Running 4 Danny & Friends...(year 2)

So as some of you know, this past Sunday was not just Father's day for us but also the day we ran the Culver City 5/10K for Autism. Its the second year that Christian and I have ran it and it looks like it might be a tradition in the making for our family.

Last year we had a small team under the name- Running 4 Danny and Friends, in honor of our Daniel and the many friends we have that are special needs children. I once again wore my team shirt that I had made for last year and ran for all kids listed on my back and many more.
 
Unfortunately our team got smaller this year as it was just Christian and I, but that's ok because my dear husband Jerry decided to join us and make this run his official first 5K! I was soo excited for him to be part of our team and to be able to say that we did this together for our baby.


He's been going on his own journey, and I have to say that he trained a lot harder than I did this year and I am sooo proud of him for accomplishing this goal for himself.
He's come such a long way.



As for myself,  this year has been extremely busy for me and I can't say I took the training as seriously as I did last year. I was a little bit more lax than I should have been, but I put myself through as many practices as I could.  Training consisted more of finding a jogging pace I could handle with some fast walking to make sure that I could finish in a decent time. My goal this year was not so much beating my time as it was just to complete it. Honestly I was more excited about the fact that my hubby was running with me and my son and that meant more to me than anything.


So because Chris truly hadn't trained much at all either (being the very busy and "tired" teenager that he is) he decided he was going to keep to my pace during the race. A very slow pace at that. However, we had all agreed that we knew that at some point we were all going to go at different paces which is exactly what happened. Jerry started the strongest out of the 3 of us and led the way, but Chris about 1/3 way into the race decided his body was kicking in with a second wind and took off. I trailed both of them most of the way, catching up to Jerry when I could, but he still came in before me.

This year I was much more into taking things in, enjoying my music and watching the other runners especially the 10k runners who started about 1/2 an hour later than we did and yet they seemed to be already catching up to me as I was barely trying to finish.

A highlight for me this year was actually catching a glimpse of a fellow blogger I follow. Jen Levine from Finding My Inner Bombshell.  She has no idea who I am, but I "knew" of her and knew she'd be at that race. So when I saw her, in a fleeting second, I made the decision to make a fool of myself and call out her name..."Jen!" I said. She turned around looking VERY schocked, and I went up to her, shook her hand and said as I jogged and huffed at the same time, said "You don't know me, but I follow your blog. Just wanted to say Hi!" She said "Ok, hi" and I took off again, smiling from ear to ear and giggling to myself. I regret not getting a picture with her, but I took the look of shock on her face to mean that maybe I had gone to far already, Lol. Anyway, that was a lot of fun, and I'm glad I took the chance to do that- we only live once for moments like that!  And I found out that It apparently made her day because she mentioned the "unknown woman who said hello" in her blog post.  Love it! I have since written to her and let her know that my name is Sandy, and that I wasn't just some crazy person...if you beg to differ, please keep that to yourself. Ha!


The biggest highlight for me though was actually watching Jerry cross the finish line ahead of me. I was soooo proud of him!  I was a mix of emotions as I came in close behind, knowing just how much it means to cross that finish line for the first time. Jerry is a modest guy and he was very tired and sweaty of course, so he made no fuss about any of it, but I know it had to have meant a lot. He did say though "I did it for our Danny Boy!" That said it all!

Our official times were as follows:
Chris had come in before the two of us at 37.01
Jerry came in just 90 seconds over his goal time at 41.14.
I think that's pretty amazing for his first 5K!

My official time was 41.34. I was over last year's time by 3 minutes or so, but considering the training I did and/or didn't do, I felt pretty good about it anyway.  It really was about doing this together this year.



Once again, it was an amazing way to start of Father's day especially for Jerry this time around. He's an amazing Dad and he works so hard for us and deserved a great day! We went back to my mom's house to make him his favorite home made breakfast. He took a swim in her pool to relax and then we went to see his wonderful Dad (my father as well in so many ways) for a nice BBQ and trip to the movies with his family.

It was a wonderful day, and we're hoping to be able to do this again next year together again.
Will some of you join our team next year??? I really hope so...

I hope you all had a wonderful Father's day as well.

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

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!!

Monday Motivations- Pain or Injury?

