Operation Jack

Fighting autism, one mile at a time.

Archives for 2010

Weekend Recap: Say Hello To My Little Friend!

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Monday is always a weekend recap for me, and once again, it was pretty memorable. Scarface, stale Twinkies and a solid marathon. What more could I ask for?

First real quick, I ran some races this weekend. Yesterday, I ran the Tampa Gasparilla Marathon and was really happy with my race. On Saturday, I ran the Gasparilla 15K and the Gasparilla 5K. I was OK with the 15K, but pretty disappointed with the 5K.

I Think Tiff Might Kill Me For This
My flight was early (6:45 a.m.) on Friday morning, so I wouldn’t be around to help with the kids getting ready for school. Tiff normally sets her alarm for 5:30 a.m. and has everything rolling when I get in from my run at 6:30 a.m. I leave with Jack at 7:25 and she takes Benjamin and Ava to school. Since she was getting all three kids ready and leaving early with them to get Jack to school, I didn’t know what time she needed to set her alarm for, so I asked.

She said she only needed an hour to get everybody and out the door, which struck me as odd. She sets her alarm for an hour before anybody other than me even gets out of bed every day! She’s working hard every day at 5:30, or so I thought. Apparently, she likes to hit the snooze button for 45 minutes! For reals? I set my alarm, it’s a 10-minute snooze and I get out of bed a minute after it goes off. If I spend more than six minutes, I might not have time for my run. Is 45 minutes normal?

I was shocked and cracking up. She was laughing too, telling me that not everybody has as much energy as me. Maybe I just steal some of hers? Don’t sell her short, though — she works extremely hard and is an amazing mother and wife. I won’t put up with anybody stereotyping her as a lazy housewife, because she works way harder than me. But she snoozes for 45 minutes every day!

While we were laughing, she told me, “Don’t you DARE put this on Facebook!”

Don’t worry, babe … I didn’t!

Good Luck/Bad Luck Flying, Pt. 1
I went to Tampa with a runner friend of mine named Rachel. I booked seats 15A and 15C with the hope that nobody would take 15B and we’d get some space. On the first leg of our flight, we lucked out! Yeah! I was bummed, though, because we were on Frontier Airlines — they advertise that they have DirecTV on their flights, so we chose them and risked a shorter layover to have the TV. But they charge $6 per segment, which the other airlines with TV that I’ve been on (Delta, Jet Blue) don’t do. So I wasn’t very happy.

On the second leg, a large man who didn’t smell very good sat between us. And the people in front of us had some food that really stank. And somebody had gas with about 30 minutes left on the flight. And they made me check my carry-on bag because I couldn’t jam it into the metal sizer at the gate. Never mind that It fit in the overhead on the first leg. Or that I was squeezing it down and might have made it before she told me to quit. I got to check it. And of course, it got torn up a little bit.

Between that and DirecTV and the fact that they don’t even give you peanuts, I’m not a big Frontier fan. I don’t intend to fly them again.

Say Hello To My Little Friend!
I am no longer in the “I’ve Never Seen Scarface” club. I watched Scarface on DVD on my laptop on the flight from Denver to Tampa. I can’t believe I had never seen that. What a great movie!

Say Hello To My Little Friend!
I got to meet my biggest supporter, Jen Morgan, on Friday night at a dinner at Macaroni Grill with a bunch of other runners. Well, she’s figuratively my biggest supporter. Literally, she’s probably my smallest supporter. She’s been a great help, though, and I went over that last week, but a weekend recap wouldn’t be complete with mentioning that I got to meet her!


Captain Morgan and Sam Adams.

Ultimate Bachelor Pad
We stayed at Rachel’s brother’s house in suburban Tampa. It was an absolute bachelor pad. Nice leather couch in the front room when you walk in. Old leather couch with cracked cushions downstairs by the TV. Weight bench partially blocking the TV. Master bathroom is torn up and out of service, but the guest bathroom is OK. Well, aside from the toilet handle you have to jiggle so the water doesn’t run forever. No soap or body wash in the shower, though. Good thing I brought my own!

Stale Twinkies in the cabinet (don’t how Twinkies get stale, but they did). Pop and liquor in the fridge. Porch light doesn’t work. Lights aren’t hooked up to switches. There’s a motorcycle in the garage getting fixed up. The rain gutter above the garage door needs to be repaired. But there are two things that are working perfectly fine … the pool and hot tub in the back yard.

