Operation Jack

Fighting autism, one mile at a time.

Operation Jack Marathon Series … Maybe?

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I guess honesty is the best policy. I explained yesterday that I’m honest with my wife, and that I’d tell her if I don’t like her hair. And in the past, I have. Well, Tiff returns the favor and throws the truth my way. Apparently, reading my blog has been like my running — it takes an average of about two hours a day. But it needs to be like Tiff — short and sweet. So here goes nothing!

The end.

Just kidding. But I’ll try to keep it short.

Today’s Workout
My ankle has been bothering me ever since I rolled it last Tuesday walking through a parking lot. I think it’s sprained. It’s swollen and sore, but I’ve been able to run on it. I did a 16.1-miler, a 16.6-miler and a 26.5-miler since I hurt it. I want to run and stay in shape, but I don’t want to go too far and cause damage I’d regret. I took Sunday, Monday and yesterday off. I iced it in a bucket of freezing ice water Monday night and last night. I also bought an ankle brace to keep it sturdy.

When I went to bed last night, I wasn’t sure if I’d get up and go for a run or just get up and work. I planned on running and got dressed and ready to roll. But I didn’t like my ankle brace when I put my shoe on and I’m stressed about how much work I have to do. Plus, I have physical therapy today for tendinitis in my right knee, and I figure I’ll try to sneak some free ankle advice in while I’m there. So, I get a DNS for my workout today, a big, fat zero. This month continues to be about the toughest month I’ve ever had since I started running. I need a 30-hour day, and I haven’t even gotten to the heavy lifting of Operation Jack yet.

Talkin’ Jack
In case this is your first time here, or if you’ve never been to the rest of the site, I’m planning on running 60 marathons next year to raise awareness for a charity called Train 4 Autism. My son, Jack, is severely autistic and I want to do something to make a difference in his honor. In this spot in each blog, I’ll talk about Jack a little bit.

Today, there was a bowl of chips on the kitchen table and he specifically asked for chips. Being able to verbally say the word is good, but putting 2 and 2 together to express his thought is great. He later grabbed his therapist’s hand and moved it toward the chips. It sounded like he said “ball,” but she realized he said “bowl”. Yeah Jack! Also, Ava has a little pink toy laptop. He wanted it and used the word “computer”! Woo-hoo! He had fun in summer camp earlier in the day and he went to sleep happy and calm. All-in-all, a good day for the little dude this whole Operation Jack thing is named after.

Ice Cream Update
I had a close call Monday night, heading out to McDonald’s to get a cone at 9:30 p.m. (that’s past my bedtime!), but there was no such issue last night. Tiff texted me yesterday from the grocery store, asking what flavor I wanted. I liked the generic peanut butter fudge swirl I had a couple of weeks ago. She didn’t just pick up a half-gallon. She picked up two half-gallons! I guess that’s a gallon?

So, I had some of that last night. Good stuff. My streak is up to 35 days in a row now eating ice cream or frozen yogurt. I’m going to start thinking about ways I can use ice cream to help Operation Jack. Maybe I’ll snap the streak for the benefit of Operation Jack. Or maybe I’ll shoot for a ridiculous goal instead. No idea. I’ll think about it. For now, though, I’ll keep on eating ice cream.

I’m Horrible At Keeping Secrets
I’m just too excited to keep this as a secret. I’m not done with details yet, and nothing is official, but I’m planning on a series of Operation Jack marathons for next year. It would be a series of three marathons, with points awarded for finishing and for the top 3-5 positions in the race. At the end of the series, prize money would be awarded to the top three finishers in the overall points standings for the series. $1,000, $500 and $250 will be the prize money. The races will be in Southern California on certified courses. I haven’t completely finalized the dates of the races (although I’m pretty sure I have it set) and I haven’t finalized the title sponsor of the race, but I have a good possibility in the works. I’m close, though, and I think I might be able to give more information next week.

The way I’m crafting up the points would reward the winners, but it would also encourage participation. The championship would not be mathematically possible to clinch until the final race. And finishing dead last in all three races would be better than winning the first two and not showing for the third. Just like Operation Jack, participation is key. Entry fees will be reasonable, probably between $50 and $70. I’m almost positive we’ll have medals and tech shirts.

That’s all for now on that. But I’m really excited about this and hoping to pull it off.

Video of the Day
I’m going with the ice cream theme on this one. This is kind of cool.

See You Thursday
Thanks for reading. I appreciate you taking the time to read this. If you’d like to receive e-mail notifications automatically when I post new blogs, all you have to do is post a comment or register with the site. Don’t worry, though, there’s a link in those emails that allows you to unsubscribe at any time. Have a great Wednesday!

Blood and Ice Cream!

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It’s Taco Tuesday and I have chicken burritos for lunch. They’re nowhere near authentic, but they’re ridiculously good, and I’m not just saying that because my wife cooked them. I’m honest with her — if I don’t like how she cuts her hair, I’ll tell her. I’ve told her. But these burritos are good. I can’t wait until lunch time. The rest of this blog has nothing to do with that, though. Think more along the lines of Jack, blood, ice cream and a swollen ankle. Sounds like a bad night at Ozzy Osbourne’s house.

