OK, so I was thinking (which is how I always get myself into trouble) that I’m going to take a new weekly approach to my blogs. I’m always grasping for ideas, and I think this will help. Mondays will be a weekend recap, because that’s always going to involve a race trip and my accompanying antics. I’ll let you know about Tuesdays tomorrow. I guess that means I’d better write a weekend recap. But it’ll be easy. It was certainly a memorable weekend.

First real quick, I ran the Austin Marathon yesterday. I’m fairly pleased, but you know me — I’m never satisified.

I Deliver!
On Twitter, folks do something called “Follow Friday,” where they suggest somebody new for you to follow and they tell you why. Well, San Antonio resident Lisa Hernandez suggested me, because I’m running 60 marathons this year, because I love ice cream (15 days in row now, by the way) and because I was bringing her In-N-Out. She threw in a little 😉, as if I’d respond. Oh wait, I did.

I had never met Lisa, and I had never talked about bringing her In-N-Out. So, when I confirmed with her that she was going to be in Austin, she was pretty surprised when I asked her for her order. On Friday night on my way home from work, I picked up a cheeseburger with mustard and pickles, then went home, wrapped it in foil and put it in Jack’s insulated lunch pail. I carried it with me, heated it up at my hotel and met her with it at the expo. Not only did she get the cheeseburger, it was delivered in Jack’s lunch pail!

While she was eating her cheeseburger (and loving it), a woman came up to her and asked her where she got the In-N-Out. Was there a new In-N-Out in town? Nope, Lisa had it personally flown in. She’s big-time like that. And I’m just a guy who hand-delivers cheeseburgers to people across the country.

Anyways, there’s a cool Operation Jack ending to this story. On Friday, I asked Lisa if she’d try a 10×10 for Operation Jack. I told her that I’d bring her the cheeseburger regardless, because I said I would and I’d keep my word. But if she was willing to try, I’d be even more grateful than she was for the food. And … she said yes!

So, let that be a lesson to you, everybody else. Do a 10×10, ask me to bring you a cheeseburger, and you might get lucky!

I Knew This Was Going In The Blog The Minute It Happened
It’s tough to fall asleep sometimes when I’m on the road, because it’s pretty early for my body time. Saturday night, I needed to get to sleep early, because I had to get up at 4:30 a.m. Texas time, which was 2:30 a.m. according to my body. I’m getting used to this, but that doesn’t make it very enjoyable.

I sat in bed trying to fall asleep at about 9:30 p.m. local time (7:30 p.m. back home) and I think I was finally out at about 9:50. Five minutes later, my grandma called. She’s 85 and my grandpa is 86, so I always have a little bit of a worry when the phone rings.

She called to remind me to wish my dad a happy birthday yesterday. She must not have read my blog on Friday, but good to hear her voice! She then wanted to know if this Sunday (February 21) when we met for lunch if we would be meeting first at her house or at the restaurant. No good answer on that one yet, either, but I’ll let her know when I can.

So she asked me what the kids were doing. Well, I didn’t know, because I was asleep in Texas and they were back home, probably getting ready for bed.

Sam: “I don’t know Grandma, I’m in Texas.”
Grandma Bea: “What?”
S: “I’m in Texas.”
G: “I couldn’t hear you. What did you say?”
S: “I’M IN TEXAS.” (I’m sure the people in the room next to me were thrilled to know that)
G: “You’re eating custard?”
S: “No Grandma, I’m not eating custard. I’m in Texas.”
G: “It sounded like you said you’re eating custard. I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
S: “I’m … in … Texas.”
G: “It still sounds like you’re saying you’re eating custard.”
I paused. It was like trying to convey something to somebody who doesn’t speak the language.
G: “Are you OK? You’re not talking. Is everything OK?”
S: “Everything is OK. I’m … not … home.”
G: “Oh! You’re not home! You’re off somewhere running a race! Where are you?”
S: “I’m in Texas.”
G: “Oh! You’re in Texas! That’s wonderful! Let me get your grandpa so he can say hi.”
S: “Uh, OK.”
G: “Milt! (pause) … I think he just walked over to the bathroom. I bet he’ll be in there for two hours. I’ll let you go. Good night, I love you!”
S: “I love you too, Grandma.”

