General Jackassery

Just a quick post here. Since I started back jogging on the 4th of May I’ve run 26.6 miles at an average pace of 9:58 / mile. The fastest run was a short 1.2 mile run at an average pace of 8:00 / mile and the longest run was 3.6 miles at 8:32 / mile.

At this point the mileages are low, but they’ll ramp up soon. I just have to make sure I keep the pace low. My tendancy is to try to run too fast and if I keep this up it’s likely that I’ll end up injured.

As far as fundraising goes, I’m about to start sending the hard copy letters, probably this weekend. I have sent about 70 emails out and the donations are starting to trickle in.

Thank you all so much for your support and generousity. There’s no way I could do something this big without your help.

Dear Friends and Family,

I hope this letter finds you as happy and full of life as I am. I know many of you don’t hear from me very often so you’re probably asking yourself, “Why on earth is he sending me a letter?” Well, the answer is I need your help and I hope you’ll bear with me while I tell you about a person who changed my life and a team could change all of our lives.

As most of you know, I started playing Ice Hockey about seven years ago. Since then it’s become an integral part of my life. Not only have I learned new skills, but I’ve also become part of a great community. Around four years ago a guy by the name of Brent Ullom started coming out to play in the mornings with us. He loved hockey more than anyone I’ve ever met, but he loved people even more. He made it his mission in life to meet and learn something about everyone he ever came in contact with and it was inevitable that he would have more friends than just about anyone on the planet. Brent could find the best in everyone and he strove to get other people to find the best in themselves and others.

Brent was first diagnosed with bone cancer about two years ago. After several months of treatments he told us that he was in remission and he was proceeding with his life. He went to the University of Alabama to work on his Master’s Degree. He helped start a club hockey team at U of A. He fell in love and got engaged. Then last October I found out that Brent’s cancer was back and this time it had spread. According to mutual friends, the treatment options weren’t good. He fought a hard battle, making trips to Houston, Texas for treatments, but he never complained. And despite having ample reason to be mad at the world, he continued to smile and go on about his life as if everything would be okay.

In January of this year, at the age of 26, Brent lost his long battle. I don’t think anyone has ever touched my life quite like Brent and I don’t think anyone else ever will. He was one of the few people who seemed to know what life is truly about.

When I first heard that Brent’s cancer was back, I was shocked. When faced with that kind of situation it’s inevitable that one face one’s own mortality. I was approaching 30, I was overweight, and while I was reasonably active, my blood pressure and other risk factors were on the rise. I realize that no one can know when their time is up, but I made a decision to take as many outside factors away as possible. I decided to lose weight and start jogging regularly. Since last October I’ve lost over 45 pounds and I’ve gone from not being able to run a mile to completing my first Marathon this past March.

While running the marathon I noticed a bunch of people wearing purple tank tops that said “Team-in-Training” on them. When I volunteered at the Country Music Marathon in Nashville I noticed even more. After doing some investigation I discovered that Team-in-Training is an organization that benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. They help people train for a marathon and those people raise money to help fund research and support for Leukemia and Lymphoma patients. I wasn’t able to help Brent, but I can do something to help other people who are going through what Brent went through. While Brent’s disease was not Leukemia or Lymphoma, Cancer is Cancer and we all should do what we can to wipe all cancers from the planet.

So, I’ve decided to join Team-in-Training.

On October 28th of this year, I will complete the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. I will run in honor of Brent Ullom. I will run in honor of Steve Yeldell and Bill Nestor, both cancer survivors. I will run in honor of my 5th grade teacher Mr. Sulick who passed away during my 5th grade year. I will run in honor of my father who has repeatedly battled skin cancers. And I will run for all of you, your friends, and your families. Cancer has touched all our lives in one way or another. Now is our chance to do something about it.

Over the next 5 months I plan to run more than 500 miles to train for the Marathon. My goal is to raise $5,026. That’s $10 for every training mile I run and $1 for every mile of the Marathon. I promise to do the training and organize all of you in support of the Leukemia & Lymphoma society. What I need from you is your support and your donations. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is committed to finding cures for blood cancers and improving the lives of those affected by these diseases. With your help, we can make a difference.

Thank you so much for your time and support! You can donate by sending a check made to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in the self-addressed stamped envelope or you can visit my website HERE. I hope to raise the first 25% of my goal by July 16th and the remaining 75% by October 6th.

Thanks again

Todd

Over the course of the last couple of years it seems that I’ve met more and more people whose lives have been touched by cancer. As many of you know I’ve been a pretty huge fan of Lance Armstrong and the Lance Armstrong Foundation because of the work they’ve done with cancer patients. In fact, over the last two years I’ve donated a reasonable chunk of change to both the Lance Armstrong Foundation and to the American Cancer Society. Donating my personal money to these causes has given me a little bit of a sense that I’m actually doing something that will help people now and in the future.

For many people it is enough to dig into their pocket books and pass along some of their hard earned cash to these types of societies and causes and until recently, I was one of those people. Today, I don’t feel like it’s enough for me to simply have some money deducted from my pay check every two weeks and go about my merry way.

As you know I recently completed my first marathon and in as little as a couple of days after completing the marathon I had already started planning on running my second in December of this year. The plan was to spend a couple of weeks recovering from my shoulder surgery and then start back running very slowly with the ambition of running the Rocket City Marathon. While that plan has not changed, I’m upping the ante substantially.

The last 4 or 5 events that I’ve been to, from the 3 State 3 Mountain Challenge to the ING Georgia Marathon to the Country Music Marathon, I’ve noticed these purple Team-in-Training jerseys on people all over the place. I decided to do a little research and found out what it was all about.

The bottom line is that Team-in-Training is about raising money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in an effort to fight Blood Cancers. They will help me train for a marathon and I will help them raise money to support research and patient services. At the end of 4 to 5 months of training and fundraising I will run the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. on October 28th. As part of TNT I’ll run in honor of a designated “Teammate” who happens to be a blood cancer patient, but I’ll also be running in honor of my friend Brent Ullom who passed away this past January and in honor of Steve Yeldell and Bill Nestor (Sarah’s Father and Grandfather, respectively) who are now fortunately (because they survived) and unfortunately (because they had to go through the pain, worry, and illness), cancer survivors. I will also run in honor of my father who has had numerous boughts with skin cancer. While TNT is specifically meant to raise money to help fight blood cancers, cancer is cancer and as you can see it’s something that has touched me and my family in a significant way.

From here on out you can expect to see more regular posts as I keep you up to date on training and fundraising and begin to post quick facts on the #1 cause of death in children and the #2 cause of death in adults.

I hope that you’ll continue to check in and cheer me on. I also hope that you’ll choose to support the cause. I’ll be looking to raise over $5000 in the next 4 months and I’m going to need some help.

There’s much more to come. Thanks in advance for your support!