OK, so I don’t wear dresses, but I need to drop a few pounds. I’m not out of shape, but I’ve never really minded carrying a little extra weight. I love to eat, and I just feel like eating whatever I want whenever I want is a reward for all the training I put in. But a couple of weeks ago, I came to the realization that I really should drop a few pounds. I’ve slow chasing a few time goals, and in all reality, I am carrying around some extra garbage.

I weigh about 203 pounds right now, and since I’ve been running marathons, I’ve never been less than about 195. But I’m 6-1 (6-2 with shoes on), and there’s no reason I can’t weigh 190 pounds. So, I’m pretty committed to getting down to 190 by January 1, the first race on the Operation Jack schedule. I say that and I’m going to In-N-Out today, but I really do think I can get down to 190.

I’m a competitive person, so I’m trying to think up a challenge. Maybe if I miss, for every pound I miss by, I don’t eat In-N-Out or ice cream for that many weeks. A friend of mine suggested I make a contribution to a political charity I don’t agree with if I miss, but I don’t think I should bring politics into Operation Jack.

Do any of you have any ideas? I need to think of something that I can set as a challenge to keep me on this. And on that note, …

Ice Cream Streak Update
It’s at 1. Yes, 1. I woke up on the morning of October 12 and the first thing I thought about was, “I didn’t have ice cream yesterday!” And as a result of that colossal mental lapse, my 109-day ice cream streak was OVER. I was so distraught, I went without ice cream on the 13th, too. But I got back into the swing of things on the 14th. I ran up a quick streak of six days, but I went without it on Tuesday. So, last night, after a bowl of some caramel pecan or something like that, I’m at 1. 108 days to tie my record, 109 to break it. And one more food topic …

Chick-Fil-A Night!
If you live anywhere near me, come out to the Chick-Fil-A in Foothill Ranch on November 12 between 5-8 p.m. for dinner! 20% of the proceeds will be donated to Operation Jack. They’ve been really nice to deal with, so I hope this works out well. I’ll mention this again. And again …

Surf City … SIGN UP NOW!
If you’re in Southern California, or if you’d rather be in sunny Southern California in early February, consider running the Surf City Marathon (or half marathon or 5K)! And, if you’re considering it, just take the plunge and get it done with — put your money down and you won’t turn back! The marathon is nearly filled, and while the two shorter distances have space available, they’ll fill, too. If/when you register, PLEASE select Operation Jack/Train 4 Autism as your running clubs. If we get enough team members, the race will donate a portion of the entry fees to the Operation Jack Autism Foundation. There’s no cost or obligation other than the standard race entry fee, so selecting us as your club is an easy way to help!

Cleveland Marathon, Anybody?
I know this won’t come as much of a surprise, but I’ve been talking with a lot of races and a lot of race directors to try to organize things for next year. Well, I have to say that the Cleveland Marathon has been about as pleasant as any of them. They have a very generous charity program and I’m really determined to build a good team there.

Cleveland is on May 16 next year (marathon, half marathon and 10K) and they have a 5K the day before. If you are anywhere near Cleveland, or if you know anybody near Cleveland, or if you have any interest at all in running Cleveland, PLEASE contact me or put your name on the list! I’ll have discounted entry fee codes shortly, plus I should be able to provide comped entries to team builders.

OK, That’s All For Today!
I won’t be writing a blog for tomorrow, because I have a meeting I’m going to tonight and I won’t have time. So, have a great Thursday, Friday and weekend, and I’ll see you back here on Monday!

Comparing ice cream and a national-champion runner is kind of a stretch, but I have a way to do it, and I needed something for a headline. Yesterday, I had frozen yogurt and ice cream to stretch my streak of eating ice cream or frozen yogurt to 106 days. I decided I’d write about some other streaks I’ve had in my life. But before I get to those, I want to talk about the success streak of one of Operation Jack’s amazing coaches — one of the nicest, fastest guys you’ll ever meet.

John Loftus, a great guy, a friend of mine and an RRCA-certified long-distance running coach, graciously volunteered to help Operation Jack with our Ask The Coaches feature. On Sunday, the Marathon Gods were good to him for his service, rewarding him with a healthy PR at the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon in the USA Men’s Masters National Championships.

