And I ran, I ran so far away I ran I ran all night and day I couldn't get away...

It’s amazing what you can think about when you are running by yourself for over and hour with no music. On Thursday, I finally did the 8 mile run that I had missed the previous weekend, after the great 5 mile run I had on Wednesday. I still wasn’t feeling well on Thursday, but in order to have confidence for the 10 mile run Saturday, I got my butt out of the house and attempted the 8 mile run. I did the same course that I had done for the 5 mile hill run the night before, and added 3 additional miles to it. Actually, it was 3.5 miles. It was a great run, which again, is so bizarre because I hadn’t been feeling great! So, like I said, I realized some of the outrageous things that I think about when I’m forced to be in my own head for a considerable amount of time. I started to comparing running/training for a marathon to be like being in a relationship. I know, this is not such an original thought, as I think it was Nike, or New Balance that had those commercials a few months back pretty much talking about the same thing. Anyways, I was thinking that when you are running just to run, it’s not such a burden and it’s fun and it makes you feel so great, but then, when you commit to a race, ie a marathon, it’s all of a sudden this overwhelming sense of obligation and almost like a burden. Sometimes you enjoy it, but other times, you see all you friends going out on a Friday night having a great time, and you are stuck doing nothing. Kind of like a relationship—you complain when you’re not in one, then the minute you are, you are jealous of your single friends out having fun. I then started to think that the actually running part is definitely the girl of the relationship. If you skip a run, you feel guilty. If you have a bad run, you feel like crap.
Anyways, there was more to my thoughts, I think it kept me entertained for a good 2 miles at least. Maybe it was more funny to me at the time, but whatever, this blog is all about sharing.

On Saturday morning we all met the group in DC down at Rock Creek Park. On weekend mornings, Rock Creek Parkway is closed in the morning hours to traffic, making it a great haven for runners and bikers. It was not as cold as it had been in the District, but definitely not tropical weather. We started out on the course at 8am to begin our 10 miles. Shortly into the run, we all realized that it was going to be an entirely uphill incline, which you know makes us all so happy. A group of us started out together, but eventually I was running with this kid Brian who I had run the 6 miles with two weeks before. We chatted a bit, and then mustered through the GIANT hill that came at mile 4. He is a lot of fun to run with, and he and I cheer on everyone that passes by, which is cool. After the hill portion, we turned around to go back to the start, thinking that we were halfway through, but then we started seeing some of the ‘Kenyons’ as we call them, running back towards us. Our hearts were a little diminished as we remembered we had to run back to the water stop, then turn around and go for another mile, before we could do the final turnaround to the start. I know, that made no sense, but the fact is that basically, we thought we were further into the run then we actually were. I thought Brian was going to cry when he realized it. We promised to keep one another’s spirits up, so that is what we did. Until he started talking about having eggs for breakfast and I told him to shut his mouth about food unless he wanted to see me vomit everywhere. I had tried a new breakfast that morning, Eggo waffles with blueberries and it wasn’t exactly sitting so well in my stomach, I will spare you those details. At mile 5 there was a water stop, so we took the opportunity to stop for a moment, have a cup of water and I did my first GU of the season. After a moment, we were back on our way and we had another runner to join us, Kristin. Brian enjoyed his first GU ever, which was quite the experience. First he couldn’t get it open, and I had to help him—I felt like a mom in the school lunchroom who had to help the kids open up the Capri suns---and then he gulped it down like a champ. We all chatted the rest of the way, talking about GU, how pretty the run was—which it was completely. It didn’t feel like we were in a city at all, the trail was filled with waterfalls and trees, and then with the temperature almost perfect, we all kept saying it was a great day to be out and running. The rest of the way, we entertained one another with movie quotes, talking about engorging ourselves with food after the run because well, we can, and then singing 80’s song lyrics. I actually had a blast with them! The run ended and we all high fived and pretty much proclaimed our love for one another as we were punch drunk on the runner’s high. We also laughed because we were saying how it’s crazy that just five minutes before during the run we wanted to die, but then now we felt incredible. I talked with the trainer that was there, because my IT band in my knee was bothering me. He helped me stretch it out and taught me a few strengthening exercises to do to make it feel better. After a bit of stretching and eating some of the lovely buffet spread that TNT provided, I was on my way.
On Saturday night, the Team Captains went to the Legwarmer’s concert. It’s an 80’s cover band down here that is ridiculously popular. We all got dressed up in our outrageous 80’s costumes and were danced for 3 hours straight to the best 80’s songs you could imagine. Some of the pictures are clearly above—as embarrassing as they are, I had to post them. These kids are fantastic and definitely know how to balance the training with fun times.




