To me, it’s fitting that one of the symbols of the fight against autism is a puzzle piece. This morning, I realized that I have no idea what kind of impact Operation Jack will have or what the bigger picture of what I’ve done will look like at the end of the year. But it’s like putting together a puzzle. I’m assembling it one bit at a time, and yesterday, I snapped another nice piece in.

Chapters Aren’t Only In Books!
So this is where I take a moment to thank Alicia Verburg and hope she inspires at least one of you! Alicia is a fellow marathoner and the parent of cute son who has autism. Late last week, she posted comments on one of my blogs, which included the following:

So happy for you guys and totally inspired by your journey. I want to get involved with Train 4 Autism but not sure where to start. What can I do?

Well the answer to that question was simple — I asked her to start a chapter! Well, maybe I begged her.

The biggest thing to do to really help would be to join Train 4 Autism and start a chapter. My biggest goal with Operation Jack is to help T4A grow, so bringing people in all over the country is the biggest thing I’m trying to accomplish. It’s not a huge responsibility and we have people who will help you out. Believe me, it’s a LOT easier than you might think.

And, just like both times I asked Tiffany to marry me, she said yes! So I think this is the fourth new chapter that has spawned as a result of Operation Jack. And that, at the core of it all, is why I’m running 60 marathons this year — because people like Alicia, who otherwise might not have ever heard of Train 4 Autism, are now chapter presidents!

I have no idea who reads this blog, but I know it’s a lot more of you than I hear from, because I keep an eye on the traffic numbers. Some of you are runners and some of you are affected by autism. I get a fair amount of feedback and quite a few of you have told me that you’re inspired by what I’m doing. I know that for every one of you who speaks up and tells me something, there are 10 more of you thinking the same thing but remaining silent.

If you’re one of the silent types out there, and you think what I’m doing is kind of cool and you want to join in somehow, PLEASE consider starting a chapter! It’s super, super simple, I swear! We have people who will help you out and there’s not a ton to do. Maybe man a table at a local autism walk. Or try to build a team for a local 5K. You don’t have to run 60 marathons. You don’t have to raise any certain amount. We know that any help we get is help we didn’t have, so we’d love to have you and we promise we won’t complain!

Alicia filled out the New Chapter Form. If you fill it out, you’ll give me a huge psychological boost for this weekend!

Help Me Clean My Garage!
I have a whole bunch of Operation Jack t-shirts, tech shirts and sweatshirts in the garage. I really like the sweatshirts. I guess I like the t-shirts and tech shirts, too, but I really like the sweatshirts. Anyways, I need to get rid of them! Well, I guess that’s a weak way to solicit donations, but take a look at the levels on the Sponsors page and see if you’re interested.

I’d love to have you walking around wearing Operation Jack gear! That reminds me — if I owe you clothing and you haven’t gotten it, send me an e-mail and I’ll make sure it’s in the shipment we send out this week. Tiff and I aren’t flawless at our routine of sending stuff out, but we’re getting better.

Cleveland Anybody?
I’m really trying to make a big push for a good turnout in Cleveland on May 16. We’re about three months out, so it’s starting to get close to that time where you need to start thinking about it if you’re going to run it. They have a 5K on May 15, plus a 1/2 marathon and a marathon on May 16. I have discount codes if you go to my Cleveland page. PLEASE make sure you use the code when you register.

If you’re going to be there and you can bring anybody out, even for the 5K, that would be a big help for what we’re trying to accomplish there! I have 60 races this year, and this is one I’m really trying to make a big push for. So be there! Or tell somebody you know to be there! Or be there and tell somebody you know to be there!

Thank You Jen Morgan!
OK, so in each Wednesday blog, I’m thanking somebody who’s helped Operation Jack. And I guess I kind of already thanked Alicia today, but I’m really trying to use her as an example to get you guys inspired to start a chapter!

So instead of settling with my thanks to Alicia, today I’ll throw out a big gracias to Jen Morgan. Jen likes to be called Morgan, but I like to call her Captain — it’s a rum thing. Anyways, she is really, really enthusiastic about what I’m trying to do. She did a great job fundraising, she’s been very supportive for a good six months or so, and she’s worked pretty hard to spread the word.