Today’s Workout
Well, if you’ve been here before, you know I’m battling a couple of injuries — tendinitis in my right knee and then i rolled my ankle pretty badly last week. I’ve been going back and forth about running on the ankle. I hate not running and I want to stay in shape. But I need to be ready for next year. The day after I rolled it, I ran 16.1 miles. But the day after that, I ran 1.1 after doing a turnaround.

I followed with a 16.6-miler, and a 26.5-miler, but the swelling isn’t going down. I took yesterday off, then solicited advice from a bunch of runners. The advice I received revolves around ice, advil, physical therapy/strengthening exercises and maybe time off, but maybe staying active to keep the blood flowing.

I soaked my foot in a bucket of ice water last night for 30 minutes, I did some balancing exercises, I popped ibuprofen and I’ve got physical therapy tomorrow (well, on my knee, but I’ll sneak some advice while I’m there). So to run today, or not to run today? Well, as you’ll read about in just a bit, I donated blood yesterday and they told me no strenuous exercise for 24 hours. I asked about running. The man told me I could take a brisk walk around the block. No way — that would be more frustrating that not running, because I’d see people jogging past me. So, I stayed in and worked.

I’m sure that for the next 4-6 days, I’m going to be playing everything by ear (well, by ankle). I have no idea if I’m going to want to run or take the day off. Today, the decision was easy. Tomorrow, maybe not. I need to be ready to go on Friday. But not this Friday — I need to be ready on Friday, January 1, 2010.

Talkin’ Jack
In case this is your first time here, or if you’ve never been to the rest of the site, I’m planning on running 60 marathons next year to raise awareness for a charity called Train 4 Autism. My son, Jack, is severely autistic and I want to do something to make a difference in his honor. In this spot in each blog, I’ll talk about Jack a little bit.

Jack has certain movies he likes to watch over and over again. Right now, he has a Caillou video he’s watching way too much. I wish he was into SportsCenter. But he’s starting to recite parts of some of the sentences, and that’s better than hearing the good news about the Cardinals beating the Dodgers last night. His speech definitely isn’t 100% clear, but it’s enough that it’s exciting for us. He gets good chunks of sentences and kind of mumbles through words that he knows he can’t pronounce. I have no idea if he understands what he’s saying, but the almost-speaking is a great step. We’re working on getting video of this to upload to YouTube, but our timing isn’t the greatest.

I used to get discouraged by how far behind Jack was, and his progress wasn’t enough to make me happy, because with my mathematical thinking, if he was making three months worth of progress in a year, then he was falling behind another nine months. But I’ve learned that I can’t compare him to others. I just need to be happy about the gains he makes. And it’s really starting to get to the point where I’m noticing something new almost every day. I’m really looking forward to truly interacting with him, and it sure seems like we’re getting a lot closer!

Blood Drive!
For the first time in a dozen years, I donated blood yesterday. I hate needles. I get queasy just thinking about them. I can’t look at them, think about them … I hate them. A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine named Peggy sent me two certificates she had, “Pint for a Pint,” that she got for donating blood. Peggy is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met and I look up to her and respect her quite a bit. When she told me she had those coupons she received from donating blood, it got the wheels spinning in my head.

Maybe now it was finally time to just suck it up and do it. Needles are miserable, but it’s a good thing to do and I ought to just do it. My body will make the blood back, and maybe it will save somebody’s life down the road, so why not? Because I don’t like needles? No, I decided that I wanted to be like Peggy.

So a couple of weeks ago, I got to thinking about when to do this. My Uncle Bob died of leukemia five years ago yesterday. My readership is growing here. It’s not huge, but it’s getting better. I know the primary cause here is autism, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do other things, too. I have 17 months left and then nobody (not even my kids) will listen to a word I sy. So I might as well make the most of it now.

I was thinking about getting a blood drive going in his honor, but I didn’t think it would be very effective without huge numbers, so I put the idea on the back burner. But it came back to the front during a run last week, so I figured I’d give it a shot. I could try, and if I get no participants, at least I tried. If I get just one, then that’s one person who wasn’t going to give blood who did, and I could let my aunt Rebecca (his widow) know, and that would make her day.

I have one person who’s going to make an appointment, and that made my day. I found that out in the car on the way to my appointment yesterday.

Anyways, it was a little nerve-wracking. After answering the questions and having my blood pressure, pulse and iron level checked, it was time for the needle. I was apprehensive, but I looked around and thought about how fortunate I was to be on the giving side of a blood donation. I thought about my uncle and my aunt. I thought about my dad, who used to donate platelets as frequently as the Red Cross lets you, but then had to stop once they found cancer in his bladder in 2004. They found it the same week I found out my Uncle Bob had leukemia. My dad’s name is Bob, too. He was more fortunate, though. He had surgery to remove the cancer, then had a recurrence a few years later, but he’s doing fine now. I sent him an email and told I was at the Red Cross donating blood.

Wish I was there.

I was at my Dr this morning and needed some additional blood work. The lab took 4 test tubes – I should have gotten a Red Cross cookie for that.

It took longer than normal for my donation. I don’t know exactly what was going on, but there was some problem with my vein. The dripping was slow and they had to keep adjusting it. They must have adjusted it five times and I probably had the needle in my arm for about an hour. I think it should have only been 15 minutes, but oh well. Finally, something happened and they had to stop. I could tell they didn’t have the full collection, so I asked if they’d be able to use what they collected.