Until next time…….

So done with winter

Oh it’s almost the end of another week. My running schedule has been a little off the past few days because of a little event we had down here called the Inauguration. I think Friday-Tuesday night was the closest thing to a Spring Break DC could ever have. I am so excited and happy that I got to be here to experience such an historic event. On Monday night, I got a ticket to a pre-Inaugural party hosted by MoveOn.org down the street from me in an art gallery. Heather Graham and Rosario Dawson hosted the party and then there was a musical performance by Dela Soul and Moby. It was probably the coolest thing I have ever been to, might be the coolest thing I will ever go to.
Tuesday morning I woke up at 6:30 and turned on MSNBC to see a view of a packed Mall. I couldn’t believe how many people were already down there. Kerry and I walked down and by 7:45 we had assumed our spot on the Mall. I have never seen so many people in one place before, felt such a level of excitement and been so in awe of what was happening. It’s completely mind numbing to think that one man has been able to engage and motivate and give hope to so many people. Whether you are for Obama or not, it’s hard to deny the huge significance yesterday was.

As a result of standing in the cold for ten hours, I now have a nice cold. I woke up this morning feeling like I was hit by a truck. Work was not very much fun, and I dreaded the thought of going for a run. I got home, put on my running gear and just thought I would give it a shot, if I felt like crap, I would just stop. I ended up running a 5 mile hill run and felt pretty great the whole way-go figure! While I still feel like crap, I feel better about myself getting back on track with the whole running thing, as I said, with all the events going on this weekend, I have been not so disciplined. It definitely affects my mood when I don’t get out there and run, so this is good to be getting back into my routine.

This Saturday’s run marks the beginning of all double digit long runs. We kick it off with a nice ten miles this week and just take off from there. I am looking forward to being with the team and running with everyone again this weekend. While I was on my run tonight, there were a few points when I got disgruntled with my run and thought that I can’t do this. I guess I lack that bit of self-confidence—I know real big shocker for all that know me. I hold such doubt in myself and it’s frustrating because I really wonder what I could do if I didn’t think so negatively about myself and my capabilities. I think that when I’m running with the Team, those doubts aren’t as rampant, because I have people all around me pushing me forward.

I have to say though, this season, I am learning to fake my confidence so to speak. I have teamed up with a few other team captains and I am really starting to work on being a better runner. Last Wednesday, I braved 20 degree, 5:30am wake up call to meet two of my teammates at the track nearby for a speed workout. I was intimidated, but completely excited to go. Tricia and Michael are both really fast. Tricia played Field Hockey in college, is on her 7th marathon, training for an ultra, and is newly Boston Qualifier. Michael has done 5 marathons, a bunch of triathlons and is a Navy Seal. I played basketball from 4th grade through senior year of high school (kicking ass while at it) and was an All State Field Hockey goalie that had to learn the art of running in college in an effort to stay in shape. Cleary, these two have a few years more experience than I do. We ran 4 repeats this session that included running two laps around the track in a time that you desired. Michael explained it to me this way: Pick your goal time for the marathon, so I felt very aspirational and said, 3:45, to which he said, okay, then you will want to run around the track twice in 3 minutes and 45 seconds. By the end of our sessions, we will work our way up to running these repeats 10 times and if you can do them 10 times in 3:45, you will run your marathon in 3 hours and 45minutes. Hmm, yeah, I wanted to run home when he said that. But no, I wasn’t going to give in. So, off we were. The first two laps, I ran it in 2:43, then 3:00, then 3:15 then 3:40. I saw the light of God each time I did these repeats, convinced I was going to die. Tricia and Michael were consistently half a track in front of me, which is slightly degrading, and yet, motivational. I made it my goal to have them not pass me. Again, I started to doubt myself and give up because I wasn’t as fast and thought that I just plain old suck. Truth is, I had to remember this is about me, not them, and I have to start somewhere—even if it is in last place. Our workout was done before the sun came up that day, giving me enough time to take two, yes two, showers. I was frozen to the bone.