John turned in a 2:41:19, an amazing time for a 21-year-old. Of course, John is 51. The run was good for second in his age group, amazing for a national-championship event. He went up there aiming for a sub-2:40, and he was on track late. He was also just 16 seconds shy of winning his age group. So, he didn’t hit those two goals. But to him, I say the same thing he tells me when I run well despite not hitting pretty time barriers (for me, a sub-3) — he ran an amazing time and has nothing to be ashamed of.

Sunday continued an amazing run he’s had over the past year. He won his age group in this race to capture a national championship last year. This April, he won his age group in the Carlsbad 5000, the nation’s most competitive 5K. Three weeks later, he won his age group in the Boston Marathon, the nation’s most competitive race at that distance. And Sunday, a PR and a second-place finish in a national-championship event.

How fast is John? Well, for comparison’s sake, I’m not the fastest guy in the world, but I’ve won age group awards in distances from 5K up to the marathon, I have 12 Boston qualifiers in my 25 marathons and I have a marathon PR of 3:00:05. And John’s 5K split on Sunday (yes, during the marathon, so it was a conservative pace) was 37 seconds faster than my 5K PR. Mind boggling. Nice job, John … proud of ya!

Sam’s Streaks
I’ve got the ice cream streak going. 106 days now. It’s not something I really planned on, but it just kind of happened and the longer it goes, the tougher it’s going to be to snap it. Here are some other streaks I’ve had in my life:

– My dad used to buy season tickets to the Angels in the 1990s. In 1991, I went to 60 consecutive home games without a miss. My mom wrecked it, though. She was living in North Carolina and bought plane tickets for me and my brother to go visit her and she didn’t even look at the baseball schedule first. Totally inconsiderate. She reads my blog, and she’s probably saying, “Bite your tongue!” Heck no. It’s my blog. Thanks for nothing.

– In 2000 and 2001, I worked as sports information director at Orange Coast College out here in California. Spring is busy for college athletics and in 2001, I went 78 consecutive days (including weekends) without a day off. That was kind of a bummer. That’s also why I didn’t work there in 2002!

– I’ve never really been a running streaker (for those of you non-runners, that means somebody who runs every day). I never really intend to take days off, but the longest running streak I think I’ve ever been on was about 55 or so days in August and September of 2007. Now that I think about it, I think I had a stretch of eight or nine straight days with a run of at least 16 miles earlier this year. I thought that was pretty cool at the time.

– In the Fall 1995 semester at K-State, in the ultimate anti-streak, I didn’t have a single week where I didn’t miss a class. Every Monday, I told myself, “this will be the week.” Never was it the week, though. Amazingly, I went on academic probation and was kindly asked by my dad to find a different hobby and stop wasting his money. I went back to school in the spring of 1997 and didn’t miss a class the entire semester. A funny thing happened when I went to class: I doubled my GPA!

– I wasn’t the greatest student in high school. I’m a pretty sharp guy, but I certainly didn’t work hard until I got to college (and even there, I had that bad semester at KSU!). Due to an absolute lack of effort, I went 24 consecutive report cards (progress reports, quarter grades, semester grades) with at least one D or F. The first report card I had without a D or an F during my entire high school career was the first semester of summer school after my junior year, when I got a C in my only class, English.

– During that year off from college when I was on academic probation, I lived in Las Vegas. One day, I went to the Gold Coast to play 25-cent roulette. I played with a method called “negative progressive” betting, where you double your bet each time you lose. The theory is that once you finally win, you recoup your losses. If you’re betting black, how many times in a row could it possibly come up red? And how much money could you possibly lose?

I played for hours. I’d lose 2, 3, 4 times in a row, but then it would come up black, and I had all my money back. My betting pattern was $0.25, $0.50, $1, $2, $5, $10 and so on. My incredible streak that day was nine consecutive reds. NINE. Too bad I was betting black. A quarter, a half-dollar, $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $40, $80. Gone x 9. I was only winning a quarter or a dollar with every win, so I’d only earned about $25 through all those hours of playing. All of a sudden, I had $160 as my bet.

