So Close yet, so far away

In six weeks I will be the day before my marathon. Thinking about that today I cannot believe what an incredible journey this has been for me and I only have six weeks left to prepare. When I started this journey my only thoughts were I need to get in shape and this is an amazing cause. Never in a million years did I think I would meet so many amazing people including my coaches, mentor, honorees, and fellow teammates, get to have a true understanding what mental and physical strength is and never ever did I think I could actually run even close to a marathon EVER!

Last week we ran our longest run of the season, 18 miles. I cannot tell you how nervous I was. I didn't sleep well the night before it was all I could think about the days up to Saturday. I was so nervous that before leaving my house I grabbed two right shoes instead of a right and a left. I didn't realize this until we were at our meeting spot. My mentor Anita was amazing as always and let me borrow her shoes. It gave me a whole new perspective on walking/running in someone elses shoes. I can't tell you how proud I am of my self not only did I finish the run but I did it in shoes half a size to small. There were so many times I wanted to either quit or cry. Neither I did. It was a great lesson for me in being mentally strong and how important it is to believe in your self. I am not going to lie I am terrified for our run next week which is 20 miles, but I am looking forward to the challenge!!!

As always thank you so much for all the love and support I have received. I have to say I have the best friends and family a girl could have.

Go TEAM!!

xoxoxo
Ashley

Milestones

My Geese Friends!

My feet after my run. My shoes were new on Tuesday. Oh well guess they are broken in now.

My Dog friend that followed for about a mile. It is hard to see him. But he is the white blur in the picture.

The beginning of the levy that I ran on Saturday. One side was water the other was corn fields.

The water as I began my run. Made me kind of want to Wake board instead of run.
It was fun to see the wake boarders throughout the run!

This weekend has been a weekend of milestones. I ran my longest run EVER 10 miles. I am not going to lie it was tough. I always seem to struggle through the first 3 miles and then I think my body gives up. I was only a quarter mile away from being a done when a puppy chocolate lab decided to jump on me and lick my face. It scared the crap out of me first and foremost because I wasn't expecting it and then it also made me have to stop which was not a good thing to do when you only have a quarter mile left to run. I did finish and survived the puppy invasion.

Another Milestone I reached was knowing how much I need my Team In Training Team, Coaches and mentors. Unfortunately I wasn't able to run with my team because of some personal things I needed to do. Running the longest run of the season without my team made me realize how much I rely on them to get me through my run each week. I did have some help on my run a couple geese and the farmers dog. As fun as there were to have a long the way it wasn't the same as the friendly voices yelling "Go Team, You Can Do It, Only 1 more mile you can power through it!" Also there was no one at the end to congratulate me on a good run!! Team In Training is definitely what is going to get me to the finish line in October.

I took my first Ice Bath this weekend. I think the ice bath has terrified me almost as much as the running. Who in their right mind voluntarily puts their body in a bathtub full of ice and cold water. Well I did!!! There was a lot of swearing at first by myself and a lot of laughing by my kids. I eventually adapted to it and I have to say it helped with the soar muscles. I can check ice bath off my list of things I have never done before.

My finale milestone I am trying to reach is that of fundraising. I am only $360 away from reaching $1200 which was the goal I set for myself to have by July 21st. I know I can reach this as people have been amazing and supportive already!!

Go Team!!

xoxox, Ashley

Hill Sprint Are the Best........seriously I am joking

Tuesday's workout was hill sprints. Again many of these things are new to me and this is one of them. I have to say I am a wimp when it comes to hills and Tuesday was no different. I know they will make me a better runner especially since the Nike Woman's marathon has so many hills, but I really hate hill sprints. I need to have turbo power shoes to help me get up the hill!!!

xoxoxox,
Ashley

8 Miles - For Monica

Monica is in the black jacket & her sister Jolene in the red shirt

The past couples weeks have included going out of town, fourth of July and some heartbreak. I found out a couple weeks ago my very first boss, I ever had, Monica, passed away from Cancer. To say I was devastated and shocked doesn't even begin to explain how I felt.

It has been years since I have seen or talked to her, but in my heart knew she played an important roll in me wanting to own my own business and knowing that it is important to balance family and work. She was an amazing person with an amazing family!! Her sister is a good friend and did my nails for years when we lived in Salt Lake City. Her oldest daughter watched our brand new puppies, that were terrors, when Brian and I went on our honeymoon years ago in Salt Lake City.

This Saturday we were tasked with running 8-10 miles. As I was driving to pickup my friend and teammate my mind kept wondering to Monica and her family and how her family was handling her loss. I knew this run was hard, but knew as hard as my run was for me this week it was nothing close as to hard as the heartbreak and pain her family and friends are currently experiencing and will for a lifetime. I decide that I was running for Monica and her family this week.