I have been keeping up with my running these last few months as I am in training for a 10k I'd like to do in November (more on that when its official).  But I have been struggling physically for the last couple of weeks. I'm not sure what is happening! I was totally in gear, but my hip mysteriously gave out and I'm in pain...and I am totally bummed.

from Marathon Sweetheart.com

So I had been fighting and ignoring the shooting pains in my legs as I was trying to keep up with my training schedule because like the motivation says above I wasn't going to let this pain do me in or stop me from being who I can be.  BUT I figured out that I'm actually injuring myself more everyday, and I have to be smart enough to know its more than just my head. So I have no choice at the moment, but to stop and take care of this before I do any permanent damage, and in the short future, cut my chances of doing this 10k.

THAT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN!!!

So I in the meantime, I am trying to keep positive, go to the doctors, rest, and do what I need to do to get better. My body wants to get back to running and pushing through the feeling of not being able to go further...because I know I can.

Any suggestions from any of you fitness friends of mine out there would be totally appreciated!

From my corner to yours...stay healthy and have a wonderful week!

Music and Running

I guess music is turning into this week's theme around here...

 

I need my music to exercise! There is no other way I can do it.  Well, I guess I can if I HAD to, but it it would turn into a time of torture for me; constantly looking at the clock, counting every second before my workout out is over. Music changes all of that for me, and now that I am jogging it has become even more important.

Music has actually become a inspiration, a motivator for me. I love hearing music on the radio and finding that song that has a great beat to run to.  So lately I've been enjoying building up my iTunes library and setting up my running playlists with some of the newest songs to pump me up.

In talking to my SILs, Betty and Gaby after both successfully completing their half marathons (Congrats again girls!!)  they also expressed how important their playlists were in keeping them motivated through 13...long...miles!! OMG! Gaby mentioned that for her there were certain songs in her playlists that pushed her through some of her harder moments. Soo awesome!

I've done some research on music and running and found a few interesting articles on the subject. One article starts off by quoting an expert that says "Music is a legal drug for athletes." AMEN! It is for me. Hearing the right music actually makes me want to run! Go figure! He also claims that listening to music while running can boost your running performance by 15%.  I can also vouch for this, maybe not by the percentage, but just by the way I can push myself when I hear the music running through my ears.

  
However, did you know that elite runners cannot be eligible for prize money during runs if they race using headphones??? Wow!! That's pretty serious! Apparently, it also mentions that the more serious runners tend to not need music or find any added benefit using it. My cousins, Carolina and Natalia, very avid runners, are apparently at this point. Natalia has told me she likes running without music because she uses the sound of her breathe to pace herself...how interesting is that! And Carolina, says that she doesn't usually do her races with music, only on occasion if she feels she needs some particular motivation or for longer runs. Everybody does it their own way...

And speaking of that, for right now, I will keep my headphones on for motivation so I thought I'd share my latest running playlist. This is what pumps me up right now.  How different is yours??

I have a mix of all kinds of music including some Spanish in there. They all vary in different beats. It starts off at an average beat, then speeds up, then slows down again just to allow me a good beat to walk to if I decide I need to walk/run. I've been learning a lot about what I need during my runs, so I am constantly adjusting my list accordingly.









So is music important to your exercise/running regimen? What does your playlist look like? What music do you prefer? Does it help you improve your performance?  I think it would be interesting to know, so comment if you're so inclined.

Well, I hope that if you haven't already tried exercising with music, do so now. It might just make a difference for you.

So go out there, put your playlist together and... Rock your body!!!


From my corner to yours,

Monday Motivations- My 5K Run Recap

I am not a runner, I never have been...I guess not until now according this quote.  I have avoided running all my life, or anything to do with running anymore than I needed to. I had definitely, at least, convinced myself that running was just "not my thing." I have also had really bad knees, for a few reasons. One, because of the lack of cartilage in between my joints due to old injuries, and second, the weight that I was carrying was undeniably limiting my ability to even try anything more than walking briskly.

So in growing, changing, and discovering new things this past year, including losing weight and walking for exercise on a more consistent basis, I began to crave something new to do to take me to a different level. So at the start of the year I changed things up a bit by taking a cross fit class and some Zumba classes, and have been implementing some of the things I've learned into my workouts. In doing that, I have discovered that I am capable of much more than I ever thought possible. So I started jogging a bit more, and found that I enjoyed the feeling it brought me, and that my body was ready to be able to handle my new weight enough to push myself to run a little more each time I tried.

This year, one of my goals was to find a chance to do a 5K run/walk of some sort. I have never felt strong enough or capable to do one until now. So when my son's middle school offered a community run at the local high school (Taft Community Health Fair 5K) I figured this was the perfect opportunity to help support my son's school, and finally follow through with this goal.