I had originally bought in for $20. I lost an additional $140. And I had an additional $160 down now, wondering if my streak would hit 10. This was my last chance, and once the dealer locked in the bets, my stomach sank, because I realized I’d have problems explaining to Tiff how I lost $300 or so on 25-cent roulette. But it came up black. I tipped the dealer $5, left the table with what ended up being about a $20 net profit, and I never played roulette again!

Bad Joke Of The Day
Back when I was in college, I used to drink a lot of beer. I’d get drunk, take my clothes off and run through campus. It was a big problem. I nearly got arrested a few times. I loved the rush though, and I just couldn’t quit. But finally, I stopped drinking beer and started drinking Windex. That stopped the streaking.

Three More Days Until I Run A Marathon With My Wife!
I’m going to blog about the race through her persepctive as much as I can next Monday. If you have any questions you want me to ask her, let me know! Have a great Thursday, everybody. I’m planning on In-N-Out for lunch. I hope you enjoy your mid-day meal as much as I will!

Even with the housing crisis and lousy economy, it’s expensive to live in California. Housing prices are ridiculous, and they have been for years and years. Most people think the reason so many people want to live here is because it’s at least 70 degrees for about 362 days a year. Lots of people think it’s because you can ski in the mountains in the morning, then surf in the ocean in the afternoon. But really, who does that? And how often? The true reason that everybody wants to live in California can be summed up in three words: In-N-Out.

For those of you who don’t know what In-N-Out is, I offer my condolences. In-N-Out is, dollar-for-dollar, the best food on the planet. Here’s what $6 got me for lunch yesterday:

I’m a clydesdale, which for you non-runners out there means I’m a heavyweight. I weigh about 202 right now, which is off the charts for a marathoner who runs races at the paces I do. With the number of miles I run and the calories I burn, it takes a lot of work (read: eating) to stay heavy. So, you know that when I say something tastes good, it tastes good. When I took that picture yesterday at lunch, I knew I had to blog about In-N-Out today just so I could post that picture. So, here’s five In-N-Out stories I’ll share because, well, why not? I don’t even know what I’m going to write, but I know I’ll come up with five.

1. In 2001, I spent four weeks on a jury trial at the courthouse in Santa Ana, Calif. There is an In-N-Out walking distance from there and I ate there 15 times over a 23-day span. Boring, boring, boring trial, but totally worth it.

2. In 1995, while I was a student at Kansas State University, I was home at the end of summer to visit. I knew I wouldn’t be coming back until Thanksgiving, so I had my dad run me through the drive-thru on the way (well, out of the way) to the airport. I ended up having to do a mad dash to catch my flight and he was NOT very happy. Never again would he do that, he told me. Fine, whatever. It was worth it.

3. In 2003, I found out my cholesterol was 306 or 307. My doctor told me I needed to lay off the red meat and the dairy. “Basically, stay away from cheeseburgers,” he told me. I told him that was a major problem. I go to In-N-Out every week with two of my best friends, and it would be a crushing blow to have to miss that. I asked him if it would be OK if I eliminated all red meat and dairy from my diet, aside from one double-double per week. He laughed and asked me if I was serious. I was dead serious. And he told me that if I ate no red meat or dairy aside from one double-double per week, that would be a great improvement. Side note to this: During that phone call, my doctor told me I also needed to exercise, but I was afraid I was a walking heart attack. I asked him if I would drop dead. So, he told me, “Well, I wouldn’t go out and run a marathon tomorrow. But you’d be fine if you walked around the block.” I started walking 18 months later.

4. I started a new job in January 2002. The office wanted to take me out to lunch. They asked me where I wanted to go. That was easy. In-N-Out. But they wanted to go to a sit-down place. So I let them pick the spot, because I didn’t really care where we went if I wasn’t getting a double-double. They picked Islands. Oh well.

5. There’s a restaurant in a nearby town named Laguna Hills. I used to go there so often and chit-chat with the restaurant’s manager, Chad, that he would always come over and talk when I came in (I think I originally got his attention with the In-N-Out Hawaiian shirt I used to wear). One time, I walked in, and there was a long line and and one of the four or so registers was closed. Chad saw me from way back in the kitchen, then ran up, opened a register and waved me over and served me. No waiting! You know how Norm walks into Cheers and everybody knows who he is? That was me with Chad.