I picked up my friend and teammate at 6:45 in the morning and the first thing we said to each other was I am terrified for today's run. The most we had ever run was 6 miles. My teammate and I started together and finished together which was kind of cool. We talked in places and in were silent in others. We encouraged each other and when we finished both wanted to cry because we actually finished 8 miles!!! It was a great run and milestone in my training and was done for an amazing woman who I will be thinking about when I finish my marathon in October!!

Here is to you Monica, thank you for the quite inspiration you gave me without even knowing it!!

xoxoxox Ashley

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

I just want to say thank you to everyone that has donated, for all the wonderful emails I have gotten and all of the support I have already received from my friends and family. So far (I am only five weeks into it) this has been an amazing journey. I am excited to continue to share with you my training experience and definitely my marathon experience. Big Hugs and Kisses all the way around!!

xoxoxox
Ashley

One of My Personal Honorees-- Uncle Blaine

When I was a senior in college my Uncle Blaine was diagnosed with Cancer. Within six months he lost his battle. That was the first time EVER I had known someone with Cancer and the first time I had EVER experienced death.

My whole family (mom, dad, brother and I) were very close to My Uncle Blaine's family. We did family vacations together, we went down to Texas every summer so "Us City folks could get a taste of the country" and we spent almost every Thanksgiving together at my grandparents cabin in New Mexico.

My Uncle Blaine was the most caring and loving person you could know. He had a heart of gold, a laugh as big as Texas and a sense of humor that could out wit anyone.

My memories of him are amazing. They are of him laughing and joking with me. Calling out "Oh Ashley, Oh Ashley darling" and me running to give him a hug and a kiss. To this day if I need to brighten my day or get out of a bad mood I think about my Uncle Blaine.

With every negative comes a positive. Although my Uncle's loss was devastating to my family and each and everyone of us have a piece of our heart missing I do know that it has made us stronger and more durable. It is also the reason why I have chosen Cancer Research no matter what kind of Cancer it is as my personal philanthropy. It is near and dear to my heart. The day that there is no cancer in the world and there are no more cancer fundraisers like Team In Training is the day that I am sure we are all looking forward to. Until then I will continue with my quest and helping out any way I can.

Before every team workout we have shout outs where we can shout out the people that are our personal Honorees. I always say my Uncle's name. When we have our moment of silence after the shout out I always say a quick prayer for my cousins and my aunt. When I cross the finish line in October I know that I will have done it because of the strength I get from thinking about why I am running and thinking about my Uncle.

Love and Miss you Everyday Uncle Blaine!!!


xoxoxo
Ashley

I did it!! I ran 6 miles!! Woo Hoo

I never in my life thought I could run 6 miles. But this weekend I did it. Here is a pic of me after about 3 miles. Yes that is a semi smile on my face. Go Team Epic!

I have also included some pictures of where we ran. We ran at Lake Chabot and it was gorgeous. Hilly but gorgeous. Afterwords was the honoree picnic. It was so inspiring to listen to their stories and hear how they have been living and conquering their cancer. The other thing was really amazing to learn about was that the money LLS is raising has helped everyone of them through their research. Everyone had a drug or treatment that was funded and researched by LLS. WHAT WE ARE DOING IS MAKING A HUGE DIFFERENCE.

xoxox
Ashley

Did You Know????

The relative five-year Leukemia survival rate has more than tripled in the past 45 years for patients with leukemia. In 1960-63, when compared to a person without leukemia, a patient had a 14% chance of living five years. By 1975-77, the five year relative survival rate had jumped to 35%, and in 1996-2003 the overall relative survival rate was nearly 50%. The relative survival rates differ by the age of the patient at diagnosis, gender, race and type of leukemia. During 1995-2003 relative survival rates overall were:

• Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL): 65.3% overall; 90.4% for children under 5 (Team Honoree Brian DuBois was diagnosed with ALL leukemia)
• Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL): 74.8% overall
• Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML): 20.7% overall; 54.1% for children under 15 (Team Honoree Harry Drake was diagnosed with AML leukemia at age 6 months)
• Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML): 44.4%
• The leukemia death rate for children 0-14 years of age in the United States has declined 70% in the last three decades. Despite this decline, leukemia causes more deaths than any other cancer among children under age 20.

An estimated 245,225 people in the United States are currently living with or are in remission from leukemia, and an estimated 44,790 new cases of leukemia will be diagnosed in 2009 alone.

xoxoxo
Ashley

I have a confession

My Mentor Anita

So last week was an INSANE WEEK!!! When I say insane I mean insane. I had a Grad Night and a Wedding within two days of each other. That meant last minute meetings, decorating, timelines, etc. I knew it was going to be crazy but I had no idea. I didn't run not once. I know I know I should have run but I was scheduled from 8am until midnight the entire week. Then on top of it I got a huge blister on the bottom of my foot from wearing bad shoes for my grad night. I figured I would start afresh this week.

