Blogging for Blood Cancer - Day 3

So... turns out five straight days of blogging about something is harder than it looks.

I commited to the CapTexTri in 2006 motivated by my brother's battle with cancer, but mostly I did it because I wanted the good karma and the bragging rights - not so much for having done the triathlon, but for having done something nice for Other People.

I also wanted to get in shape and all that jazz. Which I did, but I did not keep up with at all after the race. Because I have no self-discipline. (But that's another story.)

Two years later, I'm at it again - this time for the Toyota US Open Tri, right here in DFW, October 5th. Training has been a lot easier this time (first time I went for a 20-minute run I was able to run all the way, instead of run/walk/run/walk/run/walk it), but I've been slacking on training a little. Okay, a lot. I'm relying too much on those good genes, and part of the reason I decided to join this blogging event was to help jump-start my training.

I was doing well during the school year - set my alarm early, run/bike before school, so it would be done first thing in the morning. Even weekends were fine: Saturdays are group training days, and Sundays I'd bike before going to church. But once summer started, and my schedule went all over the place, I stopped. Oh, and the heat. When I say the heat is "killer," I am neither using slang nor hyperbole. This is Texas, folks.

I forgot to set my alarm early enough this morning, but I promise to set it for tomorrow, and run my 30 minutes (I should be at 40-45 min runs by now, I bet, but since I ran not a lick while I was in Switzerland, I figured I'd ease myself into it). I've realized I like the swimming and the biking, but the running... right now our love/hate relationship is firmly set in the HATE side.

Today I received the weekly email from my TNT Campaign Manager. To date, our North Texas team has raised $42,002, which I think is pretty nice. (We have until October to reach our goals, so there's still plenty of fundraising to do.) If you'd like to know where the money goes, here's some info from the email:

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's volunteers and staff, as well as
patients and their families, actively support state and federal public policy
initiatives that will improve the lives of those with a blood cancer.
Thousands of Texans who are grassroots advocates with the Society are lending
their voices in support of the Access to Clinical Trials Act.

Patient Services

• Patient & Family Support Groups
• Provided more than $674,3000 to 1,857 patients in Financial Aid
• More than 650 patients helped through Co-Pay Assistance Program
• Patient & Family Education Programs
• Texas Forum on Blood Cancers (annual conference)
• Healthcare professional education programs
• First Connection “Peer to Peer” Support Program
• The Trish Greene Back to School Program for Children with Cancer
• Information Resource Center
• Clinical Trials Information

Research

Blood Cancer Research Grants in Force Texas - $27.5 million (over a 5 year period)

Career Development Grants, Specialized Center of Research Grants & Translational Research Grants

• University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center - Dallas
• Baylor College of Medicine - Houston
• University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center - Houston
• University of Texas Health Science Center - San Antonio
• Scott and White Memorial Hospital and Clinic - Temple

So that's where the money's going. And how much they're raising (just here in
Texas).

If you would like to be a part of that, please visit the LLS website for info on all their fundraising programs, or you can go directly to Team in Training's site, or you can just make a tax-deductible donation to my campaign.