That. Was. Amazing.

Worst $25 Picture Ever
I was in Austin, so I figured I’d go find the football stadium at the University of Texas and take a picture. I found it, and circled and circled for about 15 minutes trying to find the right spot to park. It was Saturday afternoon, about 5:30 p.m. Nothing doing on campus, that’s for sure.

There were a bunch of cars parked in spots about 50 yards away and the sign I saw said that you needed one type of permit at one time of the day from Monday through Friday and another type of permit a little later in the day from Monday through Friday. Well, it was Saturday, so I parked. I walked over, took a lousy picture because I couldn’t get anywhere to get a good view and I was back to the car in less than 5 minutes. And sure enough, there was a parking ticket for $25. How funny … I thought it was Saturday! That worked out to about $375/hour to park there. I wasn’t very happy, because the sign said Monday – Friday, but realistically, what am I going to do to fight this?

Well, yesterday, the last mile of the race ran right by where I parked. There were no cars there this time because they blocked off the road. And beneath the signs about the permits, there was a sign that said “UT Permit Required All Other Times”. Great, I guess I was in the wrong. I still think it’s a joke that they have three different signs to tell you the parking policy, and they were a good 25 spots or so from where I parked. And I also think it’s a joke that they have nothing better to do there than nab me within five minutes of the time I parked. Really? That slow?

I Made It Home In Time For Dinner!
Sure, I woke up and ran a marathon in Austin, and had a late lunch in Austin, but I was still home in time to take my beautiful wife out for a Valentine’s dinner! She’s gonna hate this picture, because she looks a whole lot better than she does in this, but it’s all we have. I wanted to take a picture at the restaurant, but it was Outback, and she thought we’d look like idiots. Yeah, um, I wore an In-N-Out hat at a marathon expo in Texas. I’m not really concerned with looking like an idiot.

That’s All For Today
I’ll be back tomorrow with my Tuesday blog approach. On a weekly basis, it’s going to be either an issue I have a strong opinion about, or it’s going to be an anecdote about something from my past. I already know what it’s going to be this time — something I feel pretty strongly about.

Have a great Monday! See you tomorrow!

I don’t get a lot of weekends where I don’t have to travel, so lucky for me, I had a nice, relaxing weekend. Well, aside from the two marathons and the pasta dinner that had me stressed to the max. I think flying to Miami last weekend was easier than this.

But it’s over and done with. I ran a couple of marathons this weekend, Diamond Valley Lake on Saturday (recap here) and Surf City yesterday (recap here). Saturday’s race had the worst weather of any of the 36 marathons I’ve run. Yesterday’s was fun, because I was the official 3:30 pacer.

The pasta dinner … wow, that was a lot more work than I thought it would be!

Pasta Dinner Recap
We had the Operation Jack pasta dinner on Saturday night and it was a lot of fun. Well, it was for me. There were probably 40-50 people there and everybody seemed to have a good time hanging out. There was way too much pasta, which is a whole lot better than not enough.

I stressed out big-time about this, because I didn’t want to let people down. But it seems like everybody had a good time and I got one of these events under my belt. Next time, it won’t be so bad.

It was great to look around the room, see the Operation Jack and Train 4 Autism banners on the wall and people talking and having a good time. The support there was overwhelming to me. It’s crazy to be on this end of it all. It’s just a surreal feeling, something I don’t feel I really deserve just because I’m running a lot of races. But it was cool to see it all come to life. Lucky me, to be able to experience this.

I had to get up and give an impromptu speech, and I hate speaking. This blogging thing is fine, because I can do it from the laptop on my couch. When I’m speaking at a pasta dinner, people could be looking at the pasta sauce on my chin for all I know. Tiff got up and was talking a little bit about Jack’s progress and we started to banter a little bit. It was just us being us, but it was fun and everybody was laughing. We were totally Abbott and Costello. I’m pretty sure that will be my lasting memory of the event.

