19 DAYS till race day!!!!

Well, there are 19 days left till  race day and I am getting more and more excited. Fundraising is over and my deadline has come and gone. My goal has been met  thanks to a very dear friend named Gina. I definitely would have not made it without her. Thank you Gina!!

Thank you to everyone who donated for my cause. I never could have made it without all the help from my friends family and complete strangers even. Everyone that made a donation no matter how big or small is near and dear to my heart and I thank you!!!

This has been a truly  amazing journey for Me. But really the journey has just begun because now that the fundraising is over I can concentrate on the rest of my training.  We have reached all of our long miles  and now it's time to start tapering. This past weekend was crazy I did 13 and a half miles on Saturday then a 5 K with cancer warriors on Sunday and then a 5 mile bike ride Sunday night. Let me tell you my legs are hurting. But it's all worth it because you all helped me raise almost $3000 for the most amazing cause I know.

So now I'll finish up with my taper miles and head on to San Francisco to complete a half marathon. And with every mile that I walk I will be thinking of all the amazing people that helped me get there. 

BUT, When I'm climbing the hill of San Francisco and the miles are getting longer and my legs are burning and I feel exhausted and I feel like I just can't go on, I will  think about 4 people and their families that have given me the reason to do this. I will think of Rick and his son Christian and the pain that a father must feel when he loses his son. I will think about Melinda and her sweet beautiful little girl Lily and how it must feel to be a mother and have to let  your beautiful  little girl fly. I will also think of two others that I've never met but I feel like I know them in my heart. Talia a bright beautiful young lady that fights 2 forms of cancer yet still makes those around her feel inspired and hopeful. And Jacob a young man who, while fighting against Leukemia still manages to openly share his daily battle and journey with all those around him in a positive upbeat way.

When the miles get long and tough I will remember these people because they have come thru the greatest pain anyone could ever know. Their strength to move on is so inspiring and I pray that God blesses them everyday.

Thank you for reading, thank you for following my journey and thank you for being a part of my life.

Angi

13 days $864 and 36 days 13.1 miles

I'm sure many of you that have been following me on a religious basis know that the title above means I have 13 days to raise $864 dollars, and in 36 days I will walk 13.1 miles in the Nike women's 1/2 marathon in San Francisco.

Now the first part is a real challenge. 13 days is not that long to raise over 800 dollars and I need your help. So please if you haven't made a donation click on the donation button on the side of the page and make one today I really need your help.

Now for the second part not as much of a challenge but still a pretty big challenge. You might be saying to yourself but Angi your walking only 13.1 miles or you might be saying Wow Angi you're walking 13.1 miles. Either way let me tell you it has not been a very easy road.
I've walked many miles over the past 5 months, doing 2 miles 3 miles 5 miles and then oh my gosh there are those long runs where I've been walking 8, 9, even 10 miles. Mind you I'm NOT out there in a leisurely stroll, I have a pace to maintain of a 16 minute mile and if you've never walked a  16 minute mile please get out there and try it. It's not as easy as some may think especially when doing it for extended amount of miles.

But I do this for a reason I do it for Lily, I do it for Christian because they can't do it anymore. I do it for Jacob, I do it for Talia, because they're still with us and they need us to help find a cure for them.
When I'm sitting around after long miles feeling sorry for myself because my knees are burning and on fire and Swollen bigger than a football, All I have to do is remember the two beautiful angels and then picture those other 2 beautiful faces and just remember what they have to go through on a daily basis, It makes my pain look small in comparison.

On October 14th 2012 I will be out there in the hills of San Francisco with all the pain in my knee with the burning sensation with all the swolleness with whatever it takes to get through 13.1 mile. And in my mind I will be remembering with every mile someone who has lost their battle with cancer or who at this very moment is fighting.

I ask for your support to help me get through these miles please make that donation no later than September 20th please make that donation today. $ 864 in 13 days.
Help me honor those who have fought and won , help me remember those who have fought and lost and help me to help those who fight the battle every day.

With all my love, admiration and respect

Angi

The Challenge is on and only YOU can help!!!

Dear friends and family:

I’ve made it to the homestretch. I’ve completed many long weeks of training with TNT soon to be ending in just 42 days when I hit the start line at the Nike Woman’s ½ Marathon on October 14^th 2012. All of my training is paying off. I am pleased with my progress and I feel like I am more than ready.

One goal I have still not met is my fundraising goal of $2240 for TNT and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). I am currently about $980 away. With your help I might even be able to exceed my goal. I am facing a real Challenge to reach my goal in the next 18 days.

Well, I can’t leave that challenge alone and I’m here to remind you about the wonderful work that LLS is doing in blood cancer research and ask you one last time, if you haven’t yet contributed but are interested in doing so, today is the day. With my fundraising deadline just 18 days away I am a little nervous that I won't make the goal. I want to know that I have done my very best to raise money for this worthy organization.

Thanks again for your friendship and your support. Looking forward to racing for a cure on October 14^th in San Francisco.

 I'm running with TNT. I'm running 4 Life! Check out my website at:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/ncfl/nikesf12/run4life (**UPDATE: This is not an active site do not donate here anymore) 

 

 

 

Love Angi 

22 Days and Counting!!!

That's about all that is left for me to reach my goal. Well this goal anyways. I sit back and think about all that I have been through over the years, My own battle with cancer, the struggle to get healthy again, going through the guilt of being a survivor when there are so many others around me losing their battle with this horrible disease. It's been a long hard road.

