First Team In Training Training Run

I woke up early this Saturday morning. Took my son to varsity swim practice and headed for Onondaga Lake Park to meet up with the Team in Training folks for our first training run for the San Diego and Lake Placid Marathons. There are a lot of people signed up, maybe thirty.

This morning's run was short. The options were 2, 3, 4, or 6 miles. The LLS had water stops at two mile increments and drinks and snacks waiting for us at the end. I met more good people and reacquainted myself with a buddy, John, I haven't seem since November. I ran with John and Charlie, who are mentors, and a woman named Danielle and a grad student at University Hospital named Joel.

Hear their running stories was great. Many people are running w/Team In Training because they either have lost a family member or friend to blood cancer or another form of cancer while others, like me, have friends who are suffering from blood cancer, i.e. leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, Hodgkin's disease. Now we are all together using the little talents we have to run and raise awareness of a disease which steals many lives from our hearts.

I am proud to be among these fine people. I am even prouder to find so many friends and family offering their support and prayers towards our goals, and I am most proud of those who are our driving force-- the people suffering from blood cancer, like Jane Spellman for whom I run.

I completed the training session running 6 miles; I had a small chocolate donut and a cup of chocolate milk before heading back over to the Wegman's Park to run another 4.5 miles with the Lake Effect Runners to cap the morning with 10.5 miles. I can't wait for next Saturday morning.
Please, if you are able to support the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and Team in Training visit my donation page: http://pages.teamintraining.org/cny/rnr09/wboyd and remember to tell your friends and family. We all reach the finish line together.