My One Line Of Super Bowl Commentary
If I was an athlete, I think the one thing I’d want to do in any sport would be a pick-six to seal a Super Bowl win. How awesome was that last night? CRAZY!

Oh, and I won my bet with my grandma. She’s taking me and the family out to Souplantation. They have ice cream there.

Thank You Shelly Overton
So I pledged that I’m going to thank one person for something in every blog where I tackle a few different topics. So today, it’s Shelly Overton. Shelly is a fellow Train 4 Autism parent and she did a great job helping out with the pasta dinner on Saturday night. From securing the location to working on the planning to helping with the setup to cleaning up afterwards and helping out the whole time, she certainly went above and beyond to help get this done.

I’m running myself into the ground to make Operation Jack happen, but that doesn’t mean I can do it by myself. There’s no way we would have been able to pull off the dinner without her, so thank you Shelly!

That’s All For Today!
I have no idea if I’ll blog tomorrow or Wednesday, but I’m done for today. Have a great Monday everybody (there’s no such thing as a great Monday)!

A lot of you might never run a marathon. And I think it’s pretty safe to say a lot of you might never run two freezing marathons in two states in two days, two time zones away from home and still be on time to work the next morning. I figured I’d journal my weekend as my blog for today, so you can see what it’s like to do what I did. I don’t know if you’ll get exhausted reading this, but I got exhausted doing this.

Thursday night:
• I played Benjamin (he’s 8) at chess and beat him. He’s getting better, but I had to put the hammer down. Competition will make him better.
• Ava colored a picture for me for my trip using lots of purple. She knows that’s my favorite color (go K-State!). I brought it with me, of course.
• By the time I was done packing, cutting my hair, playing with the kids and shaving, it was 10:45. That didn’t stop me from relaxing with a bowl of ice cream, though. I’m hardcore like that.

Friday morning:
• I got up at 4 a.m. so I could be out of the house by 4:30. I wrote my daily note for my wife, but then I played around on the computer too much and left at 5. I’m good at running late.
• Talked to the wife and kids before the flight. They had an easy morning and got donuts. NICE. Better than the whole wheat bagel and graham crackers I had.
• First leg of the flight was uneventful, except for the really big dude next to me who invaded my space with his arms and elbows, keeping me from sleeping. Oh well.

Friday afternoon:
• Free wifi in the Houston airport! YEAH! Time flies when you’re connected. I had two peanut butter sandwiches on whole wheat bread. Better than getting a $9 five-dollar footlong at the Subway in the airport.
• Here’s a sign your flight is quick: They take drink orders and give you peanuts before the cabin doors are closed. 49 minutes, no time to waste!
• I had a choice of three rental cars in Jackson and I went with a Kia, because one of my best friends works for them. It was called a Forte. I was pleasantly surprised.
• I went straight to the expo and spent a couple of hours next to a friend of mine, Dane Rauschenberg, who was selling his book. He ran 52 marathons in 2006, so we’re going to talk a lot this year. I talked to folks walking by about Operation Jack and handed out flyers. Throw enough darts and some will hit the board, right?
• After the expo, I headed straight over to a pasta dinner at an Italian restaurant. Nice time with nice people.
• Finally got to where I was going, settled in and chatted for a little bit with the people I was staying with. Oh, and they picked me up some ice cream, which I politely ate. Am I that obvious? I set my stuff out for the morning and went to sleep a little before 11, knowing I had to wake up at 4:40 a.m. (2:40 a.m. body time).

Saturday morning:
• Woke up on five-plus hours of sleep, ate my pre-race meal while writing my wife a note, then got ready for the race. I was late getting out of the house, because I spent an extra 15 minutes looking for a hunting contraption one of my hosts gave me that would keep my head, face and ears warm. I’m good at running late.
• Is it a bad sign when you squint through the ice on your windshield on the way to your marathon and you see a bank marquee indicating a temperature of 18 degrees? I think it’s a bad sign when you’re de-icing that windshield and you see snow flurries.
• I ran the Mississippi Blues Marathon in 3:18. I can sum the race up in one word: COLD.
• In 15 minutes in the WARM finishers tent, I knocked out two pieces of pizza, three sections of turkey sandwiches, two gatorades and about five cookies. I like to eat.