I finally get to meet her in person on Friday in Tampa! She’s running Gasparilla with me this weekend and she’ll be wearing her own custom-made Operation Jack shirt. She’s really fired up and makes me feel like a rock star. I’ve told her plenty of times that she’s going to be severely disappointed when we meet, but that’s her problem! I know it’s going to be a treat for me to meet her and I’ve been looking to Tampa for a while because I know she’s going to be there. For somebody I’ve never met, I couldn’t ask for anything more than all she’s done over the past several months.

So Captain, Jen, Redhead Running, Morgan, or whatever you want to be called … thank you!

That’s All For Today!
I write my blogs the night before, and it’s Tuesday night as I write this and I’m getting kind of hungry for some ice cream. This streak of eating ice cream isn’t going to jump to 24 days on its own — I need to get over to my couch and have myself some peanut butter fudge swirl! Have a great Wednesday, everybody! I’ll be back tomorrow with a weekend forecast!

I had a great weekend. I spent plenty of time with the kids, got some work done in the garage, hung out with the wife, visited my grandparents, ran a marathon and even took a nap on the couch. It was wonderful! And that made me miserable.

I had been looking forward to this weekend for a while — it was my third weekend staying home this year and for the first time I wasn’t overwhelmed with planned Operation Jack activities. But by the time I woke up for my race on Sunday morning, I was totally bummed about how much I enjoyed Saturday because it made me realize what I’m missing every other weekend.

I have naysayers who think this is the wrong thing for me to do, and for the first time, I understood why. It would be so nice to do these things every weekend, like just about every other dad in America. But I’m spending my weekends everywhere but home. I woke up on Sunday morning and was sad for the first time this year. It’s tough being away, but it’s really tough being home and realizing what you’re missing when you’re away.

I got ready for my race in the comfort of my own home while everybody was sleeping, even the dogs. On my way out the door, I went and checked on Jack and covered him up, because he’d slipped out from his blanket. I gave Benjamin and Ava a kiss on the cheek — they were camping out in the playroom in their sleeping bags and they looked so cute! I went and gave Tiff a kiss on the cheek and told her I’d be safe and take care of myself, as I always do when I’m leaving before a race.

And then I got in my car and made the drive to Pasadena, completely unmotivated to run. I had my upbeat pre-race CD in the car and that didn’t even do the trick. I got to the race and just kind of roamed around aimlessly until the start. It seemed like all work, no play. I didn’t want to run. It was pretty miserable.

But somewhere along the way, it just kind of snapped for me. I thought back to my fifth marathon ever, the 2007 Carlsbad Marathon. That was one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had in a race. In my previous marathon, a runner died at the finish, and that shook me up. So in my next race, that run at Carlsbad, I went out and ran scared. I held back, afraid of not dying. It was absolutely miserable. I swore to myself during mile 24 of that race that I’d never run another marathon, but that changed about an hour after the finish, when I knew I didn’t want to dwell on that race forever. So I ran the Pacific Shoreline Marathon (now Surf City) two weeks later, 16 minutes faster. I got my groove back.

That mindset I had on that drive home from Carlsbad is similar to the mindset I had early on during Sunday’s race in Pasadena. At some point, I broke out of my funk and knew that I need to be all-in mentally. I know that as a family, we’re taking care of everything and moving along just fine. So I need to stick away from my short-term emotional swings and just keep rolling forward, chasing my goal of helping Train 4 Autism grow.

So, to wrap up this “Dear Diary” moment, that’s how a good weekend can actually be a miserable weekend. As I keep saying, the running is the easiest part of all this. I just need to keep my head up and my eyes focused straight ahead. Ten down, 50 to go!

All this week, I’ve been working to establish a new weekly routine for my blogs. Continuing along with Thursdays, I’ll be using this as my final posting of the week (aside from race reports) to talk about my upcoming race(s) and any surrounding events. This weekend it’s pretty simple — I get to stay at home, run the Pasadena Marathon and visit my grandparents. What more could I possibly ask for?

