Operation Jack

Fighting autism, one mile at a time.

Archives for 2010

What's Up With OJ Wednesday

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Another week is flying by and it’s Wednesday already. That means it’s time for my weekly “What’s Up With OJ Wednesday” blog, a rundown of what’s going on. Today, I’ve got an update on Jack, information about shirts and sweatshirts, plus a story about the father of an autistic boy named Jack (not me!) who’s running a marathon pretty soon. Oh, and there’s a bonus picture today of me from my, uh, bigger days.

Just in case this is your first time here, I’m a father of three and a marathon runner. My middle child, 6 1/2-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. I decided (well, my wife Tiffany and I decided) that we’d try to make a difference in the world this year. I’m attempting to run 60 marathons this year to raise money and awareness for a charity called Train 4 Autism.

So far, so good. I’m through 24 of the 60 marathons, with No. 25 coming up this Sunday in Cleveland.

Look At Jack’s Dad!
Thanks to Twitter, I came across a guy named Lonnie Butler up in Minnesota. Like me, Lonnie has a son named Jack. And like me, Lonnie’s son Jack has autism. We’ve chatted a fair amount since I first came into contact with him in January and I’ll get to meet him in a couple of weeks when I run the Med-City Marathon in Rochester, Minn. on May 30.

I had a different race scheduled for that day, but I switched it up so that I could go up there and meet him. It should be a good time — Med-City will be his first marathon and I always love seeing people finish their first marathon. I’m probably going to run it quicker than him, so If the course allows, I’ll probably run back out and run him in when I’m done.

After we’re done, we’re going to have a pancake-eating contest. He knows how I ate 11 at IHOP after I ran the Country Music Marathon in Nashville on April 24, and he thinks he can take me down. He might well be able to. Like me, he’s a recovering big boy. I’m at 202 pounds, down from a peak of 261 about 5 1/2 years ago. But Lonnie … Lonnie’s at about 212, down from … 300 pounds!

So we’re going to make a bet and that’s probably what the contest of the week will revolve around. I’m not worrying about that yet — I still need to find a hotel room for this weekend in Cleveland. But I just wanted to talk real briefly about Lonnie. And while I’m talking about him, I need to point out that he’s in Quebec now, representin’ OJ internationally! This picture was taken yesterday:


I guess this is proof that the package arrived! He’s wearing the shirt!

Speaking Of Shirts, …
We have them and I’d love to put you in them. I keep directing y’all to the Sponsors page, but Laura Sullivan, a good friend of Operation Jack, told me this past week that the page is crazy confusing to comprehend. So, I’ll just spell it out here.

We give out Operation Jack t-shirts, tech shirts and sweatshirts at certain donation levels. We’ll also list you on the site at those donation levels. So, for $26.20 ($1 per mile in a marathon) we list you and send you a t-shirt, for $60 ($1 per Operation Jack race), we list you and send you a t-shirt and tech shirt, and for $100 (Jack gives 100 percent every day, so $100), we list you as a sponsor and send you a t-shirt, tech shirt and sweatshirt.

But for a little bit less, we’ll sell you the gear. We won’t list you as a sponsor, but we’ll get you the stuff. T-shirts are $15, tech shirts are $25, sweatshirts are $30. If you want the combo platter, a t-shirt and a tech shirt runs $35, and one of each is $60. If you’re buying without hitting the donation level, you need to tack on $5 for shipping. Now, if you’re wanting clothing but can’t afford the prices, send me an e-mail and we’ll work something out. If you want to wear it, I want to get it to you.

So that being said, the t-shirts are gender specific. The men’s t-shirts are a tan color, kind of like the background of this site. The women’s shirts are women’s fitted tees. Everybody seems to really like them. We’re kind of slipping out of sweatshirt weather, but fall is still coming, and everybody who has a sweatshirt loves it. If you’re reading this and you have one, post a comment and tell people what you think.

To order something, click here or click on the “Donate Now!” link at the top of any page on this site. Let me know if you have any questions!

Quick Jack Update
We’ve been struggling with Jack a little bit lately. We’re having to deal with some things that you would never figure to be a major problem, but when your child struggles mightily to communicate, you face unexpected challenges.