Michael also gave me some information regarding a local swim team up at American University. He knew that my “ten year plan” is Ironman, and that I want to get into triathalons next, but do not have access to a pool. Apparently, for 50 bucks a month, I can go and swim at AU every night, with coaches at a practice and it’s beginner through elite. I definitely plan on getting in on this, maybe this season. I am so excited, I am starting to feel like an athlete again!

So that’s basically life now. Monday run, Tuesday 6:30am spin, Wednesday speed workouts around the track or on the Hills (alternating each week), Thursday run, Friday spin, Saturday long run, Sunday 2 mile run and perhaps treat myself to yoga, or start swimming. In between, I will be eating LOTS. Are you all jealous?! I know it’s packed, but other than work, I really have nothing else going on in my life. Hmm, does that sound pathetic?

That’s it for me. I’m off to try to sleep off this annoying cold.

5:30am, am I a runner, or a farmer?!

I'm sitting on my bed, bundled up in my warm comforter and pajamas, enjoying a quiet Monday night. I noticed last week that from the left side of my bed, I can actually see the Washington Monument and the top of the Capital building during the winter because the leaves of the trees are down and don't block the view. Since then, I purposefully keep my one shade partially open because I think it's neat to gaze out at them in the distance as I try to fall asleep at night. So, as I am writing this, that's the view I get to see.

This past week and weekend was exhausting and a complete whirlwind.

I ran hills last week, trying to get myself used to those 16 miles in Nashville. I swear, my ass is going to be the size of Beyonce's by the end of this training. I actually thought of this on my Monday night run, as I approached the top of one of the many hills. When I lose weight, I lose it like most girls, first in the chest, well, clearly, I can't afford that. But, have no fear, where my chest loses out, my ass picks up the slack. I could have used this butt back in the days of my year round basketball endeavours to box out some of those big girls under the hoop. The only thing I know it does for me now is force me to buy bigger jeans.



Wednesday night I met up with my teammates at Rocket Bar in Chinatown for a big group get together. We are trying to make sure we balence out our exercise regiments with fun. I spent the night getting to know everyone, drank some beers--or as we like to call it Carbo loading---and played some SkyBall.

On Friday night, my teammates came over and I made everyone baked ziti, we played Scattegories and watched Napolean Dynomite. It was a fun time, nice to get together with everyone for a low key Friday before the run. I was in bed not much after 11.

On Saturday, my alarm woke me up all too soon and I had to pull myself out of the warm bed at 6:45 to put on my running gear and head over to Washington Lee High School in Arlington to do a 6 mile run with the Team. Everyone always says they can't believe that I go outside and run in this weather. The truth is, the worst part of running in the cold is waiting for the run to start. Once you get moving, your fingers start to regain blood flow and you actually get warm. Until the start, however, I was standing there in my running pants, underarmor turtle neck, running jacket, gloves, ear warmers and shaking like crazy from the bitter cold. Some people there were in shorts and I wanted to cry for them. After some time, we finally headed out onto the trail. This trail was the Curtis Lee trail, which runs alongside Route 66 in VA. It's a nice trail, but filled with lots of little steep hills. The nice thing about these hills are that they are the short steep ones, so you just have to get through the burn to the top, and then there's the nice downhill. I forced myself to focus not on the burn as a pain, but as a sign that I was getting stronger. Unfortunately, reciting Kanye West songs only gets you through a few of the hills, then my body is like, whatever Sarah, stronger or not, this sucks. The group I ran with for most of the time kept me entertained by playing this game where you named a movie and then you had to name the most actors in the movie. So, basicallly, I would call out Anchorman, and then someone would say, I can name 3 actors, and then someone might say I can name 4, and when nobody can name more than that, the person who named the movie says, Challenge, and the person who said they can name the most people have to go ahead and name them. It made the time pass by quickly, it also made me realize that I haven't seen many movies and I really don't know the name of actors.

