Isn't there a law against that?

3.5 miles - Way busy day today and wanted to get a run in before dark as I wanted to watch The Grammy's tonight. 3 of my co-workers are there making sure the website doesn't crash, pretty cool, eh? So, I got home in time for a quick run at dusk. I felt pretty good today and the only thing hindering me was the darn Beaverdale neighborhood folk who do not make any attempt at clearing their sidewalks. I mean seriously. A half-A attempt is better than not even acknowledging that we got another 6 inches last week. Some of you, like one of my sisters, i'm not gonna mention names, you know who you are...Hee. Hee. can probably relate to these people. But unless you are super old, get on it. I'm gonna say about 10 people on my short run today should be fined or somethin'. That's dangerous but more than anything, annoying and it gets snow in my shoes. Not cool. So other than me being a hater for some of the run, it went well. I used my new fancy iPhone app and it was great to hear the mile markers and how "slow" my average pace was. I'm gonna blame fear of wiping out on the snow and using snowbanks as hurdles at intersections. O.K. and I was a bit tired. :) As a sidenote: I do realize that the people with the crappy sidewalks are probably just as annoyed with me for running outside in these conditions.

Highlight of the run: heated bathroom.

10 miles - It was bound to happen... I had a slow run on Saturday. Coulda been the 3 layers of pants and tops I had on. Coulda been the 6 degrees we ran in. Coulda been the food I ate the night before (pitstop at the Latin King while friends were in town). But it was not the wine, because I gave that up all weekend and I had guests all weekend! Lesson learned from last weekend. So there were only four of us, counting coach, Sat morning and it was darn cold. But with the "half full" new years resolution that I've committed to, I'd like to point out that there was no wind. Yay! A rare pleasure in the great midwest. So we had THAT going for us. It was a kinda crazy morning as we had a pitstop to find a stray cat which one of my teammates got to the parks and rec people to take to the humane society. I also had to make a pitstop at the restroom (their heated. Way nice. didn't want to leave.) because my intestines were not happy with me. Which is pretty much what the rest of my day entailed as well. yikes. not a good situation. Let me just say I'm diligently trying to identify the culprit for the future. Despite the fact that hardly any team members showed up, the lake was pretty busy, I'm guessing it's cause we actually saw the sun early in the AM. What a treat, despite the cold temps. people were coming out to enjoy it. So, though we didn't do the 12 miles on the schedule so as not to freeze, we did 10 miles today and I made it through despite my stomach issues. woohoo. Just needed to get a bad run out of the way apparently, now back to the good stuff. FYI: I'm headed to NYC for work at the end of this week over the weekend so I'll be doing my long run alone when I get back early in the week.

Recovery

0 miles - Today is a day of rest/recovery, before the 12 mile excursion that I will be partaking in tomorrow morning. Honestly with the forecast of subzero temps once again, I'm not sure how long we'll be out there but we'll see. My Mom and a couple of her friends are coming into town tonight. They like wine. A lot. SO jealous! I guess I'll be the DD for the night. *sigh* So be it! My mom & dad also got me a cool little Runner's calendar to track my progress and stuff totaling all miles. So for 2010 I've run 95 miles as of yesterday. Yippee!

And I'm still plodding away at not only the running, but the fundraising to help with a cure. Thank you so much for all that have donated to the cause. I'm almost 50% to my goal! Today I want to honor a friend of mine's (Jen OC) sister. Her name is Terri O'Connell. Jen told me that "she's sitting at chemo #10 and the last CT & PET scan showed that things are working." Three cheers for Terri. Hip hip hooray. hip hip hooray. hip hip hooray! Everyone please throw up a prayer for Terri and her family. I know I'm gonna and I'm gonna make sure we run in honor of her recovery June 6th as well!

