Running for Autism...Running for Danny...& Friends!

3/17/2012

 So I ran my first 5k about 1.5 years ago, and last August I was supposed to train for/run a 10k in October. But my body (my hips to be specific) gave out on me at the wrong time and I could not physically exercise for the next 6 months while I went through some chiropractic therapy.  I was in soo much pain that I honestly thought that it was possible that I wouldn't even be able to go back to walking in terms of exercising, let a alone going back to jogging. But, Instead of giving up on myself and my body, I made the conscious choice that I was Too. Damn. Young! And I wasn't going to let this pain win the battle! So with Jerry's support, and the help and encouragement of Dr. Bob (my chiro), I really learned how to be patient with my body.  He helped me understand how my body works, how its all connected, what it needs, and I learned how to stretch it properly everyday just so I could just feel normal, and I began to bring my body back to life!! YAY! Thank you, Dr. Bob!

In March, he finally gave me the ok to start jogging again, and so I looked for the just the right 5K to run for, and I found it!

This past Sunday, I was privileged enough to run the Culver City 5/10K run for Autism. I was also privileged to have 4 others join me and my team that I named after my sweet son Daniel that, as most of you know, was diagnosed with Aspergers/High Functioning Autism at the age of 5.  My Danny having Autism has taken us from some very stressful moments to some awesome moments over the years. To this day Danny lights up our lives in so many ways, so to get the chance to run for him was such an honor for me as his mom.  

I ran for: Danny, Buck, Duncan, Declan M., Holden, Lucas, Noah, Julian, Evan, John-John, Luciano, Danny R., and Sammy

Our family also belongs to a community of families who have special needs kids of their own, and have had to live with the effects of Autism, Down-Syndrome, and other disorders in their lives. So I felt it important to also name the team after all of Danny's friends and their families. I had found a true and meaningful purpose for this run!


However, this run had started off as being a physical goal for me. You have to understand, there is nothing about jogging/running that comes natural to me. My past weight had always kept me from thinking I could ever jog, but I have accepted that I was probably NEVER destined to be a runner either. Its the fact that I have learned to really enjoy running, that it makes it necessary for me work really hard to accomplish any part of it for myself. My body is just not the same anymore, my hips need to be conditioned continuously, and I have to take care of them to even be able to jog a 5k. There are days when I train that I honestly feel like I'm starting over each...its not always fun, but its worth everything I get out of it.

And listen, I am fully aware that a 3 mile run in the scheme of "training" is a cake walk for most runners, so it may not be a big deal for most. But as I mentioned earlier, coming from the state of feeling physically incapable of jogging, this is a big accomplishment for me. Will I ever realistically get to run a 1/2 or full marathon...not likely; at least not without the possible consequence of hurting myself permanently. I will however, carefully push myself as much as possible (maybe a 10K? I don't  know). But if all I ever get to run are 5k's for the rest of my life...I will be ecstatic! Each one will be just as important of a goal as the next! That's for sure!

Our Team...
Jacob Counter, Zack Counter, Sergio and Katarina Coronado, and Christian Camacho

Sunday came and I was ready. I had trained via the C25K phone app for 6 weeks and I felt strong and excited. It was Fathers Day to boot, but even then Jerry and the boys came to support me anyway.  The best part of the boys coming with me was that Christian decided to run the race at the last minute and I couldn't have been prouder. Our dear friends, Jacob and Zack Counter, were the first to join my team and I was so excited to have some seasoned runners join. My brother, Sergio also came out for his first Fathers Day to run it with my 4 month old baby niece. What a great way to celebrate!


Zack (12 yrs.old) was planning on being my pacing partner, but I had warned him that I was pretty slow and sure enough he, Jacob and Chris were long gone ahead of me at the start of the race, but it was totally ok. I knew my pace and I kept it the whole way.

The boys did great...

Jacob's official time came in at 22:22 and placed 44th overall for the 5k! Wow!! Nicely done, Jacob!




Chris's official time came in at 25:45 mins (awesome time for not having even trained)


 



Zack's official time was 29:01. And he thought I was going to beat him...yeah right!



Sergio came in with Jellybean just after me at 39.22.  Great time for the new stroller team! 

and me..

 

 
My time to beat: 40.51 min from my first 5k (3/17/12)
My goal this time: 37 min according to my training times
My official time:  38.06 according to my chip





Overall: I beat my time by just under 2.5 minutes....Woohoo! I can't complain considering it all!

