I’ve been emailing since I got my first Prodigy Classic account back in 1991. In that time, I’d estimate I’ve received more than 500,000 emails. However, none of them have been as devastating as the one my wife received from my 8-year-old son Benjamin’s third-grade teacher Tuesday night.

In that email, we learned the father of one of the children in his class died suddenly that morning. I don’t know all of the parents in his class. In fact, I barely know any of them. But I knew him. His daughter (my son’s classmate) is one of the sweetest little girls I’ve ever met. I don’t even know the words to describe how I upset I am for her loss.

My wife Tiffany met him at a class field trip to the zoo last June (the girl was in Ben’s class last year, too). Tiff came back and told me what a crack-up he was. During that field trip, Tiff was having a lot of fun with the kids, and didn’t exactly get her group to complete the assigned project. When the teacher asked her if the kids were done, he stepped in and stalled time a little bit, preventing Tiff from getting busted by a second-grade teacher at the ripe old age of 33. When I heard this, I knew I had to meet him!

I met him shortly thereafter and the end-of-year parents vs. students softball game. We really clicked and had a blast talking to each other during the game for about an hour. He was hilarious, and kind of a big kid like me. I saw him again during the summer at Benjamin’s birthday party and again at church a few times. He was a fun guy and I can tell he was a good dad by how sweet his daughter is.

He really seemed to like my Operation Jack idea of running 60 marathons this year to help out Train 4 Autism. Tiff saw him at the gas station once in the fall and he took a bunch of flyers to distribute. At back-to-school night, he was teasing me in front of the parents, asking me if I was running 30 marathons this year. No, 60 actually, thanks for making me look like I’m bragging!

Every time I saw him, I asked for permission for Benjamin to marry his daughter. Joking, of course, because they’re only 8, but the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and you can already tell what a great little girl she is. We crossed paths while we were waiting for parent-teacher conferences in November. As always, we had a great time talking, and my son’s teacher had to separate us so I could go in for the conference and let her stay on schedule. I got busted by a third-grade teacher at the ripe old age of 34! I don’t think I saw him again after that day.

I was completely shocked when I found that out on Tuesday night. I mean, him? I was in the denial phase, wondering if she had another dad. My wife couldn’t sleep after hearing that and went down on the computer. She sent me a picture she took of him with his daughter on that trip to the zoo. I just stared at it, crying, feeling so terrible for both of them. There’s more members of the family, but I’m just vaguely talking about them. Anyways, I felt like I needed to run, but I didn’t know how I was going to do it.

I got up, opened up the front door and saw it was raining. I knew God was crying too, so I didn’t run. I knew I needed to take the day off. I went to work, but could hardly think. I was in a funk all day.

We told Benjamin about it before he went to school, because we didn’t want him to find out about it and get upset in front of all his friends. He had met him several times and was shocked. It was tough telling Benjamin and he was startled, but didn’t have a major reaction. He seemed a little bit upset, and we told him not to talk about it with other kids out of respect for his classmate. He didn’t, and even told kids to stop talking about it when he heard gossiping on the playground. A little later in the day, he broke down crying in class. In a way, I was proud to hear that, because it’s nice to know your kid has a big heart.

I’ve been praying a lot for the family. I’m totally heartbroken by this and somehow, someday, I want to help them in any way possible. I feel absolutely terrible about this. But right now is not the time.

I’m continuing with my next marathon of Operation Jack this Sunday, the Arizona Rock ‘N Roll Marathon in Phoenix. He liked what I was doing and I know he’ll be watching. I hate to sound so cheesy and say that I’m going to win one for the Gipper, but he’s going to be on my mind and I’m going all-out to make him proud. It’s my one chance to do that, and he’s going to get my all.

Operation Jack is a double-edged sword for me. Ask anybody who really knows me and they’ll confirm I’m a shy person. But I need to get as much attention as possible to benefit the cause. I shy away from compliments and I really get upset about criticism. This is going to be a tough year from me. I’ve been expecting negative feedback. I just didn’t know what it would be. And I didn’t think it would come this soon.

On Monday, the Orange County Register posted a video about Operation Jack. I was excited and I posted it on my Facebook wall for everybody to see. (Side note: Check out the article that’s running in the Register on the front page today!) Anyways, a friend of mine re-posted the video on his wall, and then somebody posted the following comment:

I wonder what positive experiences could have happened with Jack in 2010…. when his Dad could have worked hand in hand with his Autistic son instead of all of the hours running the marathons. Sixty is off the wall!

