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!

I couldn’t think of an idea for a headline. But I have a few other things to talk about.

Today’s Workout
I’m struggling with tendinitis in my right knee (well, that’s what I think it is) and I have an appointment with a sports medicine doctor who specializes in knees on Monday. I’ve been inconsistent over the past couple of months with my training, and on Wednesday night, I decided to stop running until I see the doctor. I have too much to lose and not enough to gain over the next few days. So, I’m trying to be as smart as possible. I didn’t run today (or yesterday for that matter).

The break comes at a good time for me — I’m in the middle of a huge project that has me pretty stressed out and it’s coming due on August 1. So, I’m running myself into the ground with all this work (normally, I just run myself into the ground by running!), but I should get back in the swing of things next month. It’ll be nice to just run early in the morning, work an average amount during the day, and stay off the computer in the evenings (well, except for Operation Jack work).

Questions? Requests?
If you have any questions about running, Operation Jack, baseball, or anything else you want to try to see if I can answer, post it here or send it to me through the Contact Us form and I’ll answer it next week. If you have anything you’d like me to discuss, let me know! I see the numbers and I know y’all are out there … c’mon, let’s interact a little!

Operation Jack Running Goals
A few people have asked me how I’m going to try to run the marathons next year, if I’m going to take things conservatively or if I’m going to go all-out. No question, I’m going all-out. My best time right now is 3:00:05, I’ve run 9 of my past 17 in 3:10 or better and my median marathon time is a 3:16. That being said, my goal is to run an average of 3:09:59 or better. That’s not going to win any races, but I think it’s a reasonable goal to chase that would indicate I gave it my all. What I’m doing, essentially, is a gimmick to try to gain participation with Train 4 Autism. The gimmick should be something decent, and I don’t think an easy marathon once a week is enough to warrant me begging for you all to join up.

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 an okay day on Thursday. He went swimming at my mother-in-law’s house (well, wading in a cold hot tub) and then he went with my wife to the gym where he got to play for a while. That’s two more workouts and a lot more playtime than I had yesterday! His therapy session was so-so. More or less, nothing spectacular — just another summer day. We’re looking forward to school starting back up in the fall. He really thrives in a routine.

Ice Cream Update
That peanut butter fudge swirl ice cream I had on Wednesday night tasted even better last night. So, I had two bowls in my special ice cream bowl. Yeah, for Father’s Day this year, my kids made me a custom-painted ice cream bowl and I got a nice, solid ice cream scooper, too. I used both of those last night. I probably should have worn the “Professional Ice Cream Eater” shirt they got me, but I didn’t.

My streak is up to 23 days in a row eating ice cream or frozen yogurt. I don’t know how long it will continue, but I have my work cut out for me today with my lunch at In-N-Out and then a scheduled double date tonight. But it’s not over until the clock strikes midnight. That’s when my ice cream bowl turns back into a pumpkin.

Double-Double Double!
I had a great lunch at In-N-Out yesterday. Normally, I go on Fridays, but this week, I went on Thursday, because I’m going to lunch with a friend of mine at Chipotle today. One problem with that, though, is that I got the following text last night when confirming today’s lunch plans:

Can we go to In-N-Out? DUH! (Duh is short for Duhble-Double.) So I told her …

Reminds me of when I had jury duty for four weeks in 2001 and there was a courthouse within walking distance of the In-N-Out I ate lunch at 15 times over a 23-day span (I kept count and I’ve remembered that statistic — that’s no exaggeration).

No problem, I’m a gentleman. Whatever makes you happy. If you want, I’ll even entertain you with good jokes.

Home Video of Jack
For those of you who have never met Jack, here’s a clip of him from about 1 1/2 years ago, a few months after he turned four (he’ll turn 6 two months from yesterday). He’s made progress since then in various areas, but he probably wouldn’t be able to sing “Twinkle, Twinkle” a whole lot better than this right now.

I sit here and I’m having fun with Operation Jack, doing everything I can to make a difference and boost participation, but sometimes I lose sight about what’s going on with him. We posted this video because we were so excited that he was able to sing this well. But has happy as I was to see it, I wasn’t as excited about this as Tiff was. It broke my heart that this was what I had to be excited about with my 4-year-old, that hearing that kind of singing coming from my 4-year-old was a good thing.

I have a tough time accepting this with a smile — I go back and forth with Tiff on this sometimes. I have to accept all progress with open arms, and don’t get me wrong — EVERYTHING he does is good enough for me. But deep down inside, I want to see him progress like typical children, even though I know it’s not going to happen. It’s really upsetting to see your own child inflicted with a neurological disorder like this and I can only hope that there’s a reason and a purpose for it all. Life isn’t fair, but on the surface, I think I’m getting a much better shake than him.

And that, my friends, is why I’m doing Operation Jack. Because autism sucks, because I hope to do something that might someday eventually help to spare other children and parents from going through everything we go through, and because I think I can make this all happen. I broke my neck when I was 16 and I’m blessed to be able to use my legs the way I am. It would be a shame to waste that gift.

