Operation Jack

Fighting autism, one mile at a time.

Archives for 2010

Weekend Preview: Races #21, 22

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Yesterday at work, somebody was talking about how it didn’t seem like Wednesday. Well, if you’re like me, and you were out Monday running the Boston Marathon, it was like Tuesday. Or, if you’re like me and you have to take Friday off to travel to run a marathon in Nashville on Saturday, it might have seemed like Thursday. So now, I don’t even know what today seems like to me. Certainly not a Thursday. But that’s what the calendar says it is, which means it’s time for my weekend preview.

Just in case this is your first time here, I’m a father of three and a marathon runner and my middle child, 6 1/2-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. I decided I wanted to use my running to make a difference in the autism world and I came up with the idea to run 60 marathons in 2010 to help raise money and awareness for a great charity I’m a part of named Train 4 Autism.

Train 4 Autism helps people like me or you train for races and raise money for the autism-related charity of their choice. So far, everything is cruising along pretty well. I’ve completed 20 marathons this year and next week I’ll let everybody know how much we’ve raised so far. I’m working on figuring out what the total is.

Anyways, every Thursday, I give an analysis of my race(s) for the weekend and I have a contest. You guess my time by making a small donation (for instance, if you think I’m going to run a 3:12, you donate $3.12 by clicking on the DONATE NOW! link at the top of any page on this site. The winner is the person who comes the closest without going under. The prize is your choice of an Operation Jack t-shirt, tech shirt or sweatshirt.

Last week’s winner was Julie Dural, who had faith I’d go sub-3:10 in Boston! Yeah Julie! I was fortunate enough to meet her in Boston on Sunday. She’s super-nice and I think it’s cool that she won.


Look — a winner and a loser! Just kidding … it’s me and Julie after lunch on Sunday.

Oh, one thing to clarify: I have two races this weekend, so you’re going to be betting on the second race, Oklahoma City on Sunday.

Fundraising Plug #1
OK, so I haven’t plugged these in a while, but we have Operation Jack clothing we want to put you. If you haven’t seen our stuff, check it out on the Sponsors page. We have t-shirts, tech shirts and sweatshirts, and everybody seems to love them, especially the sweatshirts.

If you can’t afford to make a donation, I totally understand — it’s a terrible economy. But we’ll still send you some gear if you’re willing to hit people up for easy little $10 donations. Check out the 10×10 page.

Fundraising Plug #2
I’ll keep pushing this, but I’m running seven marathons in seven states this month, so since 7 is the number of the month, I’m trying to collect as many $7 donations as possible. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the April update I sent out at the beginning of the month.

Finally, The Course Preview For The Contest
I’m running another double this weekend — Nashville on Saturday and Oklahoma City on Sunday. I finally took a look at the course profiles last night, and wow do I wish they were reversed!

Nashville’s looked extremely reasonable, possibly even a very slight downhill net. It looks essentially flat with some small rollers. On paper, it looks like a pretty manageable course, although through 48 lifetime marathons, I have yet to run one that was easy. The only downside is the weather. I saw yesterday that there will like be a storm during the race. But the weather forecast can always change.

Since I ran well in Boston on Monday, I’ll be entering this one pretty confident about going all-out. I’m going to be disappointed if I don’t go sub-3:10, because right now, I don’t feel like I have any excuse not to. It should be a fun race. It’s a Rock ‘N Roll race, which means it there will be a ton of people, and since it’s Nashville, I know I’ll get a kick out of all the country bands.

Sunday in Oklahoma City looks a little more challenging. There’s a fairly quick start, with a fairly long, gradual downhill in the first six miles. Hopefully, that will get my wheels turning, because I’ll certainly be tired. The middle section of the race doesn’t look too bad, but there’s a long, gradual uphill from about 21 to 24. I’m expecting this to be a fairly challenging run.

The race in Oklahoma City commemorates the 15-year anniversary of the bombing, and the race is a tribute to the victims. They have a 168-second moment of silence before the start of the race, which should be chilling. It should be a very memorable experience.