Operation Jack Race 10: Pasadena Marathon
I’m really looking forward to this weekend, because the logistics should be pretty easy. Pasadena is no more than an hour or so from my house, so I don’t have to pack a suitcase and I get to stay at home. On top of that, it’s looking like it will be the most low-key weekend I’ve had this year. It’ll be nice to exhale!

This is actually my third weekend staying at home, but it’s going to be the easiest, by far. The other two were filled with other obligations and time commitments and I ran myself into the ground before I even had a chance to truly run myself into the ground (in a marathon). This weekend, there’s not much planned before my race aside from going to Advanced Hyperbarics with Jack on Saturday morning, so I might actually be able to think about my race a little bit.

I took a quick look at the course profile and it doesn’t look too ridiculous aside from one decent climb. In a way, it reminds me of Carlsbad, which has one tough climb and rollers the rest of the way. I always feared Carlsbad, and Pasadena is something I’ve perceived to be difficult, but I just attacked Carlsbad and ran my fastest time of the year (so far). I’ll probably do the same thing with Pasadena on Sunday.

I feel like my fitness is improving, although I’m not 100 percent and I won’t be this entire year. But I’m not worried. I should be fairly well rested. I’m going in for a session in the hyperbaric chamber on Saturday. My diet has been fairly good this week. I’m feeling fairly fresh. And I only ran one marathon last weekend.

That “only one marathon” sounds kind of ridiculous, but I’m noticing that I’m a little less solid the weekend after a double. The weather has also been impacting me quite a bit. My four best runs have been in ideal running conditions. My four worst runs have been in poor weather. There was also Surf City, when I paced the 3:30 group. The weather was perfect that day and the run was very easy. Sunday should be in the 50s or low 60s during the race — good enough for a marathon in my book. Not perfect, but not bad.

So add it all up and I’m feeling pretty confident about this one. The mental aspect of a marathon is pretty big and I’ve made the mistake of heading into a marathon afraid.

I’m going to try a slightly different strategy, trying to keep my pace at 6:52 (3:00) as long as my heart rate doesn’t go above 174. I run a marathon between 170 and 172 and I feel like I blow up once I cross 177 or so. I’ve been feeling stronger lately, so I’m going to start pushing it again. And I guess one good thing about what I’m doing is that if I mess it all up, I can give it another crack next weekend.

If I had to put an over/under on this one, I’d go with about 3:08. I really think I have a good shot at going sub-3:10, which I really want to start doing on a weekly basis. But anything can happen during a marathon, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned through 37 of them, it’s that they’re ALWAYS difficult. So we’ll see!

Perfect Post-Race Meal
I’m having the perfect post-race meal on Sunday. Part of that is the company and part of it is actually the food.

If you’ve been following along, you know I beat my grandma in our 22nd-annual Super Bowl bet this year. So, she’s taking me, the wife and the kids out to Souplantation (in some parts of the country, they call it Sweet Tomatoes). They’re featuring sweet potatoes right now, which are not only one of my favorite things to eat, but they’re a great recovery food for me. And of course, they have ice cream there. Barring anything unforeseen, that will push my current streak up to 22 consecutive days with ice cream or frozen yogurt.

Beyond all that, though, it’s a treat to spend time with my grandparents. I absolutely adore them and with my schedule this year, it’s tough to find time to see them. So when I get the opportunity, I will, and I’ll have the opportunity on Sunday afternoon!

One side note: I earned a penguin stuffed animal at my first marathon of the year, the Texas Marathon in Kingwood, Texas, on January 1. They gave one to each finisher with the place we finished around the neck. My grandma LOVES penguins (you should see her house — penguins all over the place!) so I’m going to give it to her. I’ll post a picture in my blog on Monday.

Have A Great Weekend Everybody!
A weekend at home, a race I’m confident about and a visit with my grandparents … I think I’m going to have a great weekend. I hope yours goes well, too! Thanks for stopping by and supporting Operation Jack!

All this week, I’ve been laying groundwork for new standard weekly formats for my blogs. Mondays will be weekend recaps and on Tuesdays, I’ll be discussing something that really matters to me (or telling an anecdote from my past so you can get to know me a little bit better). On Wednesdays, I’ll give a weekly rundown on Operation Jack — upcoming deadlines, special announcements, good news, etc. And since today is Wednesday, I guess it’s time for an Operation Jack update.