I don’t know if a lot of people share these thoughts, so I figured I’d address this.

There’s no question that this is going to be a difficult endeavor. That’s the nature of the beast and that’s why so many people are jumping on the bandwagon, wanting to join me to make a difference. But I’m not taking extended vacations. My trips are going to be as quick as possible.

I’ll be gone for about 26 hours this weekend when I run in Phoenix. When I go to Miami later this month, I’m leaving on a Saturday and coming back on a Sunday. Next weekend, I’m running a double locally and I’ll be home by lunch time both days. I’m sure there are golfing dads who will spend less time at home next weekend.

I drive Jack to school Monday through Friday. I always work with him on his language when I drop him off. My weeknights are the same with him as they were last year. His weekend routine won’t change at all.

Over the course of the year, there are a few times the family will come along and some races where I’ll get to stay home. I’m estimating I won’t be staying with my family about 35 nights this year. If you do the math, that’s about 3 nights a month. I’m guessing there are plenty of businessmen with autistic children who spend more nights out of town for work. At my last job I spent about 20 nights a year on the road. The 60-marathons thing sounds crazy, but it’s not like I’m taking week-long trips to each city, spending a year on vacation. These are quick trips and I won’t be away from my family any more than necessary.

There are several factors working together to help Jack develop. He’s in special ed at school, he has in-home therapy, we have him on the diet he needs and our home is set up to provide an environment that fosters progress. There’s no question Operation Jack will be difficult for us. But there is no way I would do something that would set my kids back. We’re taking steps to make this positive and memorable for our other two children.

And another big thing in all of this: I met a man named Mark Westaway in August at a resource fair. Mark owns a business called Advanced Hyperbarics and to support what I’m doing, he offered me and Jack complimentary sessions in his hyperbaric chambers. The sessions help me with my recovery from my runs, and that’s great. But the biggest benefit of the sessions is that over time, they help bring out language from Jack. We’ve been going for several months now, and we’re really starting to see progress. We have a session tonight and again on Saturday morning before I go to the airport.

Sessions at the hyperbaric chamber were always the first thing on our “win the lottery” list. We’re on a crazy-tight budget. We can’t even afford lottery tickets. Yet we won the lottery! During my double over the weekend, at mile 15 of the second marathon my legs were starting to get heavy and I wasn’t enjoying the pain. But I was thinking about Jack and what he goes through. And I knew that Tiff was taking him up for a session later that day. As his father, it made me happy to feel that pain and know that my reward for that was the session for Jack.

We’re hoping that wonderful things happen with Operation Jack. We’re doing great, and I’m really optimistic that we’re going to plant seeds that help develop major long-term growth for Train 4 Autism. That’s what I’m focused on. But if nothing else, Jack gets the benefit of the hyperbaric chamber sessions. I’ll gladly run my legs into the ground for that.

I wonder what positive experiences could have happened with Jack in 2010…. when his Dad could have worked hand in hand with his Autistic son instead of all of the hours running the marathons. Sixty is off the wall!

Jack will be just fine. He’ll actually be better off. Nobody cares about my family as much as my wife and I and nobody means more to us than our kids. Please don’t worry about how Operation Jack will impact our family. We stick together and we’re going to be fine.

Last night, my dad learned a lesson I learned several months ago: Don’t open your mouth about a crazy running idea or you’re going to set yourself up for a tough challenge! For me, it was the idea of running 60 marathons in 2010 to raise money and awareness for Train 4 Autism. For him, it’s running the Orange County 1/2 Marathon to raise money and awareness for Train 4 Autism.

He told me he was thinking about it, but I told him it was too late, that I was going to blog about him today. So he said OK, he’ll do it for Jack. There’s a catch, though. We’re going to have a bet over this. He has to finish quicker than me. Lucky for him, I’m running the full marathon. I should finish in the neighborhood of 3 hours. Can he do 13 consecutive 14-minute miles? We’ll see. And we’ll figure out a wager between now and then.

Anybody have any ideas? And who do you want to win? Me or him?

Brrrrrrrrr …
High of 36 in Jackson, Mississippi on Saturday, low of 23. That’s where I’ll be. Um, that’s cold. But that’s OK. You guys have been really supportive of Operation Jack lately and it’s the least I can do. Running a marathon in freezing temperatures the day before running a marathon in another state? I’ll do it!

As my only chance to prep, I pulled a pair of running pants out of the closet this morning and went out in those, long sleeves and gloves. An easy 10-miler with 10 hill sprints at the end. It’ll be fine. Cold, but fine.