OK, Folks, I’m Calling It A Week
Thanks for coming by! If this is your first time here, welcome, and I hope you return on Monday! If you’re a returner, I appreciate your loyalty. This isn’t just a blog — it’s the best way I have right now to have Operation Jack communicate with you. It’s a great cause and hopefully we can all make a difference together.

A lot of you ask me what you can do to help, and I know I say this every day, but one of the biggest things you can do for Operation Jack is to spread the word. I know a lot of you are doing that now, and I really appreciate it. But remember, anybody can help. It doesn’t need to be a runner and it doesn’t need to be somebody directly impacted by autism. I’ll start introducing some more things in August (when I get through the big project I’m on), but for now, I’m just trying to increase the size of the community here. So, between now and Monday, please introduce just one person to Operation Jack who doesn’t know about it yet! Just one!

Thanks for your support and have a great weekend!

Well, Jack doesn’t necessarily like country music, but he likes a country singer. Definitely a good start. The explanation is in the “Talkin’ Jack” section.

MLB All-Star Game
It had been about 10-12 years since I had been as interested in the MLB All-Star Game as I was last night. I was able to sit myself on the couch with my laptop by about the 4th inning. My wife made me a couple of Nathan’s hot dogs with cheese on top — perfect baseball food. The game went quick, but I enjoyed watching it. It didn’t turn out the way I wanted, but it was a decent game. I guess when you’re facing Papelbon, Nathan and Rivera in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings, you’d better have a nice lead. The Howard-Nathan at bat was fun to watch. Nice rob by Carl Crawford in left. And the American League wins, again. Wait … I’m supposed to write about running.

Today’s Run
The plan this morning was for about 10 miles, because I needed to get back in time for my wife to run. I got up, got ready to go. My knee was bugging a little bit and I couldn’t find my house key. I took that as a sign. But I blew through that stop sign and kept rolling. I found my wife’s keys, did a couple of light stretches and got rolling. While I was running, my thoughts were about how much work I need to get done right now, especially with my looming August 1 deadline. So at the 0.51 mile mark, I did the turnaround. 1.03 miles today. Wow, I feel like a distance runner … a distance runner with a lot of code to write.

I just need to keep telling myself that all this work I have is coming at a perfect time, because it’s allowing me to somewhat rest my knee while I wait to see the doctor next Monday. Yeah, I need to tell myself that, because if I don’t, I’m going to go crazy (crazier). This is so frustrating, words can’t really explain it. I’m looking forward to getting my life back, where I wake up, go for a run, have breakfast with the wife and kids, work all day, spend the evening with the kids before they go to bed and then hang out with the wife for a little while and relax. Right now, I guess I’m settling for work, sleep 6 hours, repeat. August, where are you? Are you getting close?

Does Anybody Read This?
If so, please post a comment or send me a question or something like that! I keep wondering if anybody is actually reading this, other than my wife (Tiff, you’re reading this, right?) …

HUGE Shout To Gundy!
A running acquaintance of mine, Jonathan Gunderson, finished 11th overall yesterday in the Badwater Ultramarathon. If you don’t know what that race is, it’s a 135-miler, starting at 282 feet below sea level in Death Valley, California, and climbing up to Mt. Whitney. Oh, and temps are above 115. I can’t imagine finishing that race. I ran (and I use the term “ran” loosely) a 50-mile race in 85-degree temps and no marathon I’ve ever run was anywhere near as thrashing on my body as that one. If it would have been 30 degrees warmer, I would have only had to run 85 more miles after I crossed the finish line. No way. I don’t know how he does it. And I don’t know why he does it, either. But he does it for a good cause, and he’s amazing.

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.

Yesterday, he discovered the TV show “Wipeout” and apparently it’s a big hit. Anything that makes my little guy happy is a hit with me, too! It looks like we found his Leapster, too (it had been missing for a few days). That’s a hand-held video game system that has educational games. He doesn’t get the same educational value out of it that Benjamin did, but he likes it. And again, anything that Jack likes, I like. Apparently, during “God Bless America” during the seventh-inning stretch last night, that included Sara Evans. He started laughing and smiling when she sang. I’ve been a fan of hers for years.

Ice Cream Update
I went with chocolate chip cookie dough last night, making it 21 straight days with ice cream or frozen yogurt. I originally reached for the mint chocolate chip, but I had just eaten a cookie that was kind of like a Thin Mint (Girl Scout cookie) so I went with the chocolate chip cookie dough instead.

Country Music Song of the Day
This song is several years old, but I’ve heard it on the radio twice in the past couple of days, plus when I used to run with an iPod, it was always the song I closed out every run and race with. So, I figured I might as well post it for all your enjoyment (well, at least mine).

