CHIZGI TEAM SAVING LIVES

Light The Night for Lara and Jericho...

2009-11-11T19:08:00Z

LARA'S PINK BALLOON

A week after our marathon, I attended the Light the Night Walk with Lara, her family and her friends.

Somebody gave a heart shape pink balloon to her and Lara walked

backwards more than a 1/2 mile holding the balloon in front of her cute face..

I said "Lara, why are you walking like that?"

...and she replied back saying "this way, we get more attention and we can raise more money.."

I cannot believe she is only 7 years old.

...and I am thankful that God gave a second chance to these kids..

Lara's young friend Jericho was the hero of the day.

This young cancer survivor inspired his family and friends to take action and raised thousands of dollars for this event (I believe it was more than $10,000 but I cannot remember the exact amount.)

We were all part of Team Jericho that night.

...the cancer survivors had white balloons..
...the families who lost a loved one to cancer had yellow balloons..
...and friends, family members, and all other supporters carried red balloons...

It was a very colorful and powerful evening.

Walking 2 miles with hand-in-hand Lara made me think about a lot of things...

- how scary must have been the idea of losing a child to cancer for their parents..
- how little and yet powerful these kids must be...
- how much love exist in this community..
- how great it feels to make a difference and care for something bigger than ourselves..

Team Jericho also had a Lara.. Jericho's mom's name.. . I think I will name my child after these strong mothers, and their strong kids

Lara's mom Nuran is also an incredible woman. Being around her and her two kids -Lara and Ilayda- was truly a joyful experience.

It was an inspiring and wonderful evening..

It brought tears to my eyes to see all the balloons, red, white, and yellow! ... Colors of life and death.. Colors of love and support...

and of course, there was Lara's pink balloon with hope!

These are wonderful times to remember to be grateful.. to take a moment and connect with something greater than ourselves..

I certainly enjoyed this special evening and my life felt more meaningful than ever.

I look forward to seeing the cure for blood cancers in our life time for people of all ages and for cancers of all types.

Make this one a worth-living day!

Love,
Demi

P.S. If you like Lara's pink balloon and would like to congratulate her backwards walking, you can honor her wishes and make a donation at www.chizgi.info

Life Goes On!

2009-10-24T02:16:00Z

I did my first half marathon last Sunday... My FIRST 13.1 miles!

It is amazing how quickly we move on to the next thing. After spending months to prepare for it, it was done and I already forgot about it

I think we should slow down and celebrate more.. Enjoy the precious moments, smell the flowers, give kisses, and just be present!

Okay, back to my marathon:

It was a wonderful weekend, filled with inspiration! Not only that I ran 13.1 miles (or I should say walk/run) in the hilly San Francisco, but I also did it with 20,000 people (mostly women)... I don't know where else you can see that many women together in harmony and joy It was kind of a rare moment!

My wonderful husband joined me at mile 4 and supported my efforts by running with me until the 13th mile.

The greatest news is that participants raised $14 million for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in the hopes for finding a cure for blood cancers through this event.. and we were part of these efforts with the $4,000 that our friends and colleagues contributed to. I found my name on the wall which listed all the participants

Thanks to you!

Best,
Demi

Oh, my finish time... 3 hours 28 minutes and 40 seconds! I have a lot of room to grow!
Finisher's Results

Here is the link to my finisher's certificate
Finisher's Certificate

Another raffle is completed!

2009-10-16T05:24:00Z

Congrats to Dori!

We draw our raffle for Tahoe tonight after our track workout at Stanford. Three (Dave, Christina, and Allison) volunteers helped ensure a fair drawing and our lucky winner is named as Dori Hailu.

Dori received the raffle rules tonight and shall decide whether he will take this opportunity or not by Sunday midnight.

We also draw two back-up names in case the first or second winner cannot accept this prize.