Team Coco

So I went to a get together out in WDSM at Graze this evening and was still too scared from my Sunday hangover to have a drink. So I enjoyed my water and contemplated my late night run which was inevitable as I hadn't squeezed it into my day yet = Mental battle #1. Today I opted for the 3 miles in the recommended 3-5 miles for the day. Telling myself with a 6 day a week running schedule I can be o.k. with the lesser amount = Mental battle #2. I was on the phone with my sister Lydia for a while putting off the run, you know how it goes. Then she pulled a "mom" and said "well you better get running it's late." Which of course made me NOT want to do the run cause she told me to. Hee. Hee. Not sure why that is. So she had to pull some reverse psychology on me so I'd get my butt to the treadmill = Mental battle #3. Ah, the mental battles I wage with myself. ;) Run went well and I love how 3 miles feels like a treat. I've gotten in the habit of icing both knees after every run which I think helps long term with the soreness, even if it's placebo effect, I'll take it. And it gives me time to watch some Conan after my late night runs. I'm definitely on team Coco. Last night as I'm icing he had Jamie Foxx on the show. So funny and total hottie. I think I'd like to go on a date with Jamie Foxx.

Full Moon or Fool Moon?

4.5 miles - Sure felt like it last night at the 6pm twilight run when the Kristen/Ken duo and I headed out on the lower Beaver Ave trail along the river. Kristen with the sole headlamp, talk about rebels... I felt like I was in good hands with these garmin bound, head lamp wearing outdoorsy people. Much more prepared than I! It was great that they organize the weekly group run. It was kinda cool cause we only really needed the headlamp in the snow/ice covered trail areas. Otherwise the bright moon reflecting off of the snow made it pretty bright out. Part of my new years resolution #2 = glass half full. So I'm thinking it was cool that even though it was like 20 degrees, dark and icy... it was sorta peaceful, illuminating and made me feel darn loyal to my running program. Heck yeah! And it does beat the hour on the treadmill in the basement.

Incidentally, I got to thinking I needed a garmin to track my runs, so instead of spending $$$.$$ I don't have, I looked for an iphone app last night and found one for a mere$4.99 and I'm super excited to use it (once it gets above 10 and some of the snow on the sidewalks melts. :). It tracks your runs through the GPS on the phone and alerts you at certain mileage points and can do a zillion amazing things like track your routes and store them and tell your times and when you have good vs bad runs, etc., etc. I'm just excited to know the mileage I'm doing when I'm out and about in the neighborhood. Now if I could just learn a trick to using the iphone with mittens on I'd have it made!

:-) p.s. new veggie stirfry last night included cauliflower and zucchini... one of my best batches yet. However, I did follow it up with some gummy heart candies. After all, there's only 2 more weeks left to purchase these precious gems!

The Biggest Loser

5 miles - My favorite TV show, the Biggest Loser, it's the only one that I try to watch every week. It usually inspires me for a good run, thinking if those people can work out that hard, a simple run shouldn't be a big deal on my end. So my 5 mile run today happened at 9pm. It was a decent run, although not very fast. I'm not sore today so that helps definitely. This weekend is a 12 mile run and I'm a bit nervous to take on 2 miles, but I'm sure it will be glorious! ;) So, in my mind when I signed up for the marathon, I figured many things would happen: 1) i'd have a new goal 2) i'd help raise money for a cure 3) i'd be inspired by others fighting the battle 4) i'd be a part of a team which is always fun and 5) i'd get fit and lose a few extra pounds. Apparently #5 is the only one that eludes me. I think I'm the only one I know that could be running 20+ miles per week for the last three weeks and be up a couple lbs from when I started. Can you believe it??? me neither. Mission: #5 watch your back, i'm gonna get ya.

You can be my wingman anytime...

5 miles - I figured I had to do at least 5 to compensate for my lazy Sunday. Knees still bugging me a bit but I'm icing after runs and taking my magic cartilage pills so I'm hoping they will improve. Kinda weird but my muscles are sore from the Saturday run still. Not sure what's up with that as I didn't experience that last week. So I'm planning a trip to NYC next weekend and am nervous about getting behind on runs. Not sure what I'm going to do but will have to do my long run when I get back during the week for sure. In the meantime, Goose and Maverick got me through the 5 mile run last night and I have to move on to my sappy movies as I don't have any more pump me up ones. We'll see how that goes. Food for the week = chicken noodle soup. Only seemed appropriate to whip up some homemade soup with the 50 mph winds and blowing snow that caused freeway closures for the day in Iowa. So JUST as a recap since starting the training: record snow, record lows, rainstorms and now blizzard conditions. And that is all in the month of January. I SO deserve spring right now.