Case in point, Jack is just four months away from turning 7. At this age, your baby teeth start to fall out and your adult teeth come in. Well, he’s getting his first grown-up tooth and it’s causing pain. When Benjamin started losing teeth, we explained what was going on and he got excited about it. No such luck for Jack.

For the past month or so, he’s been waking up screaming in pain in the middle of the night, struggling to go back to sleep. It’s like having a newborn all over again. He hates the pain, but doesn’t know how to express himself and out of frustration, he’ll hit himself in the head. That leads to a vicious cycle of headaches. It’s a really sad thing to see.

He’s starting to make some nice strides with his communication, though. Last night at dinner, he was able to verbalize things such as “corn”, “popcorn” and “I want chicken.” Yesterday, Tiff and Ava showed up at his school to surprise him with a hot meal from Rubio’s, complete with his favorite Spanish rice and chicken taquitos. He was starry-eyed to see them and really enjoyed it.

After about 10 minutes, Tiff and Ava were going to leave. Tiff told Jack, “OK Jackie, we’re going to go now.” We think he understands us when we say that. Well, he grabbed her arm and said, “stop!” So Tiff told him again, and he gave her a headlock/hug and said “stop!” again. Jack had to ask twice, but not three times!

They stayed a little while longer and Jack was a happy little guy.

We have our struggles right now with him, primarily with this up-all-night thing. But he’s definitely showing signs of progress. Thank you all for your prayers. He’s really come a long ways since you all found out about him last year.

Bonus Picture
A friend of mine sent this to me last night. I LOVE my fat pictures. It makes me realize how far I’ve come. For the record, this picture was taken in 2003 when I probably weighed around 250. I didn’t even start jogging for close to two years from this point and I qualified for Boston fewer than five years later. So don’t tell me you can’t do it. Because if this guy in the white shirt can, you can, too.


Yeah, I looked at myself in the mirror that morning and thought, “I look good.”

That’s All For Today
I didn’t even know what I was going to write about for this blog, but it got pretty long in a hurry. Thanks for reading, see you tomorrow!

Ten Random Things For Tuesday

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It’s the day after Monday, which means it’s time for 10 random things for Tuesday. You know what’s even better than having something in here about Jack and something in here about eating ice cream? Having something in here about Jack eating ice cream!

1. You’re going to want to pick up the August edition of Runner’s World.

2. I went to open house last night at Ava’s preschool. I can’t believe she’ll be in kindergarten next year. Am I getting so old that all of my kids will be at the elementary school? I guess I am.


Me and Ava at open house last night. Apparently, I had the camera on the wrong setting. That’s why the picture is so grainy.

3. I don’t think there could have been any more amazing timing for a perfect game than Dallas Braden on Sunday. He goes out and rips the guy who’s No. 8 all-time in home runs and says that he doesn’t care what kind of career A-Rod has had — he (Braden) is in the major leagues and has earned the right to compete just like anybody else. I liked the competitive fire in that statement last Wednesday, and then he goes out and throws the 19th perfect game in MLB history in his next start. Awesome. Period.

4. Kids say the darndest things: Last night at the grocery store, Ava was whining for me to get her some mints in the check-out line. The answer was no, but she seemed like she was going to be fussy, so I just told her to ask Mommy the next time they were there. But she whined and said, “But you’re in charge, Daddy!” So I said, “OK, then the answer is no.” And she was totally content with that.

5. On Sunday, about an hour before dinner time, Jack walked over to the freezer and used his PECS cards and verbally attempted to ask for ice cream. I’m not one to give my kid a dessert that soon before dinner, but considering a) it was Jack and b) he asked for it correctly and c) it was ice cream, he got the ice cream. For the record, he’s on a dairy-free diet, so it’s a special kind of ice cream. But he liked it. And nothing beats a happy Jack!

6. When I was in the fifth grade, we had a substitute teacher who taught us a song to remember the 40 presidents in order (this was in 1985). I learned them in a day, and a quarter-century later, I still have them down (along with Bush, Clinton, Bush and Obama). I’m think they’re in my memory for good.