First Back-up Winner: Rowena Wong
Second Back-up Winner: Leyla Hanson

On another note, as of today we have achieved ONE of our fundraising milestones and reached $4,000. Of this amount $3100 is showing on our website, $150 to be deposited and $750 as company matches..

Thank you very much for your support and stay tuned for the race updates!

Best,
Demi
10/15/2009
10:34pm

Tahoe Raffle Drawing

2009-10-16T00:13:00Z

Hello,

As of 5:30pm, we have 16 entries to the Tahoe raffle, thanks to everyone who has participated! Below is the final list of people entered in the raffle:

L & A Erhili
Charlotte Currie
John Fleming
Greg Foerster
Leyla Hanson
Rosine & Tugrul Bingol
Weibin Xu
Samir Bayraktar
Lara Rajninger
Pak Y. Tam
Alissa Winzeler
(Private)
Chris Alston (check)
Rowena Wong
Dori Hailu
Nathaniel Chittenden

Best,
Nate

Getting Ready for the Marathon this Weekend

2009-10-15T14:45:00Z

Hello,

I am getting ready to run 13 miles this Sunday and I hope that the weather will be nice to me. I am still working on my IT band injury so that I can run. Even if I can't run the whole way, I will make sure that I will cross the finish line! The articles on San Jose Mercury regarding the death of two people last week scared me a bit, however, that fear won't stop me. In any case, I need your prayers and support.

It is time to do our final raffle for the season, and we have so far 13 entries, and a few pledges. Those of you who said yes, please do send your contribution online today by 5pm (www.chizgi.info). So far here is the list of lucky people we have for the Tahoe raffle:

L & A Erhili
Charlotte Currie
John Fleming
Greg Foerster
Leyla Hanson
Rosine & Tugrul Bingol
Weibin Xu
Samir Bayraktar
Lara Rajninger
Pak Y. Tam
Alissa Winzeler
(Private)
Chris Alston (check)

That means currently there is a 1/13 chance to win .

Remember, going forward we will not always have these nice and fancy raffle prizes, but we will need your support to be able to complete these wonderful yet demanding commitments.

Again, our short term goal is to raise $4,000 by November 1st, and $5,000 by the end of the year, and the long-term goal is to raise $10,000 by August 2010. We are currently at $3,750.

On another note, after my half-marathon this weekend, Nate's training for Ironman (3 mile swim, 120 mile bike, 26.2 mile run) will start. In addition, Nate and I will run our first full marathon on December 11th.

Why are we doing this? Because we can, but some people cannot. This is our way of helping people who need the emotional and financial support while they are battling cancers and/or other life threatening illnesses.

If you are thankful for your health and wellbeing, and if you are feeling grateful that you have friends who have these kind of commitments, please support our efforts!

Best,
Demi

Tahoe Raffle Update

2009-10-13T13:20:00Z

Hello,

The clock is ticking for the Marathon, as well as our fundraising efforts. We will be drawing the raffle for Tahoe in just two days on 10/15/2009! If you would like to donate $50 and enter the raffle, or just support a great cause, there are still spots remaining.

Here is a quote from someone on our Team In Training team who has stayed at this Tahoe ski/golf resort:

"I happen to be fortunate enough to stay at Old Greenwood last year as my boyfriend’s brother owns a property there.. It is an awesome place! It has a beautiful work out facility, spa, and pick up to nearby Northstar ski resort. They even have a special facility at the ski resort to keep your skis or snowboard overnight and have them ready for you each day. Amazing place for the lucky one who will win the raffle!!!"

Best,
Demi & Nate

Win a Ski Vacation in December: Tahoe Raffle

2009-10-09T13:55:00Z

Hello,

Thanks to all who participated in the Hawaii Raffle!

As of today, we have raised $3,700 ($3,000 showing online, $700 in company matches pending). Thanks to everyone for your generosity!

Our next goal is to raise a total of $5,000 by the end of the year, with our ultimate goal of $10,000 by August 2010.

