I got up at 4:45 a.m. to run this morning. I’ve run 102 marathons in the past 6 1/2 years, and I’ve run them fairly well — I have 27 Boston qualifiers and was recently accepted to run in my 6th consecutive Boston Marathon. But there’s one thing I don’t want to be called: a runner.

As weird as that sounds, I don’t view myself as a runner. The reason for that is pretty simple. I don’t want that to define me. It’s just something I do. I’m not a runner. I’m a guy who likes to run. I like to eat oatmeal, but I’m not an oatmealer. I was thinking about this (on my run) yesterday morning, because I always wonder what I should blog about. And running just doesn’t feel that important to me.

My favorite thing about running is that it gives me my quiet time that I need in the morning and it gives me a way to push myself and stay in shape. But it’s my hobby. It’s not who I am, and the day I let it define me is the day I’ve neglected what really matters.

I’m a father of three. I’m a husband. I’m pretty flawed at both, but that’s to be expected — I’m human, so I’m definitely imperfect. I have some good days and some bad days. I pray every day for the strength and wisdom to do a better job at both and I certainly have room for improvement. But that’s what I am.

I also think I’m an autism fighter — not by my choosing, but it’s a role I’ve been thrust into. My middle child, 9-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. If you’ve ever ben to this site, you’re well aware of that. If not, click here and see what I do and what I’ve done and what Operation Jack is.

I feel like I don’t really know much about autism — my wife Tiffany is the expert in our household — but I still have an obligation to talk about it and fight it. Our lives start as blank canvases and we all follow different paths. We’re all unique and we all have different purposes. It definitely feels like these are mine.

I have three kids with different needs and personalities and nothing I ever do will be more important than raising them. I’m married to my best friend and the quality of her stay here in this world will be hugely impacted by what kind of husband I am.

And then there’s fighting autism, which starts with Jack. I know it’s my responsibility to go to the ends of the earth for him. We lose a lot of sleep over the battles we go through for him and there’s no end in sight. On top of that, I find myself in the middle of the autism community. People need advice, charities need help. I make a habit out of biting off more than I can chew, but I always try my best.

When it comes to any of this vs. running, I always try to make sure running loses. If Jack wakes up early, I skip my morning run and stay with him because he needs to be tended to and I’d rather let Tiffany sleep. When Tiffany wants to get out of the house in the morning to go to the gym and pound out her frustrations, I sacrifice my time slot for her. Life has to come first.

So father, husband, autism fighter. That’s what I am. That’s what I hope I always will be. I’m not a runner. If this ever changes, I’m doing something wrong.[subscribe2]

If you’ve never been here before, you’re probably wondering who Jack is or why I’m talking about his birthday, CLICK HERE to see what Operation Jack is and why I started a foundation in his name. Hint: poor little guy is severely autistic.

Robbed On Your Birthday

My wife Tiffany wrote a great blog yesterday. It’s tough posting on a Sunday and getting people to read it, so I’m linking to it for her. Go take a look, everybody who saw it thought it was a good read. It’s definitely better than the rest of this blog, so if your time is pretty limited, click that link.

Birthday Breakfast Of Champions

Jack likes bacon. Bacon for breakfast for Jack — it’s as sure as death and taxes. So his birthday breakfast was no different, except his bacon had a candle in it!

 

Jack’s Birthday Party

So, Tiff decided kind of last-minute to have a birthday party for Jack. In a way, it’s a lost cause. He doesn’t really understand it’s his birthday, although he does have fun blowing out candles after people sing Happy Birthday to him. And we feel like he deserves a celebration just like any other kid. So we got some balloons, a cake, cupcakes, frosted cookies, candy, ice cream and about eight or so neighborhood kids to come over.

It was loud. He enjoyed it. We sang Happy Birthday to him about three more times. He loved it so we just kept re-lighting the candles. The kids all had fun getting hyped up on sugar. We had a helper over for Jack and she ran around having fun with him. All the girls went upstairs to Ava’s room to play and when they came downstairs, they had all colored themselves with markers. Kind of reminds me of when I drank too much back in college. All-in-all, the kids all had a blast and Jack had a fun time. And that’s all that really matters, because it was his birthday.

 

Copycat Game

Jack had a blast playing a copycat game with Ben and Ava. I videotaped too late because there was a point where he was slapping the garage door over and over saying “uh-oh!” and laughing hysterically. He did it once, at about :37 into this, but not the same. But still, you can tell, he had a good time, and he was way too wound up.

