Wow, what a blur of a weekend. A travel day, a marathon, an ultramarathon, a family day and now it’s time for football. I’m just glad I went to In-N-Out yesterday. And I’m really happy about something Jack did on Friday! Keep reading to see what I’m talking about. And to see a sweet video of how my legs twitch after running 45 miles!

Just in case this is your first time here, click here to see why I’m running 61 marathons and an ultramarathon for Train 4 Autism.

Weekend Racing Recap
Well, I ran two races over the weekend, the Pocatello Marathon (Idaho) on Saturday and the Operation Jack 7-Hour Challenge in Portland on Sunday.

Saturday’s marathon didn’t go as well as I expected. But Sunday’s event went much better than I could have dreamed. Here’s the link to the two recaps:
– Pocatello, Saturday
– 7-Hour Challenge, Sunday

If you just want to pick one to read, please pick Sunday’s race — it was an awesome experience, definitely one of the best of the year so far. A lot of you made pledges based on how much I beat Operation Jack supporter Deb Bosilevac by on Sunday … it was 11 miles, but I’ll get in contact with you in the next day or so.

Awesome Jack Update!
On Friday, Tiff took Benjamin down to tae-kwon-do at the local studio we take him to and sat down to watch with Ava. Jack went for a walk with our therapist, and it didn’t take too long for him to stop dead in his tracks, tug on the therapist and say, “I want Mommy” in his muffled voice.

He NEVER says that! I couldn’t believe it when Tiff told me that! I mean, I could believe it, because he’s been showing so much progress lately, but I was so happy to hear that! Every day, it’s something new with him and this was really cool. On November 7, 2006, when he got his diagnosis, the neurologist told us that we were basically trees in his world. At that point, she was probably right, but that’s extremely difficult to hear as a parent.

But to see the thoughts, emotions and recognition coming from him like this is just awesome. We don’t get the verbal communication, but we’re starting to see that he adores us as parents, and when you wait nearly seven years to see that, you really appreciate it!

NFL Football Pick ‘Em
The NFL season starts on Thursday and we’re going to have a pick-em contest for Operation Jack. It’s going to be $20 to enter for the year and you just pick who you think is going to win each NFL game. 40 percent of the pot will go to the first-place winner, 20 percent will go to second place, and 40 percent will stick with Operation Jack as a fundraiser. It’s easy, it’s fun, you have a chance to win some cash, and it’s only $20!

I’m doing it at Sportsline.com … go to http://operationjack.football.sportsline.com/e and sign up! The password for the league is sixtyone.

For the $20 fee, just click on the Donate Now! link at the top of this page!

My Current Facebook Status
Tiff is more awesome than me and she is the athlete in the family. Yes, I lost a bet playing a game with her and Benjamin involving bouncing a rubber ball backwards over my head on one bounce into a laundry basket. I didn’t wager, but apparently I have to update my status with this.

First Time For Everything
This year has certainly been a year full of firsts, and I added another one to my collection on Friday. It was the first time while picking up my race packet I had a volunteer remind me three times to make sure I didn’t forget to pick up my free sack of potatoes. Yes, I was in Idaho.

I Have A Face For Radio!
Yesterday morning, I did an interview for a running podcast. If you want to hear what my voice sounds like, check it out!

Video Of The Day
Check out my legs twitching on their own after Sunday’s race!

My calves twitching on their own after the race.

OK, that’s all for today, folks. I want to tell you to have a happy Monday, but it’s Tuesday! Yeah!

Well here we are, September. Another month is in the books and I’m another month closer to the end of the year! But you know what I’m looking forward to even more than 2011? October.

Real quick, just in case you’ve never been before, click here to see why I’m running 61 marathons this year for Train 4 Autism!

Anyways, I had a tough schedule in April with seven races, but September takes the cake — seven races, all of them probably very painful. Here’s a rundown of how my month is going to be a long 30 days.

Race 1: Pocatello Marathon, September 4
My first marathon of the month, this Saturday in Pocatello, Idaho. It’s a fast, downhill course, but those types of courses are crazy tough. They do a number on your quads, especially if you’re a heavier runner. At 200 pounds, I certainly qualify. I paced the 3:40 group at the Utah Valley Marathon in June on a downhill course. That speed was easy for me, but my legs hurt worse after that race than they did for any other race this year. I was still in pain at the start line the next weekend, and that doesn’t normally happen for me. So, this race figures to be fast, but it’s going to hurt and it’s going to hurt pretty bad while I’m still running.

Race 2: Operation Jack 7-Hour Challenge, September 5
This race was a late add to the schedule. A group of Operation Jack supporters, about 20, are participating in a seven-hour timed race in Portland on Sunday. So, a day after I run that quad-crushing downhill marathon, I’ll be running for seven hours. I have to run this one as well as possible, because I have pledges impacted by how many miles I run. So, I have to run as many miles as possible, no slacking! I’m estimating about 45. We’ll see how it goes.