After the run, we all went into Washington and Lee High School cafeteria to have our Honored Teammate picnic. All the groups were there--so, all marathoners, the tri-athletes, the half-ironman-ers--and we spent the morning getting to know one another, eating some breakfast and then hearing from all our Honored Teammates. It's inspiring to hear their stories and battles with their respective blood cancers. I always am in awe at how they are able to get up infront of a room of complete strangers and be so candid of their struggles, it's admirable. Our one honored teammate Denise spoke and she told of being diagnosed with her Lymphoma in her senior year of college just 5 years ago. At the end, she told us how she ran her first marathon with TNT 4 years after her remission at the San Fransisco Marathon. She was incredibly inspiring!

After the TNT, I was then off to work for the rest of the weekend. I had to work the American Cancer Society booth at the NBC 4 Health and Fitness Expo. Sounds easy, but talking to literally hundreds of people is exhausting. Not to mention, many of the stories I heard alone just sucked the life out of me. At 5:30 on Saturday night, I was practically falling asleep on the metro home. Sunday was my day of rest, after working from 7am until 2pm.

I ran 4 miles of hills last night in the cold. My shins are starting to bother me, sign of needing new shoes. I'm also still having the same problems I've had over the summer with feeling out of breath and my heart beating out of control, as if I am out of shape. I had gone to the Doctor's this summer when I was forced to drop out of the Marine Corps Marathon for this reason, and got several blood tests done, but they didn't find anything. Considering this keeps going on, I think I'm still going in to get more tests.

This morning, I woke up and went to my 6:30am spin this morning and got my ass kicked by the instructor Amy. Getting out of bed in the morning and walking to the gym in the cold sucks, but I always feel so great after. Don't worry though, today I slept in, because tomorrow I am meeting some of my fellow team captains at a track a few blocks from my house at 6:15 am to do interval trianing and speed workouts. I am excited because the people that I am running with are amazing runners and I feel like I can learn a lot from them. I am nervous because it's crazy early, cold, and I am way slower than they are. I might die on the track. It's going to be great. After my run, then work, I'm off to meet my team again at a fundraiser downtown at a bar--once again, we have to balence out our hard work with fun!

I've been in a bit of a funk lately, with work, running and life. One of the things that kind of did to me was some sad news last Tuesday from my mom about someone from home. It brought me back to the hardest point in my life thus far, the point that I had lost all hope. The news hit me a bit more than I expected, I suppose because it was the first time in a long while that I really thought about everything that happened in my life. Needless to say, Saturday's Honorable picnic came in time because the things I heard were things that I needed to hear for both my running, but for my life. At the end of our Honorable Teammate Denise's talk, she left us with one last thought. After telling us about running the San Fransisco Marathon, she said she felt selfish for doing something like TNT that benefitted herself. She began to cry saying that she can't thank those of us who have no sort of connection to blood cancer and yet choose to get up early into the cold and run so that we may help others. She thanked us all and reminded us that with every breath we may struggle to take on our run, that we are making it easier for those who struggle to take a breath to live, so keep pushing.
In just 7 days, there is the Inauguration of President Obama. All over this city, you see the word Hope plastered everywhere. I know that I am a hopeless romantic and perhaps a raging, nieve Liberal, but as I was on my run ;ast night in the frigid cold, I saw one of these many signs and just smiled. What a wonderful thing for people to see everyday. Cheesey as it may be, I think we all can use a little bit of hope. I began to run a little bit faster, and I vowed to keep my head up and have hope, and like Denise said, to push through and keep breathing.
Always with a smile.