7. Last night at about 7:30, I was waiting to pull out of the parking lot at the grocery store. There were two cars in front of me, a white Mercedes and a black BMW. A little girl fell off her bike in front of the Mercedes and the man in that car got out and helped her and her dad get to safety. It probably delayed me about two minutes. It also delayed the BMW, and the driver of that car got angry with the man from the Mercedes for taking too long to help. There was some gesturing going on from inside that BMW, which angered the man who was helping the little girl, but everybody eventually went on their merry way. And that, in a nutshell, is why I don’t like California.

8. If you want an ice cream recipe, you go to the king. And that’s me. So here’s my suggestion: Mint chocolate chip ice cream with Magic Shell. That’s pretty much heaven in a bowl. A close runner-up is peanut butter ice cream with Magic Shell. Definitely a winner.

9. I’m a decent writer. I have a journalism degree, I won all sorts of state and national awards when I was in college and in a previous life (well, in a previous decade) I worked for the AP. But once, I paid somebody to write a comp paper for me in college. I was more in the mood to part with $30 than I was to write the paper.

10. This is what I look like when I write my blog. Fascinating stuff.


Me at the kitchen table. Sometimes, though, I’m on the couch. And sometimes, I’m on a plane.

OK, that’s 10 random things for today. See you tomorrow!

Weekend Recap: Mother's Day Weekend!

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Normally, I try to write something catchy at the top of my blog to lure you in to the rest of it. But sometimes, like today, I look and notice I didn’t do that the night before and I figured I’d take care of that later. Well, later is now, and I have about five minutes to post this and send it out, take out the trash and put my shoes on. Jack has to get to school So nothing catchy today. But if you want to read my blog, you can read out my luxurious hotel in Colorado, catch my review of a new Taco Bell product, view three new media clips and … I think there’s some more stuff in there. Oh, I ran a race, too.

I guess since it’s Monday morning, I’ll give a quick introduction in case you’ve never been here. Actually, I do that every morning, but if you’ve never been here, you wouldn’t know that!

I’m a father of three and a marathon runner. My middle child, 6 1/2-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. To try to make a difference in his honor, I’m attempting to run 60 marathons this year to help raise money and awareness for a charity called Train 4 Autism. So far, so good. 24 down, 36 to go. Actually, I might be running 61. I’ll probably talk more about that on Wednesday.

Speaking of 24 down, that 24th race was Saturday in Palisade, Colorado. I ran the Grand Valley Marathon on Saturday. It was a tough race with altitude, a monster of a hill and some pretty rough wind. I went 3:19, which is a slow time for me, but it wasn’t a PR course or a PR day. Well, unless it was your first race. Somehow, that was good enough for second place overall. Yeah, small field of about 100 in the marathon. If you want, you can read my race recap.

Media Coverage
I’ve had a few things done lately and I’ve been slow posting links. I’ll get caught up, but for now, here are three recent things that were kind of fun.

First, here’s a piece the local ABC station did on me on Saturday. On the left, right above that ugly side profile of me, there’s a link to the video they did. Actually, I just noticed that this will take you to the video.

A few weeks ago, a Charlottesville, Va. station included me in their coverage of their marathon there. I’m on about a minute into this one.

If you want to hear me ramble on and on, I was the subject of a podcast called RunRunLive for about a 30-minute interview. I come on at about 8:45 into it and it goes on for a little while. Tiff liked it. I kind of did too — it almost made me sound like I know what I’m talking about!

I’m going to be interviewed this morning for a sports radio station in Colorado. I’ll post a link to that tomorrow.

This Is How The Other Half Lives
I’ve been sleeping in fleabag motels. Dirty, gross stuff. Places that I refuse to walk around barefoot in, places that didn’t have hot water in the shower, places with old hardware on top of the shelves in the closet. But then again, I’m doing this as low budget as possible, so when you get a rental car and a motel room for less than $70, including taxes, what can you really expect?

Well, I stayed in Grand Junction, Colorado on Friday night, and Travelocity gave me a great combo deal to stay in a Courtyard By Marriott. It’s not like I’ve never stayed in a decent place, but staying in the places I’ve been staying in made this place seem like a Ritz Carlton. I was on cloud nine when I walked in. There was an actual lobby, the check-in folks were dressed nicely and helpful, I was able to get a 2 p.m. checkout, everything inside the room was nice and plush. And this room was the cheapest deal in town since I bought a package on Travelocity!