We will be drawing the winner for the perfect ski vacation to Tahoe on October 15. The first 20 people to donate a minimum of $50 is automatically entered into the drawing, and 12 of those spots are already taken.

The 12 people currently entered into the drawing:

L & A Erhili
Charlotte Currie
John Fleming
Greg Foerster
Leyla Hanson
Rosine & Tugrul Bingol
Weibin Xu
Samir Bayraktar
Lara Rajninger
Pak Y. Tam
Alissa Winzeler
(Private)

Once we have 8 more entries, >$50 each, we will determine the lucky winner. The lodge accommodates up to 6 people from Dec 14 - 18 (flyer). This is a two bedroom townhouse at Old Greenwood Resort in North Lake Tahoe (website).

The website of the property states:

Old Greenwood, Lake Tahoe's premier four-season and resort community, and home of Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf offers luxury Homes in North Lake Tahoe.

Situated in the historic town of Truckee on 600 acres of towering pines and blue-sage covered hills, Old Greenwood offers a magnificent setting for the Lake Tahoe mountain lifestyle.

An opportunity that you cannot afford to miss!

As you know, we will limit this drawing to 20 people only and entries are filled on a first come, first serve basis. Once we have twenty people, we will pull the name of the lucky winner. You can donate multiple $50s to increase your chances!

Please take advantage of this incentive and share it with your friends.

To donate now, please go to our fundraising page.

Best,

Demi Yezgi
www.chizgi.info

A beautiful day!

2009-10-06T13:55:00Z

I run for 11 miles on September 26.

That was my longest run! I first run for 9 miles and then I said to myself, "Lara is coming today, I have to do better than this!" and I continued for 2 more miles, finishing at 11 miles. Thanks to my wonderful husband, Nate... We were running together the whole distance in beautiful and hilly Portola Valley.

After the run, Lara and her family came to the Honoree Picnic that was organized by Team in Training... Lara was a bit shy at first but she eventually got comfortable... Her sister Ilayda was very cute, too. Because they drove all the way from Mill Valley to Portola Valley, they missed the parts of the picnic, but fortunately most of my teammates had the opportunity to meet with my little hero!

After the picnic, Lara got a ride from me and Nate to our home in Sunnyvale. We chat about Lara's school and her guinea pigs... Then Lara and Ilayda met with our cats Viky and Kara... The girls tried to play with cats but this time cats were shy .. While Nuran (Lara's mom) and I prepared the lunch, Nate and Sulhi (Lara's father) played backgammon (it was a close match and Sulhi won by 5-4)

After Nuran's super yummy dishes, we continued this chill day at our swimming pool... It was such a great experience to see Lara play in the pool. If you didn't know she is a cancer survivor, you couldn't tell. She is just a sweet and playful kid!

After a few hours of play time, we said good bye to the Akmehmet family as they head out to their home. We were all tired and yet very happy to spend a quality time together!

I think it was great that we run for 11 miles that day... I certainly felt accomplished and proud.. But more importantly, we were able to slow down the time and be present at the moment! That certainly made us happy and fulfilled... I am already missing those moments

Best,
Demi

Hawaii Raffle is FINALIZED

2009-09-21T00:29:00Z

Our lucky winner Kristof Richmond accepted his award for Hawaii...

More importantly, he assigned his prize to our honoree Lara Akmehmet and her family.

"We accept the prize. And we wish to assign it to the Akmehmet family
so that Lara and the whole family can enjoy some time together in the
sun. We have heard so much about the courage of Lara and the strength
of her family in dealing with her leukemia from Demet and Nate, and
wish them a well-deserved week of rest and relaxation in the sun and
sand."

Ayca and Kristof Kaya Richmond

We are touched with Kristof and Ayca's act of kindness and will happily take care of the necessary arrangements as this wish is acceptable by the guidelines of our raffle. [The rules state that the winner can assign his/her gift to someone else within his/her decision-making period of 3 days.]