That’s All I Have For Today
I appreciate you reading this, and I’ll probably remind you with every blog that this isn’t just a blog — it’s a daily rambling by a guy working hard for a good cause. It’s all about getting out there and making a difference for a great charity, Train 4 Autism. Register at the site, pick a race (even if it’s just a 5K), and spread the word. Try to send one person here today that hasn’t been here yet. Thank you! Have a great day!

OK, so I’m not writing anything in here about tacos or taco Tuesday, but I couldn’t think of a headline so I just went with that.

All-Star Tuesday
I’m pulling for the National League tonight. In the name of political correctness, I won’t get into my favorite or least-favorite teams here. But my favorite team is certainly in the running. Oh, and since I’m in Southern California, I’ll clarify that it’s NOT the Dodgers!

Running Update
I went out for 10 miles this morning. Nothing special, nothing particularly quick or slow. Just 10 miles. After two days off due to too much work and a flare-up in my right knee, it felt good to get out there and get a workout. The knee was a little iffy last night, but it was OK for the run and it’s pretty decent now. If time is on my side tomorrow morning, I’ll try to head out for a few more miles than I went today.

This week, I’m just trying to log some miles and keep the wheels turning while I wait for my appointment next Monday with a sports medicine specialist. The doctor I’m going to see specializes in knees and shoulders and has worked for professional sports teams, so I’m sure I’ll get the low-down and get on the right track.

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. He had a fairly uneventful day yesterday, which is a good thing. Is it bad that my pet name for him is “homeboy”?

Dance Your –$ Off
Entertaining show, but I just can’t believe they can name it that way. It’s pretty fun to watch, though. I can honestly say that before last night, I’d never seen a 300-pound man in a pinstriped-suit pole dance. That dude needs to sign up for Operation Jack and train for a marathon!

Ice Cream Update
Last night, I had a cake batter-flavored frozen yogurt with crushed Snickers and Butterfingers as a topping. That ran my streak to 20 consecutive days with an ice cream or frozen yogurt. I have mint chocolate chip ice cream and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream in the freezer, so I’m pretty sure I’ll extend that tonight. But until I eat the ice cream, it’s not a done deal, so I won’t call it 21 quite yet.

Cha Cha ChaCha
So yesterday, I found out about something called “Cha Cha” — a service that answers questions via text mail. You send a text to 242242 with a question and you get an answer. It’s like that KGB service I’ve seen commercials for, except it’s free. So, I gave it a shot.

My first question was to get an answer to something I haven’t been able to figure out with a Linux server I’ve been running out of necessity.

So I asked my first Cha Cha, “What needs to be done to enable outgoing html emails on a linux server using postfix? Something to enable mime types?”

I got my first answer: “Configure postfix by changing the following in /etc/postfix/main.cf myhostname = myorigin = $mydomain inet_ineterfaces = Maildir.” Interesting. I’m not going to blindly configure a server based on Cha Cha, but it gave me something to explore.

My next question was “Is there a limit to how many questions I can ask for free?” Once I sent that, I instantly started thinking, “What if it’s only three? Will that question bring me up to two? And if I ask if that counted, would that be my third?” The answer was pleasing. “There is no limit to how many free questions you can ask ChaCha, so ask away! ChaCha again!”

YES!

So I asked another. “What is he bench press equivalent of a 120-pound dumbell incline press?” I’m a runner, not a muscle guy, but I do reps of incline presses with a pair of 60-pound dumbbells and I’ve wondered how that converts into the bench press. “1/2 As incline decreases you will be able to lift more. There is no exact formula to determine how much extra Experiment and see” & “2/2 what works. Be careful! Cha Cha!”

OK, they’ve almost got me hooked.

And then, I moved in for the finale, the moment of truth. Let’s see if ChaCha can seal the deal.

“What is Operation Jack?”

“Hey! Sorry, but ur temporarily out of Qs. U can ask LuLu if she knows. Txt LuLu to have her try to Ans your last Q. Or txt like this: LuLu How old is Miley?”

NO NO NO!!! So close, but yet so far. But my wife has a phone, so I texted with hers, asking, again, “What is Operation Jack?”

“Operation Jack will be an attempt by Sam Felsenfeld to race at least one marathon a week in 2010 (60 total for the year) to MORE?”

Oh yeah, we have a winner. Cha Cha!

Why I Prefer To Run Outside

OK, Time To Get To Work
That’s all I have today. As always, thanks for stopping by. Remember, this site isn’t just a blog — it’s a factory for a great cause, Operation Jack. It’s my hope that with my legs and Jack’s struggles, we can make a difference. So, keep coming back. Leave a comment. Register with the site (free, no obligation, and your information will not be sold or given away). I’m just trying to drive participation, because I figure the more people that know about Operation Jack, the more people will know about Train 4 Autism. So again, thanks for reading down this far. If you liked this blog (or even if you only hated it a little), PLEASE do me a favor and register for the site and/or tell one new person about the site! It’s for a GREAT cause!