Angel Snugs ...Team Winging it!!!

OK, so why Angel Snugs...



Sweet ANGEL LILLY

Angel Snugs is were I first learned about and fell in love with Lilly.

See Lilly is the the spokes child for Angel Snugs. I saw her in pictures and post and hoped to get the chance to meet her, but before I could this sweet little Angel lost her battle with cancer.

 I may not have had the privilege of meeting her face to face, yet I feel like I know her, like I have known her. Partly because of my own battles with cancer and that connection you feel with others who have fought the battle, but also through Angi F, and Lilly's mom Melinda.



MELINDA

Talk about one tough lady. Melinda is amazing and a true inspiration. Not just because of having to pick up the shattered pieces everyday and trying to survive through the loss of her child, but in how she has been dealing with it. She has opened herself up to the world, well the facebook world at least.

Melinda is very open about her feelings, her struggles, her joy, and her pain. She has shared her life & Lilly with all that listen. She's honest and tells it like it is, the good and the bad. I believe this not only helps her by allowing her a way to vent and get it off her chest, but I know that it will help someone else out there that may be suffering. Help someone else see that it's pk to feel the way they do.

Melinda is grieving in a way that only she can & no one should ever hold that against her. I applaud her strength & her courage. I can only sit back in awe at her strength and pray that God will always be there to hold her when needed and lift her up during the bad times.

THANK YOU MELINDA!!!!




I am hoping to do more Angle Snugs Events, not only because it a great organization, but because it is a local one. LLS is amazing as well, and I am so thankful for the new passion it has given me, but they are national & receive lots of support from TNT and Donors all over the world. Angel Snugs is smaller and just as great a cause. My dedication and efforts are now for them. Again if you would like to help please donate at http://tinyurl.com/run4lifewithAngi

Wine & DINE...

The race is a 1/2 Marathon on November 10th. It's a night race that starts at about 10pm. I sure hope that it's not too cold...or too hot. Similar to Tower of Terror, again hopefully not as hot and humid as TOT was.

I'm doing this race with my oldest Son MIKE!!!It will be his first 1/2 marathon. I'm so very proud of him for doing this. For helping to raise money for a good cause and for attempting this major event. I am a little nervous for him though because he really hasn't been training the way that he should. Disney races are that that easy because of the minimum pace requirement and I sure hope he makes it OK.

I think he has it in mind that if his old mom can do it than he can too. Only thing is that mom has been training for over a year and has already completed 2 other 1/2 Marathons. lol

WE WILL SEE !!!!

Update

The past few weeks have been a challenge...Dr. Visits..Testing...Blood...Shots...new medications. Not all that fun. I've been feeling excessively tired & still trying to maintain myself at work & keeping up with my family. Unfortunately my friends have fallen to the wayside. I have forgotten to call my best friend back when promised..(which I will do tonight), I haven't talked to anyone other than my family and Dr's and customers at work err.... I am sooo looking forward the my race coming up on the 10th. I really need the distraction. 

Many days I wonder how I can possibly keep all this together. This is only the beginning, in a couple weeks I will do 5 days of Radiation Therapy. Not looking forward to that, then we will schedule the appt to remove the tumor...hopefully the whole thing this time.

My Dr has told me I need to keep moving, even when I feel tired. That the walking I am doing is probably the best thing for me, BUT...in the next breath she says make sure to take it easy when I need to and don't over do it... Hey I'm a runner now what does over do it mean??? lol.. I follow my motto "Run till you can't and walk till you can"

Now that we are on the subject of running, let's talk a little about Wine & Dine and Angel Snugs.

I told you last time that I would fill you in more about Angel Snugs & Team Winging it. This is the organization that was started by my dear friend Angi F. It's local to Florida and is a non-profit organization founded to provide training to youth groups and organizations, senior groups and other volunteers of all demographics on how to design and create "snugs". It's mission is to then donate these "snugs" to medical facilities to comfort children fighting cancer while enduring their lifesaving treatments.

Winging It! is their team endurance training program. And Wine & Dine is their Inaugural event. If you would like to support me in this you can go to  http://tinyurl.com/run4lifewithAngi.   Proceeds will benefit our Angel Snugs program and allow us to provide comfort to more children fighting cancer with our snugs.


Being a new organization they need more help spreading awareness and getting Donations of all sorts including supplies such as yarn, needle looms etc.

To be continued in a few...

My World was Rocked....but its stabilizing again!!

I wasn't going to make this public knowledge, but I decided since I have been open about all that I do in the fundraising world, and Why,  Then This needed to be said. 

