$150 allows 5 patients to make a First Connection with a trained peer volunteer.
$75 is the average cost of tissue typing to become a bone marrow donor.
$35 pays for transportation expenses for a patient living in Northern California's most rural areas to treatment at a comprehensive cancer center.
With just four weeks to go before Edinburgh, I still have plenty of training to help prepare for the big day. Keep me in mind on Saturday, May 10th, when I complete my "dress rehearsal" -- that is a 22-mile trail that will be my last formal training event before May 25th. With every passing week, I am closer to my goal of finishing 26.2 miles within 6.5 hours. And with your help, my team is that much closer to the research and patient care goals that are so beneficial to so many.
Thanks for stopping by and supporting LLS in whatever way you can. Please make a contribution while you're here, and check back every now and then for updates on my progress.
Go Team!
Haley
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If you'd like to read on, following are a couple of my TNT journal entries.
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March 14, 2008
A LOVE AFFAIR WITH THE STAIRS
I don't have much time to write, but before the feeling leaves me completely, I want to say that I surprised myself at track last night. Before we'd even started, Nick and I walked up the stairs from the lower to upper level at "Blue Balls" park, and I thought to myself, "Man, I hope we don't have anything to do with these stairs during track."
Ha!
Last night's track was nothing but stairs and hills, either up or down. And when I say I surprised myself, it's because I managed to keep up. I kicked butt! I can't remember the last time I zipped up or down stairs with a spring in my step, before last night.
I'm grinning. I'm happy. Here's another something I didn't think I could do, but instead, did with some amount of grace.
GO TEAM!
Haley
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March 7, 2008
A MATTER OF TRUST
Seven years ago, in the fall of 2001, I suffered a knee injury that changed my life. I know that sounds dramatic, and from my perspective, it truly was.
In those days, my social life was volleyball -- sand doubles, hardcourt co-ed, grass three-man... I lived at my club and enjoyed a number of weekend tournaments throughout the various seasons. I had made many good friends, and improved my skills as a setter and defenseman enough to consider being rated as a 'B' player (with my heart set on being an 'A' player in the foreseeable future).
But all that changed with a fateful night practicing on a slippery high school gym floor. The damage was extreme and painful -- completely severed ACL and MCL (ligaments) and a torn meniscus that was jammed into the knee joint. After surgery to repair the damage (yes, Virginia, they *do* use dead men's ligaments), I spent one month on bedrest, two months off work and learning how to walk again, and six months to get back to feeling somewhat normal. My orthopod (Dr. Fred Collins -- he rocks!) was emphatic that I do nothing requiring planting and turning on my feet for the rest of my life - no skiing, no soccer (okay with me)... No volleyball... I was devastated.
Fast forward seven years, and I still have a sense that I haven't fully recovered. Any side-to-side movements make me uneasy, as I can feel the play of muscle, bone and ligament in that left knee.
But why, you wonder, have I titled this post "A Matter of Trust"? For the past two weeks at track, the coaches have given us drills that require us to do hopping sidesteps. I'm sure it's been at least seven years since I last did anything like that. At first, I considered not even trying, but decided to trust... myself and the coaches.
Even though it felt strange, I realized that I'd regained another "lost" skill. As those long underused muscle groups increase in strength, so does my confidence. It's as though I've been given a whole new routine in the dance of life!
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March 3, 2008
At the urging of my ace mentor, Joyce, I began a concentrated effort on fundraising over the weekend. I never doubted that I could reach my goal of raising $5000, but I'd spent more time on training and getting my technique down, than on driving toward my financial commitment.
Two days ago, I'd collected $550. As of this posting, I'm up to $1,505, and I am so heartened by some of the responses I've received. Here are just a few that really touched me:
FROM A FORMER BOSS:
"You go girl! Glad I could help in such an important endeavor. You must be in Great shape, keep up the training as we are all plugging for you to complete the marathon.
BTW: This cancer has effected my family as my Grandmother died of Leukemia in our home when I was an infant. It's a very painful death and I remember my mother telling that my grandmother really appreciated the fact that I didn't cry or make much of a fuss much."
FROM A CO-WORKER WHOM I HAVEN'T KNOWN VERY LONG:
"I can't put into words the admiration that I have for you!! The commitment and intestinal fortitude that it requires to take on such a challenge as this is incredibly amazing to me! And you are doing it for such a good cause. I am awe struck!
I don't know if I have shared with you the impact that cancer has had on my life. My grandmother and step father died of cancer. Then I lost my only sibling to a very rare form of adrenal gland carcinoma 10 years ago this month. Kim was only 34 and left behind two young children that my dear Mom has been dedicated to raising since her death. Cancer is so scary and it holds no boundaries. Most everyone is effected by it in some way at some point in their lives.
THANK YOU for stepping up, being brave, and doing something so meaningful to so many people!"
FROM A LONGTIME COLLEAGUE WHOM I HADN'T SPOKEN WITH IN MONTHS:
"This is a very serious issue to my family. My High School friend Lisa recently passed away from Leukemia. She was 46 with 2 kids(same as mine). It was devastating to everyone. Sheila and I have taken this as our personal cause and will volunteer at the KGO Cure-A-Thon March 28/29. I wish you well in your training and marathon.
We need to beat this."
I'm sure everyone is hearing these kinds of stories, some of them from completely unexpected people. I haven't limited my fundraising just to the US, and have been absolutely delighted and amazed -- one contribution from a woman in Puerto Rico who reads my blogs, and another from a co-worker in Hong Kong.
I've been so heartened and touched by the outpouring of support...
GO TEAM!
Haley
