CHIZGI TEAM: Training Blog
Demi & Nate in training to wipe out blood cancers
CHIZGI TEAM SAVING LIVES
Time for the Drawing!
We officially have 20 people who donated $100 or more!
Those who are eligible to participate in the Hawaii drawing are:
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
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
Hello there,
We are adding two more people to the list of eligible donations and they are:
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
We are adding two more people to the list of eligible donations and they are:
- Leyla Hanson
- Chris and Rena Chase
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
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
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
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!!
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
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
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:
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.
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
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
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!
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.com
Triathlon Complete!
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
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
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)
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
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
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