Saturday afternoon:
• Got lost on the way back to where I was staying, but the scenic route was nice. When I got in I did a little bit of work, took a HOT shower, packed, had some chicken noodle soup and hot chocolate then hit the road in a hurry. Had to get to Mobile. Picked up Dane because we were riding together.
• Stopped off at Taco Bell about an hour into the drive (I like to eat). Their chicken burritos might be the best 99-cent creation ever. While there, I ran into a couple of grads of my alma mater I’d never met who knew a running friend of mine and Dane’s. We sang “It’s A Small World” together. Well, not really, but you know what I mean.
• Does it get any better than hearing Iesha by Another Bad Creation on satellite radio on a road trip? Yeah, it does. We heard Song of the South by Alabama while driving to Alabama. Awesome.
• Checked into my hotel and went to take an ice bath (indoors, although I probably could have just sat in the pool outside if it wasn’t heated). My feet were stinging so it took four tries. Mission accomplished, though, just in time for the pasta dinner.

Saturday evening:
• Went to the expo to get my bib, then over to the pasta dinner. It was 4 degrees with wind chill. It never gets like that in Southern California. Loaded up on pasta.
• Had a Snickers ice cream bar for dessert. Good stuff.
• Wrote my race report and posted it, handled some emails, then went went to bed planning on getting at least 7 hours of sleep. Unfortunately, the hotel had a loud nightclub on the 17th floor and I was on the 16th floor. Needless to say, I moved rooms. I got to sleep just in time for 6 1/2 hours of shut-eye.

Sunday morning:
• I felt surprisingly well physically for the day after a marathon. Then I saw that it was 22 degrees outside (11 with wind chill) and I didn’t feel quite so well any more.
• The start line was about 50 yards from the hotel lobby, so I listened to my iPod in my room for a while. Went to the lobby 20 minutes before race time, where some people told me they read about me in the paper Saturday. Sweet!
• I ran the Firstlight Bank Marathon in 3:21. I can sum the race up in three words: WINDY AND COLD.
• Didn’t eat much after the race because I was waiting for lunch. Trekked back to the hotel to get my camera, then back to the finish line to take some pictures. It was still WINDY AND COLD.
• Showered, packed, picked up Dane and went back to the finish area and found out I won an age group award. Picked that up, but passed on lunch, because I needed to get to the airport in time for my 2:45 flight. I got there at 1:55, enough time for my … OOPS … flight’s at 2:20! But I made it.
• That flight was on a really small plane — only 12 rows! And of course, on that small plane, somebody decided to have a gas attack. Awesome.
• Switched planes in Atlanta, but I had to go from the D gates to the A gates. No time to grab food. All I ate on the plane was ginger snaps, peanuts and pretzels.
• The plane had TVs in the headrest. YES! But no Fox, so I couldn’t watch the football game. NO! Saw the highlights on ESPNews, though. Nice pick-six by the Cards to get the win.
• The lady sitting next to me was knitting. How did she get those needles through security?
• Watched No Country For Old Men on my portable DVD player. Well, until the battery died. So far so good … can’t wait to see the rest!
• Landed in Los Angeles and got in the car to head home. Was totally starving and kind of hoped Tiff wouldn’t mind if I drove through In-N-Out. But she made chicken and vegetables for me. No complaints here. I love the baked chicken she cooks. And she’s cooking it tonight, too!
• Wrote my blog, took care of some emails and all of a sudden it was 10:25. I had a critical need for ice cream at that point, and that’s what I ate. Streak is now 82 consecutive days if you’re keeping track. If you are keeping track, you’re crazy.