Sunday downward spiral

0 miles - I know I only have myself to blame, but I'd also like to blame red wine, Liz, Beth, Megan and Erica. After a great run Sat AM, Saturday afternoon was busy with volunteering at Orchard Place with some cool JLDM women. Then on to drinks, dinner & drinks and more drinks. Needless to say, I didn't get my Sunday run in and I'm lucky to have bounced back at all. :-) Actually I'm still waiting for the bounce back part. So, that means a 5 mile run to compensate on Monday. That's all I'm gonna say about that.

Saturday Runs Rock!

10 miles - Officially 3 weeks into the training. Time flies! 3 weeks longer than I usually stick with my resolutions. :-) Today I headed out for my second 10 mile run. Yay, crazy that 10 miles is now a doable distance for me. When did that happen? The crazy Iowa winter weather continues, forecast = 40 and big rain with a chance of thunderstorms. Woohoo! It's always so hard to know how to dress for something like that. I'm a big 'ole sweater so I hate to overdress although it's always so stink'n cold when we start, crouching by our cars to block the wind as it is still dark out at 7am. oye! But good news! Just as I was rounding the final corner at the end of the 10 miles, the big rain moved in. It held off until I finished which was amazing good fortune. :-) I ran a bit with our TNT running coach today which definitely helped the time pass and probably pushed me a bit in pace, otherwise I would have been running in some serious rain! It was interesting to hear about other marathons he's been a part of and the fact that he has been a coach for 15 years back when TNT was just starting. Way cool. Thanks to my teammates that cheered me in the final few feet as well. Then we headed to Gateway Market for some yummy breakfast and great conversation. Recovery breakfast = steel cut oats (aka oatmeal) with a bit of soy milk and brown sugar. Fabulous. When we finished, I thought I'd jog to my car so as not to get drenched. However, my legs weren't having it and stopped me in my tracks. Ha. Ha. Something about running 10 miles and then stopping to jump in a car and go eat. Hmmmm....smart Ab. :-) Side note: I was sad to hear that our honorary team member, Nick Lacina, has had a rough go of it and been in the hospital lately. Prayers for his strength and recovery as he continues the fight. Also, a gentlemen, Maury, at my table for the kick off just a month ago passed away this week and lost his recurring battle. His partner Mary is going to continue her participation in the training. It makes what we are doing very real and very worthwhile.

New Year's Resolution #2

0 miles - Rest Day. Raise $3,000.00 for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. I will be running in honor of our honorary team member Nick Lacina and in honor of the many people in my life that have been affected by this illness. You know who you are and I will be running for you and for those that you've loved and lost.

New Years Resolution #1

Friday, Jan 22, Day 21 (3 weeks in!) - 0 miles
Although I have reservations about taking today off as I missed a couple runs this week due to my stomach bid'ness, I'm going to save energy for the 10 mile run tomorrow. Forecast is 40 and rain/thunderstorms. Seriously, training in an Iowa winter is nothing if not "eventful". Incidentally in my quest for better eating and making meals at home: I'd been craving red beans 'n rice since my trip to New Orleans in December. So I threw together a pot of it (cheater style). Sauteed celery, onion and garlic a bit and then threw in a couple cans of red beans and seasoning with some brown rice on the side. Not as amazing as the NOLA version of course, but still yummy and a healthy carb/protein mix.

Thursday, Jan 21, Day 20 - 5 miles
So the good news or the bad news first? Bad news = major ice storm and I'm on day 2 of being stuck in my house as my ice run of a driveway isn't driveable, I'm thinking olympic speed skating for my car. Not to mention the tree limbs bending to the pavement of my driveway in the backyard because they are day 2 of being ice covered. ouch. Hoping no large branches will break off. Good news = I pulled Top Gun out of the ole DVD collection for a 5 mile run tonight. Sure, I was reluctant thinking it was an oldie and I

wanted to get a longer run in. I gotta tell ya, I

completely underestimated the power of a beach volleyball scene and a good old testosterone filled love story. I had totally forgotten that movie is one of the best of ALL TIME! Needless to say the run went quickly even though 5 miles on a treadmill is not ideal. But then again, running on shear ice outside isn't either.

Wednesday, Jan 20, Day 19 - 0 miles
Darn stomach issues continue today. Double Boo.
Tuesday, Jan 19, Day 18 - 4 milesBack at it today after a couple days of queasy stomache and "out-of-it-ness". Snow"woman" of the day >>>>>>

Went for a 4 mile jog on my "Dainna" route, the route I used to take with my old running partner who is now living in Stillwater, MN. Incidentally,she has signed up for TNT as well and will

be training up there. We'll meet up June 6th in SanDiego to run it together. Always good to have a partner in crime!
Monday, Jan 18, Day 17 - 0 miles
Stomach flu. Boo!