It was amazing.

Would I Trade In-N-Out For Cracker Barrel? Tough Call
Y’all know how much I love In-N-Out, but I also really love Cracker Barrel. And I think the closest one is about 400 miles from my house. I don’t get the opportunity to eat there very often, so when I get the chance, I take it. I always get Momma’s Pancake Breakfast. Always. I’ve had it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I was in Wichita one time — I’d run the Kansas City Marathon that day and I was running the Wichita Marathon in the morning. I ordered Mama’s Pancake Breakfast for dinner, and when the waiter brought it out, he asked in his Southern drawl, “Ya ready ta get yer belly full?” As if! Did he know who he was talking to?

Anyways, here’s the pancakes from Saturday:


This is why I run.

Quick Zensah Shout-Out
In a blog in early January, I wrote about how my legs were really bugging me on the flight back from Houston on race day. Well, one thing led to another and Zensah sent me a pair of compression pants to help, and they’re definitely one of my new best friends.

I wear them after marathons regardless of whether or not I’m flying and I really love them. The compression almost works like a massage and I haven’t cramped at all since I started wearing them. A triathlete friend of mine told me they help prevent blood clots from forming when I wear them after marathons. I failed seven science classes in high school, so I’ll have to take her at her word, but it sounds good to me.

Whatever the case, I love them and I definitely recommend them.

Good Luck/Bad Luck Flying, Pt. 2
On the way back, they asked me to try to squeeze my carry-on bag in the metal cage to see if it would fit in the overhead compartment. I’ve only flown with it on 18 flights this year (before Sunday). I’m pretty sure it fits and if it doesn’t, it’s the cage that’s the problem, but whatever. I understand. Sure enough, it fit. Take that, mean Frontier lady.

Of course, on my second flight, they ran out of space in the overhead compartments right as I was getting on the plane and they had to check it. I was the first person out of luck. Lucky me. But on the bright side, they had DirecTV with NBC on the flight, so I got to watch the hockey game! Oh wait, out of all the channels on the TV, NBC was the only one that wasn’t coming in. So we watched the ticker on ESPNEWS. And apparently, the Canadians won in overtime. I saw the score switch to 3-2 while I was writing this blog. Thrilling.

On that five-hour flight, I had a kid sitting directly me who wouldn’t stop kicking the seat. Yay me.

OK, That’s Way Too Much From This Weekend
If you got all the way to the bottom of this, you’d better get back to work before you get in trouble with your boss. Have a great Monday!

Race Report: Tampa Gasparilla Marathon

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Heading into Sunday’s Gasparilla Marathon in Tampa, I had a ton of confidence. I just knew I’d go sub-3:10. I had plenty of reasons to think I wouldn’t — I only went 3:15 last weekend, I ran a 15K and a 5K yesterday, and the race started at 6 a.m., which was 3 a.m. according to my body time. But I knew I would. And I did.

I run by heart rate, but I’ve had some struggles and I wanted to switch it up this week. I know I’m capable of better times than I’ve been running. I’ve noticed a pattern in my marathons, and I noticed it in my 15K on Saturday — the first few miles are quick and easy and my heart rate is low, but I haven’t been hanging on to speed too well. I noticed in my 15K that I we able to keep a strong effort the whole way through, and my heart rate was a little low when I paced the 3:30 group in Surf City on February 7.

So, my strategy was to go out, try to hold miles in between 7:06 and 7:10 and go sub-3:10. I was really hoping to beat 3:07:21, my fastest time of the year so far, but I really wanted sub-3:10. I need some confidence and I knew I could do it, even if I was sleepy and I ran a couple of races yesterday. I can run a sub-3:10, and I’m sick of 3:12s and 3:13s and 3:15s.

As a side note, I had a couple of things on my mind Sunday. First, it’s the 17-year anniversary of the day my brother Josh got in a terrible car accident that nearly took his life. He was hit on the driver’s-side door of his Acura Integra by a full-size pickup truck. The speed of the truck was 46 mph at the time of the collision. He’s my only brother and I’m lucky to still have him. When I think of February 28, I think of him. And on February 28, I wanted to run a good race in his honor.


Me and my brother after the Long Beach Marathon last October. He ran the 1/2, a pretty amazing accomplishment considering the number of hip and knee surgeries he’s had as a result of February 28, 1993.

Also, I have a supporter named Jen Morgan who was running this race. She’s been great with fundraising and spreading the word and was really looking forward to this as a goal race. I viewed this as her race, and for all she’s done, I owed her a strong run in her race on her course.