They told me they wouldn’t be able to use it as a donation for a transfusion, but they’d be able to use it for research. So, I tried. And the way I see it (or what I’m telling myself) is that since they’re using my blood for research, they’ll be able to use somebody else’s for a transfusion that would have been used for research instead. I did my part for today. I tried. And I’ll be back on Sept. 21. I’m actually going to try to see if i can do it on Sept. 16, Jack’s birthday. We’ll see.

And so again, I’ll beg: If any of you have ever thought about donating, but needed a push to get up and do it, set up an appointment this week! Just do it! Believe me, if I can do it, you can do it. You have no idea how much I hate needles. Oh, and if you do it, let me know!

Ice Cream Update
I was sitting on the couch last night, writing up an email to the good folks at Train 4 Autism to let them know about some progress I’m having with Operation Jack (Remember how I was talking about good things cooking yesterday? Yeah, that stuff … I’m REALLY excited!!!) and Tiff asked me I had any of the butter pecan left, because the kids finished off the cookies and cream earlier in the day and there was nothing left.

I told her no, and I thought about the streak. And then I looked and hoped she was joking. But she wasn’t. I kept hoping she was, but she still wasn’t. I was soaking my ankle in a bucket of ice water, so I was in no position to get up and call her bluff. I just had to sit there and wonder. The more time went on, the more I realized she wasn’t kidding. I started debating whether or not I should head out for ice cream or not. She offered to go, but I’m chivalrous and I’m not going to let her go out and fetch ice cream at night. She should be comfortable in our home.

It was closing in on 9:30, and I didn’t know if I really wanted to make the effort. So I tweeted and updated my status on Facebook to get some feedback. It was overwhelming in a hurry. I had no choice but to go get ice cream. I can’t let my followers down. So I hopped in the car, drove through McDonald’s and picked myself up a soft-serve vanilla cone. That was $1.08 well spent. Absolutely delicious, plus only 150 calories and 4 grams of fat. That might become a staple in my diet.

So the streak stands at 34 days. I’m thinking about going to McDonald’s today.

Video Of The Day
When I hopped into the car to go get my ice cream, the following song was playing. Ironic, appropriate … whatever you want to call it:

Have a Greate Tuesday!
Have a great day! Thank you for your support of Operation Jack and for believing in the cause. Please tell a friend who hasn’t seen the site to come check it out!

Who Wants To Donate Blood?

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I’ve done a lot of unorthodox things running, from running a marathon on one hour of sleep to running three in three states in 8 days to running one in rain and 40 mph winds with bronchitis. But I’m thinking my long run this weekend might have been one of the dumber things I’ve done. Yeah, 26.5 miles on a bad ankle.

Today’s Workout
On Saturday morning, I went out for my first long run since running the Rock ‘N Roll Marathon in San Diego in May 31. I’ve felt slow since early May and I just haven’t been myself. I was aiming for 28-30 miles, but I didn’t know how it would go, so I took a route that would have allowed me to cut it short if necessary. I started off not moving tremendously quick, and I could tell it was humid by how much I was sweating. I felt a little fatigued as I got into it, and I’m sure doing 16.6 on Friday didn’t have me too fresh, but I figured I’d just push through. So, I headed out to get far enough out to make sure I’d get at least 26.2 in. I figure that’s the best way — if you’re out and the only way to get back is straight in, you’ll hit your miles. Well, about 2 1/2 hours in, it started getting hot and I started falling apart.

I could tell that I was on track for about 26.6 and I knew I would forego any of the turns I would have taken to get it up to about 28. I really wanted to quit, but there’s not a lot to do. Walk home for three miles? I was coming up the hill I finish on and my wife drove by — she was coming home from McDonald’s playground with the kids. I wanted to get in the car, but she asked me how far along I was. I told her 25.5 and she told me no, to keep rolling, because I’d regret not going the distance. She’s not a slave-driver or a drill sergeant. She just knows me well. She knows that if I was in serious trouble, I’d demand a ride, or if I struggled over that last mile I’d shut it down and walk. And she knew that I’d kick myself all weekend if I didn’t go at least 26.2. She was right and I ended up going 26.5. I walked up my street at the end as a cool down because I felt like I was going to throw up. I was a minute per mile slow. I’ve run at least 26.2 in training a good 30+ times, and this was by far my slowest. Oh well … better luck next weekend.

I took yesterday off. I caught up on my sleep, and there’s no need to overdo it while building the miles back up. I ended up with 76.4 last week with essentially three days off, so I figured that was enough.

Last night, I had Tiff look at my ankle. It still hurts from when I rolled it last Tuesday. I’ve never had an ankle problem before, so this is new territory. It feels swollen when I touch it, but that could be deceptive based on the pain I’m feeling. Well, she touched it and took a look and I got a big “Oh my goodness!” Yeah, it’s still swollen. I got up to run this morning, got dressed and ready to go, and it hurt a tiny bit and I figured I’d just shut it down and get some work done. I don’t know if I’ll run tomorrow, if I’ll take some time off again, if I’ll run the 5K I’m looking into this Saturday … I have no idea what I’m going to do. I do know that I’m going to be very frustrated for a little while. If I had to run a marathon today for Operation Jack, it would be no problem and I’d do it. But I don’t and I want to be as close to 100% to start it off next year. I need to be ready to go on Decemeber 31, not July 31.