Let's hope that Lara's health allows her to travel to Hawaii! It would be thrilling to see Lara and her sister Ilayda's pictures at beautiful Hawaiian beaches and with all kinds of colorful fish.

Once again, thank you to everyone who participated in this raffle and contributed to our efforts to raise money.

Special thanks goes to Lara's friends who heard our efforts through CaringBridge and whose donations reached to almost $1300.

Now that, Hawaii raffle is finalized, let's focus on our next one which is for Lake Tahoe (from sun and beach to mountain and ski!!)

As of today -(September 20. 2009)- we have 12 eligible entries. Because there is no other raffle, the first 20 people who donates $50 or more will be eligible for this one.

Currently, our website shows $3,000 raised and we also have ~$500 more in company matches (which takes longer to process.)

Our goal is to reach $5,000 by my race day which is October 18.

Please continue spreading the word while we continue running in these very hot weathers!

Thank you.

Best,
Demi Yezgi

AND THE LUCKY WINNER IS...

2009-09-18T07:16:00Z

We draw our raffle for Hawaii tonight after our track workout at Stanford. Three volunteers helped ensure a fair drawing and our lucky winner is named as Kristof Richmond.

Kristof received the raffle rules tonight and shall decide whether he will take this opportunity or not by Sunday midnight.

We also draw two back-up names in case the first or second winner cannot accept this prize.

First Back-up Winner: Andrew Solovay
Second Back-up Winner: Aylin Demirci

The next raffle will be for our Tahoe Vacation for Dec 14-18 and the eligible contribution for that prize (valued at approximately $3,000) is $50 or more.

If you are one of those five people who donated $150 or $250 for the Hawaii raffle, you will have an automatic entry to the Tahoe drawing.

If you are not in that group, please feel free to donate $50 or more to get in to that drawing.

We currently have 10 people who are eligible to participate in Tahoe drawing and once we have 20 people total, we will go ahead and determine the lucky winner!

Once again, thank you very much for your support and participation in these incentives that we put together to raise funds to cure blood cancers.

Your support helps us cross the finish line.

Best,
CHIZGI Team
Demi and Nate

P.S. We videotyped the drawing, but I need help uploading it...

Time for the Drawing!

2009-09-15T06:00:00Z

We officially have 20 people who donated $100 or more!

Those who are eligible to participate in the Hawaii drawing are:

L & A Erhili (Laurence Erhili)	$250 (two entries)
Charlotte Currie	$250 (two entries)
John Fleming	$250 (two entries)
Greg Foerster	$250 (two entries)
Leyla Hanson	$150 (One entry)
Neysa Furey	$100 (One entry)
Chris and Rena Chase	$100 (One entry)
Christopher Moylan	$100 (One entry)
Elif Kuflu	$100 (One entry)
Annelise Bauer	$100 (One entry)
Sulhi Akmehmet	$100 (One entry)
Chun Woo Lee	$100 (One entry)
Jennel Massey	$100 (One entry)
Web-Captain Andrew (Andrew Solovay)	$100 (One entry)
Cilla Peterek	$100 (One entry)
Kristof Richmond	$100 (One entry)
Moe Moghadam	$100 (One entry)
Aylin Demirci	$100 (One entry)
Anonymous (Nathaniel Chittenden)	$100 (One entry)
Sushmita Majumdar (Donation via check)	$100 (One entry)

This list indicates 20 people and 24 entries.

If any of these donors would like to increase their donation amount they are welcome to do so within the next 24 hours.

After all the purpose of this raffle is to raise funds!

Once again, thank you very much for your contributions!

I will post the details of the raffle shortly,

Please make sure to provide me with a valid phone number and an email address, if you haven't already done so.

Best,
Demi

Updates for Hawaii

2009-09-14T17:28:00Z

Hello there,

We are adding two more people to the list of eligible donations and they are:

Leyla Hanson
Chris and Rena Chase

As soon as we have one more eligible donation, we are ready to finalize this project.

