The Moment of Truth

This week is recommitment. It is the time when we team members evaluate our training and fundraising progress and decide if we will continue with Team in Training. At 5:00 am when I am heaving myself out of bed to go run in the cold and dark, bagging out can feel pretty tempting! After a particularly challenging experience, like the pain from last Saturday's run, it seems like kind of a nice idea to just quit! But it only takes half a second to remember why I’m doing this. It’s not to impress anyone with my amazing athletic ability. It’s not for the pride of saying, "I can do 26.2." It’s not to challenge myself with something I never imagined I could do. It’s not even to get myself in better physical health, although that is an important benefit I’m receiving. And it’s certainly not because I had time on my hands and needed something to do!

I remember my mom who underwent a stem cell transplant in March of this year. She chose that path, her only medical avenue to fight for life. Over the following five months, she endured a tremendous range of difficulties, side effects, sickness, discouragement, anxiety, fatigue and pain. But she had no choice once that wheel was set in motion. She had to endure. Every day.

I have the choice to opt out of all this. I could just throw in the towel. No more early mornings. No more time taken away from my kids. No more sore muscles, painful shin splints or throbbing knees. I could choose to make it all go away.

But really there is no choice. I must endure to honor my mom and the struggles she faced. I can endure my own five months of struggles just as she did. Because of who she was to me and her example of perseverance, I will endure.

The purple bracelets my teammates and I wear say Train Endure Achieve Matter. If you are reading this and have chosen to support me financially by donating to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, you are part of my TEAM and I so appreciate you.


If you have not yet given, please consider a donation. I still have about $1,200 that I am required to raise by January! You may use the link to the right and donate using a credit card. If you prefer to send a check directly to me, please contact me at jamn3kids@yahoo.com.