Oh, and here’s the Halloween costume I’ve worn for the past two years:

Last year, I went in to the In-N-Out in Tustin wearing this, because I’m a clown and that’s how clowns operate. Apparently, the red apron is something that folks from the corporate office wear when they visit stores. So, when I walked in, a few employees rushed out to greet me, thinking I was from headquarters. Patrons were laughing and I could tell that all employees were getting a kick out of my outfit. I was hoping I’d score a free milkshake or something, but no such luck. No worries, though. I had a delicious lunch.

Anyways, that’s all I’ve got for today. Four more days until I get to run a marathon with my bride! Have a great Wednesday everybody!

The Long Beach Marathon is Sunday, and I’m getting pretty excited about it! It’s something I’ve been looking forward to since January. It’s going to be my 26th full marathon and it’ll probably be my fourth slowest (although hopefully just my seventh slowest). As a lot of you know, though, I’m not excited that I’m running the Long Beach Marathon. I’m excited that my wife is running the Long Beach Marathon.

Before I talk about my wife, I’ll just do a quick introduction to those of you who are visiting for the first time. I’m a married father of three (8, 6, 3 1/2) and my middle child, Jack, is severely autistic. In 2010, I’m planning on running 60 marathons to raise awareness for a charity called Train 4 Autism. This blog is my reality show … when I write it. Anyways, back to my wife …

Tiff told me in January, a couple of weeks after she ran her first (and only) half marathon, that she wanted to run a full. The original plan was for San Diego on May 31, but she got injured and it didn’t happen. She’s battled through some dings this summer, but she’s gonna give it a go on Sunday. I’m really looking forward to running a marathon with her.

I feel pretty lucky to be able to run marathons. Most people don’t know what it’s like to take 26.2-mile running tours of various cities. Even when I run sub-par races, I know I’m fortunate to be able to enjoy the experience. And now, I’m going to get to share this experience with my wife! How lucky am I? How lucky is she? Nah … how lucky am I!?!?

So, just bear with me this week. I’m gonna keep talking about her. Can’t help it. She’s doing carb depletion right now (no carbs, which helps her store glycogen better when she starts carb loading on Thursday). I hate doing that, but fortunately for me, I’m treating Sunday as a training run and I don’t have to deal with that. When I have goal races, though, I deplete and I hate it. It works for me, though, so I do it. She has a minor inflammation problem in her right leg at this point, but it’s nothing that’s going to keep her from running. I talked to her about it at dinner time last night and it’s basically something that’s going to be a test of how tough she is. We’ll see.

But yeah, I’m excited. Really excited. Marathon courses are my playground and I can’t wait to show her around. I really hope it’s a positive experience for her, because first marathons should be fun. I guess that’s up to me, because I’m the tour guide.

Running Update
I nailed my long run over the weekend. I ran 28.3 miles and felt great. I didn’t really set out to run the miles quickly, and I didn’t. But the past two weeks, I cut my long runs short because I started feeling sick towards the end. Finally, I got my 28 in and I was happy. For those of you who don’t know, I had to take a month off this summer due to an ankle injury (suffered while walking through a parking lot after lunch!). So, I’m working my way back into shape. My biggest run of the week is always my long run. It helps me with the endurance I need and it’s the one I enjoy the most. It felt nice to finally accomplish what I wanted to accomplish.

Cleveland Anybody?
I know I’ve been talking about different things going on with various races, so today I’m going to talk about Cleveland. They have a great charity program and I’m really hoping to build a good team there for the weekend of May 15 and 16 next year. There’s a 5K, 10K, half-marathon and full marathon. The 5K is the day before the other three races. I’m pretty sure I’ll run the 5K and I know I’m running the marathon. I’m really hopeful and optimistic about building a team of 25 people there. If you’re in that area, let me know — I’d love to talk to you about increasing participation. Remember, no fund-raising minimums!

That’s All For Today!
Have a great Tuesday! Eat some tacos! See you tomorrow!

I donated blood on Tuesday, and they told me not to exercise for 24 hours. I thought it would be a good idea to do it the day before physical therapy, because then I could use that as my rest day and be fresh when I got in there. But in the back of my head, I had a suspicion that the physical therapy would fall under that “exercise” category and I’d pay the price. I’m pretty smart and pretty stupid at the same time.