So anyways, that’s enough of a buildup. At 6 a.m. sharp, we got rolling. I battled traffic early on and had a little bit of pain in my calves and achilles early, so I took a couple of miles getting into my rhythm. I focused on my pace, not my heart rate, and tried to stay as consistent as possible. The early part of the race was through a nice part of Tampa, but I didn’t get to see it, because it was dark. One thing I did see for the first time in any of my 39 marathons was a man juggling fire. Interesting.

Miles 1-5: 7:15, 7:10, 7:10, 7:08, 7:12

After this point, I felt like I found my groove and I established some consistency. I started to feel some pain in my hamstrings and glutes, but it was nothing more than fatigue. This being my 11th marathon of the year and it’s only February 28, that’s to be expected, I suppose. The marathoners split from the half-marathoners at around 7, so I got some space, which was nice. There was a slight gradual uphill (very slight, like a ramp) and a light headwind in mile 8, so I was a tiny bit slow, but still pretty happy about how I was rolling. I don’t remember a ton about this stretch. I know it was an out-and-back and I started seeing the leaders, then folks who were a little slower.

Miles 6-10: 7:08, 7:10, 7:15, 7:06, 7:06

Somewhere in the next few miles, maybe at about 10 or 11, I saw Morgan and she was a tiny bit behind the 4:00 pace group — about 20 seconds. Her goal was sub-4, so I was a tiny bit concerned. I was hoping to see her with the group. But she said she was doing well when I asked her, and a marathon is a long race, so I trusted her. We mixed back in with the half-marathoners at around 11 or so. They were considerably slower, since they were about 3 or 4 miles behind with the same elapsed time, but I had enough space to pass. I get a charge flying by people and I kept cruising without many problems. I think I hit the 1/2 in about 1:34 flat.

Miles 11-15: 7:05, 7:04, 7:08, 7:11, 7:12.

We split back up again at about mile 15 or 16 and headed down a street called Bayshore that lined the bay. Not tremendously exciting, but it was pleasant. I had plenty of open space at this point, which made the aid stations easy, but it makes it tough to stay strong. I had a pretty good rhythm, but I started feeling some fatigue. One thing about my strategy that I knew but didn’t really dwell on until about 17 miles in is that I was pretty confident I had the ability to pull it off. But there wasn’t much room for error. If I broke down, my time would really suffer.

I started thinking about my family, because it was about 5 a.m. back home. They were all sound asleep! I started thinking about Morgan, because I really wanted to run that sub-3:10 on her course, and I really felt I was on track. And of course, I thought about my brother as it closed in on 8 a.m. local time. That’s what time his accident was, although his accident occurred at 8 a.m. in California. I saw him in his car afterwards that day. Some things, unfortunately, I’ll never forget.

We ran a loop around a park at around 19 and I saw something else I’d never seen in a marathon — a mime directing me on a turn! Interesting.

Miles 16-20: 7:14, 7:12, 7:14, 7:13, 7:09

After we finished up at the park, it was just a straight shot home. The finish was about a 10K away. I wasn’t watching my elapsed time too much, but I checked a couple of times and it looked like it was going to be about a 3:08 kind of day. I saw Morgan when I was at mile 21. She was still about 20 seconds behind the 4:00 pacer, so I know she was hanging back, waiting to push it. She said she was going to make a move at 20. I told her, “Go get your time, I’m getting mine!”

I think I spoke too soon. At about mile 22 I hit some moderate headwinds. Not too strong, but enough that they slowed me down a little bit. At around mile 23, the lower part of both quads started to feel a little bit wobbly. I wasn’t looking at elapsed time, but I thought I was looking at a 3:08 or 3:09. I knew it was guts time, that I was going to have to tough it out. I was definitely going to have to empty the tank.

Miles 21-25: 7:18, 7:16, 7:28, 7:32, 7:25

I started looking at elapsed time with about a mile to go and knew I had to fight the pain and maintain my stride, because I could tell I couldn’t increase my turnover. I’d worked too hard and executed my race too well to not hit my goal. You can’t let 25 miles go down the drain over one poor mile. And this was my only chance to deliver on Morgan’s course and to hit my goal on my brother’s day. I didn’t have a ton of kick, but I had enough and moved pretty well in that 26th mile. I saw the finish up ahead and knew that it was going to be a close call. I’m confident I gave it all I had today.

