I had an extremely difficult week last week, but my weekend totally made up for it. It was the best weekend I’ve had in a long, long time. Sleep, plenty of quality time with my family, a fair amount of time with some good friends, no travel and a pretty good race. What more could I ask for?
First things first, I ran the Orange County Marathon yesterday. I posted a race recap here. It was a great day with a bunch of friends and relatives coming out to support Operation Jack. I have to give huge thanks to my brother-in-law Andy and his wife, my sister-in-law Jacqueline, who got their kids out of bed and drove a good 80+ miles to participate in the 5K. They looked pretty good in their shirts!
My mother-in-law and wife also participated in the 5K.
Just in case this is your first time here, I’m a father of three and a marathon runner. My middle child, 6 1/2-year-old Jack, is severely autistic, so I’m trying to run 60 marathons to raise money and awareness for a charity I’m a part of called Train 4 Autism. So far, I’m on track and through 23 of them. Just 37 to go. Maybe.
I talked with a runner named Lance Haney last week who wants me to run in Memphis with him on December 4. The problem is, I’m running Las Vegas on December 5 and I’m not taking that off my schedule. So, adding Memphis would bump me up to 61 and make for another long weekend. He really digs what I’m doing, though, and wants me to head out there and try to pace him to a BQ (he needs a 3:10:59 or better).
This is the deal I worked out with him: He set up his fundraising page at operationjack.kintera.org/lancehaney. His thermometer goal is set to $3,000 and we’re both going to push this. If he hits it, I’ll make it 61 for the year, not just 60. So we’ll see. I’m trying to run 60, or maybe 61, marathons this year.
Family Weekend!
I had a great, great time at home this weekend. I think this is how the rest of you live and I can’t wait to get to 2011 and do this every weekend. I didn’t have to travel, I got to sleep in (until 7 a.m.!) in my own bed on Saturday, and I got to do cool things with each of my kids.
I got to play games with Benjamin, go to his track & field practice on Saturday morning, work with Ava on her swing skills in the back yard (and develop a severe allergy attack from the pollen or grass out there), participate extensively in Jack’s therapy sessions, work with Ben and Ava to help them cook their own blue-box mac and cheese, go to a family brunch at IHOP, watch Sesame Street with Jack in the hyperbaric chamber on Saturday, dish out a time-out or two … it was an awesome weekend.
I even found time to do dishes, fold laundry and change lightbulbs. Yesterday, when I got home from the race and showered, I just sat there on the couch with Tiff and Jack in the playroom chilling. Tiff said she was bored. I loved it. I don’t normally get to do that this year. We relaxed with a steak dinner after the kids went to bed. I got to go for an easy, quiet run on Saturday morning while the sun was up and others were out for a slow, weekend jog.
Life is good. The time I spend away really makes me appreciate what I have when I’m home.
My little kitchen helpers!
Chaos at IHOP.
Me and Jack at IHOP.
The Felsenfeld Five after brunch yesterday.
Friends Too!
I didn’t realize how many people I know until I ran a local race. I must have seen a good two dozen people I know at the marathon yesterday. I don’t see many people I know when I’m on the road, so this was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, there were a few people who were at the race who I didn’t see at all and I was totally bummed about that (that’s you, Erin, Jaritt, Ben F. and Toni).
After the post-race brunch I went to with my family, I headed over to another meal with some runner friends of mine. At IHOP, I ate three pancakes, hash browns, three eggs, half my wife’s sandwich and half of her hash browns, so I wasn’t very hungry at that second meal. I was wired, though, because I had five cups of coffee at my brunch. I had a good time with my friends, and while I didn’t eat, I did have two more cups of coffee.
My friends Alan, Rachel, Billy, Lori and Emil. That’s not really me in the picture. That’s some spaz who was bouncing up and down on seven cups of coffee.
I’m A Loser. I’ll Admit It.
My dad and my stepmom registered for the half several months ago and I’d been talking up a storm about how I’d beat them with my time in the full. Even heading into the race, I didn’t think they’d complete their 13.1 faster than 3:15. But they went 2:53 and all I had was a 3:06. So I admit it. I was slow. They beat me.
The loser, the winners and my brother Josh.
Ice Cream Streak
Tiff hooked me up with some peanut butter frozen yogurt from Golden Spoon yesterday. That’s why I love her so much. Or maybe it’s because she has such beautiful hair. Whatever the case, my streak is up to 92 days now. I’m only 18 short of tying my record of 110 days, 19 short of history! I’m feeling pretty strong, but you never know what’s going to happen over the course of three weeks. I’m pretty confident, though.
That’s All For Today
I write my blogs the night before. I woke up at 3:51 naturally Sunday morning. It’s 9:51 as I type. That means it’s pretty much time to call it a day. I think I got enough out of this one. Have a great Monday, everybody. See you back here tomorrow!