So, I guess for once, I operated on my tiny budget but got to enjoy what now seems like luxury. I even got to take an ice bath and there was hot water. It was awesome!

Fast Food Critique Of The Week
Normally I’m into burgers, but the only places in Grand Junction I saw where I was at were Wendy’s and Burger King, and I wasn’t in the mood for either of those after the race on Saturday. There was no Cracker Barrel within 50 miles, either, so I just hit up Taco Bell. Normally, I mix it up with bean burritos and chicken burritos. I still maintain that there’s nothing better that 99 cents can buy than one of those chicken burritos.

Anyways, they have something new they call a 7-layer Big Beefy Burrito or something like that. It was only 89 cents, but what a waste. It was something like two tortillas, nacho cheese, sour cream, ground beef and maybe some cheese. Not only is that terrible for you — it didn’t make a dent in filling me up. Bean burritos and chicken burritos aren’t incredibly healthy, but they’re way better and worth the extra dime.

Now you know.

Ice Cream Update
If I had a bottle of beer on the wall for every consecutive day now that I’ve had ice cream or frozen yogurt, I’d have 99 bottles of beer on the wall. 99 bottles of beer!

Saving The Best For Last
My race was on Saturday and I got home before Ben and Ava were even asleep. I planned it that way to make sure I could be home and dedicate the entire day to my family for Mother’s Day yesterday. Tiff deserves nothing less. So, that’s exactly what I did. One Facebook status update to say that I was dedicating my day to my family, and one tweet doing the same thing.

We had a great day. Me and my kids are pretty lucky.

That’s All For Today
Have a great Monday, everybody! I’ll see you back here tomorrow!

Race Report: Grand Valley Marathon

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Another weekend, another Operation Jack Marathon in the books. This time, it was the Grand Valley Marathon in Palisade, Colorado. I didn’t run as well as I’d hoped, but then again, do I ever?

The course itself was very scenic. We ran across and alongside a river, past vineyards, with snow-capped mountains in the not-so-far distance. We also went past a few farms and I saw some horses. We started and finished in a quaint little downtown section of Palisade, a fairly small town about 12 miles east of Grand Junction.

I’ve always thought of Grand Junction as a pass-through area, since I always stopped there for gas or a meal when driving back and forth between Kansas and California when I was in college. But wow, this area was pretty scenic.

This was a nice, local race that was pretty well organized. Probably not something I’d recommend traveling to if flying was required, but I think it’s worth driving a few hours to and staying in Grand Junction or Palisade (I don’t know if there are rooms there).

Anyways, the run. I was a little apprehensive about the elevation. I knew we started at 4,700 feet and climbed to 4,900 or so feet, which isn’t incomprehensible for me, but that altitude is considerably higher than the 700-1,100 foot range I train at every day. I knew we had a climb of about 195 feet between mile 4 and 5 that would sap me a bit, although it was an out-and-back, so I knew I had that on the way back. The only problem with climbs like that is you never get enough back to make it worth it. And when the climbs are early, I worry about taking too much out of myself.

We took off and I felt OK, running at what I figured would wind up being about a 3:10 pace. I was hoping I’d end up in that range, although I knew that hill was coming. The field was small, maybe 100 or so runners. In a race this size, you know exactly where you stand pretty quickly and I knew within a mile that I was in third. I had zero shot at the guy leading, but the man in second wasn’t too much faster than me.

As expected, I struggled up that big hill. My pace dropped to as slow as 12:00/mile or so at one point. I caught up with the guy in second at around mile 7 and we ran together for a few miles. I don’t come out and start talking about the 60-marathon thing right off the bat, but it’s pretty easy to pull out when he asks where I’m from and finds out I flew in for the race from California. He was a super-nice guy, and like everybody else, he thinks I’m crazy. But he ran that race where you trek 150 miles across the Sahara in a week. And he does those adventure races where you need a map that they give you to figure out where you’re going. All I do is play follow-the-leader for 26.2.

