Operation Jack

Fighting autism, one mile at a time.

Archives for 2010

Monday Musings: Random Ramblings

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Normally on Mondays I write a weekend recap, but my trip was so quick and easy this weekend and I have a bunch of announcements I want to throw out there today. So, I’m going to abandon my typical format and throw a bunch of information your way. At least I have a really cool video of Jack in here!

Real quick, just in case you’ve never been here before, I’m a father of three and a marathon runner and this year, I’m running (well, trying to run) 61 marathons to help raise money and awareness for a great charity I’m a part of called Train 4 Autism. Train 4 Autism serves as a vehicle to help people participate in events such as races, triathlons, etc., while raising money for the autism-related charity of their choice. It can even be a small, local organization — any autism-related non-profit is fine!

So far, I’m through 39 of the 61, completely on target. This weekend, I ran the Park City Marathon in Park City, Utah. It was a very nice and very challenging race. If you want, you can read my recap here.

I’m Leading With Something Important Today
There’s a family that lives about 15 houses down from us and one of the daughters in the house was just diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Most of you live out of the area and there’s nothing you can do with this fundraiser that’s going on this Wednesday, but if you’re in Orange County, or if you know anybody in Orange County, PLEASE take a look at this and pass it along on Twitter, Facebook, etc. THANK YOU!

It’s tough to get into anything not completely serious after that, but I have a few random things for you to start your week with.

DAN Doctor Update
If you’ve been following along here, you know we took Jack to see a new DAN doctor and we’ve been starting him on a new biomedical program. Tiff (my wife, if you’ve never been here) will have an update on this tomorrow. We’re really starting to get into this new routine — it’s giving us a headache, but at least he’s not having as many tummy aches!

When Life Gives You Lemonade Mix, …
Have an Operation Jack lemonade stand! This was last Thursday. Glad it was 97 degrees!


I guess the picture was more of the fame than the stand, but they sold lemonade and Tiff’s secret-recipe snickerdoodle cookies and made $54 for Operation Jack!

Dueling Facebook Status Updates …
So yesterday afternoon, I put the following as my Facebook status:
16 years ago today was the first day of the semester and there was a new girl in the newspaper class rockin’ some tight black pants and she was really, really pretty. If you would have told me I’d end up marrying that hottie, I would have said, “Never, she’s way out of my league!” But yeah, I did. And she’s still way out of my league!

Then, a few hours later, that hottie updated her status:

‎16 years ago today, I met a cute teenage boy with a cool car and a big heart. Now, that teenage boy is an amazing husband/father who still has a big heart. Cool car’s gone though. <3

Whose was better? Mine was, no need to answer.

Do I Lose My Man Card For Admitting This?
I took Benjamin out to see a movie called Despicable Me yesterday. I’m not too up on the movies, so I had never heard of it, but I really liked it. It was a nice story and one of those kids movies that adults can take different meanings from. It was a fun story for Benjamin, but I really enjoyed watching the main character warm to becoming a dad after adopting three girls. And, I’ll admit it, at the end, I had to fight from getting teary-eyed. I don’t know if non-parents would view the movie differently, but I really enjoyed it. Yeah, I almost cried over an animated movie.

NFL Pick-em Fundraiser
I decided that I’m going to have a pick-em contest this year as a fundraiser. Hopefully, a lot of you participate. It’s gonna be $20 for the entire season. You’ll pick weekly winners — no spread, no weighted games. Just pick each game and who you think will win. You’ll get a point for each game you pick correctly and the winner will be the person who does the best over the course of the season.

First place will pay 40% of the pool, second place will pay 20% and the remaining 40% will go to Operation Jack. So easy, fun, a chance to win something, NFL and only $20. Who’s in? Oh, and quick feedback … do y’all think I should play? I’d probably lose, and I’d hate to win my own pool, but if I won, I’d give my winnings to the foundation. Let me know your opinion!

Here’s the link: http://operationjack.football.cbssports.com/

The password to join the league is sixtyone

Enter the league and then click on the “Donate Now!” link at the top of any page on this site and donate $20. I’ll see it come through, I’ll check the site with the pool and I’ll confirm that I’ve got you as paid.