Mile 26, final .35 (Garmin): 7:11, 2:16 (6:28 pace)

Final time: 3:09:44. My second-fastest of the year, 10th fastest out of 39 overall, and my 17th Boston qualifier. Is it as fast as some races I’ve done? No. But as I always say, I’m hard on myself and it’s all relative. Today, I’m happy. I went hard, executed my race and got the job done. I can head into Napa next week with a little bit of confidence. I’m not going to decide on my goal until Thursday’s blog, but I expect more out of myself up there.

Side note: After the race, I waited to see Morgan finish. I saw five or six people wearing Operation Jack t-shirts and I knew that was her cheering squad. It was totally awesome to see them in those shirts. Words can’t really describe it, so I won’t bother trying to write them. But we waited, and she came in with a 3:57. And my brother had a good workout at the gym. All-in-all, a great day!


Me and Morgan, Gasparilla conquered!


Me and my good friend Rachel, who ran the 1/2 in 1:50 as a training run. She took it easy today, because she’s still recovering after winning a 100K race last Saturday. Yeah, that’s 62 miles.


Look at all these awesome shirts!

Race Report: Gasparilla 15K and 5K

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I’m unfazed when I look at my schedule of 60 marathons this year. They’re not easy, but I don’t dread them. But I was certainly not looking forward to a pair of races I had this morning — a 15K and a 5K. Those distances are tough!

I ran the races as part of the Gasparilla Distance Classic in Tampa, Fla. Tomorrow, I’ll run the marathon. Here’s a quick race report for the 15K and the 5K.

15K
Shorter races like a 15K are difficult, because in order for me to earn a time that I’m capable of, I have to run very hard for a considerable amount of time. It’s not an endurance test — it’s a speed test. And it’s a pretty tough burn.

I really hate 10Ks. They’re by far my least favorite distance to run. I had never run a 15K before today, so I didn’t really know what to expect. I figured it would be a little bit less painful than a 10K, but since it’s 50 percent longer, I was thinking it would just be a long, slow death.

The 15K came first today at 7 a.m., which was 4 a.m. body time for me. I was a little on the sleepy side, which might have been good. Maybe I’d be too tired to feel the pain! The race calculators said I should probably have run somewhere mid-1:01. I’m not very good at shorter distances, and I’m obviously not 100 percent considering I’ve run 10 marathons this year, so I was really hoping I could run sub-1:02. That would have been a good confidence boost. In reality, I thought I was probably going to run a 1:04.

I wasn’t concerned as much about my heart rate like I normally am, because I don’t know what I’m supposed to run a 15K at. I just tried to keep my average pace below 6:40. We took off and I was moving pretty well on the pancake-flat course, so I gradually pushed my heart rate up and didn’t worry about my pace.

I hit the first mile in 6:19, knowing I wouldn’t hold that pace, but my average heart rate was only 160, so I wasn’t worried. It was time in the bank, although banking time is never a strategy I use. I knew my pace would creep, I just didn’t know how bad.

I went 6:36, 6:48, 6:49 and 6:48 in the next three miles, settling into a pretty good groove. I didn’t feel any terrible fatigue and my legs were turning pretty consistently. I didn’t feel any slow stretches. I knew I wasn’t going to be turning 6:40s, but I felt decent and I didn’t feel any kind of a fade.

Miles 6-7-8 went 7:01, 6:58, 6:54. The course was basically an out-and-back on a road along a bay called Bayshore and coming back, there was a little bit of a headwind. Light, but it was there. Looking at my miles and knowing I had a headwind for 4-5-6, I’m thinking my output and effort was very consistent for six consecutive miles.

At about 8.3 miles, I heard a techno version of “These Boots Are Made For Walking” coming from a setup along the course and for whatever, my body decided it was time to roll. I thought it was early, but my body was going against my mind’s advice. I started thinking that if I bonked a little bit at the end, at least I’d know I left it all out there. I went 6:38 that mile, passing several people and not really getting passed a whole lot.

The last .37 on my Garmin was at a 6:07 pace. A little bit of a kick, but not huge. I crossed the line in 1:03:02, a time I can live with. I’m not a speed guy, I’m not tapered, I’m not fresh, and I missed where I should be by about seven seconds a mile. I took it as a confidence boost.


That’s me on the right after the 15K. Wait, no … I’m in the middle.

