Happy Holidays!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We enjoyed our visit to Salem and spending time with my dad, brother, my brother's fiance and my two nephews.

I went to my dad's gym Wednesday morning before we left for home. I attempted a couple running intervals on the treadmill, but that didn't last long. I keep thinking I'm better because my knee doesn't bother me throughout the day, but, man, as soon as I try and run the pain comes right back. Thursday I spent an hour on my friend's elliptical machine - for some reason that machine didn't bother my knee at all, so I got in a really good work out!

Then this morning I had 10 miles scheduled. I went to the gym hoping to get in a few running intervals again. Well, I started out with a super easy 4 minutes walking, 2 minutes running and that lasted about an hour. It was so great to be RUNNING again and see the miles ticking off a little more quickly! Then sometime after that I hit my limit and didn't recognize it right away. My knee really started to hurt and I ended up knocking off at about 8.4 miles.

I'm pretty discouraged right now as I sit with an ice pack on my knee. I've got two weeks left to heal. I know I can't rush the process, but I also can't postpone the race! I also know that worst case scenario I can walk the whole marathon, but I really, really, really, really do NOT want to have to do that.

On a more positive note (pun intended), here is a note that our team received from Jill. Jill is one of our patient honorees - a local cancer patient in whose honor we are running and raising funds. She is currently undergoing treatment in Seattle.


Hey everybody!! I hope all is well with each of you this week. I wanted to say thanks. Sometimes I say thanks and maybe you all don’t know what I mean by it, so I will tell you, briefly.

Thank you for providing hope for my friends and family who worry a lot about me and whose hope plummets each time my cancer returns and builds each time doctors have ideas for new treatments.

Thank you for helping me have faith in mankind knowing that you are generous, caring people who will put yourselves out there for people in need, often for people that you don’t even know.

Thank you for helping with research that may someday save my cousins, aunts, uncles, parents, brother, niece, nephew or friends.

Thank you for inspiring me to walk more and hopefully get myself running one of these days.

Thank you on behalf of blood cancer survivors and other cancer survivors all over the world who don’t know you and may not even know what you are doing to try to save their lives.

Thank you for persisting when I’m not there watching or even thinking about the fact I am a survivor. And thank you for helping me to feel that I can take time not to always feel like a survivor.

When I say thank you, I do mean thank you. I hope that each of you will remember this always.

Love, Jill


This note is for everyone who has become part of my team over these last months. Whether you have helped financially by donating to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, taken time to run with me or keep me company at the gym, prayed for me, or been one of my wonderfully encouraging cheerleaders, thank you.