Anyways, if I had to bet, just based on my recent results, I’d probably go with a 3:17 Sunday. It’s really tough to say. Am I the guy who showed up in Boston? Or the guy who was 21 minutes slower than that in Dallas? I’m really anxious to see how much heart I have.

Let me know what you think by entering the contest. This Operation Jack thing is a grind, physically and mentally. Your little, tiny $3 donation gives me a huge boost! Thank you!

Video Of The Day
When you go to Fenway Park in Boston, they play Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond in the middle of the 8th. It’s totally awesome. I took a video on Sunday when I had tickets on top of the Green Monster. If you’re a baseball fan, you need to experience this at least once!

OK, That’s All For Today
Sleepy time for me (yeah, I write these the night before). Have a great day/weekeend, everybody! I’ll have race reports posted on Saturday and Sunday!

What's Up With OJ Wednesday

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Monday marathons followed by Saturday marathons sure do wreck a week in a hurry. I’m not even 48 hours removed from the finish line of the Boston Marathon (as of posting this) and I’m already carb-loading for this weekend. And I’m already writing What’s Up With OJ Wednesday, my weekly attempt at re-using a headline and writing a state-of-Operation Jack blog.

Just in case this your first time here, I’m a marathon runner and a father of three. Not really in that order, though, because running is just my hobby. My middle son, 6 1/2-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. I wanted to do something to make a difference in his honor, so the idea that came to me was to try to run 60 marathons in 2010 to try to raise money and awareness for a great charity I’m a part of called Train 4 Autism.

I didn’t ask my wife for permission to do this. I just ran the idea by her. This wasn’t something to ask for permission for, because it’s such a huge commitment on the entire family. But we decided that we were better off taking a chance and trying to make an impact than always looking back and wondering if we could have made a difference.

Anyways, I don’t really have a clue as to what I’m doing — I try to figure it out daily and I’ll continue to do so until December 31. This blog is where you can follow along with me and see what goes on in my mind.

Orange County Marathon Announcements
We’re only about 10 days away from the Orange County Marathon. Maybe 11. I don’t know. I’m permanently tired nowadays and I don’t feel like doing math. But I know it’s next Sunday. It’s the most local race of the year for me, since the start line and finish are both within about 15 miles of my house.

So, we’re having a couple of fundraising events to go along with them. First, next Friday (April 30), we’re going to have a Silpada party. Silpada is jewelry, and I don’t know anything about jewelry. Well, except my wife likes that stuff. It’s not very expensive, like with diamonds or anything like that. But it’s fairly nice stuff. 20 percent of all the sales from the party are going to go to Operation Jack. If you’re local, stop by, grab some finger foods and pick up a Mother’s Day gift. We created an evite for this that you can RSVP with and pass along to anybody. It’s an open party. And when I say we created an evite, we = Tiff. If you’re not local, you can still order and benefit Operation Jack. There’s information on that evite.

Also, we’re going to have a pasta dinner on Saturday, May 1, the night before the race. It’s going to be at Buca di Beppo in the Tustin Marketplace. It’s going to be at 5:30 p.m. The cost is $25 a person for all-you-can-eat … well, I already created a page so I might as well just direct you over there so you can see the full details. I’d love to see you out there!

I Need Your Input
On Monday, after the race in Boston, I met up with three new Operation Jack supporters from Maine — Danielle, Melissa and Sarah. They really want me to run a marathon in Maine with them next year. Sarah has been on the fence about running a marathon, but she said she’d make it her first if I went out there and ran it with her. I told them I’d do it, but they’d need to build a good team.

I’m going to set a tangible goal and if they hit it, I’ll keep my word and go out there and help Sarah through her marathon. I’ll carry her gels, fetch her water from the aid stations, carry her favorite sports drink, whatever. But I’m going to set them a good goal and I want to know what you guys think I should do.

For starters, they’re going to need to start a new Train 4 Autism chapter out in Maine. And I think I’m going to set a fundraising goal for them for an Operation Jack team. We provide them with a fundraising site to help them out. What’s a good goal? $20? $3,000? $1 billion?


Me, Danielle, Melissa and Sarah on Monday.