Seeing the speed and generosity of people, I am assuming that we will be able to complete the list of 20 people today and draw the name(s) tomorrow evening.

Thanks for your support and we now officially reached the first milestone of our fundraising campaign by exceeding $2,500.

The next phase was to reach $5,000 by the end of the year and we are not too far from that goal (I believe with all the matching gifts, our account should show $3,400 by now.

Please don't worry if you miss the chance to enter the Hawaii raffle. There is also another one coming up next for the Lake Tahoe property. Stay tuned for the details.

Best,
Demi

Almost there - Count down for Hawaii Raffle

2009-09-14T06:49:00Z

It is quite amazing how fast this project is moving forward..

Thank you all for your generous donations.

At this moment, we only have room for three more donors as we already received 17 eligible donations for the Hawaii incentive..

In addition to the 9 names that were listed here earlier, there are 8 new people who donated $100 or more since Friday!

[I have to say that almost $1,000 came from the people I personally don't know. I think those are people who love Lara dearly.]

These are:

Christopher Moylan
Elif Kuflu
Annelise Bauer
L&A Erhili
Charlotte Currie
John Fleming
Sulhi Akmehmet
Chun Woo Lee

Thanks to all of your generous donations. Our goal was to raise $2,500 by October 1, 2009 and $10,000 by August 2010.

I think with such generosity and kindness, we will accomplish these goals sooner, and our funds will be put at work to help cure blood cancers.

If we have three more eligible donations by Thursday, we will name the lucky winner after our track workout at Stanford on September 18.

Best,
Demi
9/13/2009

Living by Choice

2009-09-13T22:35:00Z

Reflections as of 9/13/2009

Yesterday we missed our long-run with the team...

Nate and I were supposed to be at Halfmoon Bay, ready to run by 7:30am...

Because we planned on running 9 to 10 miles, we left the concert of Sertab Erener in Redwood City early on Friday night, which was a big deal because this was one of the rare Turkish concerts in the Bay Area.

Around 4:00am on Saturday morning, we woke up with thunder and lightening outside... At that moment, I remember deciding not to go to the run practice, and that's probably why my biological clock didn't alert me when I was supposed to get up at 6:00am...

When I woke up around 8:00am and realized that we missed the training, I remember saying "oh well, one hour each way commute was not worth it anyways.."

After doing many other things and carrying the silent guilt of not fulfilling our promise and intention to run, we finally decided to run on our own and we completed the day with our first 9.5 miles of distance...

This incident made me realize how easy it is to change our minds for the better or worse...

We make choices literally every single moment, like what we eat, what we dress, where we go, what to do next, what not to do next, etc.

Is having choices a luxury? Is it or isn't it?

How about when we don't have a choice...

How about Lara?

How about when she didn't have the chance to choose between play time vs. chemo therapy or sleeping in a hospital bed vs sleeping in her mother's bed or going to picnic vs. getting a blood transfer...

How about that?

Yes, we missed our training.. by choice.. and we made it up for it by choice... We could have ended our evening at a movie theater and instead, we ended our night with ice bags on our knees..

I am sharing this with you because it is only human to "give in..." and it is up to us "to claim it back" by keeping our promises and being responsible for our lives...

It is a choice that we are lucky to have!

Nate and I felt proud of ourselves at the end of the day and had a guilt-free sleep..

We also felt grateful for having the opportunity to get to know Lara..

I hope one day, she will realize how much she is teaching us by her story, strength, and pureness..

Today, we said "good morning" to a life designed by choice.. by the right choices!

Love,
Demi
Sunday 9/13/2009

On the picture: Nate, Lara with her guinea pig, Demi and Nuran (Lara's mom)

Getting ready to go to Hawaii!!

2009-09-12T01:36:00Z

Hello everyone...