Race 3: Patriots Run, September 11
This is in Olathe, Kan. on September 11. It’s a marathon and a 9:11 timed race. So, I’m going to complete the marathon, then continue to run for about another six hours. I suspect I’ll push well past 50 miles, hopefully closer to 60. I fly home the next morning, just in time for Jack’s birthday party. I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to sleep on the plane.

Race 4: Boulder Marathon, September 19
This is my easiest weekend of the year, no question. One race, 26.2 miles, that’s it. The Boulder Marathon is up in Boulder, Colo. I have no idea at this point what the footing is — dirt trail, single track, road, etc. All I know is that there’s a lot of hills and the entire race is above mile-high. So that’s all. Easy stuff. And I’ll have eight days between the Patriots Run and this one, about as long as I’ve gone in between races this year. Nothing to it, right?

Race 5: Tahoe Triple, Race #1, September 24
I only get four days off after the Boulder Marathon. From an eating perspective, that’s one day to recover, then three days to carb load. I don’t think I’ll be all that solid for this one. It’s up in Tahoe on Friday, the first of three consecutive days running marathons. And of course, it’s at elevation. I’m not exactly sure how high, but I know it’s somewhere in the 6,000 — 7,000 feet above sea level range. Should be challenging.

Race 6: Tahoe Triple, Race #2, September 25
This is the day after that race at elevation in Tahoe. This one is up at elevation (6,000-7,000 feet above sea level) in Tahoe. I’m not expecting this one to be particularly easy. Or fun. But it’ll be scenic.

Race 7: Tahoe Triple, Race #3, September 26
This is the day after that second race at elevation in Tahoe. This one is up at elevation in Tahoe. I’m not expecting this one to be particularly easy. Or fun. But it’ll be scenic.

So, that’s my September. In the middle, Jack is turning 7! And at the end (or maybe at the beginning of October), the November issue of Runner’s World featuring me and Jack is coming out.

It’s a big month coming up, but I sure can’t wait until October!

Well here we go, another Monday. I have a few things I want to share with you. I guess this is somewhat of a cross between one of my weekend recaps, a 10 random things blog and a “What’s up with Operation Jack” posting. I guess it’s 6 random things from the weekend that are up with Operation Jack. Or something like that.

Real quick, just in case you’ve never been here before, click here to see why I’m running 61 marathons for Train 4 Autism this year.

Speaking of which, I ran No. 40 of the year yesterday in Santa Rosa, Calif. Read the recap here.

Grandma Bea Update
As I mentioned in my blog here on Thursday, my grandma had a serious health scare last Wednesday. She needed CPR to save her life after having heart failure, but she had a temporary pacemaker put in and she stabilized.

She’s having a permanent pacemaker put in today, and while it’s a fairly routine surgery, let’s be realistic — it’s a pretty scary thing. So for those of you who pray, please say a prayer for her!

By the way, that fundraising push I made in her honor in last Thursday’s blog raised $235. She’s going to be so excited — I’ll probably go visit her today or tomorrow and tell her. Thank you all so much!

Honey-Do List
I’ve barely had any honey-do lists this year, because I’m always out of town on the weekends. This weekend, though, I didn’t fly out until 2 p.m. on Saturday, so I had a little bit of time before I left. Tiff was hesitant to give me a list of things to do, because she I was traveling in the afternoon, but I was pretty excited. I got to be a normal dad with a list for once!

I took Ben to taekwondo, plunged the heck out of a toilet, fixed a printer, picked Ben up, went to the store to buy toner, fixed the garbage disposal, brought in the trash cans, created a chart to help Tiff track Jack’s supplements, I was going to fix the sprinklers but I told Tiff what the issue was and she got them easily taken care of … heck, I don’t remember what else. It was awesome, though! And then I packed, ate lunch and went to the airport.

Operation Jack 7-Hour Challenge
If you’re in the Portland area this weekend, we’re having a 7-hour timed race to benefit Operation Jack on Sunday. We’re looking for more runners and volunteers. If you run, you don’t have to run the whole thing. You can just run for an hour or however long you want to.

It’s going to be a fun event and we’re also going to have a barbecue on Saturday night. If you have any interest, e-mail me and let me know! All participants and volunteers will get free Operation Jack gear! < a href="http://www.dailymile.com/events/26069-operation-jack-7-hour-challenge" target="_blank">Here’s the info on the race.