Talkin’ Jack
In case this is your first time here, or if you’ve never been to the rest of the site, I’m planning on running 60 marathons next year to raise awareness for a charity called Train 4 Autism. My son, Jack, is severely autistic and I want to do something to make a difference in his honor. In this spot in each blog, I’ll talk about Jack a little bit.

Jack had a pretty fun weekend and didn’t have any significant issues. He was very well behaved at Red Robin for lunch on Saturday and rode on Ava’s scooter later in the afternoon. I can’t recall him having any meltdowns all weekend. He did a pretty good job sitting at the kitchen table with the rest of us for breakfast yesterday morning and seemed fairly calm all weekend.

Actually, one funny story: He thought it would he funny to take a cup, go to the fridge to get some water out of the dispenser on the door and then fling it up on the ceiling. He was right — it was kind of funny. But it probably wasn’t very good for the ceiling or the floor. Tiff pushed the lock button on the fridge, so when we went back to get more water, nothing came out, so he tried to throw water from an empty cup up to the ceiling. Obviously, nothing happened, but he did it two more times after that with an empty cup and found it pretty funny. I tried not to laugh because I didn’t want to encourage. I failed.

Anyways, he starts a special summer camp today (just a day camp), so hopefully that goes well. You’ll find out here tomorrow, of course.

The Streak Is Over
No, not the ice cream streak. The dinner streak. I wasn’t very hungry and I snacked enough, so I didn’t eat dinner. I don’t know how many nights in a row I’d had dinner, but if I have dinner tonight, my new streak will be at one. I’m still rolling with the ice cream, though.

I went with cookies and cream on Friday night, a waffle cone of Orange 50/50 at Golden Spoon on Saturday and cookies and cream again last night. I’m 33 days in a row with ice cream or frozen yogurt now. I’m thinking I should stop, because the longer it goes, the tougher it’s going to be for me to snap my streak. But it’s so darn hot right now and I really like ice cream. So I guess I’ll just keep rolling.

Blood Drive Anyone?
I know that between now and the end of 2010, we’re going to a lot of great things for autism-related charities all over the country. But why not try to do other nice things while we’re at it?

I mentioned this on Friday and I’ll mention it again today. Today is the five-year anniversary of the death of my Uncle Bob. He died of leukemia. So, I’m going to give blood. I hate needles. I’ve given blood once, back when I was in college, and I HATED the experience. Just talking about needles makes me kind of queasy.

But I was talking with a friend of mine named Peggy, who has one of the biggest hearts of anybody I’ve ever met, and she gives blood regularly. That sparked the idea a couple of weeks ago, but I let it go, figuring I’d wait until next year on this date. But for whatever reason, it came back to me on my run on Friday.

I had a physical therapy appointment for my knee today, but I shifted it until Wednesday and I’m going in to give blood today at 1:30. I know I’m just a stranger blogging on the internet to most of you, but if you’ve ever thought about giving blood but needed a kick in the pants, please do it this week! I know it might be a little late to do it today, but if you can do it sometime this week, post here and let me know, or contact me through the Contact Us form (I should probably just call it “Contact Me”). You’d be doing a good thing, you’ll get free cookies, and (selfishly) I’ll let my Aunt Rebecca (his widow) know and it will hopefully bring a smile to her face. I know not all of you will, but if I can get just one person to, I think that would be awesome.

Operation Jack Update
There are a ton of good things cooking in the Operation Jack kitchen right now. I can’t mention what any of them are, but any time one of these dishes turns out, I’ll be eager to let everybody know. I can’t believe how much work this takes on a daily basis. But little things here and there are (or might be) coming together and it’s amazing. I’m just a normal guy going through my daily routine trying to make something happen, and more and more people are jumping on the bandwagon. It blows my mind and I truly appreciate everything more than I can really convey in just a few sentences. For all the things you all are doing, and that definitely includes spreading the word and getting excited, THANK YOU!

Ice, Ice Baby
I was asked on Twitter if I soak my legs in ice after every run, and I figured I’d answer the question here. No, I don’t. I wish I had the time to. I love what ice baths do to my legs — they bring them about 95% back to life. The ice decreases the swelling and helps with the tiny little tears you get in your muscles when your exercise. A hot bath is obviously more relaxing, but the ice is what will make you heal. You don’t want to go with the hot bath before you ice. Last October, I ran a 3:04:59 in Kansas City on a Saturday (my 4th-fastest, a good time for me), then drove three hours to Wichita, soaked in ice for an hour and ran a 3:09:13 the next day, also a decent time for me. That wouldn’t have happened without the ice.

One tip, because it can be extremely difficult to get into a freezing-cold tub: Get in on your knees and it will be easier. Also, if you’re ever staying in a hotel, take advantage of that ice machine! Even if you’re not that beat up, it’s always good to get back to 100 percent.

Video Of The Day
I’m sticking with my blood drive, even if I’m the only person to donate!

Happy Monday!
This is the spot where I wrap it all up and ask you to send the site to somebody new today. I know you all are here because you believe in the cause. The goal is to increase nationwide awareness for Train 4 Autism (and eventually funds, but the awareness will take care of that). It’s pretty simple — increased awareness comes from more people being involved. So tell one person today. Little actions like that by a lot of people will make a big difference.