I'm off to bed, my alarm is going off at 5:15 tomorrow morning....

Hills are my life....

I am so happy it is Thursday and that the cold rain has stopped!

This week has been the beginning of what seems to be the routine for the next few months for me. Let me start from the beginning...

So, lucky for me, Nashville=16 miles of hills, so I have been told. Oh what fun! Because most of our long runs are on flat trails, with the exception of my favorite Mount Vernon 16 mile trail, I have to do all my hill training during the week. That began last night. I walked out of my house to drizzle, and then by the time I was up the street, it was complete downpour. So, for 4 miles, running hills, I was in the pouring, cold rain. Surprisingly, I wasn't miserable. I think something takes over when you are outside in the elements, because you feel too much like a bad-ass, you can't complain. The hills I ran were not very nice to me, and I look forward to the day that I don't have to walk for a moment when I get to the top. But, as I told myself last night, it's nothing that is going to come to me all at once. Little by little, I will kick those hills in the ass.

After I ran, I took a long, hot shower and got ready for out Team In Training get together at a bar downtown. Earlier in the week, us captains were exchanging emails saying that something was not right. We had been paying too much attention to running and were not having enough fun. So, in attempts to unite the teams, we are doing weekly Happy Hours. It's nice to be around normal people that are fit, but know the balence of being able to let loose and have fun. In fact, one of my captains Sam was saying, yeah, we really need to keep ourselves in check. Anytime running has overtaken our social abilities, we need to fix that. Everyone is just a great time! One of our teammates Heather told her captain Tricia on Saturday 'I like running and all, but I like beer a whole lot more.' Thus, our TEAM motto for the season was born.
It's so amazing to get involved with a group and feel immediately like you have a whole new set of friends. These people have such great hearts, amazing stamina and are probably the funniest people I have ever met. Life is pretty awesome.

So tonight, I will be back, running more hills. From here on out, Saturdays are the long runs, then Monday night I hit a spin class, Tuesday morning at 6:30am I am at my next spin class. These classes kick my ass, but I'm confident it's the best way to build up my thigh and ass muscles, which is great for the hills----yup told you my ass would be growing this season. Then on Wednesday/Thursdays or Fridays I will be out running hills. One of my hill workouts will be straight intervals--aka, sprinting up the hill, and then going back down to sprint up again and again. The other day of hills will be what I did last night, which is just running up them as normal. Are you all jealous?

That's it from me for now. Saturday we have a 6 mile run along Lee Highway in Virginia. This entire run is hills. So, while you all are staying warm in bed, you can think of me going up and down on rolling hills in the cold--and what do you know? the forecast is calling for rain!
After this run, we have our Honored Teammate picnic, so I am excited for the rest of the TEAM to get to experience that! I will report back then!

See you out on the trails! Don't forget to smile!

Run on the Mall

Another week of TNT is down! Don't I look so cool in my picture? I should quit my job and become a model. As you can see, yesterday our Saturday run took us around 4 miles on the National Mall--something that makes me feel like a true Washingtonian. It's hard to hate running when you are surrounded by all the monuments. It was a cold start, but once we got going, it was a perfect temperature to be up and out! There are some crazy fast runners in this season's group! I feel like I am running with the Kenyons! Take that back, I feel like I am getting my ass kicked by them, not running with them. This time around, I'm going for more of the zen running, not talking about pace and time. I think I might like it better that way.

After the run a few of us went to Einstein's and got some bagels. I know I know, it was only 4 miles, the carbo loading isn't really necessary, but I like to use that excuse as much as possible during the training season.