As of today, we have 9 people who are eligible to get in the raffle.. In addition to the initial four people, we have now:

Greg Foerster
Jennel Massey
Andrew Solovay
Cilla Peterek
Kristof Richmond

Once we have 11 more names, we will be able to raffle off this awesome resort in Hawaii...

Please check back soon and feel free to increase your chances of winning by donating generously.

Even though the raffle is limited to 20 people, those 20 will be able to get more chances by donating multiple $100s..

Participants can make multiple donations until the last person qualifies to enter the raffle.

Thanks for your generosity and good luck everyone.

Go Team!

Demi

New Fundraising Goals and Incentives: Hawaii

2009-09-08T23:23:00Z

Hello,

As of today, our account shows $300 and we have $200 more to be credited. That makes it $500 total funds raised.

Our goal is to raise $2,500 by October 1, 2009 and $10,000 by August 2010.

Currently, there are four people who are eligible to join the raffle for Hawaii and these are:

Aylin Demirci
Moe Moghadam
Sushmita Majumdar
Nate Chittenden

Once we have 16 more entries, $100 each, we will determine the lucky winner for the resort that will accommodate 6 people during Christmas week (Dec 18-25) in Hawaii.. (flyer)

This is a two bedroom villa at Shell Vacations Club at Holua Resort at Mauna Loa Village (in Big Island.) (website.)

The website of the property says:

The spacious, air-conditioned villas are designed with a Hawaiian flair. Each comfortable villa offers a private lanai or patio with ocean, mountain or golf course view. Villas are fully furnished.

Two bedroom villas offer one king bed in the master bedroom, two twin beds in the second bedroom, and a queen pull-out sofa bed in the livingroom. A large patio or lanai comes furnished with a dining table and chairs. There’s also a fully equipped kitchen, washer/dryer, a greentopped dining table with chairs in the dining room, air conditioning and a ceiling fan.

Units include:

Mountain or golf course view
Private lanai or patio
Dining room
Fully equipped kitchen
Washer & dryer
Pull out sofa
Air conditioning & heating
Wireless internet access (free)
Microwave
Free local calls
Ceiling fan
Cable TV
DVD player
Stereo with CD player
Coffee/tea maker
Hair dryer
In room safe
Iron & ironing board
Alarm clock

As you know, we will limit this drawing to 20 people only and entries are on a first come, first serve basis. Once we have twenty people, we will pull the name of the lucky winner. You can donate multiple $100s to increase your chances

Considering that the price per person is $125/night ($125*7 nights * 6 people = $5,250...) and that time of the year is sold-out, this is a wonderful incentive for our fundraising efforts.

Please take advantage of this incentive and share it with your friends.

To donate now, please go to our fundraising page.

Best,

Demi Yezgi
www.chizgi.info

Back to training

2009-09-01T23:03:01Z

Racing to Save Lives and Support Lara!

My husband Nate and I are training to participate in another endurance event. This time, I will be doing a half-marathon on October 18, 2009 while Nate will train for IRONMAN in August 2010!

We are doing this in honor of six year old Lara who is in recovery from leukemia. Until she gains her strength back and completely beats this blood cancer, we will continue challenging ourselves.

We just visited Lara last weekend... Seeing her hair grow again and being part of her precious moments felt really great!

LARA AKMEHMET, Nuran and Sulhi Akmehmet's daughter, was diagnosed with leukemia on June 26, 2008. This year, Lara had a successful bone marrow transplant, and she is now recovering at home.

If LARA has no choice but to fight cancer at age six, we can train ourselves to help others through our health and strength.

This is why, I will participate in the Nike Half Marathon on October 18, 2009 as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training.

Each donation helps accelerate finding a cure for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. More than 823,000 Americans are battling these blood cancers. After following Lara's fight, I know for sure that my participation in Team in Training brings them hope and support.