Just before I left for San Francisco to embark on the greatest journey of my cancer fighting adventure, I had my usual follow up appointment. It was discovered that the little tiny piece of Tumor that  they were unable to remove has started to grow again. A biopsy was done to rule out if the cancer had returned with the new growth. I asked my Dr to PLEASE not tell me anything about the results until I had returned from San Francisco, one, because there was nothing I could do about it once I was there and two, I wanted to have a good time. (I know sounds selfish)

I didn't tell anyone about this, not my family, my friends, NO ONE! I did enjoy my weekend, but from time to time I have to admit I did slip into this world of concern and a tad bit of depression wondering what the results could be. I don't think anyone really noticed except for Deb...I have a feeling she knew something wasn't quite right and maybe even Robyn too. I just put on my happy face and kept on going. Eventually I had to confide in someone so I told Deb, and Michele a little about it.

Monday came around and I managed to get through most of the day with out a phone call from my doctor. I was feeling pretty confident that it was good news as he did not call. I don't even remember what time it was or even all of what he said when he did call, but I do remember that I was standing in the middle of Boudin bread Factory, and the phone buzzed in my pocket over and over again. I knew where the call was from so I let it go to voicemail..I figured they would leave a message and I would wait till I got home that night to listen to it. NOPE!!! They kept calling...so I answered.

It was THAT call and it was THAT news that I did not want to hear...I pretty much blanked out at this point, all I remember was Tumor growing CANCER returned!!! I didn't want to hear it.. not now.. not again!!! I walked away from everyone..I had to pull myself together and get through the rest of the day. But how.. How do I tell my family, How do I tell my friends..how do I tell myself that life is changing AGAIN in a way I Don't want it to change.

I put on my happy face and made my way back to my friends. The only thing I remember after that is breaking down and telling them a little of what was going on. That group hug from Deb, Robyn and Jessica meant more to me at that point in time than anything. It wouldn't change things and it wouldn't make it go away but it made me feel a little more secure.

The rest of the afternoon and the flight home was a blur. I just put myself in some sort of shell and went through the motions..I wasn't really there. All I kept thinking was how would I tell my family.

Now Before I go any further I have to say that since that day my prognosis has changed a bit and things are not great but they are not as bad as they were made to be by the DR on that first day. Which if he had told me differently then I may not have been so devastated.

When I got home I continued to go through the motions. I didn't even tell my family till Yesterday when i got a more sold result and a bit of better news. Now I am glad I waited to tell them.

After more testing and beginning treatments for the worst case scenario it turns out that YES the tumor is growing again, and it has shifted slightly. As for CANCER (that's such a scary word) report was mis-read... yup mis-read and told to me wrong. The actual results are that the Tumor does show Precancerous activity. This means that YES there is a great potential of cancer coming back, and YES I do need to be very much concerned but at this point the cancer HAS NOT returned. Now if that was what I was told on Monday I would not have put myself, and my friends through almost a weeks worth of pain.

So what next??? Well I will go through a bit of Radiation Therapy as a precaution, and I will continue to monitor the growth pattern and growth speed of the Tumor, and because of the fact that it's a Olfactory groove meningiomas, ( grows along the nerves that run between the brain and the nose)  I may have the possibility of loosing my sense of smell. This will be sad if I do, but it's much better than before, remember, I told you it has moved, well because of that movement it no longer rest on my optic nerve which has contributed to my very bad eye sight and migraines. So now I am in less danger of loosing my eyesight. Which I think I would miss much more than my sense of smell.

It will still be a long hard road, Dr's orders are to reduce stress, eat better and continue to exercise as my energy levels will allow. Well, I tell you this. I started on a journey to RUN4Life and I will continue on that Journey...next up Disney Wine & Dine on November 10th. Raising money with this race for Angel Snugs. What is Angel Snugs you ask... GOOD question it is a non-profit organization founded to provide training to youth groups and organizations, senior groups and other volunteers of all demographics on how to design and create "snugs". It's mission is to then donate these "snugs" to medical facilities to comfort children fighting cancer while enduring their lifesaving treatments.

It was started by my dear friend Angi...Yup not to confuse you but her name is Angi too and spelt the same as mine...So from here on out I'll make sure to address her as Angi F.

I'll tell you more about Angel Snugs Inc. and Team Winging it in my next post. but for now please think about making a donation to my fundraising page at http://www.active.com/donate/winging-it-disney-wd/wingsofluv

Much Luv

Angi

RACE DAY!!! Sunday October 14th 2012

Well folks here it is RACE DAY! 