Why I Think Couch To 26.2 Is A Reasonable Goal (Pt. 3/3)

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Over the past couple of days, I’ve talked about how I went from couch potato to marathon runner in 18 months. I continue along today with how I gradually pushed harder to the point that I think I’m capable of giving Operation Jack a try.

Today’s Workout
I backed out of my run yesterday and cut it short to 1.1 miles because I was having various problems stemming from an incident on Tuesday where I rolled my ankle. I was overcompensating in other areas and having problems with my hamstrings, quads and my right knee. I used the foam roller last night and got up, planning to run. My ankle is still swollen, but I hate not running, so I figured I’d give it a try.

I went out and felt fine, more or less. I changed routes today to try to meet up with some people I run with in the mornings, but I didn’t time it right and I did the whole thing solo. I ended up going 16.6 and felt OK. I’m a touch slow right now, but I feel as good as I normally do after going for a run for that distance. I haven’t done a long run in two months and I think I’ll finally do it this weekend. Not sure what I’m going to do, but I’m not going to write it here, otherwise I’ll jinx myself.

Sally, if you read this, I got your email and I saw you guys (you were wearing orange — that’s proof!), but I was on my way in after the turnaround and if I would have joined you guys, it would have stretched my run to about 19. I don’t mind running 19, but I didn’t have the time. Sorry! See you Monday!

Talkin’ Jack
In case this is your first time here, or if you’ve never been to the rest of the site, I’m planning on running 60 marathons next year to raise awareness for a charity called Train 4 Autism. My son, Jack, is severely autistic and I want to do something to make a difference in his honor. In this spot in each blog, I’ll talk about Jack a little bit.

Jack went with my wife and his siblings to visit his aunt and cousin out in Murietta (for those of you not in Southern California, that’s about an hour east of where we live). He didn’t have a very good time. My wife was in Murietta, but poor little Jack was in Meltdown City. We’re guessing it’s the heat and the lack of a routine during the summer, but he’s had a rough week. It was really rough for him for a couple of hours, but he calmed down on the way back. During his therapy session, he did a good job. He duplicated the therapist’s efforts with legos and was fairly calm. He was in a good mood at the dinner table, although he didn’t do the greatest job eating his dinner. But that’s not a major surprise — he’s a 5-year-old!

Ice Cream Update
I stretched the streak to 30 days in a row with ice cream or frozen yogurt last night, finishing off the butter pecan hat was in the freezer. Tiff picked up some cookies & cream, so I figure I’ll hit 31 tonight. Until it’s a done deal, though, I’m only at 30.

Blood Drive Anyone?
I had thought about this about a week ago, and semi-decided to wait until I had more people here, but I’ve got a decent-sized crowd gathering and I’m gonna do this anyways. So here goes …

Monday will be the five-year anniversary of the death of my Uncle Bob. He died of leukemia. So, what I think I’m going to do is give blood. I hate needles I’ve given blood once, back when I was in college, and I hate the experience. But I was talking with a friend of mine named Peggy, who has one of the biggest hearts of anybody I’ve ever met, and she gives blood regularly. That sparked the idea. And for whatever reason, it came back to me on my run this morning.

So, I’m going to move my physical therapy appointment from Monday to Tuesday and go give blood in his honor. I know I’m just a stranger blogging on the internet to most of you, but if you’ve ever thought about giving blood but needed a kick in the pants, do it Monday! Post here and let me know, or contact me privately, and I’ll let my aunt (his widow) know and it will make her day. I know not all of you will, but if I can get just one person to, I think that would be awesome.

My Road To Operation Jack
On the surface, it looks a little crazy to be attempting 60 marathons next year. Most people think one marathon is crazy enough. I remember an old co-worker of mine had run 24 over the years and I thought that was nuts. I’m at 25 right now and I don’t think that’s a big deal. Maybe I’ve lost touch with reality a little bit, although to be cIear, I haven’t run 60 marathons. I’m just planning on trying to. I see the feedback, and some of you think it’s unfathomable, but really, I’m nothing special as a runner and I’ve been trying to illustrate why you shouldn’t think any goal is unreachable.

I’m no track star or athlete or anything special. As I explained on Wednesday, I’m just a recovering fat guy who was so slow he cheated on the timed mile in PE. And as I explained yesterday, the only thing I’m good at is work hard to chase a goal. I never told myself I couldn’t do something.

I went from 60 pounds overweight to a 4:06 marathon in 18 months. There’s a big difference between the two points, but the path between them is realistic and reasonable. I think it’s the same from that 4:06 to where I’m at now.

After my first marathon, I really wanted to go sub-4. I started my long runs at 13 miles, but I cut the pace down to 9 minutes a mile. I gradually stretched the runs back up to 24 miles at that rate. I wasn’t following any specific training plan. I just went out and ran 7 or 8 miles in the morning most weekdays, then my long run on the weekend. In October of 2006, 19 weeks after that 4:06, I ran a 3:49 as I continued to gain fitness. I was in marathon shape and I maintained that, then ran a 3:39:57 on a downhill Tucson course 6 weeks later. I think the 3:49 was actually a little slow for my ability and the 3:39 was a touch fast due to gravity. I was probably gaining fitness and going from 3:46 ability to 3:42 ability in that time period. That’s about 10 seconds per mile over six weeks, which at that level is reasonable if you work hard.