Cool Idea From A Friend Of Mine
A college friend of mine named Stacy is going to an amusement park with her family this weekend. She asked me to send her Operation Jack shirts for them to wear to the park, and she had two great reasons. First, they’re all going to wear them, which will make it easier for them to spot each other and stay together.

Also, with a group of four people all walking around with shirts with the web address on it, surely it will prompt somebody to ask about Operation Jack or go check out the site! So, good idea, Stacy. If anybody ever wants to do something like this, let me know and I’ll some shirts out to you.

NFL Pick-Em Contest
Just throwing out a reminder that I’m going to have a pick-em contest this year as a fundraiser. Hopefully, a lot of you participate. It’s gonna be $20 for the entire season. You’ll pick weekly winners — no spread, no weighted games. Just pick each game and who you think will win. You’ll get a point for each game you pick correctly and the winner will be the person who does the best over the course of the season.

First place will pay 40% of the pool, second place will pay 20% and the remaining 40% will go to Operation Jack. So easy, fun, a chance to win something, NFL and only $20. Who’s in?

Here’s the link: http://operationjack.football.cbssports.com/.

The password to join the league is sixtyone

Enter the league and then click on the “Donate Now!” link at the top of any page on this site and donate $20. I’ll see it come through, I’ll check the site with the pool and I’ll confirm that I’ve got you as paid.

Lesson About Diet Coke
I learned a lesson about Diet Coke yesterday. If you’re ever 65 miles from the airport in Oakland, and you buy an extra large soft drink at In-N-Out, and you drink 2 1/2 of those before filling it up for the drive, and you get stuck in traffic, and you drive over bumpy roads 90 minutes later, and you don’t want to get off the highway in a bad part of Oakland … you’re not going to be happy. Now you know.

OK, that’s all for today. Have a great Monday everybody!

I’m going quick with the blog today. They don’t always have to be super-long, right? I have a quick update on Jack and a couple of announcements I wanted to repeat. You’ll be back to work in three minutes flat!

Real quick, just in case you’ve never been here before, click here to see why I’m running 61 marathons this for Train 4 Autism.

DAN Doctor Update
I don’t think Tiff read my blog yesterday. The reason I say that is because I announced in there yesterday that she would have an update from the DAN doctor for today’s blog, and when I asked her for that last night, she looked at me like I was a three-headed alien. Now, I know I’m ugly. But I’m not that ugly. So Tiff, click here and read what you missed yesterday.

Anyways, she suggested I should use something we put on Facebook last week as an update, so here goes:

UPDATE on Jack’s test results: He’s highly reactive to gluten, has low white cell blood count, has yeast (Rhodaturula) in his stomach, has heavy metals (arsenic and lead) in him, cholesterol is low because it’s spilling into his stool because his body’s not absorbing all it’s fats and his zinc is low. Doc added on 11 more supplements-daily.So far we’ve been successful on what he’s been taking. Keep him in your prayers. 🙂

Also, she gave me a list of things she gives him. He gets most of these daily.

Chelate Mate (minerals)
Digestive Enzymes
Isocort (adrenal suppport)
MCT oil (anti-fungal)
Nystatin )anti-fungal)
Cholesterol
Zinc
Uva Ursi (anti-fungal)
Probiotics
Magneseum cream
Naltrexone (blocks opioids)
Glutathione cream (detoxification)
Vitamin D3
Culturelle (probiotic)
Progesterone cream
Grapefruit seed extract (anti-fungal)
Rectal suppositories (pulls out metals)
Sea salts
Methyl B-12 shots (balances out brain chemicals)
Nasal spray (contains hormone that helps w/interaction)

Maybe we’ll have a little something more on Jack tomorrow.

I’m Repeating This From Yesterday
There’s a family that lives about 15 houses down from us and one of the daughters in the house was just diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Most of you live out of the area and there’s nothing you can do with this fundraiser that’s going on this Wednesday, but if you’re in Orange County, or if you know anybody in Orange County, PLEASE take a look at this and pass it along on Twitter, Facebook, etc. THANK YOU!

It’s tough to get into anything not completely serious after that, but I have a few random things for you to start your week with.

Something Else I Want To Repeat From Yesterday
I decided that I’m going to have a pick-em contest this year as a fundraiser. Hopefully, a lot of you participate. It’s gonna be $20 for the entire season. You’ll pick weekly winners — no spread, no weighted games. Just pick each game and who you think will win. You’ll get a point for each game you pick correctly and the winner will be the person who does the best over the course of the season.

First place will pay 40% of the pool, second place will pay 20% and the remaining 40% will go to Operation Jack. So easy, fun, a chance to win something, NFL and only $20. Who’s in? Oh, and quick feedback … do y’all think I should play? I’d probably lose, and I’d hate to win my own pool, but if I won, I’d give my winnings to the foundation. Let me know your opinion!