 

 

The Start Line of the Nike Women's Marathon 2012 a race to benefit
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

 

 Hard to believe that all the hard work in training and raising money has all finally come to this one day, this one moment, this one person ME! Woke up at 5 am today. Had to be in the corrals by 6am for our 7am start. It was so exciting lining up with Deb and Kathy. We could feel the adrenaline flowing through all those women (and Men). Each one of us with a story to tell. Each one here for a different reason. Each one of us united in one thing. To concur the hills of San Francisco and finish The Nike Women's Marathon 2012.



Deb & I in our Corral before the race

Deb & Kathy before the race





Start of the race...PEOPLE as far as you can see and beyond

The race started out slow, because there were just so many people 35,000 people to be exact. Not including all the spectators along the way. The first 5 miles flew by like they were nothing. I even took pictures along the way. It was very foggy so there wasn't a whole lot to see, but None the less I took photos.

 

Just before mile 2





 

Ship docked at the Wharf about mile 3

Along the Wharf

 

 



Before I knew I was just before Mile 5 and the first of many hills to come that would really test my strength, my training, and my will power to finish this race. This was a filler, but the worst was yet to come. 



 

 

 

MILE 6!!!

 

That is a true test of any ones strength. The point were you look at yourself and second guess WHY you did this to yourself. It was the longest steepest soul dragging hill I have ever seen, and All I kept trying to do was put one foot in front of the other. About half way up I remember seeing someone that looked like one of my past coaches..Coach Laura. I've mentioned her before an a few of my past post. Then out of nowhere another coach yells out Ladies "SWING THOSE ARMS".. all of a sudden like out of no where I felt the power to keep going up this hill. Now mind you this was a LONG steady climb for pretty much an entire mile. I had to dig deep and find motivation more than once. When it got hard and thoughts of just stopping and letting the bug pick me up snuck into my head, I remembered WHY I started this journey. I remembered Talia who is at home in the hospital, Jacob, and I kept seeing that beautiful little face of a sweet Angel named LILLY  and felt the encouragement of Christian. They truly did help push me through several times.

 

 

Some photos along the way:

 

Love This sign!!!
 

Sign Along the way lol!!



 

 Just after Mile 10

 

 THE FINISH!!!!!  13.1

 

 

 When I finally reached mile 10 I thought my legs were going to fall off. Not because of the long miles, but those hills really kicked my butt. I started to slow down a lot. I was on track to finish this race in under 4:00 which would have been a PR (personal record) for me. Which considering where I was would have been amazing. My legs had another time in mind. It took all I could give to just keep putting that one foot in front of the other. At mile 11 I wasn't any better. It was so strange though because overall I felt good. I wasn't tired or winded, my mind was in a great place. I felt good! It was my LEGS however that were taking control, and they were saying they had enough!!!! My ankle was selling my calves rock solid and my upper thighs felt like they were on fire. FIRE!! WAIT!!! Fire= Firemen...FIREMEN = Tiffany Necklace. All This = FINISH LINE!!!!  MUST KEEP GOING!!!!

 

At Mile 12.5 I could finally see the finish line, and I knew I was going to make it. This is when my teammate Patrice caught up to me. Thank goodness for her. because even though I knew I was almost there my very sore legs still wanted to go cry in a corner somewhere. She looked at me and said "come on 25 steps fast" and that's what I did ran 25 seconds... then "45 slow" that was all I need to get me to the point where I was ready to RUN across that finish line, and Run I did.

 

I DID IT!!!!!

 

 

Finish line photo

 

 

 

The Fireman Who gave me my Tiffany &Co. Finishers Me

 

 Mile 2 Video

 

 

 

 

MILE 6 Video

 

 





Saturday October 13th 2012 The Adventure Continues

Our stop on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge



So you will be reading this sometime during the week after I get back, but in my world it is Saturday 10/13/12... Woke up today about 6 am San Fran time that is. My body is still on the east coast time of 9am. I couldn't really go back to sleep so I laid in bed looking out the window at the amazing skyline. It's so beautiful here.

My very Early morning view

To start the Day deb and I hit the corner Starbucks ( there is one on just about every corner here). Then headed back over to the Expotique and Macy's for a little make over. We had an Early Inspiration Dinner. It was more like a lunch at noon. I always love the way you feel after the inspiration Dinner. They get you so motivated and it's great to share laughs with your teammates and other participants from around the US.