Even though it's been hard for me, I am drawn to the fact that it is so much harder for so many others. God let me breathe another day on this earth for a reason, no, for a purpose. I am 100% sure that His purpose for me is to give back however I can. I can't donate a ton of money personally, as I know that many of you reading this right now can't either, but I can donate my time, I can become a better person everyday.

I choose to do that by pushing myself to finish the Nike 1/2 Marathon in October, then the Wine & Dine 1/2 Marathon in November, and who knows maybe even go back to where it all started and do the WDW Marathon Weekend 1/2 Marathon again. Ya never know where the road will take you.

What I do know is that I will push myself through every one of those long 13.1 miles because of some great people who have lost their battle. For Christian a little boy I never had the pleasure of meeting in person because he was taken too young, But, thanks to his dad I have come to know him and be inspired. For Lily a 5 year old little girl who I only had the pleasure of meeting through post on facebook by my dear friend Angi and Lily's mom Melinda. For Jean a grandmother, mother and wife that lived many great years but cancer took her in the end. I will push to honor the memory of these fine people.

I will also push to honor some very special people who are fighting right now. For Talia, a 13 year old girl who is in the mist of battling 2 aggressive types of cancer yet still lives life to the fullest and for Jacob (aka The Leukemia Slayer) another fine young man who lives life with  cancer out in the open so that others can see what it is like.

These people are all inspiring to me and I feel that I need to do this for them!!

Together we train to beat cancer. So that one day there will be a cure!

24 more days....Will I make my goal????

24 days...that's all I have left to raise the remaining $1000 needed to reach my goal. I am so nervous. I really need to make this goal.Not for me!  At this point I'm going to do this marathon whether I collect the money or not. This is for the patients. For the families, for those who can not get out there and walk the miles I have walked.

 

Here is something my friend Deb found for me at the Disney 1/2. I still carry it everywhere I go.

Give me the courage to run the race.

Help me persevere as you taught us.

Grant me the strength to finish strong.

Honor me with your presence on my journey.

Allow me to be a Grace runner this day.

One more breath

One more step

One more mile...

 

Refocusing on WHY I am doing this crazy Marathon thing!! For Christian for Lily For Talia!!! For them ALL!!

So I sat down yesterday and reflected on my life and my journey to the finish line. After all there is NO finish line till there is a cure.

First thing on my mind was my own battle with cancer. I have never actually sat back and thought about it. I survived, it was a tough long road to battle, and it almost tore my family apart. That's all I even want to remember about it. However, I was talking with Angi F. (yup there is another one out there) a very beautiful women that started a program called Angel Snugs. They make hats and scarfs and such for children with cancer.  We were talking and for the first time in a long time I put a term on how I feel from time to time. Conflicted!

I'm conflicted when I see children like Lily, a sweet little girl only 5 years old that recently lost her battle with Neuroblastoma on June 10th 2012. Christian, another sweet Angel that lost his battle with Leukemia to young in life. and Talia, a soon to be 13 year old young lady, diagnosed with stage 4 Neuroblastoma and Pre-Leukemia. An amazing girl with a light in her eyes that sends a warm feeling to everyone who crosses her path.

Conflicted! That's what I feel from time to time. Why would GOD spare me and take home Christian and Lily?? I'm nothing special and these two Angels are. WHY ME!!!! I ask that so very Often. I don't know why, but I do know one thing. I am NOT going to waste on moment that GOD has given me feeling sorry for myself and questioning WHY?? NOT ANYMORE!!!!

My mission is to help find a cure anyway that I can. Whether it's through running my second half Marathon with TNT to raise money for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, or running my third 1/2 Marathon and raising money for Angel Snugs. Or just going out there and raising money on my own for whatever cancer researching cause I can find. I WILL NOT WASTE WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN ME ANYMORE!!!!

So here is what I am going to do, and here is how you can help ! When I compete in the Nike 1/2 marathon in October, I will proudly wear the names of Christian Stafford, Princess Lily DeJesus, and Talia Castellano in a very special spot on my shirt.. because this race is for them!!!!

I am offering you as well the chance to honor someone you know who has been affected by cancer. For a donation of what ever amount you see fit, I will put the name of someone you would like on my race shirt. So help me to honor and remember those who fight, those who have lost and those who have won there battles with cancer. Donate today at http://pages.teamintraining.org/ncfl/nikesf12/run4life  (**UPDATE: This is no longer an open link. Do not use it to donate)

I know that just about everyone out there knows someone who as been affected by cancer. Help me in the fight so that not one more child, not one more mother, father, aunt uncle, brother, sister, or friend has to die at the evil hands of cancer.

THERE IS NO FINISH LINE UNTIL THERE IS A CURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MILA Update

So it's been a little over a week since I started using Mila, and I would LOVE to say that I am FULL of energy and noticed a HUGE difference, but in all honesty I have not. I have noticed that I feel a little more energized up to an hour after consuming it, but then nothing. I'm going to give it another week, and I am going to up my intake to 2 tablespoons a day, that may be the problem.

In all fairness of this experiment I am also going to purchase another brand of CHIA seeds next week and see if it is any better or not.

Stay tuned for the MILA SAGA!!!!!