Well, I haven't updated in a while due to several reasons, the main being that I was sick and missed a couple of hikes and workouts due to severe dehydration... :-(
But I'm back and ready for more humiliation and hard work!!
I did manage to get in one hike last weekend at Cedar Hill State Park. You wouldn't think that there is a lot of hilly terrain in North Texas but this park continues to surprise with it's trails...I've posted a couple of pics of the Talala trail...
This week's hike will be at Lake Tawakoni, which should be interesting...I've never been to Tawakoni and I'm wondering what the trails out there will like early in the soon to be cold morning...
I'll get an update posted tomorrow evening after I'm back.
Later taters!! - DQ
Monday, February 9, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Learning Curve Time
Leukemia Fact: Every four minutes, someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer.*
Hey again!
I want to thank those of you who have donated so far or have responded to commit to support my hike for the LLS. It means a lot to see a response to the first set of emails I sent out last Sunday. Thank you.
I wanted to let y'all know a little about the LLS Team In Training Kickoff Event...
In short, it was motivating and moving.
In the motivating category, LLS in Dallas will have a marathon and half marathon teams, a walk team, a triathlon team, a bike team, and the hike team. I'm probably leaving one or two out because of all the participants and their enthusiasm!! Maybe 1/3 of the participants were veterans of the Team in Training program and the rest of us were all rookies. You could tell who we were by the way all our jaws dropped when we heard the cheering, as well as seeing and feeling all of the energy and enthusiasm in the room.
For me personally, the emotional part came when they introduced all of the Heroes who are either fighting or have survived leukemia. In particular was one Hero that survived the type of cancer that my dad succumbed to 16 years ago. It was bittersweet to know that just 16 years later CML is a controllable disease.
Don't get me wrong...I'm thrilled to know that this drug, Gleevic, is finally out on the market to help patients and their families, but I kept coming back to the short time span that had passed to develop and release this drug. Stunning...and bittersweet.
I knew right then and there that I was in the right place at the right time...you know, when you do something that clicks for you? Finding the right mate, the right job, the right church...it was one of those things. God does work in mysterious ways and if you look for it you'll see it all around you as I saw at the kickoff.
And I'm stoked!!
Not only will I be doing this in honor of my dad but I'll also be doing this for
We also got to meet with the other members of our hike team.
There are 60 of us. 30 signed up for the Big Bend Hike and 30 for the Grand Canyon hike. Joe Dann, our coach, and Ryan Minter, LLS lead for the hikers, let us know when our training hikes will be (every Saturday from here on out), gave us a suggested workout plan during the weekdays (huh? weekday workouts?), let us know that there would be weekly voluntary stair climbs (gulp, stair climbs?), and a big thick packet on hiking tips, tricks, and rules of the trail to help us. Joe and Ryan did a great job of laying out all of the preliminaries and answering all of our questions too. Great job guys! Along with all of the hiking info, we also got to meet our mentors who are there to help us fundraise and help us with all of that stuff.
So I've spent the last couple of days going over all of the info in the packet as well as my fundraising page and figuring out how that works...and I'm glad to say it's not been all that bad.
This won't be easy but I know that with your support I'll reach my goals and we'll all be a little farther along with finding a cure.
Our first training hike will be at Arbor Hills in Plano this Saturday and I'll be sure and post some pics when I get to the casa.
Gotta go do some situps, lunges, then walk the dogs...
*LLS Facts 2008-2009
Hey again!
I want to thank those of you who have donated so far or have responded to commit to support my hike for the LLS. It means a lot to see a response to the first set of emails I sent out last Sunday. Thank you.
I wanted to let y'all know a little about the LLS Team In Training Kickoff Event...
In short, it was motivating and moving.
In the motivating category, LLS in Dallas will have a marathon and half marathon teams, a walk team, a triathlon team, a bike team, and the hike team. I'm probably leaving one or two out because of all the participants and their enthusiasm!! Maybe 1/3 of the participants were veterans of the Team in Training program and the rest of us were all rookies. You could tell who we were by the way all our jaws dropped when we heard the cheering, as well as seeing and feeling all of the energy and enthusiasm in the room.
For me personally, the emotional part came when they introduced all of the Heroes who are either fighting or have survived leukemia. In particular was one Hero that survived the type of cancer that my dad succumbed to 16 years ago. It was bittersweet to know that just 16 years later CML is a controllable disease.
Don't get me wrong...I'm thrilled to know that this drug, Gleevic, is finally out on the market to help patients and their families, but I kept coming back to the short time span that had passed to develop and release this drug. Stunning...and bittersweet.
I knew right then and there that I was in the right place at the right time...you know, when you do something that clicks for you? Finding the right mate, the right job, the right church...it was one of those things. God does work in mysterious ways and if you look for it you'll see it all around you as I saw at the kickoff.
And I'm stoked!!
Not only will I be doing this in honor of my dad but I'll also be doing this for
- The 4 or 5 year old Hero who helped to pass out remembrance bracelets
- the ALL (Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia) Hero who has been ~15 months in remission
- All of the researchers who are trying to find a cure
- Those families who can't afford chemo treatments or drug therapy
- The folks who get the message out daily to the public that Leukemia can be cured
- The list goes on so I'll stop here!
We also got to meet with the other members of our hike team.
There are 60 of us. 30 signed up for the Big Bend Hike and 30 for the Grand Canyon hike. Joe Dann, our coach, and Ryan Minter, LLS lead for the hikers, let us know when our training hikes will be (every Saturday from here on out), gave us a suggested workout plan during the weekdays (huh? weekday workouts?), let us know that there would be weekly voluntary stair climbs (
So I've spent the last couple of days going over all of the info in the packet as well as my fundraising page and figuring out how that works...and I'm glad to say it's not been all that bad.
This won't be easy but I know that with your support I'll reach my goals and we'll all be a little farther along with finding a cure.
Our first training hike will be at Arbor Hills in Plano this Saturday and I'll be sure and post some pics when I get to the casa.
Gotta go do some situps, lunges, then walk the dogs...
*LLS Facts 2008-2009
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