Team In Training
Team In Training combines an encouraging training network with world-class coaches for individuals to prepare for endurance events along with raising money to eradicate cancer! Funding goes to research to find a cure for blood cancers and has helped create drugs and treatments that affect the entire cancer spectrum. Gleevec, known as the “magic bullet,” is a drug that was funded at crucial points solely by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through Team In Training and has shown promise in stomach and ovarian cancers.
Leukemia is the most common cancer in children and adolescents. Leukemia is a malignancy of the blood-forming tissues – bone marrow, lymph nodes and spleen. It appears as uncontrolled multiplication of abnormal blood cells. It is estimated that leukemia and its related cancers will strike over 100,000 Americans this year and the cause of leukemia remains unknown. However, the effectiveness of recently developed treatment methods and steady advances in research bring us closer every day to finding the cause and probable cure of leukemia and related cancers. An estimated 912,938 people in the United States are living with, or are in remission from, leukemia, Hodgkin lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma or myeloma. Every four minutes, someone new is diagnosed with blood cancer and every 10 minutes, someone dies.
Team In Training and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society are making a difference!
The overall five-year survival rate for children under 15 years old with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) was 3% in 1964 – today it’s 90.5%! The five-year survival rate for leukemia has quadrupled in the past 50 years, from 14% to 56.5%. Statistics have shown a significant improvement in the five-year survival rates of patients with myeloma during this same time frame – from 12% in to 41.1%.
Hodgkin lymphoma is now considered to be one of the most curable forms of cancer. The five-year survival rate for a person diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma has more than doubled from 40% to 86.3% in the last 50 years. In children and adolescents ages 0 to 14, the five-year survival rate for Hodgkin lymphoma is 95.6%.
In children and adolescents from 0 to 19 years, five-year survival for non-Hodgkin lymphoma is now 84.7%. This represents a significant improvement: even in the mid-1970s, most children with NHL did not live five years after diagnosis.
Team In Training® History
Team In Training (TNT) began in 1988, when Bruce Cleland formed a team that raised funds and trained to run the New York City Marathon in honor of Cleland's daughter Georgia, a leukemia survivor.
The team of 38 runners raised $322,000 for & Lymphoma Society. Because of the pioneering efforts of Cleland, Team In Training was born and has grown into the world's largest endurance sports training program.
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is the world’s largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services. Founded in 1949, relentless in pursuit of the mission to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.
Where the Money Goes
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is committed to curing leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma, and helping patients and their families. The support you provide is invested wisely. Over 75% of every dollar raised goes directly to research, education and finding a cure for cancer!
LLS receives no federal funding. Because of the private support including from donations from Team In Training in fiscal year 2010 & Lymphoma Society was able to:
• invest $72 million, which includes funding for 103 new grants to researchers in academic institutions and $8 million in contracts through the LLS Therapy Acceleration Program
• support 347 research projects in the United States, Canada and 9 other countries
• provide financial assistance to patients
• sponsor scientific conferences around the country
• produce educational materials and videos
• run dozens of Family Support Groups nationwide
Nadine's Story:
Until 2009, I had never run more than a couple of miles at a time. I used to joke that the only reason I could envision running was if someone or something very scary was chasing me! In Spring of 2009, I participated in Bloomsday, a 7.46 run along with 50k+ other people in Spokane. It is a challenging event for me and I did not suddenly have a desire to run afterward, but since it is a fun and social event, I decided that it would be my annual run. In 2010, I jogged Bloomsday again and felt stronger than the first time. In 2011, I ran Bloomsday and cut significant time off of previous years and have now set the goal to run it in 2012 (on what happens to be my 30th birthday) in under an hour, which will be a challenge since I consider myself “slow and steady”.
Until June of 2011, I had never run over 8 miles and never considered going any further until a last minute (Friday afternoon) call with my sister, Sarah, in Boise, when she convinced me to hop on a plane (that night) and run a half marathon the next morning. I was terrified but excited and knew that at the very least I could walk. I showed up and the 13.1 miles were actually fun (and flat). I felt like I did really well for not training...then....(lightbulb!)....I started to wonder what I could do if I actually trained.
For years I have worked out consistently (some might say obsessively) but even with that level of commitment, I never worked-out for more than an hour each day. The thought of running a marathon seemed impossible, especially since I refuse to train properly. Even now, and on weekends, I don't make the time to devote to hours of training so I push myself as hard as I can in my one hour of fitness.
In September 2011, I got a wild, motivated hair and decided to sign up for the Spokane Marathon. I had the best of intentions for training but a family emergency and life in general prevented anything more than my daily work-out. Before I knew it I was only a couple days from the big run and I figured it was too late to suddenly train. I didn't want any added pressure for the event so I kept it top secret and only consulted a couple of friends, all of whom probably thought I was/am nuts, but who gave me some helpful last minute tips and the encouragement I needed.