For those of you who have never been here, I’m a marathon runner and a father of three. My middle son, 6-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. So, I’m attempting to run 60 marathons this year to help raise money and awareness for a charity called Train 4 Autism. Train 4 Autism helps people train for races and raise money for autism-related charities. I’m trying to get people to jump on the bandwagon with my “stupid-human trick,” hopefully planting seeds for growth in the process.

Shoe Shopping?
I bought two new pairs of shoes yesterday (I’m at about 275 miles on both pairs I’m currently rotating) and I’m hoping some of you are willing to consider taking the same path on your next purchase. The shoes I buy normally cost about $90 plus tax. I got two pairs for about $130 total AND Operation Jack is going to earn $17 from that. Here’s how:

In the navigation at the top, click on “Store” and you’ll see a link to RoadRunner Sports. When you click through to the site from here, Operation Jack earns 13 percent from everything you buy. You get free shipping if you’re a VIP Member, and since VIP membership only costs $1.99 a year, it’s a no-brainer to add that to the cart. They have a sale for the next few days where if you spend $150 or more, you get $40 off your purchase (if you’re a VIP member) if you use the discount code CB10Y43E. Even if you don’t go over that amount, you get 10 percent off.

My shoes are on close-out (I wear Saucony Guide 2s, and they just came out with 3s, but I’m totally fine with the 2s). So my shoes, regularly $90 each, are discounted to $75. I bought two pairs, got my 10 percent and $40 off, which worked out to about $130 with tax. Shipping was free. So there you have it, two pairs of $90 shoes for $130, delivered to my doorstep, and Operation Jack nets $17 out of the deal.

If you know the shoes you’re going to buy and you’re like me and you shop for discounts, take a look and see if it makes sense for you!

Sweatshirts Are In!
If you saw the picture of me in Monday’s blog, you saw that sweatshirts are now in! We’re shipping them out this week to everybody who still needs to receive one, but we still have enough if you want one. Here’s the deal: Go to the Sponsors page and you can see the donation levels to get everything. The sweatshirts are pretty darn comfortable. I like mine and I know Tiff slept in hers last week. She’s a total princess, too, so that says a lot!

Last Call For Napa!
We have a really good arrangement ($45 off the entry fee) if you want to run the full marathon at Napa Valley on March 7. I need to send entries in on Saturday, so if you’re interested, go to the Contact Us page and drop me a line.

Thank You Ben Delaney
A few weeks ago, I wanted to start thanking people in each blog, but I think I’m going to save that for Wednesdays as part of my weekly Operation Jack update. Today, I’m thanking Ben Delaney, one of my best friends and a fellow runner. We’ve been friends for 17 years, so it’s not a surprise that he’s excited about what I’m trying to do.

But when I read his Facebook status updates (“Going to the expo to pick up my bib, wearing my Operation Jack shirt with pride!“), see him running a race in his Operation Jack tech shirt, hear that he took flyers to everybody he mixes with at his running shop and find out that he’s talking to everybody he knows around the country to help with the cause, I know I’ve got some pretty good support.

Sure, a good friend should be supportive if his buddy is doing something that needs support. But he’s really supportive, beyond what is necessary. It’s tough to do what I’m doing, and every little bit of support helps. This isn’t a little bit of support, though. It’s a lot of support — above-and-beyond support. And it’s awesome, because I know I’m not alone. So Ben, thank you. But it’s still your turn to buy lunch today, because Kevin bought last week and I bought the week before.

Questions, Anybody?
I don’t know what y’all want to know, so if I’m leaving anything unanswered, or if you have any questions, let me know! Post a comment, fill out the Contact Us form or drop me an email!

Get Over That Hump!
I’m heading to In-N-Out for lunch today and I get to start carb loading (again?!?!?) tomorrow. Ice cream streak is at 17 days. And that’s all for today. Have a great Wednesday everybody!

Earlier this week, Jack surprised us this by giving us a hug spontaneously. This morning, he surprised again with his artwork. He’s put some thought into what he’s doing on there in the past, writing “BEN” (his brother’s name) and drawing a clock. This was one of the better drawings we’ve seen, though, so I definitely took a picture! We continue to see progress with him. Maybe he’s reaping a reward from all the work I’m doing?

