Sorry I haven't posted...

Things not to do when recovering from the LA Marathon:

• have dinner with your teammates in Beverly Hills after driving home to The Valley from the Santa Monica finish line (4.5 hours walking, 5 hours in car Sunday)
• have Jury Duty downtown (Monday)
• work from 9a-9p (Tuesday)
• take Algebra (Math 115 Monday & Wednesday & Saturday)
• dogsit a very active poodle (Thursday thru Saturday)

I also have been blessed with private clients on Sunday and Monday a fun Relay For Life dinner on Thursday and today was not busy at the spa. (massage trades, yays!)

So forgive the fact that I haven't posted my marathon training tips... they will be forthcoming ... soon ... I hope.

So I was in the LA Marathon yesterday...

As some of you know, I participated in the 25th Los Angeles Marathon as a charity walker. If you follow me on Facebook, you know I only made it to mile 10. (Darn those hills!)

But my goal wasn't really to walk 26.2 miles through LA, it was to raise $500 for the Patient Services programs at Lupus LA. I raised $300 before the race and have this week to raise the rest.

Will you help me reach this goal?

Any amount will help. Please go to www.firstgiving.com/StefanieLMT and donate what you can. Your donation will provide peer mentoring/counseling for newly diagnosed patients, pediatric services for Lupus patients and their families, and emergency loans to patients who find themselves unable
to work because of a "flare" (a "flare" is when Lupus symptoms go into
overdrive and can be debillitating, even lethal).

I chose to walk for http://www.lupusla.org/ in honor of two friends with
Lupus and in memory of our friend Tara.

Thank you for your help.

Stefanie Ibanez, LMT
www.Twitter.com/StefanieLMT
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P.S. I'll post my marathon training and recovery tips tomorrow -- today I have jury duty.

Your Tax Deductions Help Someone With Lupus

If you still need to make your end-of-year charitable contributions, I can help you. I'm training for the Los Angeles Marathon to raise funds for Lupus LA's patient services programs. Lupus LA, the West Coast division of the S.L.E. Lupus Foundation, promotes lupus research, awareness, and education, and serves the needs of people with lupus and their families in Los Angeles County.

My goal is to raise $1,000 which will help fund peer mentoring and counseling, emergency grants, and children's services. The first fund raising deadline so that I can run in the marathon with Team Life Without Lupus is next week, January 4. I'm hoping my friends and clients (and you too, reader) will each donate $11-$75. Think of it as one coffee per week between now and the marathon.

Lupus targets women and minorities. Lupus is estimated to affect 1 to almost 1.5 million Americans, 90 percent of whom are women. Latino, Asian, and Native American women have an increased incidence of lupus. In fact, lupus is twice as prevalent among Asian-American and Latino women as it is among Caucasian women.

Lupus is one of America's least recognized major diseases. Nearly 1.5 million Americans have lupus. In fact, more Americans have lupus than cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, sickle-cell anemia, and cystic fibrosis combined, making it one of this country's most prevalent medical problems. However, while lupus is widespread, awareness and accurate knowledge about it lag behind many other illnesses. Lupus is on the rise, and scientists don't know exactly why.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (S.L.E.), commonly called lupus, is a chronic autoimmune disorder that can affect virtually any organ of the body. In lupus, the body's immune system, which normally functions to protect against foreign invaders, becomes hyperactive, forming antibodies that attack normal tissues and organs, including the skin, joints, kidneys, brain, heart, lungs, and blood. Lupus is characterized by periods of illness, called flares, and periods of wellness, or remission.

Because its symptoms come and go and mimic those of other diseases, lupus is difficult to diagnose. There is no single laboratory test that can definitively prove that a person has this complex illness.

Please use this link to make your donation and tell your friends. www.firstgiving.com/StefanieLMT

Let's go for a Run! (walk)

In honor of my 40th birthday, to honor my friends Liz and Elyse who are living with Lupus, and in memory of our friend Tara, who passed away 1 year ago from complications due to Lupus, I am training for the 2010 Los Angeles Marathon to be held Sunday, March 21, 2010.

I will donate 10% of all regular price massags to Lupus LA, the West Coast division of the S.L.E. Lupus Foundation founded by renowned physician and author, Daniel J. Wallace, MD. My goal is to raise $1,000 by December 1, 2009

As many of you know, last year I walked the NY Marathon in 9 hours 25 minutes. This year I will run/walk the complete Los Angeles "Stadium-to-the-Sea" course in 4.5 hours. I have 5 months to train and I am using the Jeff Galloway book Marathon as my guide again but instead of working out 2 days per week, I will walk 2 days per week, run one night per week, and train with the Lupus LA team on Sundays. Think of how much longer and stronger my massages will be with all that cardio!

I will post periodic training updates on my Bodywork Blog or you can follow me on Twitter @StefanieLMT.

If you would like to join Team LA Lupus as a runner or sponsor, please contact me via email at StefanieLMT@gmail.com. The team is also accepting walkers and runners for the 5k Saturday, March 20, 2010.

Stay healthy!
Stefanie Ibanez, LMT
Los Angeles, CA

http://www.lamarathon.com/charitylist.html
http://www.lupusla.org/about-us/
http://www.twitter.com/StefanieLMT