Five weeks later, I ran another 3:39, then attempted to run one two weeks later and struggled to a 3:54. I was disappointed with my effort that day and ran another one two weeks later. I knew that would be my last race for four months, so I gave it my all, ran a very controlled race and earned a 3:38. To this point, I hadn’t done anything spectacular. It was February of 2007, and in the back of my mind, I really wanted to run Boston in 2008.

I knew I’d have San Diego in June and then Long Beach in October. I wanted to BQ (for non-marathoners, that means to qualify for Boston) in Long Beach. I needed to run a 3:10, which required an unthinkable 7:17/mile pace. I figured I’d get after it and try to get halfway, 3:24, by June. I upped the mileage gradually from 45 miles a week to about 55 miles a week. I was running about 4-5 times a week, and one day a week, usually on a Wednesday or so, I got up a little earlier and ran a half marathon (13.1 miles) in training. I was running myself into the ground, but it was a gradual progression, one that was reasonable and required nothing more than dedication and hard work.

In San Diego that June, I thought I had worked my way up to about 3:17 or so shape, but I got greedy and went for the 3:10, even though I knew I couldn’t do it. I ran a fast first half, but struggled in the second half and finished with a 3:21. Still I exceeded that 3:24 target and only need to trim 11 minutes by October. When you start to get into that range, 11 minutes is a lot of time, but I REALLY wanted it, and I decided to bury myself in a training program for 18 weeks. Based on my mileage volume, I was on the outside limits of being able to run a plan called the Pfitz 18/70+, which was seven days a week, 18 weeks and a minimum of 70 miles a week (with a peak of 93).

It seemed impossible, but I really, really wanted that BQ, and I figured if I gave it a try and failed, I’d be in the same spot as if I didn’t even try. I trained hard through that long, hot summer. I was far from perfect. I broke down, struggled to do some of the runs as well as I needed to, missed some runs, tried to make up miles sometimes, came up short some weeks. But I gave it everything I had. Like I mentioned yesterday, I just tried to get a little bit better every day.

Race day came and I went out and did everything I could to stay within myself. I ran the miles and my target pace, avoided going too fast, and ran exactly as I intended. I ran from Long Beach to Boston in 3:07:53. Read from the top on this section, and tell me where I did anything that was amazing or unusual or unrealistic for the average person (I swear, I’m just an average guy with below-average talent). You can’t find it, because all I did was work hard. I didn’t do anything than anybody can’t do, but what I did didn’t come easy.

Since then, I stayed with a high-mileage routine. I enjoy running and it’s how I like to start my day. It’s my time where I get to think with no distractions. It’s where I came up with the idea for Operation Jack. Since that first BQ, I’ve run 17 more marathons, a 50K and a 50-miler. I have 11 Boston qualifiers and a 3:00:05 personal-best to my credit, although I think the thing I’m the most proud of was running a 3:06 with a bad left leg on a Sunday in Long Beach last October, then following with a 3:04 in Kansas City the next Saturday and a 3:09 the next day in Wichita. I was able to pull that off because I’ve run so much mileage that I’m used to running through pain and fatigue.

This experience is why I think I can give Operation Jack a try. If you take a look at what I wrote Wednesday and yesterday, you can see that it’s all been a gradual progression. While I might be much farther along than somebody who can only walk a few miles on a treadmill, I was that person less than five years ago and no special natural ability got me to where I am.

I’m not saying everybody should think about running a dozen marathons next year, but if you want to run a marathon, the only reason you won’t be able to is if you tell yourself you can’t.

Coolest Wedding Invitation Ever
Well, except for my own, which my bride picked out! If you’ve never seen this, it’s TOTALLY worth the four minutes!

Have A Great Weekend!
You guys are really doing a great job bringing people in to the site … keep it up and keep ’em coming! Traffic is on the rise and that will do great things for Operation Jack. I know I beg everyday, but, well, so, I guess that makes today just like any other day, because I’m begging again! If you haven’t registered for the site, please do! It’s easy to because it’s automatic if you leave a comment! Also please try to send one new person here over the weekend. It’s all for a good cause, and the more people here, the better we do!

OK, that’s all I’ve got for today. Have a great weekend! Thank you for your support of Operation Jack!

From Unable To Run A Mile To A Full Marathon In 18 Months: Not As Unrealistic As You'd Think

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Yesterday, I wrote about how horrible my health was less than five years ago. I couldn’t run a mile and my cholesterol was off the charts. But it took less than two years to get from my first walk around the block to my first full marathon. I’ll get to that a little bit farther down.

Today’s Workout
I was stiff all day yesterday. I’m used to running 15 or 16 miles a day, but I haven’t been tremendously consistent over the past few months, so two days in a row with 16.1-milers left me a little banged up. My knee is good enough to run on, but my left ankle is pretty sore after I did a nasty job rolling it in a parking lot on Tuesday afternoon. So, I didn’t really know what to expect heading into today’s run. Well, I expected painful miles, but that was about it.