Part of our Amazing FL team.


 At first I was bummed about the early time for us, but after it proved to be the best because it gave us the rest of today to site see on Day 2 of the Double Decker Bus tour. And we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day.




We took the bus through the city and learned about the history and the many different buildings. We went down to fisherman's wharf to do a little shopping and to hit the Boudin Bread Factory for Dinner. I had Clam Chowder in a Bread Bowl and man was it GOOD!!!

But before that we went on the double decker tour of the Golden Gate Bridge and Sausolito. The views were amazing and the bus tour guide that we had was hilarious. Instead of boring you with all the details here are some photos from along the way.



Fisherman's Wharf

Candy Store that had HUGE candies








Golden Gate Bridge

Trolley car



Myself, Deb & Robyn at Golden Gate Bridge

Alcatraz Island



  

To end the day we were going to hop on a Trolley and go back to the hotel. This proved to be a nightmare because the wait in line was FOREVER!!!!  The Full marathon Team needed to get back first so they took a cab. Let me tell you getting a cab was NO piece of cake either. Deb, Rich and I stayed behind to wait on a trolley. Then Rich decided to put us on a bus. This bus full pretty much full, and just as the doors are about to close Rich decides not to get on. I was in a bit of a shock because Deb and I had NO idea where we were going or where we were supposed to get off at. After about 3 stops or so this women on the bus says to her husband "Dear, there is this strange man that keeps following the bus and stopping when it stops"... I turn to look and there is Rich running along side the bus. I never laughed so hard or felt so relieved. He signaled to get off at the next stop. Our Hero...making sure we get back safe and running the whole way by himself. This man truly amazes me.

Made it.

It's Actually Friday October 12th 2012 and, Well, I made it. I'm in San Francisco!!! Its has been very emotional and exciting at the same time. We arrived today at the airport and were put on a bus to the hotel.

Our Team in Training Nike Team waiting at the airport for the bus.

Once at the hotel we checked in, and thanks to some smooth talking by my roommate and bestest friend Deb we ended up with a room on the 31st floor of a 36 floor hotel...with a view over looking the city, Alcatraz, Coit Tower and the Bay Bridge. Its breath taking.





View From Hotel Room





First thing we did after settling in our room was head over to Nike town. This is were you can purchase just about anything Nike. Outside of the building of the wall they list the names of all the participants. It was so cool to find my name and even cooler that it was were I could see it and have my picture taken with it. Inside there was another wall that you could write on so I found a place to write run4life Angi...I made my mark.



The Great Nike Wall of names!



My Name on the Great Nike Wall :)

After looking around the 4 floors of Nike town we headed over to the Expoteque to pick up our race packets. Its was cool because I was a Nike plus member I got a special bag. After walking around and checking out the expo for a while we were pretty hungry. We knew we wanted to do a double decker tour so we went ahead and purchased a 2 day pass...now let me tell you it was pretty funny..there's like 3 different companies standing there trying to get you to take their bus, so they stand there and haggle with you . The winning one for us was the City Sight seeing tours...why...because it had an express bus that took us straight to fisherman's Wharf..where In and Out burgers was located...why because we were starving and they have the best burgers and fries ever.

 

Now by WE, I mean the best group of friends and teammates anyone could ask for. Deb, Robyn, Michele, Rich, Jessica, Hope & Nikki. After eating and walking around for a bit we went to this place called the Buena Vista (as recommended by Deb)..it was a very small Irish Pub that made the best Irish Coffees...it was cool to watch them being made.

At this point we got our first taste of race day. We had to walk up a hill that we will be walking up on race day and it wasn't small. I said to Michele that this one wasn't all that bad and she tells me "oh, well that's just a small hill...they will be bigger later in the race"..NOW I'm nervous cause I'm looking at 13.1 miles of hills. Oh well I guess I'll worry about that on Sunday.

 For Dinner we decided to walk about 4 blocks to this restaurant called the Stinking Rose...its a little Italian garlic restaurant..the food was amazing.

We finished the night with a stroll through China Town and some window shopping..then back to the hotel room to the sack.
It was a pretty long crazy fun day. I slept like a baby I was so tired...after all it is 3 hours earlier here...not quite adjusted to this time zone yet...
Its now time for bed..its actually Saturday now and I have to get up early for race day tomorrow...so I'll tell you all about today's adventures and the race in the next post.



Night all!!!!