5K
I was really not looking forward to the 5K after the 15K. 5Ks are tough, because you have to run so fast, but they’re over pretty quick. My PR is 19:20, more proof that, considering my marathons I’ve run, I’m not a speed guy. That race was in October 2008, and on that same course in 2009, I ran a 20:31 or something like that. I missed five weeks of running last summer with an ankle injury, and I had a miserable time fighting my way back. I’m not all the way there yet, but I’m getting pretty close.

Anyways, I had several thoughts about my goals. I think I’m pretty strong right now, even if I’m fatigued, and I wasn’t ruling out a PR. I had a donation offer if I beat 19:30, so I wanted to do that. But what I really wanted to do, because I didn’t want to have unreasonable expectations, was to go sub-20. That would give me a pretty good indication that I’m doing pretty well and getting back into shape. No way would I get 100 percent out of myself in this race, because I was 90 minutes removed from a 5K, six days removed from a marathon, etc. But I really expected at least a sub-20.

It was chilly (mid-40s) and started to rain a few minutes before the race. It wasn’t a torrential downpour, but it was definitely heavier than sprinkles. Coming through the start, I got pretty frustrated for the first 3/4 of a mile or so. WAY too many people started in the wrong place, and I had to keep dodging. I don’t demand that people don’t wear iPods during races, but I get mad when they start up front when they know they shouldn’t, then can’t hear when I’m coming up on them. The road was also a little slick. Not icy slick, but I could definitely feel that it was a touch slippery.

I needed about a 6:15 pace for the race, and I knew if I wasn’t anywhere close to that for the first mile, it was going to be a frustrating race. I went 6:26, and knowing I was 11 seconds in the hole just like that, I figured all I had to chase was sub-20. I didn’t really feel the burn like I normally do in a 5K, but I didn’t have anything to really go with. Mile 2 is usually my worst mile in a 5K, but it wasn’t difficult today, even though I only ran a 6:39. I really didn’t have anything to go with and I could tell that sub-20 was slipping away pretty quickly. Mile 3 was only 6:42.

It was becoming pretty obvious to me that I was going to struggle to even catch my 20:31. I kicked at a 6:00 pace for the final .13, but it was too little, too late. 20:33. I’m pretty hard on myself for my individual performances, but I was very disappointed with this one. I know it doesn’t mean much in regards to my marathoning, but I just wasn’t very happy.

What Does It All Mean?
Hmmm, well, I got two medals to give to my kids. And two tech shirts to give to anybody who wants them. I wasn’t happy with my speed today, but I was pretty happy that I didn’t fade much. All in all, I’d say I can walk away from these two races with a little bit of a confidence boost as I head into tomorrow’s Gasparilla Marathon.

Weekend Preview: I GUARANTEE a PR!

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It’s not my style to get bold or make outlandish predictions, but I absolutely guarantee that I will set a new personal best this weekend. I will come back here and say I told you so, because I know I will get the job done. As long as I don’t sleep through my alarm and I get to the start line, I will come home with a PR. You heard it here first, period.

Of course, I’m not talking about my marathon on Sunday. I’m talking about my 15K on Saturday. I know I’ll set a PR because it’s my first-ever 15K. This weekend is a triple, in a way. I’m heading out to Tampa for the Gasparilla Marathon. I’ll be running the 15K on Saturday morning at 7 a.m., a 5K at 9:30 a.m. and then the full marathon Sunday morning at 6 a.m.

15K
I’ve never run a 15K before and I’m not really looking forward to this. You might be wondering why I’d dread a race that’s only 9.3 miles when I race 26.2 every weekend. Well, it’s simple. To get a time that’s respectable for my ability, I have to run pretty fast — considerably faster than I run in a marathon. And I have to keep that pace up for 9.3 miles!

I’ll tell anybody who asks that a 10K is my least-favorite distance to race, because it’s basically a sprint for 6.2 miles. I’m thinking that this 15K is going to be pretty tough for me. I’m not good at the shorter stuff. Just going off of my best marathon time this year, 3:07:21, the race calculators say I should be able to run a 19:13 5K and a 39:55 10K. I haven’t hit either of those times, yet I’ve actually run a marathon more than seven minutes quicker than my best time this year.

My 5K PR is 19:20. My 10K PR is 40:39. Add them together and you get 59:59. The calculators say, based off my 3:07:21 in Carlsbad, that I should be able to run a 1:01:52 (6:38/mile). I’m going to set my goal at sub-1:02 (1:01:59 or better), but I don’t think I’ll hit it. I’ll certainly try, though.