Video Of The Day
This was Jack in his therapy session yesterday. A few minutes earlier, I asked him to write “cat” and he wrote “hat” and said “hat,” but I couldn’t get him to do it again. In watching the video, I’m thinking that maybe he tried to draw a hat … he likes to put on fedoras. Whatever the case, there were some cool things in here.

That’s all for today, folks. Have a great Monday!

Race Report: Park City Marathon

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I’m always up for a good challenge, so lucky me, I got to run the Park City (Utah) Marathon Saturday. The course starts at 6,450 feet above sea level, spends 16 miles climbing to 7,250, then drops back down to 6,450. It’s a difficult run, to say the least. The altitude is a significant problem, and the hills are extremely tough. I headed in hoping to break 3:40 with a solid run.

I felt fairly decent heading in. It was a short week for me, a Saturday marathon following a marathon the previous Sunday. But I didn’t run much this week and my legs felt OK. I didn’t fear or dread the course like I might have in the past. But I knew it was going to be a long day.

My plan was to run hard, but conservative, until we peaked at 7,250 feet. I kept an elevation window on my Garmin so I could keep an eye on our progress. For the first several miles, we went through a series of rolling hills, never really getting much higher than 6,550. I started getting anxious, because I knew the longer we waited to really start climbing, the steeper the hills would be.

Along the way, I thoroughly enjoyed the scenery. Following Humpy’s Marathon in Anchorage last week, it would have been easy for me to be unimpressed with Park City. But this course was pretty nice. I’d put it up there with the best I’ve run this year. It’s a ski resort town and I didn’t see a single thing that didn’t look nice. It was very green, extremely sleepy and peaceful.

About 1/2 the course, maybe a little less, was on either gravel or a single-track trail. So that, combined with the altitude and climbs, made it a very tough run. But it was a very nice, peaceful run. I’d highly recommend it if you’re not afraid of a challenge.

Anyways, we finally started climbing pretty well somewhere a little after mile 10 or 11. Temperatures were fairly cool for most of the run, but we were exposed for a good chunk of it and the sun started peeking out about halfway through. The last three miles before we peaked were a fairly solid climb and it started to get pretty difficult. I held on pretty well getting to the top — I think one thing I’m getting good at is running through pain, even if the speed isn’t all there, so I handled this pretty well.

I was excited to hit the turnaround because I run well on downhills. I moved for a couple of miles and passed some folks, but we faced a ridiculous climb at mile 18. It was probably 1/4 mile and it must have been a 20-degree incline. When I turned the corner and saw that, I knew it would be a killer. Everybody else was walking it, but I ran (well, shuffled), because I hate trying to start running after walking. My shuffle was only good for a 15 minute/mile pace — that’s how steep it was!

Once I got through there, I started to run out of steam. I’d thrashed myself getting to that point, and there was no air to breathe. I kept going as hard as I could, which wasn’t very hard. I really wanted to come in under 3:40. I think this course adds 25-30 minutes to your time, especially if you don’t have the altitude experience.

We were exposed for most of the last 8 miles and it started getting fairly warm. I kept my eye on my progress and knew I was fairly close and by about 23, I figured I’d end up within 20 seconds of 3:40, either way. Once I hit 25, I didn’t look at my overall time or my pace or my heart rate. I just ran to the finish. I really enjoyed the run, but I was really glad to cross the finish line and stop moving!

I stopped my timer and got some fluids in my system before checking my time. I wanted to take a minute to not worry so much about my time and catch my breath after completing a good, hard run. I finally took a look, and I went 3:39:40. I was pretty happy about it. Nothing I’m going to do back flips over, but I feel like I ran well, fought hard, and gave it my best shot. I have no shame in this run.

And really, when I compare it to how I did at the Grizzly Marathon three weeks ago, I’m pretty pleased. That race was challenging with climbs and gravel roads above 4,000 feet, and my 3:35 there was actually decent. Today’s course was easily 10-15 minutes slower than that one. I’ve worked fairly hard on my speed in training this month and I think I’m starting to run a little better, even if the times don’t reflect that.