We have great fundraising events and initiatives planned:

The first 20 people who donate $100 or more will have the chance to win a 6 people accommodation in Hawaii for the Christmas week (Dec 18-25) -in a sold-out family friendly resort-

The first 20 people who donate $50-$99 will have the chance to win a 6 people accommodation in Lake Tahoe for the perfect ski week (Dec 14-18) in a super luxurious townhome.

We will also have a fundraising event soon and those who love arts and crafts will have a chance to buy Turkish jewelry and the proceeds will go to LLS.

Finally, when you introduce people who need help with buying or selling their homes, I will be donating 15 percent of my commission to LLS upon completion of their transactions.

Be sure to check back frequently to see our progress and feel free to share this with your people because everyone matters.

I look forward to your donation to cure blood cancers and save lives.

Thank you!

Demi Yezgi

demi@yezgi.com

Triathlon Complete!

2009-05-05T05:43:00Z

It is all over!

This weekend Baha and I completed our triathlon at Wildflower! Overall, we had a great weekend - it didn't rain and temperature remained in the 70s. We had a pasta dinner on Saturday night with all of the Team In Training participants and I was amazed to learn that the group doing this triathlon raised over $1.3 million dollars to fund the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This was just remarkable to me - all of our individual fundraising efforts added up to such an amazing amount - thanks again to everyone for your support.

I'm posting a couple of photos - there are many more to come but I haven't been able to transfer them over from my camera yet (lost the cable ). Here's one of Baha and I 20 minutes before the start on Saturday morning (Baha's event was on Sunday):

Best,
Nate

Updates from Lake San Antonio

2009-03-31T05:15:00Z

Hello,
I don't usually write blog entries, but I wanted to write a couple of notes about this past weekend. Our team in training group had a pretty wicked weekend, complete with two nights of camping, a pasta party, ultimate frisbee, Lieven's fire show, and a little bit of training here and there.

On Saturday morning we woke up early and dove into the cold Lake San Antonio for a quick two mile swim. We followed this up by riding the full 56-mile Wildflower bike course, complete with 800 meters of vertical climb - nastt-grade on mile 41 is a killer...

On Sunday, after a short night of recuperation, I woke up early and ran for the first time a full half-marathon distance. The course had a good amount of climb, including around mile 8 a stretch known as 'the pit', a 1.5 mile downhill with a U-turn at the bottom and a 1.5 mile climb out! I was happy to complete the half-marathon successfully in about 2hr 15min.

After the 3hr drive home on Sunday afternoon, the weekend of training caught up with me. I sat down on the couch, and finally took the coaches advice by wrapped my legs with ice. Overall a remarkable weekend - I'm looking forward to the actual race day which is just 4.5 weeks away!

- Nate

P.S. Here I am around mile 12 (just after the pit )

Thankful for my new age - new triathlon

2009-03-04T19:24:00Z

Today is March 4 and it is my birthday. I am excited to explore a new age.

Today I am thankful for being healthy, and having a healthy family....

Today I feel grateful that we can focus on other things in our lives rather than being tired, restless and sleepless dealing with a life threatening disease.

Today I am 32 and I am proud to announce that I will be taking on a new triathlon on May 2, 2009 and this time, I am training for the olympic distance.

This committment is my birthday gift to Lara who is 6 year old pretty girl fighting blood cancers... Lara's parents have been tired, restless, and sleepless for months.

I am thankful that they finally had a succesful bone marrow transplant for Lara and after 50 days in hospital, she went back to home to recover last week.

I am thankful for Lara's well-being and grateful to that donor who volunteered his/her healthy cells.

I am truly looking forward to seeing those days that Lara will come to our trainings and am thankful for Leukhemia and Lymphoma Society for giving us an opportunity to do something to make a difference in people's lives who need our help.

If you read this message and you are feeling thankful for the things in your life and would like to give me a birthday present, please go to my website and donate $32 - my new age - http://www.chizgi.info and click on my name.

Thank you for being part of my life and making it a beautiful one...

Demi Yezgi