Surf City Pasta Dinner!
OK, we had to do some work to square away the catering and location, but we’re going to have a pasta dinner the night before Surf City! If you’re running Surf City, or even if you’re not and you want to participate, it’s going to be $20/person for all-you-can-eat pasta (two types), salad, garlic bread and non-alcoholic beverages.

For all the details and to reserve your spot, click here! I hope to see you there!

In-N-Out Today!
YEAH! I haven’t been since December 23! Well, actually, I went on December 26 now that I think about it, but I haven’t been with my friends Ben and Kevin for my standard weekly In-N-Out (standard since 1993) since the 23rd. That’s a day shy of two weeks! Yikes! Normally we go on Thursday or Friday, but this year, it’s going to have to be Tuesdays and Wednesdays because of my pre-race nutrition schedule. In-N-Out isn’t exactly the low-fat, high-complex-carb meal I need to be eating in the three days prior to a race.

What great friends I have, huh? Willing to eat In-N-Out on a Tuesday or Wednesday because of me! For a YEAR!

Ice Cream Update
For those of you who are relatively new here, I have a problem with ice cream. I like to eat it every day. Some people like to unwind with wine at the end of the day. I like ice cream. I also like to eat it with lunch or really any other time of the day. Last night, I had a bowl of the peanut butter fudge swirl that was in my freezer. That stretched my current streak to 76 consecutive days eating ice cream or frozen yogurt. I’m just 34 shy of my personal record of 110 straight days.

On Friday, I didn’t unwind with my ice cream until 11:30 p.m. My wife accused me of only eating ice cream because of my streak and because I wanted to keep it going. Well, I like ice cream, but she was partially right. It doesn’t matter, though. I’m at 76 days in a row right now.

Movies This Weekend
It wasn’t necessarily planned this way, but I watched three movies in about 24 hours after getting back from my race in Texas.

When I got back from the airport on Friday, I had babysitting lined up and went out to see The Blind Side. I loved it! I think the story is better than the movie, but definitely worth the price of admission. We really liked it.

Saturday, while doing my blood donation, I watched Bucket List. Kind of slow and sad, but it was OK. Marley and Me was on DVD there at the Red Cross, but I’ve heard it’s going to make me cry, and I had to maintain my toughness in public. I only cry when I watch football in the privacy of my own home.

Saturday night, we watched Inglorious Basterds via Netflix. I love Quentin Tarantino’s work and I really hope this one wins something at the Academy Awards. I’m not a big movie critic or movie buff, but every here and there, I see a movie that I think is really well done. I liked Slumdog Millionaire last year. I loved Saving Private Ryan and was shocked when it lost to Shakespeare In Love. And I thought Inglorious Basterds was really well done. I have No Country For Old Men from Netflix right now. I’ll watch it on the plane to Jackson on Friday.

That’s All For Today!
Have a great Tuesday, everybody!

So, I’ve been talking and talking about Operation Jack for the past six months, and FINALLY it’s go time! January 1 is Friday, so after more than a year of brainstorming and planning, I’m starting on my 60-marathon adventure this week! I’m excited, nervous and overwhelmed all rolled up into one. But I’m pretty much locked in, so hopefully this all works out.

Physically, I’m ready to go. Not exactly sure how fast I’m going to be right off the bat, but I’m going to give it my all every time out. Everybody is different, but for me, I consider a good run to be 3:10 or quicker, so I’m hoping to average 3:09:59 or better for the year.

From a team-building perspective, I’m hoping to average 17 people per race, which would total 1,000 people. The early races will have lower totals, but I’m optimistic that as the year goes on, we’ll get more attention and more people will jump on the bandwagon.

As for fundraising, that’s not the be-all, end-all, because from my perspective, I’m trying to plant seeds for growth that Train 4 Autism will harvest a few years down the road. But money won’t hurt and my dream is to raise $100,000 overall from all sources. I don’t know exactly how (I’m sure I’ll get better at this as the year goes on), but I think it’s possible.

Beyond that, I’m just looking forward to meeting all sorts of great people all over the place. There are so many of you already that I can’t wait to meet, and I know there’s going to be a lot more that I come across in the upcoming months. I know I’m getting some people off the couch, which is awesome, plus I’m really hopeful Jack and I will be able to have a positive impact on lots of people affected by autism.

See That Roadrunner Ad On The Left?
Operation Jack will get a contribution equaling 13 percent of your order from Roadrunner Sports if you click the ad at the left and proceed to shop. The ad is on every page of this site. If you shop somewhere else, that’s cool, but if you’re going to shop Roadrunner, PLEASE click from here! They actually have pretty good deals, although I highly recommend that you don’t buy running gear online if you don’t know what you should be buying.