I did some different things to manage my nutrition during the race today — I have a few target races coming up and I want to try to delay fatigue. So, I guess I’m happy with this one. Individually, I’m comfortable with how I ran. But beyond that, the Operation Jack train is still rolling.

I’m starting to run out of time, but I’m really starting to get excited to think about the fact that I had an idea and I went after it and I’m doing everything I can do get it done. Nothing feels better than running yourself into the ground working as hard as you can.

So, 39 down, 22 to go!


I forgot my camera in my motel, so I had to use my phone. That’s why the picture is terrible.

Weekend Preview: Race #39, Park City

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Well, here we are again. It’s Thursday, time to start getting ready for the weekend and thinking about my race. I’ve got my weekly contest, a few deep thoughts, a lemonade stand and a photo shoot. You know, typical random stuff.

First real quick, in case you’ve never been here, click here to see why I’m trying to run 61 marathons this year for Train 4 Autism.

Also, I just started with something new this week called Race 4 Free. As part of what I’m doing, I’m always trying to figure out ways to get people involved, so this is my latest attempt.

Summer’s Winding Down
Benjamin starts soccer practice tonight, so last night I was starting to think about the end of the year really coming up. I keep thinking about how the epitaph on Operation Jack isn’t written yet, but I know I’m starting to run out of days. I still think everything is going to end up OK with this, that it’s going to be a success. Realistically, I think Train 4 Autism is going to be better off than if I didn’t do this, and it’s going to be up to me to keep doing my part to keep things rolling.

Sometimes, I think I’ll have done a good enough job. Sometimes, I think it won’t be much of a success. I’ve had successes and lots and lots of failures all year long. But last night, I had a different thought for the first time. When all is said and done, I’ll know deep, deep down that I put my all into it. I’ll know that I came up with an idea that might have seemed overwhelming if I really sat back and thought about it, but I went after it and gave it my best shot. I was driving and I thought if nothing else, all I did was try really hard to tackle something really big. I’ll never feel bad about stepping up and trying to making something happen.

I still have 23 marathons to go, though. Including one this weekend. What a weak transition …

Park City Marathon
I’d heard that the Park City Marathon was tough, but I never looked at the course map until Tuesday. And then I saw a huge task cut out for me. This race starts at 6200 feet and climbs! I guess it’s no Leadville or Pike’s Peak, but it’s surely not a fast course! It goes up to 7400 feet by about mile 17 and then finishes back down around 6200.

I think I’m going to be lucky to crack 3:40 in this one. And that brings me to my weekly contest. Every week, I have a contest where you make a small donation and try to guess my time. So, for instance, if you think I’m going to run a 3:42, you’d donate $3.42. If you think I’m going to run a 3:34, you donate $3.34. It’s an easy contest, it barely costs anything, and it benefits a great cause. So, give me that pat on the back I’m craving and play along this week!

Last week, I went 3:17 and Sharla Wipplinger won with a guess of 3:18.

OJ In RW!
Operation Jack is going to get coverage in the November issue of Runner’s World! I forget if I’ve mentioned it here or just on Twitter and Facebook, but we’re going to be in the “What It Takes” section. It’s not like an eight-page cover article, but still, it’s Runner’s World, so that should be good exposure. I’ll certainly remind y’all when the issue comes out.

On Monday night, we spent about 2 1/2 hours with a photographer. I couldn’t imagine being a model.


I was impressed with my work. She offered to buy me McDonald’s, but I had already eaten.

When Life Gives You An Open Spot On A Sidewalk, Make Lemonade!
Tiff and the kids are setting up a lemonade stand this afternoon in an area that should have high foot traffic in our hometown. She’s got the lemonade and she baked a bunch of her famed snickerdoodle cookies. I’m sure we’ll make some money and get a few donations, but the really cool thing is that we’ll be spreading the word to a lot of people who live nearby.

I’m going to work hard at building up my chapter of Train 4 Autism next year. Hopefully, this brings in some people!

Speak Of Next Year And Train 4 Autism, …
We’re trying to have a really good presence at the L.A. Marathon. For those of you out here in California, I’m going to lead training runs in South Orange County and we have other folks leading runs in other areas. We don’t have any fundraising minimums, but if you raise at least $300, we’ll cover your entry fee and include a training program. And of course, it’s money going to a great cause.