I finished it! Jerry and the boys were proud of me, I was proud of our team, and I was proud of myself!! That's all that mattered.


It was such a great event, I had such a great time that I cant wait to do this run again next year. It was well organized, and it was just beautiful to see just how many people were out there running for this cause. The race had been delayed 15 minutes because they had so many extra people signing up. That's awesome!

 

But more importantly, we will hopefully come back year after year to run for this guy...

our Danny boy... and all his friends!

 Thank you to the Counter Family, Sergio and family, and Christian for joining the team 

for this special run. I hope you'll join me again next year.

Thank you to all those special people who generously donated to this wonderful cause,
please know that we ran for all of you as well!

Thank you to my Jerry for supporting me especially on Fathers Day,

and to all my boys for cheering me on.

I love you guys!

Thank you to everyone else for your well wishes and FB messages.
XOXO

It was a Father's Day to remember and I'm looking forward to my next 5k.

From my corner to yours...Thanks for stopping by!

Pictures taken by Jerry Camacho and Jen Counter...Thank you guys!!

And another school year is over...

Things around here have been very busy, and the school year has already ended. But I wanted to share a few things that the boys have been up to before the next year starts up, and I forget to write all this down.

Mikey ended his 4th grade really strong with soo many great activities like Mastering Math, their Annual project, and their Student led conferences (now on Power Point no less), and is soo looking forward to being in 5th grade next year. Wow, its so crazy to think that we are heading into our last year of elementary school for our family...ever!! Is that really possible? I guess it is!

Mikey has never acted before but he decided to take drama this second semester and he definitely took us all by surprise with his double roles of Mufasa AND Pumba in CHIME's version of the Lion King. We weren't quite sure what to expect from the whole experience, but  it  was so well adapted by Mr. Pearson (the drama teacher), the sets were incredible, and the fact that the play was done in the outside classroom was just the perfect setting for this play.                                                              
Mikey took his roles very seriously as he was very sneaky at home and made sure he didn't let any of us know what his performances were going to be like and kept all his secrets for the day of his show. He seamlessly switched into each role, and just amazed us at how well he did! We were soo proud of him, and it was so much fun to see this side of Mikey come out. Apparently quite the little actor our Mikey is, and we're looking forward to him auditioning for the next production at CHIME.

Danny ended his 7th grade and is heading into his final year of middle school. OMG!! (This means we will have two kids graduating next year!) He made much progress in his reading ability as we found a way to help him by listening to audio books this year, and it made a big difference in his reading comprehension in all levels of reading in general. He also participated in his 7th grade Renaissance fair and was able to work with 2 other boys from school which was such a big deal for him to feel like he was part of a team. Its all about the little things with Danny.
This fall will be all about researching and finding the appropriate high school for him so we're getting ready for that challenge. Just thinking of Danny heading into high school in about a year or so makes me emotional, but so excited for him as well. For now he is concentrating on Tae Kwon Do, and as I've mentioned in a previous post he is taking this very seriously as well. He's been very focused and is thriving from the nature of the sports' theory in discipline and strength.  I believe we found something he can truly excel in.

Christian ended his 10th grade on a high note...literally. The day before school ended, he participated and performed with his band- Big Brother - at a charity event for the Pablove Foundation for pediatric cancer at the Secret Rose, put on by one of his own classmates. It was a great event where a whole bunch of high school aged soloists and bands performed to raise money for this organization and it was a full house. He was so excited to have his band participate in this and to have his cousin, Jordan, fill in for their drummer Adam, who couldn't make it that day. They sounded amazing too!

The next day school was out, and then 2 days later Chris was once again packed up and ready for his second and final year with the Upward Bound program at CSUN. As some of you might remember, Chris participated last year in this program and he had such a great experience that he was totally looking forward to going back. So for the next 6 weeks he will dorm and commute off and on, and end the program with a 3 day college trip. So he's been gone this week already, and we've missed him dearly, but its such a great opportunity that we can only be happy for him. 

We're so proud of our boys and all they've accomplished this year, and looking forward to a new beginning in the fall. For now, we're looking forward to a busy summer that includes the beach, lots of swimming, lots of friends and family time together, and finding new things to do as we go along. 

From our corner to yours...Wishing you a fabulous summer!!

Enjoy,