WEEK #8

CUTLER UPDATE: Things continue to progress in a positive direction! Last week he had a bone marrow aspirate and spinal tap, and I hope to hear the results soon. But for now I'm going with the 'no news is good news' philosophy! He's also working with a physical therapist to help strengthen his core muscles so that he can walk (being hooked up to machines in the hospital for so long, he got a bit of a late start!).
TRAINING UPDATE: What can I say? The weather was awesome, and I had my best long run of the season yet - 14 MILES in 2 hrs, 15 mins!!! I hope the trend continues but even if it doesn't, I'm very happy with my current pace. Needless to say, I was on 'Cloud 9' for most of the day Saturday :o)

FUNDRAISING UPDATE: I have the best supporters by far! Another $775 came in, bringing my grand total up to (drumroll please)... $4,231! WOOT! I decided to go ahead and raise my personal goal to $5,000 and who knows, maybe I can even surpass that amount. Thank you again, a thousand times over!

WEEK #7

CUTLER UPDATE: I am happy to report that things continue to improve for Cutler and the Fricke family! It has truly been a rewarding experience for me to just share a small part of their lives as I read their blog each week and remember WHY I'm doing this. I am excited to be meeting Cutler for the first time very soon! :)

TRAINING UPDATE: So in my picture above, you can't tell but I am FREEZING (literally shivering) and SOAKED TO THE BONE! You may also note the ball cap with fleece headband over it to cover my ears - not my best look but hey, a girl's gotta do what she's gotta do! Let's not forget the sassy 'fuel belt' - lookin' good, girlfriend! The one word I keep seeing from my coaches, mentors and teammates is that our running conditions were BRUTAL. But I'm happy to report - I ran my 12 MILES despite the weather, and quickly! :) I've yet to find the exact words to describe the experience. So let me just say... Go TEAM!
FUNDRAISING UPDATE: This week we have our "recommitment event" - this is the date by which we need to have raised 25% towards our fundraising minimum. Thanks to all of you and your generosity, I have surpassed that amount and will be officially recommitting to complete my event! YEA!

WEEK #6

CUTLER UPDATE: Big news - Cutler turned 1 on Sunday!!! Happy belated Birthday, Superbaby Cutler! What a wonderful thing to spend his birthday celebrating at home, with family - two things that could easily be taken for granted. All is as it should be! Please pray for favorable blood test results this Thursday (18th).

TRAINING UPDATE: First time this season to run double-digits - 10 miles! I am feeling continually blessed to be making it through each long run with only minor shin pain in the beginning. Please pray for my health as I have been a little under the weather this past week (and next weekend I'll be up to 12 miles!).

FUNDRAISING UPDATE: Another $60 in donations, bringing us up to an even $3,300!!! Woohoo! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Your generosity continues to inspire me, and keeps me accountable to this great cause!

WEEK #5

CUTLER UPDATE: I am truly amazed at how well he's doing! It warms my heart to know that life is returning to a somewhat-normal state for the Fricke's. They've recently updated their blog with new pictures and videos so check it out (www.teamfricke.wordpress.com). You can also subscribe to their blog and receive an email each time they update it - too cool! Continue to pray that God would completely heal little Cutler, as only He can do.
TRAINING UPDATE: We're up to 8 miles already! But thankfully I'm continuing to keep up. Always tough getting started (shins) but by the time it's over I feel like I could keep on running - not a bad thing considering I will ultimately have 26.2 miles to run before it's all said and done! ;)
FUNDRAISING UPDATE: An ~AWESOME~ week! $635 total, bringing the grand total up to (drumroll please)... $3,240!!! W-O-W, I feel so blessed and grateful for your support. And that doesn't include the money raised from the coffee sales, or from those who came out to BlackFinn. Thanks again to every single one of you! :)

WEEK #4

CUTLER UPDATE: He continues to do well. In the peaks and in the valleys, let's keep the praises going! And let's remember to pray for other children out there fighting blood cancers. Life is so precious - may we never take it for granted!