We ran pretty close together, either side-by-side or leapfrogging each other, until about mile 15. We hit the half in 1:36 and I thought I could negative-split the course because of the big downhill I’d get at 21, so I thought 3:10 was still in reach. But as soon as we turned around at 13.1, there was a pretty strong wind straight in our face. I don’t why I didn’t notice it at my back much on the way out. But it lasted until about mile 24.

Larry (that was the man’s name) started to pull away at about mile 15. My quads and glutes had been screaming at me since mile 8 and I was no match for the wind. I knew fourth place was about 5 minutes behind me, so I figured I had a pretty good shot at holding onto third. I kept trucking, wallowing in self-pity, enjoying the sights. I could tell I was a good minute or so from second. He’s a pretty quick guy, with a PR of 2:56 from a few years back and he ran a 3:07 earlier this year.

I didn’t have a lot going down the hill. I think I got my pace as quick as about 6:30 or so per mile, but that’s not all that fast for me considering what I’m capable of and how steep that hill was. It was actually kind of painful using my legs as brakes.

Coming out of that drop, I saw Larry and he wasn’t too far off. I could tell he was struggling. I felt bad, because I know how not fun it is to fade late, but all I could do was run my own race. I passed him at 23, he offered some encouragement, and I had two things to work for over those last three miles.

One, I had to go strong and immediately create some distance, otherwise he’d find a way to make a charge at me late. And two, I needed to push, because I knew I was on the cusp of 3:20. I did not want to end up in the 3:20s again. So, I pushed pretty hard over those final three miles. I had been running miles in the mid-8s, but I got down to the low 7s.

I felt pretty beat up, but I went strong to the finish and after doing an over-the-shoulder peek on a turn at 24, I knew I had second place locked up. I knew with about 3/4 of a mile to go I had the 3:19 locked up, although I kept pushing as hard as I could. I finished in 3:19:30, not a great time for me, but it was absolutely not a PR course or PR weather. The guy who won the race went 2:51. So I was right knowing I had no shot at him.

All-in-all, I’ll call it a good run. It was a beautiful course, and while my time wasn’t the greatest, I was content with what I got out of myself given the course and the wind.

Next up, Cleveland. 24 down, 36 to go!


Dang, am I that wide? The camera doesn’t lie. :/

Thankfully my award for second place was a small trophy, not a new car. I wouldn’t be able to carry a car on the plane!

Mother's Day Weekend Preview: Grand Valley Marathon

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A lot of people ask how I picked my race schedule. Quite a few things went into selecting each of the 60 marathons on my schedule for this year, but being home with my family for Mother’s Day outweighed everything else for this weekend.

There are races on Sunday, but I didn’t even consider those. I originally scheduled a race for this Saturday in Wisconsin, but the flight schedule getting back was pretty tight. I was looking at running a race starting at 8 and the last flight of the day leaving the local airport (30 miles away) was at about 1 p.m. The schedule would have been possible, although extremely tight, but it wasn’t worth the risk.

Luckily, about three weeks ago, I found a race just outside Grand Junction, Colo. I only need to leave work about two hours early to catch my flight on Friday, and I’ll be back fairly early on Saturday night. On top of that, the race director was very friendly to deal with, which is always a treat.

So, I’m running the Grand Valley Marathon in Palisade, Colo. on Saturday, my 24th full marathon of the year. Every week, I have a contest where you guys make a small donation and guess my time (for example, if you think I’m going to run a 3:07, you donate $3.07). I analyze the course and give you my best guess as to what I think I’m going to run. And then you give me a pat on the back by clicking here or on the “Donate Now!” link at the top of any page on this site. $3 and a nickel or two (or three or four if you have no confidence in me) is all it takes. The winner gets their choice of an Operation Jack t-shirt, tech shirt or sweatshirt. I’ll get to that in just a bit.

First, since it’s Mother’s Day Weekend, I’m going to talk about mothers briefly. I have a bunch of mothers in my life. I talk about my wife a lot, but I never really talk about my mom or my stepmom. I’m not going to go into huge details, because I view their privacy in regards to Operation Jack a whole lot differently than I do Tiff’s.

Anyways, my parents split more than 30 years ago, but in my mind, it was for the best for everybody. My mom found her soulmate and has been happily married since 1993, and my dad found his soulmate, and they just celebrated their 18th anniversary on Monday.