Whatever my time is, it’ll be a PR, like I promised!

5K
I’ll have just under 90 minutes after the end of the 15K before I run the 5K. That’s just enough time to get some stiff legs and lose motivation. I don’t dread 5Ks as much as 10Ks, but they’re hard, too. Running 3.1 miles isn’t tough for me. But doing it so hard that my lungs just about burn is a challenge.

I guess racing at any distance is tough. I’m trying to remember why I do this? Maybe it’s the ice cream and the In-N-Out, I don’t know. But whatever the case, I come up short in 5Ks. My best was 19:20 on a pancake-flat course in 2008, although on that same course last year, I went 20:30. In all fairness, I was coming off and injury and was fighting to regain speed when I was slow last fall. But I’m not positive I’d go much quicker than 20 flat right now.

I’m going to be aiming to go as fast as I can. I have no idea what’s in me. I think I’m getting faster with the 26.2 miles of hard running I’m doing every weekend, but I’m not 100 percent. If that speed is there, maybe I can fight through the pain for 20 lousy minutes? 5Ks are interesting. I get rolling and my wheels turn almost effortlessly that first mile, then I fight through a burn in the second mile, and I finally watch my time slip away over that last mile. A 5K is one race where it’s actually OK to go out “too fast” and I certainly push it.

That all being said, my A goal is to PR (19:19), my B goal is to go sub-19:30 and my C goal is sub-20. I’ll be disappointed if I don’t go sub-20. That doesn’t mean I’ll be capable of that on Saturday given the proximity of that race to the 15K and 10 marathons this year, but I’ll still be disappointed. I expect to be able to produce a time in the 19s.

Marathon
I think I’m going to take a different approach on Sunday. Typically, I run by heart rate, take what the course gives me, and try to get as much as I can out of my body. This year has been a string of races that have been a little bit disappointing, but not by a lot. I have a 3:12, two 3:13s and a 3:15 sticking in my mind, but my 3:07 is where I want to be.

So, I think I’m going to switch it up this weekend. I know the course is pretty flat. Every course is going to have some rolling changes, but from what I know, this is a pretty level track. Instead of running by heart rate, I’m just going to go out and run by pace and try to stay in the 7:00-7:10 range. Nothing faster, regardless of what the course allows.

I’m not tremendously concerned about the impact of the 15K and the 5K and I’m curious to see if I can get myself in a good groove. I think it’s possible, but there’s only one way to find out. If I knock off miles in that range and stay consistent, I should be back in that 3:07 range. The weather and the course look favorable for me, so that’s what I’m going to try to do.

I get a lot of positive feedback when I turn a 3:12 or a 3:15, but I feel like I owe 3:0X finishes. I’d like to get a little bit of confidence back. I know I can run sub-3:10s and I want to start doing that consistently again. Fatigue is not a good enough excuse for me. In 2008, I went 3:06, 3:04 and 3:09 on a Sunday and then the following Saturday and Sunday. I know I have it in me, so I want to pull it out.

So, my A goal Sunday is 3:07:20 (new best for the year), B goal is 3:09:59 and C goal will be 3:12:37 (would be second-fastest of the year). I just feel like it’s time to step it up and produce better results.

And of course, I’m doing it in Tampa, the home course for Jen Morgan. As I mentioned yesterday, I’m really appreciative for everything she’s done for Operation Jack and I want to come up big in her race.

So that’s all I have. I’ll post a race report for the 15K and 5K on Saturday, but I don’t expect to have one for the marathon posted until that evening when I get back to California.

Have a great weekend, everybody! Thank you for your support!

OJ Update: Another Piece In Place

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To me, it’s fitting that one of the symbols of the fight against autism is a puzzle piece. This morning, I realized that I have no idea what kind of impact Operation Jack will have or what the bigger picture of what I’ve done will look like at the end of the year. But it’s like putting together a puzzle. I’m assembling it one bit at a time, and yesterday, I snapped another nice piece in.

Chapters Aren’t Only In Books!
So this is where I take a moment to thank Alicia Verburg and hope she inspires at least one of you! Alicia is a fellow marathoner and the parent of cute son who has autism. Late last week, she posted comments on one of my blogs, which included the following:

So happy for you guys and totally inspired by your journey. I want to get involved with Train 4 Autism but not sure where to start. What can I do?