TRAINING UPDATE: We ran the Cowtown 10k (6.2 miles) in Fort Worth as part of our training this week. It was so much fun! My friends Priscilla and Sonya were kind enough to join me and we had a good time. I had forgotten how beautiful Fort Worth is! And if it weren't for my parking snafu we would've started on time LOL. But we still managed to finish in just over an hour. Woohoo!

FUNDRAISING UPDATE: A bit of a slow week, but by no means am I complaining! :) I've been very fortunate to have received so many donations thus far. Thanks again to ALL of our supporters! Oh, I did earn $50 for volunteering at the Lonestar Blood Cancer Conference at UTSW Med. Ctr. Thanks to Jane Beeson for allowing me to help out!

WEEK #3

CUTLER UPDATE: He's still learning to adjust to life at home (rather than the hospital), but the Fricke's are enjoying having everyone under one roof. The doctors continue to be pleased with his progress. He also has a new nanny (one of Melanie's cousins) who will be living with them for at least 6 months, which I know will be a huge help to them!

TRAINING UPDATE: With the temperature a good 20 degrees warmer than week #2, I didn't have to worry about the cold at all. And, I was able to run my 5 miles with very little shin pain. I felt a bit fatigued this week, but that could've been due to the big dinner I ate the night before :( But I managed to maintain my 10-minute mile pace. Yay!

FUNDRAISING UPDATE: My current total is now at a mind-blowing $2,555! Can I get a witness? ;o) Thank you, thank you, thank you! And I do mean Y-O-U!

WEEK #2

CUTLER UPDATE: As I mentioned last week, Cutler is finally home from the hospital! He's beginning to adjust to his 'new' surroundings, and starting to improve on the feeding tube. As you can see, his hair is starting to grow back as well :) The Fricke's posted some FAQ's about Cutler that I thought were really helpful. Take a look: http://teamfricke.wordpress.com/2010/02/13/faq/
TRAINING UPDATE: Although it was cooooold outside, the temperature didn't affect me too much (that is, once I got my fingers warmed up!). My only real issue was some shin pain, but at the water stop I stretched and after that I was good. The 4 miles went by quickly (yea)! Hopefully I can keep it up!
FUNDRAISING UPDATE: My current total is now at an astounding $2,300! I am truly amazed and extremely grateful for the overwhelming response so early in the season! THANK YOU ALL so much!!!

WEEK #1

Let the training begin! :) For our first week, we had a 'shoe clinic' at Luke's Locker in Colleyville to learn about the proper fit for running shoes, and the nice folks there fitted me with a snazzy new pair of Brooks Glyercin running shoes, woohoo! We also had a 'walk clinic' with Coach Anna, who explained that the proper race walking posture should feel something like holding a quarter between your cheeks (who knew)!
CUTLER UPDATE: As of yesterday (2/8) CUTLER IS FINALLY HOME again, two months after his bone marrow transplant on 12/2!!! Thank you, God!
TRAINING UPDATE: 2 miles was a piece of cake, whew! So far so good. I will brag just a tiny bit... if I hadn't stopped to tighten my shoe laces and chat at the water jug, I would've been the 1st one back instead of the 3rd! :) Much different than last time. My pace was right at a 10-minute mile. Yay!
FUNDRAISING UPDATE: Only 1 week into the season, and you've already helped me raise $1,895!!! AMAZING! Thank you all so much! My group even won the coveted Golden Shoe award because of our impressive fundraising results! :)

Pre-season Post

I attended the official TNT Summer Season Kick-off event last Saturday afternoon, and it was GREAT! Last time, we signed up after the season had already started so we missed some of the fun. This time, not only did I earn some cool TNT swag (drawstring bag, socks, hat, shirt) from having such a great fundraising effort (thank you!) but I also got to meet the entire DFW Metro marathon team - my fellow runners, our mentors, coaches and other VIPs! :) Melanie was able to attend as well, and I think it was time well-spent away from the hospital. She was able to see firsthand what TNT is all about. I'm so glad she could make it!

I have to say, I'm nervous, excited, inspired and ready to start training tomorrow! Shoe clinic and then 2 miles. Here we go... :)

Just a quick note...

Hi and welcome to my Blog! :) I decided to create this page so that all of my posts can remain in one place throughout the entire summer season. Please check back often as I will be updating the site weekly for the next 4 months!