And that’s it. My weekend in a nutshell. I didn’t write about the spare time, because there was none. Now it’s back to the grind. Busy day at work ahead and I can kind of start thinking about Phoenix this weekend.

Have a great day!

Weekend one of Operation Jack is out of the way. Now it’s time for me to try to figure out how to get into a routine to make it happen. Make no mistake, it’ll happen. But there’s going to be growing pains I’m going to suffer through. If you keep coming back and reading my blog, you’ll get to laugh at me along the way.

I guess my biggest problem with the first trip was overpacking. I’m a chronic overpacker, but at least I got it down to two carry-ons. They’re two pretty big carry-ons, though, and as a result, I had to cram my duffel bag beneath my seat. Not so bad on the way out. Not so good on the way back, considering I flew the same day as the race. My left leg was killing me! I’m going to have a good 40+ same-day flights this year, so I’d better figure this out pretty quick. Like, this week. I’ve got Jackson, Miss. on Saturday and Mobile, Ala. on Sunday. I’ll be sore after the double, and I’m flying home Mobile to Atlanta to Los Angeles, so I’m gonna have a lot of time on the plane.

I’ll get this problem solved. I bought a new backpack on Saturday that will hold my laptop and everything else that was in the duffel bag. It’s much smaller with less wasted space. That was easy. Sort of.

Can’t wait to see what the next problem is!

First Time Here?
If this is your first time here, let me introduce myself: I’m a father of three and a marathon runner. My middle child, 6-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. I want to do something to make a difference in his honor, so this year, I’m going to try to run 60 marathons and raise awareness for a charity I’m a part of called Train 4 Autism. I really like Train 4 Autism’s model and I’m hoping that with my stupid-human trick, I can help develop new chapters and increase membership nationwide. Oh, and raise a lot of money, too!

1 Down, 59 To Go
Marathon No. 1 for Operation Jack was New Year’s Day in Kingwood, Texas. I didn’t send out a blast, but my recap on my race is here. I went 3:13:54, good for 7th overall out of 497 starters. It was a decent run. Still getting back into shape. I think I shook off some more rust.

I went out for 5.5 recovery miles the next day, including six hill sprints. Yesterday was a rest day because I donated blood on Saturday and had to take a day off (see below). This morning, 6 easy miles that felt pretty good. I kind of like this plan.

Thank You, Hill Family!
I stayed with a runner friend of mine, John Hill, and his family last Thursday night in Kingwood, Texas. I must say, if everybody the rest of the way is half as nice as John and his great family, I’m going to be a lucky guy this year. His wife, Susan, his daughter, Kaylee, and his son, Ryan, are three of the nicest people I’ve ever met and I really couldn’t have picked a better family to kick off Operation Jack with. They’re the types of people you keep in touch with, because someday down the road, they’ll be in town and you’ll want to catch up with them.

Thank you so much for your hospitality and enthusiasm, Team Hill! I really, really appreciated it!

Make A Difference … For Free!
I just started giving blood last summer. I figure it’s better to be on this side of a blood transfusion. I hate needles. But I just feel like it’s something I should do. I started doing it on July 27 in honor of my late uncle Bob, who died from leukemia on July 27, 2004. Well, now it’s a little trickier, because I need to be at full strength every weekend and it takes five weeks to regenerate a pint of blood.

It’s really not that big of a deal while you’re getting it all back. You wouldn’t really even notice. Unless, of course, you’re running 26.2 miles as fast as you can every Sunday. I wouldn’t necessarily feel different, but I wouldn’t get the same results. So, I did something called platelet donation. It’s a longer process (it takes about two hours), but I recover in two days. I learned that the platelets go to people with leukemia who are undergoing chemotherapy, because they can’t generate them and they need them. So, that made me feel pretty good. I really, really hate needles. But I really feel good about doing this and I’ll do it as often as I can.

Regardless of how much you don’t like needles, you should really consider it. It’s awesome to help, and it feels really good to do so.

That’s All For Today!
This blog is getting too long today. I’ll try to write something for tomorrow! Have a great Monday!