If you’re interested in running the L.A. Marathon, email me and let me know!

And that’s all for today. Please don’t forget to enter the contest! Have a great couple of days and I’ll have a race report posted here on Saturday!

Random Ramblings For Wednesday

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Normally, I’m pretty formulaic with my blogs, which makes it easier for me to tell you about the most important things involving Operation Jack. But sometimes I think back to when I put this blog on here, and the purpose I had in my mind was to give you the opportunity to know what it’s like to be me and go through this whole “61 marathons while maintaining some kind of life” thing. So today, I’m just going to run down some random thoughts, pretty much like I’m writing in my journal at the end of the day. I’ll just talk about yesterday.

The main thing sticking in my mind is dinner. I got home and we were all set to have a nice dinner. Tiff made veggie burgers — she saw a show about meat on Oprah that grossed her out and she’s sticking away from meat a little bit. As much as I talk about all the cheeseburgers I like to eat, it really doesn’t bother me to eat a veggie burger. It’s only a meal, and there’s no crime in being healthy. I should be a little bit healthier and drop some pounds. Maybe I’d run a little faster!

Anyways, it was pretty good and Benjamin and Ava were even eating their veggie burgers (they thought it was just a regular burger). But then Jack came down for dinner and he was really picky. Tiff had to try several different things for him. He ended up eating gluten-free pancakes. This isn’t terribly out of the ordinary, but every here and there she loses it and gets really upset. And that was what happened last night.

With Jack’s therapist right there, she start crying about how she’s sick of our family dinner being a therapy session every night. She said she’s sick of every outing to the grocery store being a therapy session. I just started cleaning up the kitchen to stay busy because it was kind of awkward. I keep most of my sadness inside, but she’s not like that. She’ll let it out. And when she gets upset, it just breaks my heart.

There’s nothing I can do. I can’t tell her that it’s OK, because it’s not. I can’t tell her not to cry, because if that’s what she feels, then that’s what she can do. All I can do is clean the kitchen and look at the situation and think about how much I wish we had a normal family life. But we don’t.

Jack eventually ate OK, had a decent night, and Ben and Ava had a fun little “sleepover” in our playroom in their sleeping bags. I fell asleep on the couch for a little while because I’m still recovering from the red-eye flight I took Sunday night/Monday morning.

The one thing pertaining to Operation Jack that happened yesterday was I finally finalized the rest of my schedule for the year. I had an open date on the weekend of October 23/24, but I picked the Mankato Marathon in Mankato, Minnesota. There wasn’t a whole lot on the schedule that weekend, and I have some friends who will be there for that one. Plus, as silly as this sounds, I’m Silver Medallion with Delta (puts me at the front of the line for free first-class upgrades) and Delta is what you take to Minnesota.

For Thanksgiving weekend, I was going to run Atlanta on Thanksgiving morning and then fly back in time to have dinner with my family. My mom lives in Atlanta, so I would have been able to see her the night before. Atlanta canceled the marathon, though, so she was bummed and I was trying to decide between races in Seattle, Mississippi and Florida. Runner’s World was asking me about that race, because they’re finalizing whatever they’re running on me in the November issue, and they noticed that gap.

So, I picked … Baltimore! I found one out there, and normally, my mom goes out and spends Thanksgiving with my uncle (her brother) out there. This year, they were just going to do Thanksgiving in Atlanta instead. So, I’ll head out there on the Friday, run the race Saturday morning, then fly back that night. The airfare is actually cheaper than Seattle and Florida and I won’t need a hotel. And of course, I’ll get to see family. Win-win-win. And the biggest win is that FINALLY I don’t have to worry about my schedule any more!

The World Through Jack’s Eyes
Jack likes to take pictures using Tiff’s iPhone. So, I thought I’d run four of them in here today.


He lined up these three little toy bears he likes.

A, uh, different view of the bears.

He lined up some numbers in order and then took a picture.

His three favorite stuffed friends.

That’s pretty much it for today. Hope you have a great Wednesday!

Weekend Recap And A Whole Lot More!

