Judging by the feedback I’ve been getting, I don’t think you guys like the question and answer blogs I’ve been doing. But, I still have a few more questions to answer, so I’m going to answer them. Somebody asked if I was Superman, and today, I’ll give a truthful answer to that. Are you curious? Keep reading!
Real quick, just in case you’ve never been here, welcome! I’m a father of three and a marathon runner. My middle child, 7-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. I wanted to do something to use my running to make a difference, so I’m attempting to run 61 marathons this year to raise money for a charity I’m a part of called Train 4 Autism.
I named this endeavor Operation Jack, after my son. This year is almost done, as is Operation Jack. I’m through 60 of the 61 so far! OK, moving on …
A couple of quick things about race 61, The Operation Jack Marathon
The Operation Jack Marathon is this Sunday. If you’re in the Southern California area, come out and join us! The rain is supposed to go away tomorrow! Click here to see all about the race, registration, etc. Come out and run with us! If you’re not local, consider the Satellite Run option. We’re aiming for all 50 states and we only have 10 to go. Participants get a race shirt and a medal. And, of course, they’re helping a great cause.
Post-Race Celebration Sunday
We’ll be getting together at a local restaurant. I created an evite. Click to operationjack.org/postrace to automatically view it. The invitation is open to anybody. If you want to go, just RSVP so we know to expect you!
What was your favorite course, most memorable, most scenic, least scenic, and what the heck what I thinking course?
I’ve touched on the favorite course thing, but it was Humpy’s in Anchorage. Most memorable will probably be this weekend’s Operation Jack Marathon. How am I ever going to top that? Least scenic, I’d probably go with Arizona Rock ‘N Roll. And What the heck was I thinking? The Tahoe Triple.
That was tough, especially 46 marathons into the year in a month that featured two ultras, seven races total of at least marathon distance and five races that started above 6,000 feet, two that finished above 7,000 feet and one that was a four-story building shy of 9,000 feet. What the heck was I thinking?
Are you in fact Superman?
A supporter from Illinois asked me this question. This kind of stuff makes me blush. But I made a deal — you ask questions, I’ll give you the answers. Am I Superman? Yes. I am.
What’s been harder, the the running or the time without the fam?
The time without the fam, no question. I got homesick a lot more than I thought the running was getting too tough. In fact, the running never really fazed me. I just went through the grind and got it done.
But I hated leaving. Even last week, when I was excited because it was my last trip, I was sad to leave. I found that it was easier to leave when everybody was asleep, but I didn’t like being gone, and I got pretty upset when I missed things.
How do you recover so quickly after each marathon?
Previous high-mileage training helped with that. But I think maybe I’m just blessed to recover fairly quickly. I haven’t been 100 percent all year, and it’s been frustrating to not be able to do what I’ve been able to do in the past, but I haven’t been in a ton of pain. I’ve been more-or-less sore all year.
I went primarily protein in my diet the first three days after my races, I stretched a lot and I did slow, easy runs during the week. I took ice baths when I could, although not often enough.
What running products have you found are absolute garbage/must halves?
I don’t know of anything I haven’t really liked. I don’t buy every latest product out there and I’m pretty simple, so I couldn’t really tell you anything I don’t like. But the one thing I really came to like this year was my Zensah compression pants. I wore them after my races and they were a huge help in preventing cramping. I called them my polyester cramp removers and I loved them!
How do you deal with haters, hecklers and wiseacres?
Not too well! I knew going in I’d encounter some of that and I wasn’t looking forward to it. It’s tough to get attacked and I’d hear some things, but I think the best thing to do is tune it out and stay focused on the goal. I’m pretty thin-skinned, argumentative and defensive, so I’m glad there wasn’t a lot of it.
I had people questioning my motives and questioning my relationship with my family and it made me extremely angry. Those who witnessed it know I didn’t manage the situation well and in addition to learning how I should have handled it, I learned that absorbing criticism is a major weakness of mine.
If you trained for just one marathon, what time do you think you could post?