Before the run, we had a guest speaker come and provide us a bit of inspiration. The woman who spoke was Mary and she has done TNT a bunch of times and like anyone who has done it, is obsessed. She began running with TNT to honor 3 of her friends who had just lost their battle to leukemia. Mary hadn't ever run before, and decided to complete the San Fransisco Nike Women's Marathon with TNT. At around mile 18, as all of us do, she hated her life and didn't want to continue. At this point, the crowd wasn't large, but all of a sudden, she heard a women going absolutely crazy on the sidelines. Finally, Mary had gotten close enough and could hear the woman pointing to her little two year old girl, yelling out, 'This is why you do it! This is why!' and Mary finished the marathon super strong. She went on to say to remember these stories when we don't want to get out of bed in the morning to run, when the runs get tough. Then, she said, you know, TNT throws out a lot of sayings, motivational quotes, but she said the one quote, 'Saving lives one mile at a time' is more than a fundraising quote for us to use, it is the truth and to remember that and be proud of that. Needless to say, Mary's little speech was very inspirational.

It's kind of funny because my posts always seem so serious when I talk about TNT and running, and I am a very sarcastic and jokey type of person. I can't help to talk about these stories, it's what this is really all about.

On Friday, a bunch of my teammates are coming over my house for dinner and some board games---just because we all have to run the next morning doesn't mean we don't have to be hermits on Friday nights!

That's it from me. I have an early morning Monday run tomorrow, so it's time for TV and bed.......happy running, don't forget to smile, GO TEAM!

Please consider a donation:http://pages.teamintraining.org/nca/cmc09/sness

My Honored Teammate Erica

My honored teammate this season is Erica Barth.

I met Erica early in November when I was at the Silver Spring, MD American Cancer Society office one day for a meeting. I had forgotten my lunch at home and was standing at the front desk consulting the Chinese food menu to find something to eat when a young, beautiful blond haired girl walked into the office with her boyfriend. As I stood looking at the menu, I heard this young girl as our Admin. person, Gissella, if we had any wigs available in the office. We do have a wig room in each one of our offices so women can come in and receive free, brand new wigs; however, Gissella had to let this young woman know that the wig room was becoming very low in its stock. Before the girl could leave, I introduced myself to the girl and asked her what kind of wig she was looking for. She told me her name was Erica, and as I had expected, she was looking for a long blond hair wig, just like the hair I saw her with. I reiterated to her what Gissella said about the wig room, but told her that we had just had an event with the Washington Redskins and I thought there was one long hair blond wig leftover in the Vienna, VA office and I could check to see and let her know. Erica was excited and told me that would be wonderful. I then got to talking to her, asking her what kind of cancer she was being treated for and asked her if she needed any other resources. She told me she was just diagnosed in September with Hodgkins-Lymphoma and would be beginning chemotherapy in the next coming weeks. In addition to a wig, her biggest concern was that she lacks health insurance. I was able to give her a bunch of different resources--including financial assistance information from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. By the end of our talk, she thanked me over and over for being so kind and letting her know about more information in the 5 minute conversation than anything she has been told in the past 2 months. A hug later and she was gone.

After verifying that the blond wig I had in mind was still in the Vienna office, I made arrangements with Erica to send her the wig in the mail, as she lived an hour away from the closest office to her. A week later, Erica left me the best voicemail I think I have ever received to date. On the voicemail, Erica, in her so cheery voice, said 'Hello Sarah, this is Erica! I am just calling to let you know my boyfriend was waiting for me yesterday at my house with the package you sent me and I put on the wig and it is just so perfect and beautiful! It is so perfect that I started crying and I know it sounds silly because you think it is just a wig, but it's not just a wig. It's perfect timing because I just started to lose my hair and now I don't have to be embarrassed when I leave the house. I can't thank you enough, you are an angel and the nicest person I have ever met. I would love to take you out to lunch or for a drink or something, I can't tell you how happy this has made me. I can't wait to hear back from you, or I will call you later in the week.'
I can't tell you how much this made my heart literally smile. I immediately called her back and thanked her for her kind words and she refuted the thank you saying, no, THANK YOU. She then reiterated pretty much everything she said before, but also added when I said, you really like the wig?, she says, are you kidding?! I feel SEXY in it! Again, my heart smiled! Do you know how HUGE it is for a woman undergoing chemo to say they feel sexy?!
I then asked, in lieu of a lunch or drink, told Erica about my en devours with TNT and asked her to be my honored teammate. She said she would absolutely love to be.