Quick April Fundraising Plug
I’m running seven marathons in seven states this month. Since 7 is the number of the month, I’m trying to collect as many $7 donations as possible. I haven’t reached my goal, so for less than the cost of a martini, you can support a great cause! Check out the fundraising page or read the update I sent to the Facebook group at the beginning of the month.

Day-After-The-Boston-Marathon Lunch
This is where I take advantage of the fact that it’s my blog and I can post what I want. I love to post pictures of food. Yesterday, the day after the Boston Marathon, I had In-N-Out for lunch. I took a picture so I could post it. And really, the only reason I wanted to post it was so I could post pictures of my lunch from the day after the Boston Marathon last year.


This was lunch yesterday.

This was lunch the day after the Boston Marathon last year. I held my brother’s iPhone next to the burger to illustrate how big it is.

This was my plate when I was done with my lunch the day after the Boston Marathon last year.

On the subject of nutrition, I know I talk a lot about the garbage I eat, and I’m up to 80 consecutive days now eating ice cream or frozen yogurt, but I really don’t think I eat all that poorly. So I’m keeping a food journal of everything I eat this week and I’ll post it next Tuesday and let y’all decide. I’m not off to the greatest start this week, but I still have five days to go.

On the subject of me posting pictures I want to post, here’s one from over the weekend of my daughter sneaking some of Jack’s drink.


This better be the only time I see a girl taking advantage of my Jack.

Proof That I’m A Geek
I was all excited because I finished in 27th place on Saturday. It was my third 27th place this year. 27 is 3x3x3. So, for me, it was 3x(3x3x3). Like I said, I’m a geek.

Jack Is Good With Numbers, Too!
This morning, Tiff showed me a worksheet that Jack did in school. They had boxes with pictures in it and he had to count them and write down the number of items in the box. He got all six boxes correct. It’s kind of cool to see this. We know he’s a smart kid and there’s a lot going on in that little head of his, but when we see him put down on paper, it’s pretty cool for us. Keep the faith, keep the faith!


That’s a “15” … count the shoes for yourself!

OK, That’s All For Today
I got too tired writing this thing. I’m calling it quits for this one. I’ll see you back here tomorrow!

Weekend Recap: My Camera Worked Overtime

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Normally, weekend recaps are the subject of my Monday blog. But since the Boston Marathon was yesterday, my weekend didn’t end until I got home late last night, so I’ll go with the weekend recap as my theme today. I’m warning you in advance, though — there’s a lot of pictures in here, because I told a lot of people over the weekend that I’d put them in the blog.

Real quick first, though, I ran the Charlottesville Marathon and struggled with a 3:21 on Saturday (recap here) and I ran the best race of my life yesterday in the Boston Marathon (3:03, recap here). It wasn’t my fastest, but it was my best. Period.


After the race yesterday.

Also, I snuck in a really brief blog about my wife yesterday. If you support Operation Jack and what I’m trying to accomplish, please take a minute and read what I wrote. She means the world to me and she’s a behind-the-scenes rock that Operation Jack wouldn’t be possible without.

Oh, one more plug I have to make. I’m running seven marathons in seven states this month. Since 7 is the number of the month, I’m trying to collect as many $7 donations as possible. I’m not where I want to be yet, so if you can spare the cost of a cheap lunch to support a great cause, check out the fundraising page or read the update I sent to the Facebook group at the beginning of the month.

OK, so here was my weekend. I hope you’re entertained by the truth, because it’s easier to write than fiction.

Thursday Night
I took the family out to Souplantation (Sweet Tomatoes, depending on what part of the country you live in). My kids love it and I had to leave them for four long days, so I wanted to have some fun before I left. We had a good time, and that night, I left for the airport to catch a red-eye. I only got about two hours of sleep on the flight. Bummer.

Friday Morning & Afternoon
I was heading to Charlottesville, Va., through Atlanta. In Atlanta, my flight was overbooked, and they offered 400 Delta Dollars to anybody willing to add five hours to their layover. I did this and now I’ll be able to take Tiff along on a future trip sometime. It eliminated my nap I was planning on in Virginia, but it gave me a chance to leave the airport and visit my mom, who lives in Atlanta.