I’ll get to that in just a bit. On Monday, I wrote about how upset my wife was with her run over the weekend. Well, she appreciated all of the feedback she got and she’s looking forward to running Long Beach later this month! I can’t believe it’s already October! She ran a good 15-miler in the sun yesterday, so at this point, I think she’ll be fine to start the race with 20 good miles.

A lot of people say that the second half of the marathon starts after 20 miles, but after running 25 of them, I disagree. I think it all depends on how tough you are. She’s pretty tough, so I think the second half for her will start after 13.1 miles.

While I’m talking about running, I guess I should talk about my own running, since I’m the one planning on running 60 marathons next year for Operation Jack. I went 8.65 miles on Monday, 13.4 on Tuesday, nothing yesterday (as you’ll read about in the next segment) and 12 today. Nothing special, nothing fast. I guess that’s about all I have to say about my running right now. I’m thinking about running a 5K next Saturday at Chapman. If you’re going to be there, let me know.

Next Time I’ll Listen To What The Red Cross Tells Me
I donated blood on Tuesday, a new habit of mine I hope to keep up for a long, long time. I’m terrified of needles, but I know it’s a blessing to be on this side of a blood transfusion, so I decided to start doing this in July. I was inspired to do this by a friend of mine named Peggy, who’s as good of a person as you could know, and I chose to do this in honor of my late Uncle Bob, who died of leukemia in 2004. He died on July 27 of that year, so I donated for the first time on July 27 of this year. Well, that was the first time I’d donated in more than 12 years.

Anyways, I went back on Tuesday to donate again. All went well, I got my free cookies, and went back to work. They told me not to exercise for 24 hours. When I think of exercising, I think of a 12-15 mile run before work. My body apparently considers physical therapy to fall into that category. I did a new drill yesterday that involved sets of 30 seconds of stepping up and down off of a box with weights in each hand. When I was done, I felt like I was going to throw up. I couldn’t catch my breath. I started getting dizzy and everything went black for a split-second. I was light-headed for the rest of the day, and needless to say, I’ve learned my lesson.

I’ll definitely give blood again as soon as I can. But I’ll also definitely follow the no-exercise-for-24-hours rule a little better!

I’m “Charity Chasing” In Mobile!
I’m going to be something called the “Charity Chaser” in the BankTrust First Light Marathon in Mobile, Ala., on January 10 next year. I’ll be the very last person to cross the start line, and I’ll be collecting pledges for charity. All proceeds from this will go to the charity that promotes the marathon, L’Arche Mobile, a great organization that helps adults with intellectual disabilities. I have an uncle (my dad’s brother) who lives in a similar organization out here and I’m glad I’ll be able to help.

Part of what will add to the challenge is that I’ll be running a marathon in Jackson, Miss., the day before. So, if you’re looking at the race schedule and wondering if I go all-out the second day of a double … I do. And when there’s money on the line for charity, I’ll really be pushing hard.

I’m starting to work on Mobile-area contacts to try to find sponsors/pledges for this. I’m expecting to pass somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 people in the marathon and the half-marathon. If you’d like to make a pledge towards this (a nickel per person I pass, a dime per person I pass, etc.) or if you have contacts in the Mobile area, please let me know. I’ve been working with the race director in Mobile, and he’s going to be coordinating coverage with the local media out there, so depending on the pledge, there could certainly be promotional considerations!

Anybody Looking For a 3:30 At Surf City?
I’ll be a 3:30 pacer again at Surf City next year. In February, I led a pace group for the first time in the Surf City Marathon. I had a work emergency and only got one hour of sleep the night before the race, but since I made a commitment, I carried through and paced the 3:30 group. I was nervous, because if I bomb my own race, that’s my own problem. But if I bomb as a pacer, that affects other people. And with only one hour of sleep, plus parking problems that made me so late I had to sprint to the start line and couldn’t use the porta-pottie (a pre-race must if you’re well hydrated!), I was certainly concerned! But I turned in a 3:29:57 and got invited back!

If you’re looking to run a 3:30 and want a pacer who will tell bad jokes for 26.2 miles, Surf City might be the race for you!

That’s All For Today!
Oops, no video for today. Don’t think I’ll be writing anything for tomorrow. Have a great weekend everybody!