I’ll find out on April 18. I’m aiming for sub-2:55.
How do you manage the logistics? Meaning, how do you find the time to pick up your race packet, especially on weekends you do more than one race, and get all your flights planned for right times and arrange transportation.
The flights were pain. There are three airports I can fly out of. There are occasionally multiple airports I could fly into. And there are different websites I would use to check fares. So, sometimes I’d have to do 15 or 20 checks to find a good flight. Fares were critical, but so were timelines. I have a job. I have a family. But I had to get to where I was going, too. So I needed perfect timelines at perfect rates.
Sometimes, the rates didn’t look good and I’d investigate backup races. Sometimes I’d do 50 searches to square away a weekend. It took me six hours to book my tickets for the weekend I went to Kansas City and Denver. That part seemed like such a time killer.
As for lodging and transportation, I usually booked my room and car the night before I left. I really only had problems with that twice. I forgot to book a car when I went to Knoxville, Tenn., so when I got there, I just went to each counter and asked for rates. When I flew into Missoula, the only company left with a car was Hertz, and they were incredibly expensive, so to save money, I sat in the terminal for three hours to make sure I only had the rental for 24 hours.
I knew going in the logistics were going to be a nightmare and they were. And I got to take care of it all myself. Fun, fun stuff.
Regarding race packets, any time I had the opportunity to have somebody else pick up my packet, I took advantage of that. Race expos don’t do it for me any more. On my last double, I got from Memphis to Las Vegas in time to get to the expo. It was weird picking up my packet knowing I’d gone 26.2 on the other side of the country earlier in the day.
I usually arranged with somebody to pick up my packet for me (thank you, Ally Phillips!) for doubles, but I figured out a way when I couldn’t. That either required squaring things away with the race or getting to town on time. For weekends when I only ran one marathon, I made sure I’d arrive on time and then I’d go straight to the expo from the airport.
How many pairs of shoes did you go through?
I went through six pairs of shoes. I’m currently rotating pairs No. 7 and 8 and I’m about 25 percent through each of those.
I number them so I know which pair I’m wearing. It helps me keep track of the miles.
What are you going to do you with your first weekend off?
Well, I’ll spend plenty of time with my family, watch a little football, work on the garage and take down the Christmas lights. From a running standpoint, though, I’m not sure what I’m going to do. I might take the weekend off, or I might go out for a 30-miler on my old training route. I’m not sure. I’ll see what I’m in the mood to do.
It’s probably hard to quantify tired, but how tired are you?
I’m straight-up worn out. I’m more tired than anything. I’m totally exhausted more than anything else. I’ve completely run myself into the ground. It’s not just the three hours a week that I’m running. It’s the 168 hours a week that I’m existing. I’ve been tired this entire year. I can’t even sleep more than 7 hours right now, because I’m so used to functioning on 6 that I wake up naturally after 7. I’m absolutely out of gas.
How long in 2011 before you do another race?
Boston, April 18. I hope I still have followers because it’s going to be a fun one. Oh, I’m pacing the 3:40 group at Surf City on Super Bowl Sunday, but that doesn’t really count. Physically, that’s just a training run for me.
OK, that’s all for today.
Is it really Wednesday? Wow. This week is going by way too fast. I’ll see you back here for one last blog before my last race. It’s not going to be a question-and-answer session, though. See you tomorrow!
jen small says
so I see you run in Saucony-which model.
Love the idea of marking them 🙂
SUPERSAM
Cindy Magnussen says
Nice idea to number the shoes. And, personally, I love the Q&A blogs.
Jackie Sullivan says
I didn’t get my question in, and maybey you answered this already, are you going to keep blogging next year?
Melissa Gillespie says
I remember last June when you were so bummed for being *only* halfway. These past 6 months were supposed to drag by, weren’t they? And yet, here you are. One more to go!
Eric Graham says
Sam – I’m proud of you for finishing so strong. I continue to be amazed! I just hope that your efforts have accomplished what you intended/desired. Happy holidays to you and the family.
PS – Keep “tweeting”!