The first of many pictures with redheads this weekend.

I hadn’t seen her since December, so she was excited to see me. We went to lunch with her husband at a Chinese buffet. It stank in there, but the food was pretty good and it was nice to visit, albeit briefly. Oh, I also got two free meal coupons from the airlines, so I picked myself up a breakfast sandwich and a frozen yogurt waffle cone. Beautiful. While I was walking to get my cone, my brother called me and told me he scored tickets to the Red Sox game on Sunday. Double beautiful.

On the flight from Atlanta to Charlottesville, our flight attendant on our puddle jumper told us it was her first flight and asked us to bear with her. I’d MUCH rather hear that from the flight attendant than the pilot!

Friday Evening
Here’s where I get to give props to my fraternity, Phi Delta Theta! I was a Phi Delt at Kansas State, and in Charlottesville, home of the University of Virginia, the Phi Delts supported me. They ran a 5K on Saturday that benefitted the Virginia Institute of Autism and they did so wearing custom Operation Jack/Autism Awareness/Phi Delta Theta shirts. They hosted a pasta dinner at the house on Friday night, so I went over and met the guys and had a nice time.


Me at the Phi Delt house with their philanthropy chair, Pat Dale.

I stayed in a total fleabag motel. I meant to take a picture of the room, but I didn’t. It was pretty gross, though. I knew better than to go barefoot in the room, so I walked around in my socks and they got dirty.

Saturday Morning/Afternoon
After running the race, I went to Waffle House. I’d never been. And I’m probably not going back. I wasn’t impressed. Food was blah and I would have totally rather gone to IHOP. But I tried it and I no longer have that curiosity.

After that, I went out to Monticello, but they wanted something like $15 for a ticket just to walk around on the trails there. So I left, because I didn’t have a ton of time. But it’s a very beautiful location.


Thomas Jefferson sure did pick a scenic spot.

If that first picture didn’t convince you, how about this one?

Before I hit the airport, I made good use of a coupon I got in my goodie bag.


I looked pretty cool with two 7 oz. cups of frozen yogurt on my table while I pounded out my Charlottesville race report.

Saturday Night
I wanted to watch the Mets-Cardinals game on Saturday, but it started 15 minutes before my flight left Charlottesville. I had a layover in Philadelphia, got into Boston, took three T trains and then a shuttle to get to my hotel. I called Tiff, unpacked, got a little bit of work done, then went to get some pizza. I came back, ate my pizza, called Tiff again and talked for a while, then called it a night and crawled into bed and watched the last hour of the Mets-Cardinals game. Yeah, that one went 20 innings.

Speaking of my layover in Philly, I had an interesting experience in the men’s room. I walked in, and there’s a man using a urinal shouting, “THIS IS PERSONAL! THIS IS PERSONAL!” He was just talking to himself, peeing. I was a little leery, so I went way to the far end away from him, and he started saying something else, and I noticed he had a bluetooth in his ear.

Note to dude: Wrong place and time to have that phone call.

Sunday
Got up, took an ice bath. Went to town and met people for breakfast. Went to the expo. Went across the street and met people for lunch. Went straight to Fenway to meet up with my brother and my friends Mike and Katherine. Went straight to meet people for the pasta dinner. Went straight to the hotel and about 13 hours had passed since I left. How did that happen?

Two cool notes about Sunday:
1. I was sitting at lunch and a guy came up to the table out of nowhere and asked me if I was Sam. Well, Sam I Am! He told me he’s been following along and he admired what I was doing and he asked to take a picture with me. I thought that was pretty cool. And I took the picture, of course.

2. Our seats at Fenway were standing room only ON TOP OF THE GREEN MONSTER! Does it get any better than that? I don’t think it does.


At breakfast with a runner named Meg, who said she’d really been wanting to meet me. That’s the first time anybody has ever told me that. I bet she was disappointed!

At breakfast with a runner named Katie, who I’ve talked with a bunch and finally had the opportunity to meet.