I went to track workout and was SCARED. Not running for a week being tired and not the most enthusiastic didn't bode well for me. Then walks in my Mentor Anita. She was awesome during my workout. She ran with me during the running portion of our circut training and kept saying I am going to be your pace person and make sure you keep your pace up. Little does she know she was more than my pace person she was my spirit person that kept me even running. I finished the workout and felt amazing. I am back on track and ready to go. Glad last week is over and looking forward the buddy run tomorrow.

GO TEAM!!!!

xoxoxo
Ashley

Harry!

This morning as I was listening to my two beautiful children chattering to me about what they dreamed about last night, what they wanted to eat for breakfast, and what they wanted to do today I couldn't help but think about one of the honorees that our team is running for, Harry.

Harry is 2.5 years old and was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) when he was 6 months old. For the past two years Harry, his parents and his older brother have been fighting tooth and nail to save his life. I can't help but think what I would do if I were Harry's mom. Would I be strong enough to handle such a long road of doctors, hospitals, chemo, bone marrow transplants? Would I be able to handle the unknow and the sheer fear that I would have day in and day out until I knew every single cell of cancer was out of my child's body?

Children are suppose to be care free. When they wake up they should be able to talk about their dreams, what they are going to eat for breakfast, what Princesses they want to grow up to be and how Alvin and the chipmunks "rock and roll." They should not be in pain, be scared....HAVE CANCER!

Harry had a bone marrow transplant when he was 10 months old. He just celebrated his one year transplant anniversary. Doctor's said he wouldn't make it to 2 years old. They are now saying that if he makes it to his 2 year transplant (May 2011) anniversary his chances of relapsing are unlikely.

I hope during my journey that I am able to meet with Harry's parents and really be able to listen to their amazing story and pull strength from their experience. As a parent I cannot imagine what they have been through. If my running and fundraising for LLS saves one child it was an experience worth doing again and again!!

Today's training run was for you Harry. I am excited to meet you, your brother and your parents!!!

xoxoxox,
Ashley

My Journey Begins

Today is the official Day 1 of my training. The team in Training Kick off party was this weekend. It was amazing!! I was overwhelmed, excited, nervous, and inspired. We got to meet our team, coaches, mentors and honorees (I will be talking about my teams honorees throughout my training process) and most importantly we got our training schedule (OMG I am terrified!)

Today my training officially started. Couldn't have been a crazier day to start training for a marathon. Started with getting Gracie to school, Wish Upon A Wedding Event Chair conference call, and my schedule goes on and on until I finally got home around 9:30 tonight.

I got home and realized I still needed to run for 30 minutes today. So I strapped my running shoes on and off I went. It was a great run even though I was exhausted before I started. So many things running through my head. The most important thing that I couldn't get out of my head was "I am so proud of myself for actually committing to starting my training TONIGHT and not procrastinating it until TOMORROW."

After running the full thirty minutes I realized this is the start of an amazing journey for me. I don't know if I can actually run 26.2 miles but I know I am going to do everything in my power to try!

xoxoxox Ashley

Day 1- Why?

Why?

Last night I made a commitment to Team In Training to run the Nike Women's Marathon on October 17, 2010. Making this commitment was a no brainer for me for two reasons 1) It has been a goal of mine for years to try and run a half/full marathon 2) The list I quickly put together this morning of 30+ individuals and groups of people that have survived cancer, are living with cancer or have left this life because of cancer that have personally touched my life.

Last night during the informational meeting there was a speaker that was diagnosed with hodgkin's lymphoma at age 27. After 6 months of chemotherapy she decided to run a half marathon with Team In Training. At the end of talk she said "Chemotherapy is harder than any half/full marathon that you will train for or run!" I have decided that this will be my mantra as I am training. If she can train and complete a half marathon after 6 months of Chemo I can definitely complete a half/full marathon (I have 6 weeks to commit to either the half or full marathon I will let you know what I decide)

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training (TNT) offers hands-on training unlike any other program. I will get more help than with other charities, gyms, online training programs or sports clubs. They have established network of coaches, mentors and teammates, built by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society over the past 22 years.

I have committed to help raise a minimum of $2,500 my personal goal is to raise at least $5,000.

I put this blog together as an outlet for me to record my training triumphs and heartaches. It is also a way for my friends and family that are supporting me through this process to see my progress.

Thank you in advance for your love and support!!!!

xoxoxoxo
Ashley