I’m always a little sore when I run. I guess that’s just part of running a fair amount of miles every day. But my hamstrings were really sore this morning. Yesterday, because of my ankle, I think I ran a little unnaturally and favored my quads. They were very sore early on in my run. I think my hamstrings paid the price, because they wouldn’t loosen up today. I start by taking it easy downhill on the street I live on. It’s about a 30-foot drop over 1/10th of a mile. Usually, I’m comfortably at a 7:15 pace going down the hill. Today, I was at 8:44 and I knew I was in trouble. I mentally changed my 15-miler to 6 recover miles. Once I get down that hill, I turn up a hill that’s about 75 feet of gain over 1/4 mile. By the time I hit the top, I’m normally comfortable with an average pace in the 8:50s. Today, I was up over 10 minutes and thinking about how my hamstrings weren’t getting warm.

Well, about a minute or two later, I started to feel it in my knee. I know that tight hamstrings caused my knee problems I have right now, and I wasn’t about to wreck it. So I did the turnaround. 1.1 glorious miles in about 11 minutes today. What a workout. I went home and made some coffee, did some perfect push-ups and got some work done instead.

I took a look at my ankle and it looked a little fat, so I had Tiff take a look. Sure enough, it’s swollen. It doesn’t hurt too bad, but swelling can’t be a good thing. Hopefully it gets better sooner rather than later.

I Have The GREATEST Mother-In-Law Ever
I’m not just saying that because she bakes really good pies. I’m saying that because she registered here at operationjack.com last night and will probably read this today.

Speaking of registering here at operationjack.com, if you like this blog, you’ll automatically get an email notification every time I post a new one if you’re registered here. Of course, you have the option to unsubscribe at any time. I’ll beg again at the bottom, but I might as well throw it in up here, too. Right now, I’m just building a base here as we head into next year. Please, take just a minute and register! Free, no obligation, your info isn’t going anywhere. I just want to be able to keep in touch with you when we start rolling. You’d be surprised at how little you’ll be able to do to actually make a difference with Operation Jack and you know it’s a great cause!

Talkin’ Jack
In case this is your first time here, or if you’ve never been to the rest of the site, I’m planning on running 60 marathons next year to raise awareness for a charity called Train 4 Autism. My son, Jack, is severely autistic and I want to do something to make a difference in his honor. In this spot in each blog, I’ll talk about Jack a little bit.

Jack went for a ride with me last night to drop off a ton of flyers to a friend of mine who is going to help distribute them (THANK YOU Erin!) and was chilling in the back seat, playing on his Leapster. But he fell asleep by about 6:45! Poor dude was beat. I carried him up to his bed when I got home at about 7:20. Too bad he had an early night, but he is so cute when he sleeps! Unfortunately, though, he didn’t look that cute for long. He woke up for two hours in the middle of the night last night, the second straight night he’s done that. Mama Tiff is tired today. Heck, so am I.

My Non-Running Past
Yesterday, as I mentioned earlier, I wrote about how horrible my health was and how unathletic I am. If you didn’t read it, you should check it out, otherwise the next portion of this blog won’t make a ton of sense. There’s a pretty sweet video of Sam 1.0, an outdated version that required a LOT more bandwidth!

How I Went From Not Being Able To Run A Mile To Finishing A Marathon In About 18 Months
Well, I started walking in about December of 2004. It was tough. I live in a hilly area (hence the name Foothill Ranch), which doesn’t make things easy. There’s a 1.7-mile loop near my home and I took two laps per morning. I thought I was covering four miles, but I learned later than it was only about 3.4 It took about an hour and I enjoyed listening to music on the iPod. The mileage wore me out and my legs would be sore all day, but gradually, it got a little easier. Nothing unusual or impossible to do.

I started to get antsy and wanted to run a little bit, so after the first loop, I’d jog the downhill and then walk the uphill to finish. When that got easier, I’d start to jog the uphill. Well, for a little bit. I couldn’t make it the whole way. My weight started to drop, from 261, right through the 250s, and then gradually through the 240s. After about six or seven months of that, by July of 2005, I was able to jog about half the time, mostly on the downhills. I really wanted to jog the whole thing, so for about a month, I moved my workouts to the treadmill in the garage. My goal was to run 4 10-minute miles without stopping. It took a month, but I got past two miles, then got past three miles, and eventually, I pulled it off. Again, nothing unusual or impossible to do. It just took a little bit of work and determination.

I ran those 4 miles in 40 minutes about 4 times in one week, and then decided to give it a go outside. I finally went back out around the loop in the morning, and I made it around twice. And that became my daily run, about 4 times a week (weekends off!). For the next three months, I fought hard to finish those miles in 40 minutes. I did, although I thought I was running 10-minute miles, when it was really about 11:45/mile. I started to watch what I ate a little more closely. I didn’t want to waste my run on a candy bar. I dipped into the high end of the 230s. I was totally content with what I was doing, knowing it was just a matter of time until I got down to 225. I figured that would be good enough and I’d be good and healthy if I was only 25 pounds overweight. 10 months in the books, down from 60 pounds overweight to about 40 pounds overweight and slowly jogging 3.4 miles a day. Nothing unusual or impossible to do. It took some work, but I’d love to hear somebody tell me why they couldn’t do that.