Sunday, Jan 17, Day 16 - 3 miles
Had a busy day and got home in the nick of time to do a quick 3mile route at dusk. Which incidentally is getting later, light past 5pm thank goodness... still looking forward to March 14 when we change the clocks, not that I have it marked on my calendar ;) It was a good run, and I also ventured out to get some glucosamine/chondroitin pills for my old knee joints. Bottle claims I'll note a difference in 7 days, looking forward to it!
Saturday, Jan 16, Day 15 - 10 miles
24 glorious degrees and "frozen fog" on all of the trees. If you have lived in the Midwest you know how beautiful that is. It was gorgeous this morning for our run. Good thing because I needed to do 5 laps around Grey's Lake to complete the 10 mile ru

n. It was still dark out when we started but I have to say I dressed perfectly for the run. Although my legs were way cold (which I couldn't feel after a while anyway, so no biggeee. ah.) and don't get me wrong, I'm not sure how long the hot shower lasted when I got home, but overall the weather was o.k. I kinda enjoy running in the cold, kinda mak

es you feel like a bada#* as well ya know? I took this picture on my iphone >>>>>> (which came in handy for pictures/tweeting/music and a call from mom at mile 8... and yes, I did all of this while still running! multi-task extraordinaire, my current employer, Lullabot, is turning me into a techie!) But the bottom line for the day is, I felt great! I'm SO EXCITED! It was a great run, I never felt the need to walk and I wouldn't have changed a thing. Iced the knee before and after and popped ibuprofen in advance. I met fellow new team members Kristen and Sam somewhere along the way and they were great for chat time for a couple of the laps to make time pass more quickly. INXS, Michael Jackson, Beyonce, Guns N Roses and M.IA. got me through the rest. 10 miles. Check! Now off for some sledding with my sisters and their kids at Sleepy Hollow. :-)
Friday, Jan 15, Day 14 - 0 milesJust one more reason to look forward to a Friday... 0 miles! I had a great chat with my old Red Bull manager Stan today. He is a former competitive runner and gave me so

me great tips for my knees which I'll be trying out tomorrow. It was awesome to catch up with him on the old RB gang and also to hear about some of his running experiences. Pre run dinner? I used to always worry about my digestive system on long runs and anyone that has experienced issues with that or dehydration know what I'm say'n. So I'm trying to figure out some carbohydrate meals that will help me feel good and not backfire on my digestive system on Sat AM long runs. Fresh veggies sauteed with tofu in a garlic/seasoning/olive oil mixture. Oh, and some gummy candy hearts... slowly working my way through a bag of those. ha.
Thursday, Jan 14, Day 13 - 4 milesSunshine and 30's again today. That in combination with my favorite concoction of Red Bull smoothie (recipe below) makes for a wonderful day. Happy January, runners start your engines! Snowman for the running route of the day >>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Recipe: 1 can Sugar Free Red Bull, 5 frozen strawberries, a handful of frozen blueberries and a big 'ole scoop of vanilla ice cream flavored protein powder (and I don't like just any protein powder, I like Optimum Nutrition powder for this mixture.) And don't try this with any old energy drink either... Red Bull and Sugar Free Red Bull is the only way to go. Yummy! p.s sometime I put it in a big 'ole wine glass, somehow it tastes better that way. hee. hee.

Wednesday, Jan 13, Day 12 - 3.5 milesOh glorious sunshine! I ventured out today at lunch for my run and it was fabulous! Snowmen everwhere, (my tweet: What a january lunchtime run will get u in Iowa!) slushy streets, happy people and fresh air. Admittedly a bit of an obstacle course with all of the snow/ice/slush/snowbanks at the end of every sidewalk. ha. But I just pretended I was running a steeple chase. ha. I even took a picture of a snowman and tweeted it while on the run. I know that probably didn't help with a fast time, but it was a good snowman and I think people should know the great things you can run into on an Iowa run in the winter! :) http://yfrog.com/4gsicjj I would have done my neighborhood 4 mile route but I had a work call I had to get back to, but I felt good. The left knee is still bugging me though. Incidentally I pulled out my old "The non-runners marathon trainer" book from the 90's that my professors wrote based on the findings from my class in college

that ran the marathon. (and by "pulled out" I mean from a box that had not been unpacked since my move to Iowa from Boise, in the bottom of a closet in a spare room. ha. but I found it! :) It was fun to glance through and remember old names and stories. According to them I need to ice my knee afterward and throw back some ibuprofen. Good advice. Will try that tomorrow.

