I Thought This Would Be Easy!
My body hates me. 5 1/2 hours of sleep Friday night, cross-country flying Saturday, 4 1/2 hours of sleep Saturday night, up at 12:30 a.m. (body time) Sunday morning to run a marathon in 70-degree, 96-percent-humidity weather, then a cross-country flight back. My flight back was delayed an hour while we were on the tarmac and when we got in, we waited on the tarmac again because there wasn't an open gate. I had to get a little bit of work done when I got home, but I followed my day-after-a-marathon routine and got up bright and early this morning to run six miles. Am I an idiot?
I like to push myself, and as long as that keeps you entertained and coming back to follow Operation Jack, I'll keep running myself into the ground. Yesterday's race was a pretty difficult 3:20:03 in Miami (you can read about it here). I'm bummed about the time, but totally content with my effort. I wrecked myself out there.
This weekend should be easier. I get to sleep in my own bed! I just have to run two marathons, but big deal!
Early Intervention Is Critical
If your child is showing signs that they have autism, you have two paths you can take. One will make you feel better, but the other will make your child get better.
Early intervention is the key, and the family I stayed with this weekend is living proof of that. The father is an online running friend of mine and I spoke to him last summer when he first realized his son had autism. It's natural for parents to want to live in denial, but that doesn't do your child any good. The family I stay with knew to attack the problem head on and their son has made amazing progress.
Their 2-year-old had regressed and had no language as recently as last summer. But after all sorts of speech and behavioral therapy, he's doing remarkably well. He's talking up a storm, very engaged and he was pretty social with me. I'm so, so happy for him and for his parents. They're great parents who would do anything for their kids and this story looks like it's going to have a happy ending.
I always say that autism is like a knee injury. It might always be there beneath the surface, and there are varying degrees of severity, but the sooner you treat it, the better it will be long-term.
And while Jack is still straggly pretty badly, I can keep think about my brother Josh and the knee injury analogy. Josh was in a serious car accident when he was 16 and has had at least a half-dozen or so knee surgeries in the past 17 years. But he ran a half marathon in October, proof that you never say never.
Schedule Change
A lot of races are switching weekends this year, so I'm changing up my schedule. I was going to run Baltimore and Long Beach, but they each dropped back a weekend, conflicting with Kansas City and Denver, which I'm sticking with. So the weekend of October 9 and 10, I'm going to run Hartford and Chicago instead. Registration for Chicago opens today. If you're going to run it, don't delay and miss the boat!
Surf City Pasta Dinner
The Surf City Marathon is this weekend in Huntington Beach, Calif., and we're going to have a pasta dinner the night before. We're starting to get a pretty good turnout and I'd love to see you/meet you there. More details are available here. You need to confirm by about Wednesday, because we need to call in the head count to our caterer on Thursday. I hope to see you there!
How's This For Ironic?
On the Delta flight I was on last night, the TV screen in the headrest in front of me mentioned that Delta was the official airlines of the Grammy Awards, which were on last night. The funny thing is, the show was on CBS and the satellite TV on the plane only gave us NBC. Go figure.
Thank You Danica Kooiman!
I'm trying to thank somebody in each of my blogs, because so many of you have done so many things to help Operation Jack. Today, it's Danica Kooiman.
A lot of you know Danica because she sent you here in the first place. And that's why I'm thanking her. Back in the summer when I was first getting going with this, she helped get the word out for me and gave me very helpful advice about using social media to help promote Operation Jack. That component has really made a big difference and she gave me a big jumpstart.
Actually, maybe I should curse her, because this is like a second full-time job now!
Ice Cream Update
I know I'm probably letting a lot of you down by announcing this, but my current ice cream streak is 1 day. I didn't have any on Saturday, snapping a string of 101 consecutive days eating ice cream, frozen yogurt or gelato. I was only nine days shy of tying my personal best of 110 days. But I promise to work hard again to reach 111 for you guys.
That's All For Today!
Have a great Monday (if there is such a thing)! See you tomorrow or Wednesday!
Comments
Posted by adair renning, 2.1.10, 12:10 p.m.
Sam,
No way should you be bummed about your time!! You've completed 6 marathons in 1 month, all in under 3:21 time! Do you know how many people out there would kill to run just 1 marathon in a YEAR with that time? You are an inspiration to parents of children with autism and runners alike!! I wish I were still going to be here this weekend so I could cheer you on in Long Beach, but it's back to Michigan for me on Thursday. Take care and hugs to Jack. Adair
Posted by Katie Abdolhosseini, 2.1.10, 9:32 a.m.
Great job on finishing that race strong! You are amazing as always! And you're right...there is nothing good about Monday's. :(
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