Here’s the picture he drew. He had a good morning. He stayed up in the playroom drawing and watching Up!, smiling and laughing the whole time. The past two mornings were filled with meltdowns, so this was a breath of fresh air!

Weekend Forecast
I’m not talking about the weather — I’m talking about my racing. But unfortunately, that’s going to force me to talk about the weather. I have a double this weekend, my second of the year, and I’m looking forward to the challenge. Saturday is the Diamond Valley Lake Marathon, which is run around a big lake about 70 miles from my home. This is my third time running it, and both times I’ve run it, I’ve won my age group. I’d like to make it three-for-three.

It’s definitely not going to be an easy run, though. The elevation rolls a little bit and there are a couple of short, steep climbs, but about 22 of the 26.2 miles are run on a dirt fire road. I’ll end up with a few pebbles in my shoes, which isn’t that big of a deal. I’m more concerned with the mud. It’s supposed to rain, which will make it tough. You can bet I’ll go all-out, though. I think I have a follower who’s running a marathon on Sunday who’s pledging a dollar for every minute faster I am than him in his race. I don’t have this 100 percent confirmed, but I’ll blog more about it on Monday.

I’ll start my Super Bowl Sunday with the Surf City Marathon for the fifth consecutive year. Well actually, it used to be called Pacific Shoreline, and the first time I ran the 1/2, but regardless, I’ve made it a habit of working off my calories that day well before I consume them. I’m the official 3:30 pacer for the race on Sunday, so my goal is a 3:29:59. Last year, I was the 3:30 pacer and went 3:29:57 on my Garmin, 3:29:54 chip time.

I take pacing pretty seriously. If I mess up my own race, that’s my own problem. But I don’t want to mess up anybody else’s race. I was only off the perfect time by five seconds last year, but I still hope to be closer this year.

What about 59 and an Ultra?
I got a crazy idea yesterday, but it’s still in the infancy stages. I haven’t even told my wife, which means she’s going to get mad when she reads this and she’ll call me and tell me I’m nuts. But I have a friend who’s an extremely good ultra runner (he’s run Badwater about four times, he runs 100-milers on a whim) and we were talking about Tahoe a little bit. The third day of the triple also gives you the option of a 72-miler instead of just a marathon.

So I was talking to him about us doing that together. I’m very passionate about raising money to help fight autism, and he’s very passionate about raising money to build wells in Africa. I’m thinking that if we did this the right way, we could help each other do very good things for both causes. But I don’t consider ultras to be marathons. Would I need to add another marathon to the schedule? Would I just call it 59+1? Am I just an idiot? I don’t know. I’ll figure it out at some point.

Pasta Dinner Saturday Night!
If you’re running Surf City, or if you’re in Southern California, come to the Operation Jack pasta dinner on Saturday night! We can actually accommodate a few more at the door than I thought. I’ll be there, Jack will be there, food will be there … what more could you possibly want?

Ice Cream Update
For most people, eating ice cream five days in a row would be an unusual binge. For me, though, it’s an indicator that I really messed up six days ago. I went with vanilla last night. Not glamorous, but it was good.

Thank You Deirdre Edwards!
I decided I’m going to try to thank somebody for something they’ve done for Operation Jack in every blog I write. So far, I’ve thanked Jake Rome, Erin Ruff and Danica Kooiman. Today, I’ll thank Deirdre Edwards. She’s always very supportive of what we’re trying to do and she always spreads the word on the social media outlets I interact with her on.

Early on, she helped design flyers for me and was able to obtain 14,000 two-sided, full-color flyers printed on a nice card stock for FREE! Those have really helped quite a bit! Also, she volunteered to help me out with the dirty work involved with Saturday’s pasta dinner, and I’m going to be working with her to help plan a future event.

Operation Jack takes a lot of work from a lot of people. I run myself into the ground, but I can’t do it all on my own. It’s nice to have people like Deirdre in my corner!

That’s All For Today
Have a great weekend everybody! Geaux Saints! And relax a little more than I will!