San Jose Half-Marathon October 3rd Run, Walk, Hobble, Crawl

UPDATE: I ran a 10K and didn't die! I even came in four minutes ahead of Stewart who had to stop and walk several times due to his bum knees (several combat tours will do that to you, my friend). The boys had a chance to catch up with Sophie the same weekend. Such silliness---it made me all the more determined to put on a good effort in this race for Sophie. Thanks to all my friends, family and readers for your support! I definitely could not do it without you!

Three things I've learned so far during training:

1. Do not have your husband drop you off 5.5 miles away from your house so you will be forced to run home if the route includes several stretches where there is no sidewalk or space on the road for you to run.
2. Do drink water before running a 10K because they might not have water stations till mile 3.5 and you might be near fainting by then.
3. Don't buy running shoes that are too small for you because they are on super clearance sale.

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On Sunday October 3rd I will be doing a half-marathon. Notice I don't say running, because there is no guarantee that I will be able to run the entire race. Of course that is my goal, but it has been 11 years since my last marathon and half-marathon. Any woman who has had kids can tell you that a 30-something mommy body is less cooperative than a 20-something single woman body. If you've been following my blog and my posts on the LA Moms Blog, you know that a 5K that I could run easily with minimal training back in the day, now knocks me out for over a week. Since the 5K in February, I didn't run much, but when I got an email from friends Eunice and Andrew asking me to join the Cure CMD Team for the San Jose Rock N Roll Half Marathon on October 3rd to raise awareness and funds to support CMD research, I knew I had to do it.

Eunice and Andrew's daughter Sophie is battling a rare genetic disease called Ullrich Congenital Muscular Dystrophy (CMD). It is the most common type of CMD, a group of neuromuscular disorders that currently have no cure or treatment. Kids with CMD are born with serious muscle weakness, and their muscle tissue breaks down faster than it can repair or grow. Some children are never able to walk, others inevitably lose this ability by their teens, and all must eventually rely on respirators to breathe. The disease is often fatal by the time a child reaches his 20s. If I knew that H or R would die in his 20s, I would be a complete wreck everyday, thinking that some little thing might be the beginning of the end. Eunice and Wonki are definitely made of sterner stuff than I am because they have fought this fight with Sophie from the beginning with more grace and strength than I could have thought possible. I think that has translated into Sophie's personality, because she is sweet, funny, smart and generally in good spirits. Considering how difficult it is for her even to walk a single step, Sophie is truly an amazing little girl. Watch this video of Sophie walking:



I have joined the Cure CMD Team to raise funds to find a cure for Sophie and the other children with CMD. I started training at the end of July in time to run the BlogHer 5K and have been adding mileage slowly but surely every week. In a couple of weeks I'll be running a 10K in order to prepare my legs for race conditions. As a member of the team, I have committed to raising at least $500. So here's the pitch, if you are a regular Random Mommy reader, would you please consider donating $1 or more to help me reach my goal? I will give you a complete money-back guarantee. I may not run the entire way, but if I don't finish the race, I will return every cent of your money. I will track the progress of my training and my fundraising till race day. If you knew Sophie, you would agree that she deserves to have a full, rich long life. She was born just one month after H, and I joked after taking this photo that they would be prom dates as well as crib mates. Please help make that a possibility. If you need any more convincing, here is Sophie singing Taylor Swift's You Belong With Me:



Thanks everyone! You can donate under my name (scroll down) via Paypal on the Team Cure CMD site here.