I was in a nice little routine. And then it happened. Somebody brought donuts to work. My co-worker Rhett asked me if I wanted one, and I told him, “No way — I didn’t run four miles this morning to go waste it on a donut!” Rhett didn’t know I ran four miles a day. Actually, I didn’t. I slogged 3.4 miles. But that’s not the point. He was registered for a 1/2 marathon about 6 weeks later and he asked me if I wanted to run it. I asked him how long a 1/2 marathon was, because certainly he didn’t think a human being could actually run 13.1 miles. But yeah, that’s what he meant. Wow. No way. I’d heard of people running those crazy long races, but I didn’t know where you could actually find one and there was NO WAY I was going to do it.

He partially convinced me I could do it, then partially chickened me into it. I went for it, never mind the fact that my wife was about to give birth to our third child. Going from 3.4 lousy miles to 13.1 in six weeks with a newborn was a challenge, but I gave it a good try. One of my co-workers ran the LA Marathon about 10 or 12 years earlier, so I asked her what I should do to get ready. She told me that as long as I could run 6 miles a day and one 10-miler, I’d be fine. So, I picked it up to what I thought was 6 miles (nope, my miscalculated route was just 5.1) and then ran an 8 (er, 6.8) and eventually a 10-miler (tape-measured at 8.5, of course). This took some effort, but it certainly wasn’t anything impossible to do. It was painful, but not unrealistic.

I showed up on race day, totally nervous, not really believing that I was actually going to run a 1/2 marathon. I weighed 232 pounds that day. This was totally going to be a one-and-done thing. I’m not a racer, and it’s just not something I wanted to do. But I figured I’d do it, brag about it for a bit and then move on. My goal was 10-minute miles. I held that pace for the first three miles, but then I couldn’t hang and I dropped off the pace. I struggled miserably and finished with a 2:29:45, about 11:30 or so per mile. I had, uh, racing stripes (OK, bloody nipples … there — I wrote it) and it took me about 10 minutes to catch my breath when I finished. It was a terrible day. I felt embarrassed by my time and I didn’t want to show my face at work the next Monday. I struggled in that race and my perseverance got me to the finish line. Like everything else to that point, I didn’t do anything that took any kind of skill or natural ability. It took work, and I had to push myself and suffer a little bit, but what I did is FAR from impossible for the averge person.

Anyways, I’m competitive, and I decided that there was NO WAY that was going to be my last showing. I needed to average 10-minute miles before I could retire. So, I signed up for another one that was five weeks later. I needed a 2:11:00 to avenge my miserable showing, and then I could get back to doing anything else. I trained a little harder, bought a Garmin, figured out my actual miles and pace, and trained as hard as I could for the next five weeks. I got my miles up over 30 per week, and I got my weight down to about 227. This was where the hard work started to come in. It wasn’t any kind of natural gift and it’s nothing that anybody else couldn’t do if they wanted to.

I ran a 2:11:18 in that second race. Yep, I missed retirement by 18 seconds. So, I signed up for a third 1/2 marathon, four weeks later. I smashed through that 10-minute barrier, running a 2:08:38, a “scorching” 9:53 pace, but a funny thing happened during those four weeks. A buddy of mine, who probably can’t even run a mile, dared me to run a full. He virtually chickened me into it. I think that might be my weakness, because it worked. I was in, and looking ahead to the full before that third 1/2. At this point, I was only about three months past running farther than 4 miles. I hadn’t done anything unrealistic or impossible, and I was registered for a full marathon.

Training for the full, I stretched my morning runs from 5 miles to 6 miles and when I felt strong, I even made it 7. I’m a proud graduate of Kansas State University, and our football coach, Bill Snyder, used to talk about his program getting just a little bit better every day. I always thought about that, thinking I’d push myself a little harder every day. I might not see the difference in the mirror, but I knew that with every workout, I pushed as hard as I could to make myself a little bit better every day, and that’s what was happening. It’s not an outrageous work ethic.

I had to push myself, but I wanted it, and I was willing to try, and that made all the difference. I pushed my long runs by a mile a week. 14, 15, 16 … next thing you know, I’m running 20 miles. 20 miles! This is April 2006, and a year before, I couldn’t even run four miles. What I had done to that point was not incredible or impossible. It was just work and determination. I feel like I’m plagiarizing Coach Snyder, but that’s really what I thought about, getting a little bit better with each run. I didn’t take it easy. I took it hard.

On June 4, 2006, I ran San Diego Rock ‘N Roll in 4:06:25 and became a marathoner. Unless you have physical disabilities, I don’t know why you can’t do the same if you want to. Unless you tell yourself you can’t, you can. Ok, I said I’d get into how I qualified for Boston, but I’m running short on space. Technically, it’s a web page built to flow infinitely, and there’s plenty of storage space in the database, but I need y’all to get to the point at the bottom where I beg you to bring people to the site! I’ll continue with this tomorrow.

Best Race Ever
I’m going running-related with the video today. Check out 800m from the 1972 Olympics if you’ve never seen it. It’s a quickie, only two laps. Watch Dave Wottle (in the hat) on the second lap. Watch where he comes from and then his final kick. Wow.

Happy Thursday!
I’ll be sure too enjoy my lunch today — I meeting up with two of my best friends at In-N-Out to celebrate one of their birthdays. Whatever you do, I hope you enjoy your day, too! If you’re looking for ideas of things to do, you can always post a comment here, register with Operation Jack (no obligations and your info isn’t going anywhere!) or, even better, bring one new person to the site today! That’s all I’ve got for today, friends. Thanks as always for your support of Operation Jack!