It might seem odd that I have taken a random stranger as an honored teammate. Erica really touched me and I just feel so motivated by her spirit. I also feel a connection to her, she is turning 26 years old in January and never thought something like this could happen to her. It made everything a little more real to me--ironic because I am around cancer patients all the time. Here she was, almost a mirror image of me, facing chemotherapy, losing her hair, and battling to cancer.

Erica will be joining me and my team at our honored teammate picnic on January 10th with the entire Team In Training Spring Season. I think it will be a great way for her to see how much she is not alone in her cancer fight and to see how many people are out there fighting for her as much as they can.

Please help Erica's fight and consider donating to my efforts. Your donation, no matter how large or small, could help Erica's financial burdens through the Leukemia and Lymphoma's financial support system which you can read about here: http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org/all_page.adp?item_id=4599

Please stop by my donation page and spread the word: http://pages.teamintraining.org/nca/cmc09/sness


Happy running!

Don't forget to smile :)

GO TEAM!

Why donate?

One of the many lessons I have learned through my job at the American Cancer Society and through Team In Training is that unless people are directly connected to the cause, they tend not to give. Obviously, this is not always true, but definitely tends to be the trend. So, as someone who works for an organization that asks for money and is now a second year participant required to raise money, I have to ask myself, how do I explain to my friends, family and strangers why it is so important to donate even the tiniest amount to my efforts for another 26.2 miles, especially given the current economic state we are all lucky to be a part of.
To begin, I always say, any amount that one can give is greatly appreciated and helps in the fight. I like to tell my friends that instead of that one or two beers at the bar, you could donate that money to my efforts. It’s incredible to think that a simple 10 dollars from merely 10 people raises 100 dollars, which incidently is just about enough to cover the cost of a wig for a woman undergoing chemotherapy. This tactic generally does not work. So, I will go for the more tangible.