Here’s the link: http://operationjack.football.cbssports.com/
The password to join the league is sixtyone
Enter the league and then click on the “Donate Now!” link at the top of any page on this site and donate $20. I’ll see it come through, I’ll check the site with the pool and I’ll confirm that I’ve got you as paid.

That’s About It For Today
Can you tell I was busy last night and didn’t have time to write a whole lot for today? Well now you know. Sometimes that whole “life” thing gets in the way. Please forgive me and come back tomorrow!

Normally on Mondays I write a weekend recap, but my trip was so quick and easy this weekend and I have a bunch of announcements I want to throw out there today. So, I’m going to abandon my typical format and throw a bunch of information your way. At least I have a really cool video of Jack in here!

Real quick, just in case you’ve never been here before, I’m a father of three and a marathon runner and this year, I’m running (well, trying to run) 61 marathons to help raise money and awareness for a great charity I’m a part of called Train 4 Autism. Train 4 Autism serves as a vehicle to help people participate in events such as races, triathlons, etc., while raising money for the autism-related charity of their choice. It can even be a small, local organization — any autism-related non-profit is fine!

So far, I’m through 39 of the 61, completely on target. This weekend, I ran the Park City Marathon in Park City, Utah. It was a very nice and very challenging race. If you want, you can read my recap here.

I’m Leading With Something Important Today
There’s a family that lives about 15 houses down from us and one of the daughters in the house was just diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Most of you live out of the area and there’s nothing you can do with this fundraiser that’s going on this Wednesday, but if you’re in Orange County, or if you know anybody in Orange County, PLEASE take a look at this and pass it along on Twitter, Facebook, etc. THANK YOU!

It’s tough to get into anything not completely serious after that, but I have a few random things for you to start your week with.

DAN Doctor Update
If you’ve been following along here, you know we took Jack to see a new DAN doctor and we’ve been starting him on a new biomedical program. Tiff (my wife, if you’ve never been here) will have an update on this tomorrow. We’re really starting to get into this new routine — it’s giving us a headache, but at least he’s not having as many tummy aches!

When Life Gives You Lemonade Mix, …
Have an Operation Jack lemonade stand! This was last Thursday. Glad it was 97 degrees!

Dueling Facebook Status Updates …
So yesterday afternoon, I put the following as my Facebook status:
16 years ago today was the first day of the semester and there was a new girl in the newspaper class rockin’ some tight black pants and she was really, really pretty. If you would have told me I’d end up marrying that hottie, I would have said, “Never, she’s way out of my league!” But yeah, I did. And she’s still way out of my league!

Then, a few hours later, that hottie updated her status:

‎16 years ago today, I met a cute teenage boy with a cool car and a big heart. Now, that teenage boy is an amazing husband/father who still has a big heart. Cool car’s gone though. <3

Whose was better? Mine was, no need to answer.

Do I Lose My Man Card For Admitting This?
I took Benjamin out to see a movie called Despicable Me yesterday. I’m not too up on the movies, so I had never heard of it, but I really liked it. It was a nice story and one of those kids movies that adults can take different meanings from. It was a fun story for Benjamin, but I really enjoyed watching the main character warm to becoming a dad after adopting three girls. And, I’ll admit it, at the end, I had to fight from getting teary-eyed. I don’t know if non-parents would view the movie differently, but I really enjoyed it. Yeah, I almost cried over an animated movie.

NFL Pick-em Fundraiser
I decided that I’m going to have a pick-em contest this year as a fundraiser. Hopefully, a lot of you participate. It’s gonna be $20 for the entire season. You’ll pick weekly winners — no spread, no weighted games. Just pick each game and who you think will win. You’ll get a point for each game you pick correctly and the winner will be the person who does the best over the course of the season.

First place will pay 40% of the pool, second place will pay 20% and the remaining 40% will go to Operation Jack. So easy, fun, a chance to win something, NFL and only $20. Who’s in? Oh, and quick feedback … do y’all think I should play? I’d probably lose, and I’d hate to win my own pool, but if I won, I’d give my winnings to the foundation. Let me know your opinion!

Here’s the link: http://operationjack.football.cbssports.com/

The password to join the league is sixtyone

Enter the league and then click on the “Donate Now!” link at the top of any page on this site and donate $20. I’ll see it come through, I’ll check the site with the pool and I’ll confirm that I’ve got you as paid.

Video Of The Day
This was Jack in his therapy session yesterday. A few minutes earlier, I asked him to write “cat” and he wrote “hat” and said “hat,” but I couldn’t get him to do it again. In watching the video, I’m thinking that maybe he tried to draw a hat … he likes to put on fedoras. Whatever the case, there were some cool things in here.

That’s all for today, folks. Have a great Monday!