At the expo with Jen Morgan and Ally Phillips, two redheads who are incredible Operation Jack supporters.

After lunch with a runner named Julie who I finally got to meet. She’s super nice and I had a great time talking with her and her boyfriend.

Katherine said she wanted in Tuesday’s blog. So here she is. We’re ON TOP OF THE GREEN MONSTER!

Me with a bunch of my runner friends at the pasta dinner. We’ve all known each other for a few years, so it was good to hang out for a couple of hours.

Monday
We’ve been over the whole “Boston Marathon” thing that I ran yesterday. After the race, I had lunch with my brother, my friend Mike, and four other people I want to make a quick mention of.

One was a friend named Brittany, who used to be one of Jack’s therapists when he was 2 and 3. She moved back to Boston, so she came to the lunch on Sunday, then came out to the race with a homemade sign! Her parents also came out to the race and they also joined us for lunch on Monday.

Also, I had a great time meeting three new people, Danielle, Melissa and Sarah. They posted pictures on Twitter on Sunday night of a sign they had made for me. I was blown away, because I had never communicated with them at all. I know what I’m doing has a “wow” factor, which is why I’m doing it, but I don’t view myself as anything special, because to me, I’m me, and all I’m doing is making use of what I’ve been given. So when I saw that picture, I was pretty floored. I got in touch with them and insisted that we find a way to meet up. So they came out to lunch after the race and we had a good time chatting for an hour or two (I lost track of time).


Me and Brittany.

Me, Danielle, Melissa and Sarah.

When Tiff picked Jack up from school yesterday, he immediately reached for the Boston hat and put it on!

And then I went home. Finally. I missed my babies.

Race Report: Boston Marathon

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I don’t even know where to start with my race report for Monday’s Boston Marathon. I guess all I can say is that it was, without question, the best run of my life. I’ve run three marathons faster, but none better, and I say that with absolute certainty.

I entered the race with no confidence, other than the fact that I normally run well in Boston. Before Monday, two of my fastest three marathons had been in Boston and I really like running on that course. But my previous six marathons have been 3:20, 3:20, 3:23, 3:19, 3:24 and 3:21. That 3:21 was on Saturday, too. So I’ve been on a slowdown, and I’m far from fresh. But it’s Boston, and I knew I had a LOT of people following me and I was determined to do well.

People asked me before the race how I thought I’d do. I said that if I had to bet on a time, I’d go with 3:18. But I also said that I would do whatever I could to make sure that I got absolutely everything out of my body that I could. Forget those past six marathons. I was still going to go for the sub-3 if my body would have allowed it.

I was talking to a friend of mine named Louis before the race and he was saying that the 20-mile mark is what separates the men from the boys. It’s at that point that you back down and fall off, or you step it up, fight through the pain, and get the most out of yourself.

I thought about that a lot today. I was determined to run without fear or limits, to fight through pain and make people proud. I got up to corral 3, took my place, crouched down to stretch my quads because they were killing me, and then we were off.

I got my heart rate up to 170 pretty quickly, making sure I could take advantage of the downhills the course offered early. Gunning for a 6:52 pace as a dream, a 6:00 pace might seem too fast. But that’s where the no fear and no limits came into place. I didn’t care, and it was all heart rate. I was willing to let it occasionally creep up to 173 or so. I knew every time I crossed those mats every 5K, a lot of people knew how I was doing, and I didn’t want to let them down.

I was about on the same kind of pace I was on last year, when I went 3:01:31. It seemed a little bit unreal, because I just ran a 3:21 on Saturday. But all of that didn’t matter, because my legs were turning and I didn’t focus on the “why nots”. I knew I was in a race, the clock was ticking, and I was free to pull as much out of myself as I could.

I started to feel the fatigue at about mile 5, but I focused on pushing hard and fighting through the pain. I kept thinking about how it was going to be a tough, painful run, but I really had an opportunity to have a good day.