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Wow, what a blur the past few days have been. I was planning on writing a blog for yesterday, but that didn’t happen. I went to Alaska over the weekend and took a redeye flight back Sunday night and the next thing I know, I’m in the office on Monday morning. So, I guess here goes, a weekend recap and some announcements I need to make.

Real quick, just in case this is your first time here, click here to see why I’m running 61 marathons this year for Train 4 Autism. I ran my 38th of the year yesterday in Anchorage, Alaska. I thoroughly enjoyed the course. I’ve run a lot of races, and none topped this one.

Now, for two quick announcements.

Race 4 Free!
I’m always trying to figure out new ways to increase participation and fundraising, so my latest attempt is something I’m creating called Race 4 Free. If you raise just $300, we’ll cover a race entry fee for you, plus we’ll send you an Operation Jack t-shirt, tech shirt and sweatshirt. The race entry can’t exceed $150, and there’s no obligation to try. I’d prefer you do this for a race I’m going to be at, but you can do this for any race you like.

Also, if you have a preferred autism charity, we’ll contribute 85 percent of everything you raise beyond $300 to that organization. If you don’t have a preferred organization, Train 4 Autism will be the beneficiary.

Unfortunately, I can only do this for new fundraising efforts, but $300 is a pretty low requirement and it’s not mandatory. If you sign up and don’t make it, you’re not on the hook for anything. To create a team, go to operationjack.kintera.org/race4free. If you have any questions, send me an email!

St. Louis Cardinals Fundraiser Update
We settled on donation requirements for autographs at the fundraising event we’re having in St. Louis on October 2. Most of you aren’t in that area, so I won’t go into a ton of detail here, but if you’re thinking about attending, or if you’re unaware of what we’re doing, click to operationjack.org/cardinals to learn more. It’s going to be an awesome event!

Weekend Recap
Well, I think I’ll let the pictures do the talking. I posted an album on Facebook and I left it public so everybody could see it. I was really looking forward to Alaska and I was not disappointed. It was amazing and I’m so glad I went. I only saw a little tiny corner of the state, and it was the most magnificent corner of the world I’ve ever seen. I’m going back with my wife someday. No question about it — I can’t wait for her to see it.

Anyways, click here to see the album.

Something I Had Never Done Before This Weekend
I ate a reindeer sausage omelette. I took a picture, but I won’t post it here — it’s in the album. I got talked into it by Alaska native Brandon Wood, who I’ll talk about a little farther down in this blog. Like the saying goes, when in Rome … eat an omelette?

Something Else I Had Never Done Before This Weekend
I tied a necktie on a woman in a Wal-Mart parking lot. I guess I can cross that off the list of things I’d never done, too. I parked my car and a young woman dressed as Charlie Chaplain approached me from her truck. My first thought was she was going to ask me for gas money. But she told me she was going to a “gender bender” birthday party and she didn’t know how to tie her tie.

I know how to tie a tie, but I’ve never tied one on another person. And quite frankly, it’s pretty awkward to do that — especially to some random woman. But after three tries, I got it, and since I had my camera in my pocket, I told her I wanted to take a picture for my blog since it was such a random experience. So, here it is … how’s the knot?


I was impressed with my work. She offered to buy me McDonald’s, but I had already eaten.

It’s Not Very Often You Can Write This As Your Facebook Status
I had the opportunity to write this yesterday afternoon, and I don’t know when I’ll get the opportunity to write this again. Hopefully never?


I wonder why I can’t get below 200 pounds.

Don’t Tell Us You Can’t Do It!
Most of you know I dropped about 60 pounds when I got in shape to run marathons. But check this out … I met somebody named Brandon Wood on Sunday up in Alaska. He’s dropped more than 80 pounds since last Christmas! He was 290 back then and only 208 yesterday. I had seen his before picture, then met him yesterday, and when I went back to look at the before picture, it was so hard to believe that was him! I mean, it was, but wow — incredible job, Brandon! For the record, Brandon’s super nice. One cool thing about what I’m doing this year is I get to meet nice people in every city I go to.


Amazing. Absolutely amazing.

OK, that’s all for today. I’ll see you back here tomorrow. Happy Tuesday!