My mom lives in Atlanta, but I keep in pretty close contact with her. She’s a huge supporter of Operation Jack and does crazy things like stopping random runners on the street to tell them what I’m doing. I’ve told her that’s bad etiquette with runners, but she’s proud and there’s not a lot I can do to stop her. She loves me unconditionally the way a mother should.

My dad met his wife when I was a sophomore in high school. That’s a difficult time to come into the picture, but she’s been a big part of the equation for the majority of my life. My world has been pure chaos for a good 12-15 years as I went through college and then got married and started a family, but she’s been there with me and for me the whole time. She, too, loves me unconditionally the way a mother should.

Anyways, the way I see it, God leads you down paths for a reason. I wouldn’t be who I am today if not for both of them. I’m not saying I’m anything special, but I am who I am, and there’s no question they have both shaped me. And since it’s Mother’s Day Weekend, I figured I’d give them a shout-out.


Me and my mom in Atlanta on April 16. I volunteered to get bumped off my connecting flight to Virginia and I was able to sneak out of the airport and go to lunch with her.

Me, my dad, my stepmom Nancy and my brother after the Orange County Marathon last weekend. She ran the half-marathon, the first time she’d ever covered that distance, to support Operation Jack.

I’m also pretty lucky to still have one of my grandmas. My Grandma Bea, still ticking at 85 (she’d kill me if she knew I put her age in here!) is a one-of-a-kind. I’m grateful for every opportunity I get to see her. She’s got her little quirks, but all-in-all, she’s a sweet grandma. If you’ve been following along this whole year, you know that we’ve had a Super Bowl bet for each of the past 22 years. This year, I won, so she took me and my family out to lunch. The way she sees it, she really won. For starters, my grandpa paid. Plus, she got to see all of us!


Me and my grandma on February 21. She loves penguins, and I got one from my first race of the year, so I gave it to her.

But really, I’m biased. I have a favorite mom … my wife! I know everybody thinks their wife is the best mom, so I guess I’m just like everybody. She sometimes gets upset that she doesn’t have a “job” or a career, but she does an amazing job with our three kids. It’s really tough to raise a special-needs child, and it’s even tougher to raise a special-needs child and two more children. But she does, and she takes care of me, and she takes care of herself. The older my oldest son Benjamin gets, the more I can tell that we have a very sweet, loving son who’s going to grow up to be a good man.

And I should clarify. Her taking care of them goes way beyond taking care of them. She has grown into her role so naturally since I met her back when she was 18. She’s the type that knows every little detail about each one of them in order to take care of them perfectly. She’s their biggest defender and their first source of comfort.

We all have our talents. I run marathons, I’m good with numbers and computers and I can write pretty well. She was born to be a mother and her impact will live on for generations through our children and their children. I tell her all the time that I’m glad our kids are so fortunate as to have a mother like her. She likes it when I’m around, and in my book, Sunday is HER day. That’s why I’m running on Saturday. I picked out this song for her today:


Ben!

Jack!

Ava!

OK, The Race …
The race doesn’t look tremendously easy or difficult. There’s a pretty steep climb of mabye 150-200 feet in mile 4, but there’s an equal drop in about mile 21 or so. It looks like an out-and-back with some rollers, nothing tremendously significant. The biggest problem is that it’s going to be at elevation, varying between 4,700 and 4,900 feet. I have strengths and weaknesses in my fitness and I’ll find out how oxygen deprivation impacts me.

Lately, I’ve been hit-and-miss with my races, but I have pretty good confidence right now. I feel strong, although not particularly quick, and I know what’s slowed me down lately. I really think I can go sub-3:10, although if I was betting, I’d go with a 3:12 to be conservative.

So go ahead, make your guess. Winner gets some Operation Jack gear. I didn’t have a contest last week, but two weeks ago, Dina Williams, a loyal Operation Jack supporter who used to work with my father-in-law, guessed I’d run a 3:19 in Oklahoma City and I went 3:17:42. I hope you play this week!

That’s All For Today
I’ll post a race report at some point on Saturday. Have a great weekend everybody!