Miles 1-5: 6:46, 6:41, 6:38, 6:38, 6:58

I kept running hard and did my best with my fueling and hydration. I felt fairly strong and locked into a good groove. I really felt like I was redlining, but I’m supposed to. There are a lot of rolling hills in Boston, and I think the speed from the downhills, combined with a bunch of gradual uphills, helped me to move through pretty quick. I felt like I was a tiny bit behind where I was last year, but I think I’m a lot stronger.

Miles 6-10: 6:50, 6:46, 6:56, 6:53, 7:00

As I started getting closer to the 1/2, I was hoping I’d be somewhere in that 1:28 range. I think that’s where I was last year, and I thought that would give me a fighting shot at sub-3. I was in pain, but didn’t really feel like I was fading. I hit the 1/2 in 1:30:01 on my Garmin (1:30:03 officially) and realistically, I knew sub-3 was out. You can’t negative split Boston with those four hills in Newton. You just can’t. But I told myself it didn’t matter, because it wasn’t sub-3 or bust. It was do my best or bust. And if my best was 3:08, then so be it.

Miles 11-15: 7:00, 6:46, 6:56, 6:58, 7:07

I wasn’t slowing down, but I had some slower mile times going through the hills in Newton. That’s what those hills will do to you. They’re about 1/2 mile or so each, and they’re fairly decent climbs. Not impossible, but they’re just tough at that stage of the race, especially when you’re well aware of their notoriety. I think I struggled up those hills last year, but I was pretty happy with my effort this time. I wasn’t necessarily fast, but I don’t think I went soft.

Miles 16-20: 6:48, 7:30, 7:29, 7:13, 7:26

After mile 20, we finally hit Heartbreak Hill. The last of the hills, and then it’s all downhill from there. When we got to the top, I thought of what Louis told me and I knew it was time to make my race. I had worked so hard and fought through so much pain and I didn’t want to let it go to waste. 6 miles, that’s all that was left. Time to just suck it up and not let the day go to waste. I start flying from the top of the hill and felt really strong.

I was powering by people, sucking a lot of air and really pushing it. I felt strong, and I felt fast, and I couldn’t wait to get to the finish. I was running at quicker than 6:00/mile at some points. My legs felt like they were turning themselves, but it was all adrenaline because I knew I was cooked.

I hit mile 23 and I started thinking about how it was looking like it was going to be the best run I’ve ever had. And I knew I just had three more miles to fight through to get there. I was super excited, because I knew I’d nailed my run.

With one mile to go, I knew I needed about a 7:15 mile to finish sub-3:04. I fought hard, powered up Hereford and then down Boylston. I felt fast, I felt good, and I felt on top of the world. I powered down to the finish of the best run I’ve ever had.

Miles 21-26.2: 7:40, 6:44, 6:47, 6:54, 6:50, 7:00, 6:35 pace for .43 (Garmin).

All in all, the best run of my life. I was so happy with this one from an individual standpoint. And I could tell by the feedback I got that it was a great run for Operation Jack. So many people were so excited by it all. Truly a great day.


After the race.

After the race, #2.

After the race, #3.

The Other Half Of Operation Jack

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My blog today is going to be pretty short, sweet and to the point, just like the subject I’m writing about. My wife.

I know I gush about her all the time, but I can’t help it. And I just felt like today, I wanted to write something about her. She works so incredibly hard behind the scenes to do so much to help out with everything and does so in virtual anonymity. I work pretty hard doing what I’m doing, but I get all sorts of praise and feedback. That feedback is a big boost, and it helps me as I drag myself through this year.

But she doesn’t get a day off, she doesn’t get the chance to get out and meet people and see places like me, and she doesn’t get the pat-on-the-back she needs aside from when I thank her (and I thank her often). A lot of you say a lot of nice things about Operation Jack. You think it’s great, you find it inspiring and you’re totally behind it. Well, I just want everybody to know that none of this would be possible without Tiffany. I totally depend on everything she does to help, and she never lets me down.

Operation Jack is a total team effort, and she’s the ultimate team player. This blog is my best way to shout from the mountaintop, so I just wanted to take this opportunity to tell her that I love her and I appreciate everything she does!


Ahhh, she makes me smile!