Some of the races along the way...

by Angi's Place on Tuesday, March 13, 2012 at 1:08am ·

While taking this incredible journey I actually lost my mind a little. I actually started wanting to get in better shape. I started wanting to run more races. It's like this new fire in me was ignited.

I have actually already walked in several races, and I made a New Years Resolution to do one race a month every month of 2012.

These are the races and stats so far.

October 23, 2011

UCF U Can Finish 5 miler: Finished in 1:30:22 placed in 1426 place out of 1438 people.

November 13, 2011

Founders day 5k: Finished in 57:42 placed 746 out of 756 people.

December 10, 2011

Vanessa Welch Reindeer Run 3 mile race: Not a timed event.

January 7th 2012

Disney ½ Marathon: Finished in 4:02:56 placed 22341 out of 22443 (that completed)

February 4, 2012

Lady Track Shack 5k: Finished in 54:24 place 1676 out of 1837

I have started working on my issues with a new doctor. I found out that I had a severe B12 deficiency, which has gotten better. I'm eating better, making small changes in food, and exercise. My knees are still an issue but as I am losing weight and my legs are getting stronger, they are getting much better. Now I have it in my head that I want to RUN my next ½ Marathon. Yup I did say my next ½.

The Journey has only begun...

by Angi's Place on Tuesday, March 13, 2012 at 1:10am ·

This is now a life long journey for me. One that I hope I can continue to keep you posted on here at Angi's place.

Now I WANT to RUN!! . Yup RUN not walk my second 1/2 Marathon in October. The Nike woman’s half in San Francisco (with Team in Training). So, I went back to the basics of learning to run, I have continued my training on my own with a New Years resolution to do 1 race a month no matter how small every month this year . Official training for Nike starts in April or May, but for now I am speed walking 5K's and adding in the running a little at a time. . I have caught a passion for running that I can't believe.

Next on my plate I am doing a 5K next Sunday, then a 10k the week after that. In April I have two 5Kk's and maybe even MyFirst Tri-athalon. May another Disney event, September a 10 mile race, Then Nike in October.

Some plans for the future: a Full Marathon in 2013, and a century ride in 2014, maybe even a half Iron Man in 2015, and an Iron Man in 2016

Wow I must be crazy, but I love every minute of it.
And to think it all started from a Dream, a little boy I never met, and the best friends and teammates ever!!!!

Why LLS, Why I do these crazy things.

by Angi's Place on Saturday, March 31, 2012 at 6:44pm ·

Many of my friends and family know that I am not much of a runner at all. I NEVER have been, I spend many of my days at work and my nights... well, you'll usually find me at work or at home on the couch. That's about it. Notice how you wouldn't find me at the gym? Yeah.

Why, then, would someone like me, a person who is clearly not athletic, train for a marathon? That is a question I asked myself before I trained for my first ½ marathon back in January of this year. Yes, I have already walked a ½ -- the Disney ½ Marathon. Through out my training I have made some of the best friends ever, and not to leave anyone out the dearest of these are my 2 fellow Team Aries members Deb and Robyn. Now together the 3 of us seem to have gone from that elusive half crazy 13.1 mile training to a certifiably crazy 26.2 . We seem to think it will be "fun" to train for a grueling 26.2-mile marathon together.

Strangely enough, they are right.

For the Disney ½ Marathon we spent almost 6 months training for the ½ marathon and, despite the painful aftermath, we had fun -- early morning runs, great long conversations as we walked, and a couple amazing brunches after our weekly long runs. We kept each other on check, holding each other accountable, and I venture to say we formed a bond that was very familiar. We also met plenty of people along the way, most of whom were avid runners, some who have run marathons before. At the end of the ½ marathon, I thought, "Why would anyone do that again?

Here I am before you, about to train for my second event, a FULL marathon. The first event I did was a personal challenge. I wanted to finish a ½ marathon, check off one thing on my "bucket list." This time it's different.

Everyday I meet people who have survived a blood cancer, or someone who has lost someone to a blood cancer. I have a personal friend whose life was once touch by this awful disease. Above all the (many) reasons I chose to train with LLS's Team In Training, I am running this one for my friend and the countless others out there who have had to cross paths with this wretched disease. I will work to continue in the fight against Leukemia & Lymphoma by raising money to help find the cure and improve the quality of life of Lymphoma patients and their families.

***NOTE.. since this post, my doctor informed me that I would not be able to complete a  Full Marathon at this time because of my issues with my knees, so I decided to step down to the 1/2 Marathon for Nike. My great friend deb joined me and we both are still cheering on Robyn as she completes her first Full.  Go Team Aries***