Well the answer to that question was simple — I asked her to start a chapter! Well, maybe I begged her.

The biggest thing to do to really help would be to join Train 4 Autism and start a chapter. My biggest goal with Operation Jack is to help T4A grow, so bringing people in all over the country is the biggest thing I’m trying to accomplish. It’s not a huge responsibility and we have people who will help you out. Believe me, it’s a LOT easier than you might think.

And, just like both times I asked Tiffany to marry me, she said yes! So I think this is the fourth new chapter that has spawned as a result of Operation Jack. And that, at the core of it all, is why I’m running 60 marathons this year — because people like Alicia, who otherwise might not have ever heard of Train 4 Autism, are now chapter presidents!

I have no idea who reads this blog, but I know it’s a lot more of you than I hear from, because I keep an eye on the traffic numbers. Some of you are runners and some of you are affected by autism. I get a fair amount of feedback and quite a few of you have told me that you’re inspired by what I’m doing. I know that for every one of you who speaks up and tells me something, there are 10 more of you thinking the same thing but remaining silent.

If you’re one of the silent types out there, and you think what I’m doing is kind of cool and you want to join in somehow, PLEASE consider starting a chapter! It’s super, super simple, I swear! We have people who will help you out and there’s not a ton to do. Maybe man a table at a local autism walk. Or try to build a team for a local 5K. You don’t have to run 60 marathons. You don’t have to raise any certain amount. We know that any help we get is help we didn’t have, so we’d love to have you and we promise we won’t complain!

Alicia filled out the New Chapter Form. If you fill it out, you’ll give me a huge psychological boost for this weekend!

Help Me Clean My Garage!
I have a whole bunch of Operation Jack t-shirts, tech shirts and sweatshirts in the garage. I really like the sweatshirts. I guess I like the t-shirts and tech shirts, too, but I really like the sweatshirts. Anyways, I need to get rid of them! Well, I guess that’s a weak way to solicit donations, but take a look at the levels on the Sponsors page and see if you’re interested.

I’d love to have you walking around wearing Operation Jack gear! That reminds me — if I owe you clothing and you haven’t gotten it, send me an e-mail and I’ll make sure it’s in the shipment we send out this week. Tiff and I aren’t flawless at our routine of sending stuff out, but we’re getting better.

Cleveland Anybody?
I’m really trying to make a big push for a good turnout in Cleveland on May 16. We’re about three months out, so it’s starting to get close to that time where you need to start thinking about it if you’re going to run it. They have a 5K on May 15, plus a 1/2 marathon and a marathon on May 16. I have discount codes if you go to my Cleveland page. PLEASE make sure you use the code when you register.

If you’re going to be there and you can bring anybody out, even for the 5K, that would be a big help for what we’re trying to accomplish there! I have 60 races this year, and this is one I’m really trying to make a big push for. So be there! Or tell somebody you know to be there! Or be there and tell somebody you know to be there!

Thank You Jen Morgan!
OK, so in each Wednesday blog, I’m thanking somebody who’s helped Operation Jack. And I guess I kind of already thanked Alicia today, but I’m really trying to use her as an example to get you guys inspired to start a chapter!

So instead of settling with my thanks to Alicia, today I’ll throw out a big gracias to Jen Morgan. Jen likes to be called Morgan, but I like to call her Captain — it’s a rum thing. Anyways, she is really, really enthusiastic about what I’m trying to do. She did a great job fundraising, she’s been very supportive for a good six months or so, and she’s worked pretty hard to spread the word.

I finally get to meet her in person on Friday in Tampa! She’s running Gasparilla with me this weekend and she’ll be wearing her own custom-made Operation Jack shirt. She’s really fired up and makes me feel like a rock star. I’ve told her plenty of times that she’s going to be severely disappointed when we meet, but that’s her problem! I know it’s going to be a treat for me to meet her and I’ve been looking to Tampa for a while because I know she’s going to be there. For somebody I’ve never met, I couldn’t ask for anything more than all she’s done over the past several months.

So Captain, Jen, Redhead Running, Morgan, or whatever you want to be called … thank you!

That’s All For Today!
I write my blogs the night before, and it’s Tuesday night as I write this and I’m getting kind of hungry for some ice cream. This streak of eating ice cream isn’t going to jump to 24 days on its own — I need to get over to my couch and have myself some peanut butter fudge swirl! Have a great Wednesday, everybody! I’ll be back tomorrow with a weekend forecast!