Tuesday, Jan 12, Day 11 - 3 miles
So the habit continues of a 10:30pm run. So silly really, but then I have to have downtime afterward which usually leads to a 1am sleep time. It's like I'm in my 20's again. :) Focus this week has been a bit of a focus on some interesting meals. Some great salads with spinach, feta, homemade balsamic dressing and bacon bits (who knew?) and also some veggie stirfry's this week with this fabulous wok I had gotten from Ikea a while back but hadn't used yet. Really easy quick dinners. Probably more vegetables than I had in the whole month of December. (which is actually not hard to count, unless you count veggies with sauces and cheeses, I had plenty of those in December!). HOWEVER, I'm having trouble convincing my body that fruit is a "dessert". Baby steps... baby steps. :) But I'm convinced that the running would be easier if I weren't hauling around extra poundage so I'll stick with it!

Monday, Jan 11, Day 10 - 3 miles
THad a bit of a case of the Mondays! We were to run 3-5 miles today. Normally I would push it and go the 5 just cause I'm into that sort of chaos. But my left knee has really been bugging me. I don't want to push it this early on. It hurts when I begin running but after about mile 1 I don't notice. Hmmm.. wondering if a knee brace of sorts would help. Injuries = no good. but this darn knee has reared it's ugly head before so treating it gingerly. That's right, I used the word gingerly. :)

Sunday, Jan 10, Day 9 - 3 miles
True story, it is 10pm on a Sunday night and I'm still proctrastinating. But must go now and knock out these 3 miles. Kicking off the week right.. right? *sigh* Dare I look at facebook now and make it an 11pm run??? yikes! p.s. spent small fortune on a couple new running bras today, spendy but necessary and any of you girlies out there that have run more than 3 miles, know what I'm say'n!

Jan 9, Day 8 - 8 miles
I did it! 8 miles. Officially more miles than I've run in like 15 years. It felt SO much better than last Saturday. Yippee! I had a movie in and didn't allow myself to even look at the time/mileage on my treadmill until it was finished, cause I knew I was gonna be on that thing for about an hour and a half. So through the end of Wedding Crashers and went old school with Drew Barrymore in Ever After to round out the 8 miles. Not gonna say it was easy, but definitely not as bad as I'd worked it up to be in my head. :) Funny how that works, huh? I also forbid myself from doing anything else in my day until I got the run done. Eating included. So I was done by noon. Ha. As for next Saturday's 10 miles run, I'm excited to actually meet the others on my team as I don't think there will near death windchills. I suppose the treadmill has been good for me and I hear it's better on the 'ole knees. And this girl does have 'ole knees, sound a bit like popcorn when going up and down steps. Hmmm.....

Jan 8, Day 7 - 0 (that's right!)
Ah, yes, our 1 day of rest. I am going to enjoy not having the feeling of procrastination all day. Miles completed In week 1 = 21. And I gotta tell ya, that's 21 more than I ran last week! At least one of my resolutions is holding strong. :-)

Jan 7, Day 6 - 3 miles
I'm happy to say that at day 6, I'm feeling better. I had a good run tonight. Albeit I did wait until 10pm... really need to work on that! Today it called for a 3-5 mile run, I decided to be smart about it and go with the lower mileage anticipating the 8 mile run on Saturday. The time went pretty quickly on the 3 mile run thanks to "the Wedding Crashers" dvd that I've been watching, already wondering what movie I'm going to need to put in for my 8 miles on Saturday. Incidentally, the group run has been cancelled in expectation of the windchill forecasted to be well below zero once again... oh, Iowa! Tomorrow.. our one day of rest in a 6 day week/run schedule. woohoo.