Don’t buy a certain pair of asics because you like the colors or Nikes because you like their commercials. Make sure you’re in the right shoe, otherwise you’ll injure yourself. Get fitted at a running shop and make sure you’re wearing something appropriate for the way you run. More expensive isn’t necessarily better, but don’t skimp and save money just to spend 10 times as much at the doctor!

If you’re like me, though, and you know what you wear (for me, it’s Saucony Guides), check the prices at Roadrunner. Worst case, you waste 30 seconds of your life checking. Best case, you get a deal and Operation Jack benefits!

10×10
Last week, I mentioned a 10×10 program I’m trying out. A lot of you have asked me what you can do to help. So, I figured this would be a good way to raise money and spread the word with targets that are truly reasonable and nowhere near outrageous. Oh, and I’ll send you gear if you do it!

Spread The Word!
If you’re not a member of the Operation Jack Facebook Group, click on the Facebook button on this page and join! If you are a member, can you spread the word to any of your Facebook friends who might be interested? As you know, I’m trying to spread the word, and Facebook is a huge help!

That’s All For Today!
Have a great Monday!

Last Thursday, I was at a company holiday breakfast and there was an extra plate of pancakes on the table. Some of my co-workers were daring me to eat them even though I’d already finished a big omelette and a couple of pancakes. So, I did what you would expect me to do: I texted my wife and asked her if I could run a marathon that Saturday. She gave me the green light and I began my carb load. Hello pancakes! Actually, goodbye pancakes!

The race on Saturday was a small race and the main reason I wanted to run it was to run it with a friend of mine who was running it to celebrate her birthday. I also wanted to check out the course, because the race was being put on my a man named Charlie Alewine, a really nice guy I’m working with to put on three races as part of Operation Jack next year. I wanted to check out the course because it’s a possibility for one of my races.

There was no race-day registration, and it was already Thursday, so I dropped Charlie a line and asked him if I could run the race. He told me I could and that he was looking forward to seeing me. He also told me some of the entrants, and they included a running friend of mine named Sally, who I haven’t seen in a while, plus another running friend named Joe, who’s a real treat to talk to.

Unfortunately, I was still batting bronchitis, but I wasn’t too worried about that. On Friday, though, my friend who was running the race to celebrate her birthday told me she might be a no-go. She had some things going on and there were very legitimate reasons for her decision. I was in contact with her Friday evening and it really sounded like she wasn’t going to run the race. I told her to email or text me if she was going to run it, and I’d make my decision when I got up on Saturday morning.

Well, when I woke up, there was no email or text. I figured she wasn’t running the race. I still had a pretty sweet cough. But I told Charlie I’d be there. I didn’t tell my wife about the Charlie factor in the equation, but she knew my friend wasn’t going to run the race. Unable to make a decision, I asked Tiff at 4:20 in the morning what I should do. She suggested I shouldn’t run the race, and I thought she was probably right. I was just bummed about being a no-show. Of course, Charlie has so much to worry about on race day, I figured he wouldn’t think twice.

So, I caught up on my sleep and crawled out of bed at about the point I would have been 20 miles into the race. I sent a note to my friend to wish her a happy birthday and carried on with my day. Later on, though, I found out she actually ran the race. BUMMER! All those pancakes for nothing and they should have been for something!

I planned to go out on Sunday morning for a run to at least get some exercise for the weekend. I had a nice bowl of spaghetti or dinner on Saturday night. Unfortunately, Benjamin (my 8-year-old) was up for three hours in the middle of the night with an ear infection. He felt terrible. No way was I going to go out for 20ish miles on three hours of sleep. I’ve run a marathon on one hour of sleep, but I had to. I didn’t have to do that run and ruin my day by being fall-asleep tired afterwards. So, I skipped it. Two big carb meals wasted!

When I woke up on Sunday, I checked my email and found BUMMER #2 from my friend Sally. Charlie was waiting for me on Saturday morning. He held the race for 20 minutes thinking I’d show. I just wanted to crawl under a rock. I need to contact Charlie and apologize. I feel terrible. But there’s no going back to Saturday, I guess.

This morning, I guess third time was the charm. I went out for 20.1 miles. Kind of a blah run. I couldn’t make up my mind about going slow or fast, and by the time it was done, it was just kind of a lousy run. But it’s done. At least I got some exercise.

That’s all I have for today … hope your weekend went a little more according to plans than mine did!