Best Part Of The Day

When it was time for bed, he wanted his teddy bear that he always sleeps with, “Temmy.” We’ve been calling him that since about 2006 because that’s how he pronounced “teddy” when he tried to say it. We couldn’t find it so I spent an hour looking for it all over the house, in the cars, in the garage, in the backyard, and then everywhere again a second time and a third time. Finally, after an hour, I found it in some bushes beneath a deck in the backyard. OK, so the headline for this segment is a lie. It wasn’t really the best part of the day.

I Lived It Up, Too

Breakfast: Two donuts and 40 oz. of black coffee.

Lunch: Chips with swiss cheese/horseradish dip, cheese dog, chips with melted cheddar.

Snack: Chips. Birthday cake. Frosted cookie.

Dinner: Oops, never got around to it.

Dessert: Vanilla ice cream.

Plugging A Plug

A group called Team Enofuse is plugging me today, so I’m returning the favor. They’re right up Operation Jack’s alley, so hopefully in the future we’ll be able to work together and get some good things done. Anyways, they’re here … go give ’em a like!

OK, that’s all for today. What was the highlight of your weekend? Did you eat as healthy as I did? I had chips for dinner (plus some meatballs and brownies) on Saturday night, too, but don’t tell my wife. Have a great Monday!

It’s September 11. Not a whole lot I can add that everybody else isn’t saying anyways. I’ll never forget 9/11/2001. Man did we get sucker-punched, but we sure did come out of that pretty united as a nation. It’s terrible to see us so divided right now. I’m hoping that for at least today, our presidential candidates can cut the hate and division and speak positively. For at least one day, we should all just be Americans (well, those of us who are Americans).

Alternative Workout Of The Day
Side note, since it’s September 11 and I’m into the whole exercise and fitness thing, I’m doing a special 9/11 workout at the gym after work. I got the idea from a friend of mine named Tara last year and I’m making it an annual tradition in remembrance of the victims. Instead of the treadmill or the bike, I’m gonna hit the stair machine and do 220 stories, the number there was combined in the Twin Towers.

OK, that’s it for today. Love your neighbors, y’all.

Three things Thursday. Breakfast is already done, I’m leaving for work in 20 minutes … I love these quick blogs. Here goes (almost) nothing …

1. Run for the wells!

A good friend of Operation Jack, Jonathan Gunderson, is putting on an affordable 6K/10K trail race in San Francisco on Saturday. It’s such a short distance that even non-runners can participate. It goes to benefit a great cause and I’m proud to be supporting him with his efforts. The site for the race is HERE <—- click that! If you’re not in the area, share it with your friends on Facebook or Twitter … PLEASE!

2. Don’t run at all!

That’s my plan this week. Haven’t run since Saturday. Life is getting in the way. I’m pretty miserable. I explained that yesterday. Oh well, maybe after work I’ll hit the treadmill at the gym. Or maybe not.

3. Can these elections be over already?

Facebook is really getting annoying. Can’t wait until November 7. I have my own opinions, primarily that no politician is ever going to do me any good. I have my ideologies, but I have two choices to make — who is the lesser of two evils, and do I go with the lesser of two evils or a third-party protest? Really, the only news coming out of Washington that I really care about is already settled — Stephen Strasburg is getting shut down after September 12. I think that’s ridiculous — you never know when you’re gonna get another crack at the postseason. Davey Johnson has to use him in October.

Send out that Running For The Wells link on Twitter with a #runchat hashtag and cc me (@operationjack) — copy and paste this:

Check out a great race for a great cause this Saturday in SF! bit.ly/RFTW12 #runchat cc @operationjack @Gundy80

Have a great weekend![subscribe2]

I done did it up yesterday. I killed a treadmill. And it felt GOOD! I needed a mental boost and that did it.

I have a race coming up on September 1, the Pocatello Marathon. 11 days, not that I’m counting. I need a Boston Qualifier, which for me is a sub-3:10. I’ve run Boston the past five years and I want to make it six in a row. I love running that race. But Pocatello is my only shot at getting back next year. Registration opens in September and I won’t get another shot at a marathon before it closes.

I knew I had a lot of work ahead of me after I only went 3:19 on June 9 in the Utah Valley Marathon. It was my now-or-never time. After I spent the better part of a week letting a strained hamstring recover from that race, I averaged about 100 miles a week over the next seven weeks. I had something like 10 20+ mile runs, three or four runs between 26.2 and 30 miles, about another dozen or so days where I ran at least 20 miles total by running twice, plus a high-mileage week of 130 miles. [Read more…]