Two weeks ago I held a Christmas party at the Children’s Hospital in Washington, DC through my job at the American Cancer Society. I had been wanting to get my volunteers involved with children’s oncology floors for some time, but with all the projects on my plate, it had taken a while to get this one underway. Finally, in the beginning of November, I began to put together a holiday party in December at Children’s Hospital. I had been in collaboration with some other colleagues and members of another organization and quite frankly, it became more stressful than anything. To put it into perspective, I had a perpetual stress headache for the entire week leading up to the event. There was chaos and miscommunication and it had gone from an event that I was so excited to do to being one that I absolutely dreaded. After the week of stress, I finally decided on Friday to put everything aside, know that my volunteers would be great and that we were going to put on a great day for the kids.
Sunday of the party came and I headed off to Children’s Hospital with 75 tiny milk cartons glued to paper plates, boxes and boxes of graham crackers, dozen cans of frosting, many bags of candy, tissue paper, the Polar Express book, a Karaoke CD and about a hundred teddy bears all in preparation for the activities we had planned for the kids. If you couldn’t tell, the milk cartons, icing, graham crackers and candy were all the materials needed to make gingerbread houses. We were there from 2-5pm that day and saw anywhere between 5 and 20 kids at any given time. We began the party with each of my volunteers sitting at one of the tables in the craft room making their gingerbread houses. The first boy came in with his sister and sat next to me, his name was Miguel and he looked about 8 years old-turns out he was 15. The boy was the cancer patient and his sister, who was about 10 was there to support him. He had a hearing aid and several other issues going on. I talked him through how to put together the house and piece by piece we put it together. As Miguel worked on his house, another young girl by the name of Jennifer came in. Jennifer must not have even been ten years old yet and was hooked up to a machine, which she maneuvered round like a seasoned pro. She had no hair, but wore a pretty pink bandana, matching her pink fingernails and pink shoes. In addition, Jennifer wore a hospital gown and a mask, as she was one of the inpatients. Between Jennifer and Miguel, I thought to myself for a moment that I didn’t know if I was going to be able to get through the afternoon. My eyes were beginning to well up, but I fought it and pulled myself together. From there, we had about 15 kids join the room working with all my fantastic volunteers building the most creative gingerbread houses. Some of the kids tended to enjoy eating their houses more than they liked to build them. In fact, one of the young boys sitting at a table across the room from me asked my volunteer, ‘Who made this frosting?,’ ‘Betty Crocker did,’ my volunteer told him, and the boy answered ‘Where does this Betty Crocker live, I want to go to her house!?’. We had quite the laugh.
Many of the nurses came in and saw what a wonderful time we were all having. At one point, I went up to one of the inpatient rooms to see a young girl who just had brain surgery, she was 8 years old. She was upset she couldn’t come to the party, so I brought up the materials to make her gingerbread house. Many of the other inpatient nurses came down to get supplies for their patients who also were not allowed out of their rooms. They were all so happy to see the kids having a great time.
After the gingerbread houses, we did a little holiday karaoke and then we had the children break off into two different groups and using white, green, gold and red tissue paper, dress up two of my volunteers as frosty. After an initial hesitation, the kids really got into it. By the end, all of us were in the room laughing at the two volunteers dressed head to toe in tissue paper as Frosty. By the end of the day, all the stress of the event was forgotten and I realized that it turned out to be more than I could have imagined. What a great day of work.

Okay okay, so what is the point of my story? The day at Children’s hospital was absolutely incredible. It’s incredible to see these kids, barely even 10 years old, living a life that I can’t even imagine. Later that evening, I had gotten to thinking of Jennifer and how it didn’t hit me at the time of seeing her that she had no hair. Because I work for the Cancer Society, I am used to women who have lost their hair; however, that night when I thought of Jennifer, it made me even more amazed at the spirit she has. I said to my roommate Erin, who came with me that day, I remember how cruel kids were at her age for the silliest reasons, can you imagine being her age and not having any hair? There was another girl there by the name of Sandra who was just one of the sweetest girls I have ever met. The nurse told me at the end of the event how excited she was to see Sandra so happy because it was the first time in a month that she was able to leave her room. And she did leave her room, but dressed in head to toe in hospital gowns with gloves and mask on. But you could see the smile in her eyes.

The point of my story is this. I am not touched personally by cancer. I am not touched personally by blood cancer, but I also know I do not want anyone in my life to ever go through the things that I get to see on a daily basis. Your donation has the power to prevent a child like Sandra to ever have to be in a hospital. Your donation has the power to help those there get better.

Perhaps I am lucky in that everyday between my job and my involvement with Team In Training that I get to meet incredible individuals like Sandra and Jennifer and Miguel to remind me that what I do is so important. I chose my career and my participation as a charity runner because the things in my life have made me want people going through whatever they are to know they are never alone. Without fail, you get this sense from those honored teammates of ours that know about Team In Training. Specifically, the honored teammate that spoke at our breakfast 3 weeks ago told us that when her treatments got too tough, or things were just seeming too big, she thought of the wave of people dressed in purple crossing the finish line of their events, and she knew she was not alone. Many of you reading this do not get the chance to listen to the beneficiaries of the donations that come in through these wonderful events. You don’t get to hear someone with leukemia tell you that the thought of what you do makes them feel stronger and not alone. But I’m here to tell you that the dollars you donate to me, the dollars that I represent with every step I take, are helping so many people you can’t even begin to imagine feel stronger. You are giving someone you don’t even know one of the greatest gifts, and that is that they feel they are not alone.

So, that is my little rant for the day… Don’t forget to smile!

GO TEAM!