My SIL, Adriana, also had this similar goal and signed up to do this with me. We were pumped, and now that we had signed up, it actually meant that we had to start training to complete the 3.1mile course we were going to run. So we did. Adriana is a natural runner, so training with her was great as it helped push me to push myself harder to keep up with her as much as possible. It was hard at the beginning but it felt soo good after each practice to know that I was improving each time.

 As the day of the run approached the weather reports announced that a big storm was going to hit that Saturday, the morning of the run...Of COURSE! My first 5k and it was going to rain all morning. Whatever!! So instead of entertaining thoughts of not going, we just started to plan on how we were going to deal with it. There was no turning back after all the work we had done.

So Saturday, I woke up early feeling jazzed but nervous,  not really knowing how it was all going to pan out, but I was ready.

I had a good fiber filled breakfast and a cup of coffee to give me some energy.

However, note to self: I may have drank too much liquid before the race...Uggh! ;)

Being that it was soo cold and raining soo hard, I couldn't expect my family to come out to be with me at the run. I knew they were supporting me from home, and were proud of me for even going in this weather. After this, I'd like to think that there will definitely be other opportunities for them to come out and cheer me on.

Adriana and I got there pretty early to register and to get our numbers. That's when I really began to get excited. It gave us a chance to really stretch well and just get mentally ready to deal with the rain. 


  

 

They had music playing and the excitement built as we stood at the start line.  

As we waited we spotted someone crazy enough to do the run barefooted!! Omg!  Apparently, this is called forefoot running, and he said that he runs trails and marathons the same way. I don't know, but more power too him. I was happy to have my shoes on that morning. Although, after unsuccessfully trying to avoid the puddles along the course, my feet were just as wet as his were, so it probably  didn't really make a difference. lol

From the beginning of the race, I was already one of the last ones out...I even had a security car following me at first, probably thinking I was going to bow out early...but I didn't care!! I really just concentrated on the music pumping me through my ears (My music and the right playlist makes all the difference for me), finding my own pace and trying to ignore the down pour that was hitting me straight on. I walked the first .2 miles to warm up, and then hit the floor jogging. Mind you, I was snail jogging, but I was jogging! Amazingly enough, the farther I got into it, the more I realized that I wasn't stopping, that I didn't really need to, and that in itself gave me such a rush. It was at that moment that I realized how important the training had really been. I felt good that we had taken this seriously enough to follow through with that.

 My body was ready and prepared and that gave me the boost of confidence I needed to keep going. I found myself smiling, feeling giddy and feeling really good even though by that point I was truly soaken wet.

I even got philosophical out there...it was so symbolic to me that although I had weather and the rain against me, that I was still  pushing through it...and isn't that just how life is? At least for me, everything that has happened or will happen in my life,  just when I think its all against me, I WILL make it through! I thanked God for that aha moment. If I can run this race in the rain...I can do anything!!  This was how I was supposed to experience this run. Amen!

So ultimately, I jogged the whole course which was an accomplishment in itself for me, and by the end I was singing out loud as I made my way to finish line. I even took the time to take a picture right before the finish line...a picture to always remind of just how amazing it feels to cross that line. I came in as the second to last person, but again...I didn't care!!

It was AWESOME!!

Adriana had finished earlier than I so she was already there waiting for me. We laughed, hugged and congratulated each other. It was a nice moment. I was soo proud of both of us. We had done it! We had trained, we had finished the run, and accomplished a goal!! Hurray! And I was so happy we had done this together.

We checked out and they gave us a goodie bag along with a special  dog tag to remember the event and then we got our times. Adriana had a great time and came in at 33 minutes and I came in at 40min 51sec. For having been our first time, and doing this in the rain, I think we did pretty well!! It encourages me to think of what time we could have come in at if the weather hadn't been soo bad.  So now we each have times to beat for next time!

I went home to celebrate with my boys, but the adrenaline was still pumping in me and I truly felt that I could have kept going. Maybe that means I can try a 10k next time?? Or  maybe one of those mud runs? Let's wait and see!
One step at a time. But for now, I know that if I truly want to, I know I could do it.

Like with anything, I learned soo much about myself and about what I can get myself to do. I will always remember this experience, as small as it may end up being in the long run, but it was truly a special one for me. I guess I'm a runner now, but I wasn't there to win a race,
I was just there to win for myself, and that I did! 

Thank you again to Adriana, for being my partner that day,
and for motivating me the days I wasn't so into practicing!
We Did It, Girl!

Thank you to all of you for stopping by and for all your loving
and supportive Facebook messages! I truly appreciate each one! 
 XO

Have a wonderful week!

From my corner to yours,