Even with my history of running less than a couple of miles, an annual eight, then 13.1, I feel like I did well at the Spokane Marathon in October 2011. It was hard, but not nearly what I had it built up in my mind to be and there was never a point where I thought that I couldn't finish. I didn't set out with any expectation as to time; I just wanted to complete it but towards the end, when I was gimping up my nemesis, “Doomsday Hill” at mile 22 I realized that if I kept moving I could do the marathon in under four hours and I was thrilled with my final time of 3 hours and 48 minutes! Afterward I was sore and had new blisters but didn't hate any part of the experience...in fact, I felt strong and blessed to be healthy and able to run that far! Within a couple of days I was admitting to myself that I wanted to do more events and I'm excited to be able to make the runs and fitness events count for more than just challenging myself.
I have been fortunate to have not been touched personally by cancer but it's a cause that I am passionate about and I believe that every dollar devoted to research and finding a cure extends and saves lives. I love the team atmosphere, the training support and the mission of Team In Training and how over 75 cents for every dollar raised goes directly to research, education and finding a cure for cancer!
I will participate at the Pacific Crest Weekend Sports Festival in Sunriver, Oregon the weekend of June 23, 2012 with the Olympic Triathlon (1.5k Swim/28mi Bike/10k Run).
Pacific Crest Weekend Sports Festival
I am proud to be part of Team In Training and appreciate your support! Go Team!
The Mission
I am raising funds for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) as a participant in their Team In Training program and I'm asking you to help by making a donation to my fundraising campaign.
You may donate online quickly and securely plus learn more about my progress. You will receive a confirmation of your donation by email and I will be notified as soon as you make your donation.
Your support makes a difference and saves lives!
My sister Sarah is also signed up with Team In Training and will complete the San Diego International Triathlon on the same day that I do the Pacific Crest Triathlon (which, not that we are competing, is further ;)
February Update:
The portion of the Triathlon that I am most terrified of is the swim. Growing up around water, I can stay afloat but have never swam laps until I started my training. I was surprised by just how HARD swimming is for me! It has involved a couple of anxiety attacks and I resembled a drowning person the first couple of attempts but recently it has gotten (a little) easier and I am committed to swimming each Thursday morning until summer. The thing that has helped the most has been the drills that I have learned from my swimming coach during our Sunday evening TNT practices and I am putting forth the effort to improve with swimming and NOT freak out at my event.
I love to ride my bike, and prefer to be outside but besides a wonderful ride along Highway 101 in San Diego last weekend with Sarah, it has been too cold to ride outside so I have been training with a weekly spinning class. Just as soon as it is possible, I plan to ride outside as much as possible and that is the part of the training that I actually expect to enjoy!
Even though I despise it, I have been running daily, mostly on a treadmill. When I did venture outside, my pup KC and I ran 14.5 miles two weeks ago in the worst conditions I have ever attempted to run in.....nasty snow and ice! It was physically the hardest run I have ever completed; definitely more challenging than the 26.2 that I did for the Spokane Marathon in October. Half-way through the run, KC and I set the goal of completing the half marathon distance (13.1 miles) in under two hours and as you can see we JUST barely met our goal!
March Update:
Training has been going well and I am blessed to still be injury free! Due to the busy competitive gymnastics season I haven't be able to get in many long runs but I have been running at least a couple of miles daily in addition to my usual routine of spinning class, Pump (weight training class), gymnastics, swimming, and circuit breaker class with a trainer. On the weekends I try to run a little further but haven't been able to train with TNT. My dogs, a 3 year-old-SCRAPS mutt named KC, and Starr, my 9-year-old chocolate lab have been great companions and yesterday we ran the Centennial trail from State Line to Post Falls and back for a total of twelve miles. I felt great and it was perfect running weather! It's just over a month until the Eugene Marathon and I am starting to get excited!
April Update
On April 1st I decided to take KC out for a long run. We were dropped off in Coeur d'Alene and jogged west along the Centennial Trail, with the original intention of jogging home, which I anticipated was about 18 miles, since I live approximately 2 miles from the Washington-Idaho State Line. Running through Post Falls was miserable....the rain, snow, hail and sleet were non-stop and it was cold.
By the time we got to the State Line I realized that we had only run 13 miles, instead of my anticipated 15-16, so KC and I decided to keep on running. The wind in Liberty Lake was brutal, blowing against us, then we stopped at a gas station to get more food and refill my water belt. By that point KC was doing fantastic, so I decided that we would go for a full marathon distance and we kept on running.
Miles 18 – 22 went pretty smoothly, until I ran out of water and my garmin battery died. The nice thing about the Centennial Trail is that the miles are marked, so I knew approximately how far I needed to go to make it to a full 26.2 miles. Based on the pace we were jogging and our distance before my garmin gave out, I believe that KC and I did the marathon in just under 4 hours. We ended up going about 27 miles since we wanted to make sure that we did the full distance and error on the side of going over, not under. I got a ride home and recovery was much easier than from the Spokane Marathon. Even though I was sleepy and ravenous afterward, I felt great! I was fortunate to not have too sore of muscles, any chaffing or blisters and KC seemed equally content later that afternoon and this week.
I don't expect that the weather in Eugene could be nearly as miserable as it was last Sunday, plus with having the support of water stations (and the encouragement of family and friends) I am cautiously optimistic that barring any injuries, I am ready for the Eugene Marathon!