Jan 6, Day 5 - 3 miles
Relatively uneventful run today. Once again put it off until about 9pm, whatever happened to that resolution to get up and run before work in the morning? Something about a cold dark basement makes me stay in my bed. Baby steps. One resolution at a time yo! Incidentally, movie on tap right now is Wedding Crashers, I feel silly when I laugh out loud by myself while jogging, but Vince Vaughn is so hilarious. I love his rants and often suspect that none of them are scripted but just crap that pops into his head! :-) I also made turkey chili today in honor of yet another Iowa snowstorm. It was so yummy, I think this year I'm going to try out some yummy recipes to eat a bit healthier. There I go with those new years resolutions again. p.s. On a super positive note: I'm not really hobbling around in soreness anymore... woohoo!

Jan 5, Day 4 - 3 miles
It took me two hours of watching the kick off of this season's Biggest Loser to get inspired to do my daily run today. Sad state of affairs! ha. I figured if they could exercise, this girl should get downstairs and hit the treadmill! So off I went, got all set up, programmed the treadmill, got my TV/DVD player set up, towel ready for the big sweat and as I was about to press Start, I realized I was in my slippers. Ha.Ha. That's what below zero winter weather and working from home will do to you! Once I got rolling I felt better and was eventually able to up my speed since I've been slower than a 10min/miles since my initial 6 mile run on Saturday. Growing pains. ;) Incidentally the movie I'm currently watching is "How to Lose a Guy in 10 days" funny comedy and definitely helps keep my eyes off the time meter. I should finish it today so I'll update as I go through my small but mighty movie collection this winter!

Jan 4, Day 3 - 3 miles
Day 3 entailed a sore body and a reminder to myself that by Saturday 3 miles will seem like nothing so I should enjoy it! With my fancy (well not so much) new TV and dvd player, below zero temps and treadmill that amazingly will not just let me set a distance goal, but rather works around time and incline (what the??) I navigated the 3 miles without incident. I'll be so stoked when I get past the sore body thing, I'm thinking by next week for sure. But maybe not after the 8 miles on Saturday. I was blown away by the kindness that the people in my life have shown with their donations! Truly, you've all inspired me to do my run today! Thank you for helping me kick off this fundraising effrort, you are truly appreciated! :-) p.s. who makes a treadmill that doesn't allow you to enter distance goals??? this very well could be operator error, but I'm definitely thinking a non-runner built that thing.

Jan 3, Day 2 - 3 miles
So, I was thinking it would be a bit easier to run the 3 miles this morning, but my body was hating me big time. It was the "day after doing exercise that you haven't done in a way long time" pain, only to be topped by the pain that usually comes two days after you exercise for the first time in a while. That'll be my Monday. :-) Needless to say, I had to back off my pace a bit this morning but was happy to get the run done early in the day, no matter how painful it was. 2nd trip to walmart today to get a dvd player and small TV for in front of the treadmill. Thought should help... momentarily!

Jan 2, Day 1 - 6 miles
Well, day 1 of the training was supposed to be 6 miles as a group at 7am this morning. Whatever happened to starting slow and working up to high mileage?? I hadn't run 6 miles in a lot of years... I'm guessing about 15 to be exact. My last marathon was 15 years ago (ouch). So, I set my alarm and got up at 6am for the run at Gray's lake. Turned on the TV for the weather report and saw that there was a windchill advisory until 10am. Temperature was -12 and the windchill was -30. Seriously? Even the facemask I got at WalMart last night *that's right I braved Walmart for this* wasn't gonna save my lungs from the cold air. So, I sent off an email to the group, went back to bed and vowed to make a date with my treadmill later in the day. As it turns out it took me until about 6:30pm to convince myself that I could handle an hour on the treadmill. But I got a lot of chores completed in advance as I thought of many things I needed to "get done" before I jumped on the treadmill. So after mopping my wood floors, re-writing my to-do lists and sifting through all emails in personal and business accounts, it was time. Down to my basement, old TV, early 90's VCR tape and lots of sweat later... I ran the 6 miles. Yay! Which means that 3 tomorrow shouldn't be a big deal right?? Right.... Next on the list, a new TV and DVD player for my basement because the high for the whole next week is 7. :-)

Racing to Save Lives

Happy New Year and welcome to one of MY New Year's Resolutions! The San Diego Marathono on June 6th with Team In Training.

So, be a pal and please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission. I think that should be part of your New Year's Resolutions! ;-)