Something that Works Well Together

Wow! How quickly a few weeks can vanish, making it time once again for one of my Cancer Kickin' Campaign's updates. The Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon is less than six weeks away. Before I know it, my sixth Team in Training event will be in the past. But right now, I am continuing to train and to see if I can raise money for a cure - turning my hair temporarily purple in the process! Exactly 11 years ago from today, I was so sick from chemotherapy side effects that I ended up in the hospital for a while, feeling as awful as I ever had in my life. And yet, here I am 11 years later, getting ready to compete in my seventh marathon or half marathon as a cancer survivor, racing for a cure! I’m trying to pay it forward for my good fortune, and you can help if you choose to!

So what's the answer to "something that works well together?" (Hint - it's not Congress). I'll discuss that shortly, but before then, here are some updates. On the fund-raising side of things, I am 58% of the way to having purple hair on race day October 6. Whether or not I am prepared to travel 13.1 miles by foot on race day is almost totally within my control, barring an injury. But whether or not my hair is purple instead of gray? Well, that is up to the people getting this email! And here is how you can help turn my hair purple: (1) go to my web page at this URL:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/va/crwlncrb13/afritter

(2) Make a donation of any amount. Or if you prefer, contact me about a check payable to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. My Team in Training web page is also the place to start to see my honoree list or just learn more about what I am doing, and why I am feeling so crabby about cancer. By the way, thanks to the many people who have already donated so generously. That includes a number of anonymous donors. Since I don't know who you are, I can only thank you en masse. So, thank you - very much - to all of my generous donors, anonymous or not!

On the training front, my back is back to feeling pretty good! I still have some knee pain, but it is very tolerable. I did slack off for a couple of weeks, including a trip out of state, and that really cut into my training. But I got back on track this past Saturday, walking and running nine miles. This coming Saturday, I'll go for double-digit miles for the first time since my last half-marathon. So I am confident that one way or another, I'll complete my mission of doing another half-marathon and racing for a cure once again.

Now, I know the suspense is killing you - what works well together? Well, a number of things. One would be crazy people like me, training for rigorous long distance endurance events with our legs and feet, collaborating with generous people like you supporting us with your fingers to write a check or enter a credit card donation. Another would be the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society working well with medical researchers to hunt down elusive and difficult cures. A third would be LLS working with cancer patients to support them in many ways. And your donation helps make the work LLS does in these wonderful areas happen.

I mentioned Congress earlier. Isn't it a good thing that most things work better than Congress? My goodness - can they cooperate on anything without worrying about how to make the other party look bad? What if cancer research worked that way? How many cures would there be? What if our bodies worked as poorly as the body politic does? How chaotic would that be? A year and a half ago, suffering from some knee pain during a 12 mile run, I started thinking about this. What if the various parts of our body worked as dis-functionally together as Congress does? What might that be like? To read my thinking on this subject, you can go to this post that I wrote:

http://racn4acure.blogspot.com/2012/02/body-politic.html

So let's keep working together to accomplish great things! Thanks to all of you who have already donated in support, and thanks to all who are considering a donation before I wrap up my campaign in just under six weeks.

Art