Couple trains for marathon, promotes cancer awareness

Before cancer, Leesa Gabel says she “hit the snooze button on the alarm clock of life.” Now that she has cancer, Leesa’s daily routines include swimming, jogging or walking.

Leesa Gabel, was diagnosed in May with stage zero to one chronic lymphocytic leukemia. As she undergoes chemotherapy treatment, she and her husband are now training for their first marathon.

“It sounds strange but it took cancer in order for us to get healthy,” Leesa Gabel said. “We’ve been trying forever (and) took forever for us to get healthy, for us to get fit. Now I look forward to it. I think part of it is now we have a finite goal.”

Leesa and Craig Gabel are training to walk in the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend in January. To get ready for the 26.2 miles ahead of them, they are working with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training — an endurance sports training program business.

In exchange for the TNT professional training they receive, the Gabels are working to raise $10,000 for blood cancer research. Lessa found out about TNT while doing research about her disease.

“I thought, well, I will have this for the rest of my life — I might as well get involved,” Leesa Gabel said.

When Leesa Gabel told one of her doctors about her idea to run a marathon as a cancer patient, she was encouraged to go for it.

“He said, ‘This is awesome; you can do this,” Leesa Gabel said. “Definitely keep training.”

So she does. She walks in the evenings. Her husband walks in the mornings. They go swimming as a family. When she and her husband do training runs on the weekend, friends watch their two children, Alex, 9, and Ashlee, 4.

“I’m working to remain positive and in good humor for my two kids,” Leesa Gabel said.

Their network of friends has helped them do that, Leesa Gabel said.

She laughs as she explains her friends have given her the nickname “Cancer Girl.” Making light of CLL, she calls it the “underachiever of leukemia.” She trains now with a T-shirt that says, “If you think training for a marathon is hard, try chemotherapy.”

She’s noticed “cancer” can be a conversation killer, or one that immediately prompts sympathy from the other party. But she’s turned it into a starting point to talk about charity, health and education, Craig Gabel said.

“Now when people ask me how I am, I say ‘I’m really great– I ran six miles last Saturday!” Leesa Gabel said.

The Gabels have started a Web site together to communicate their training and fundraising goals. It’s called “Walking Our Butts Off- for charity, health and education.” They blog about their experience and give information about how to donate to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

“We hope to do something with this to inspire people,” Craig Gabel said.

Because the disease will likely progress, Leesa chose to fight it by undergoing a chemotherapy treatment in pill form.

“The chemo pill she’s taking right now would not even be possible without what other people have done years ago for advancement,” Craig Gabel said. “We want to give back and help progress so other people can have it easier down the road.”

Leesa Gabel doesn’t want to stop after the Disney Marathon, she said. There are more in her future. Though 26 miles seems like a long way as she trains, she said the fact a 72-year- old woman finished the Disney Marathon last year inspires her.

“I know I will finish one way or the other,” Leesa Gabel said. “Failure is not an option is my new mantra.”

For more information on the Gabel’s training visit www.walkingourbuttsoff.org.