Blog – Page 19 – Operation Jack

9/11: Let's Get Along Today

September 11, 2012 by operationjack Leave a Comment

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: Run For The Wells!

September 6, 2012 by operationjack 1 Comment

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]

Rock Bottom … Again

September 5, 2012 by operationjack 12 Comments

Every time our situation with our son Jack’s autism gets worse, I think we’ve hit rock bottom. It can’t possibly get any worse. And then sometime later it does. I think we’ve hit rock bottom. Again. It can’t possibly get any worse.

My wife Tiffany has been chasing Jack around non-stop since May. Real quick, in case you’ve never been here before, Jack is the Jack in Operation Jack, the only reason I bother with everything I’ve tried to do over the years. I love him to death. I sometimes just sit there and look at him and try to wonder what’s going on in his mind. He’s less than two weeks from turning 9 and really isn’t communicating and he’s still in diapers. He’s like a 1-year-old in a 9-year-old’s body. But he sure does break us down.

Long weekends, like this Labor Day Weekend we just had, are the kind of things young families love. I think. I mean, I wouldn’t know, but it sure seems that way when I see what my friends are up to on Facebook. We feel like we’re trapped in our own personal hell, though. We can’t go anywhere or do anything. He’s always a threat to have a meltdown and it’s gotten to the point that we don’t even bother trying to do anything. Tiff had to leave the grocery store on Monday. He’s good for 20 minutes at the local park. There’s a pretty good chance there’s going to be some kind of explosion on any car ride that lasts longer than 15 minutes.

I’m pretty high strung because of all of this. And I get to go to work every day. Tiff, on the other hand, has a miserable existence. She’s been Jack’s shadow for the past 3 1/2 months since school let out. We’re keeping him home until September 17 as he goes through some therapy. Our other kids, Ben and Ava, don’t know what a typical childhood is so I think they’ve accepted this as normal. [Read more…]

Pocatello Marathon Race Report: Barely Enough On An Off Day

September 4, 2012 by operationjack 2 Comments

Sometimes the glass is half empty. Sometimes the glass is half full. And sometimes, it’s just nice to have a drink of water. I ran the Pocatello Marathon on Saturday, my last chance at qualifying for my sixth consecutive Boston Marathon. I love running Boston. At this point, it’s really the only reason I even train to run fast.

But for the first time since the first time I qualified, I was on the outside looking in a lot later than I wanted to be.

In October of 2007, I ran my first Boston qualifier (BQ) at the Long Beach Marathon and registered the next day for the 2008 race. That race also qualified me for the 2009 race. Six months before the 2009 race, I qualified for the 2010 race at the 2008 Long Beach Marathon. Then in January 2010, I qualified for the 2011 race at the Arizona Rock ‘N Roll Marathon. In December 2010, I qualified for the 2012 Boston Marathon at the Jacksonville Marathon.

So, the first four times I ran the Boston Marathon, I was already qualified for the next year’s race. But not this year. [Read more…]

Three Things Thursday: Best Age Group Awards Ever!

August 30, 2012 by operationjack 4 Comments

Three things Thursday, here we go. 1, 2, 3 and then I can focus on item #3.

Best Age Group Awards Ever!

Run enough marathons and you’ll probably age group here and there. The first time I age grouped, I was so excited to earn a a painted tile that I displayed it on a bookshelf in my house. Then I age grouped again. And in a 5K. And a 10K. I’ve probably age grouped 30 or so times in marathons and maybe 10-15 times in other races. All but two of those awards are in a box in my garage. The two I have on a shelf in my office at home are one that I got from the first Operation Jack Marathon and the other is from the 2010 Banktrust First Light Marathon.

It’s a no-brainer displaying an award from my 61st marathon of 2010, a race with my son’s name on it. But why the Banktrust First Light Marathon? Well, the race is put on as a fundraiser for L’Arche of Mobile, a charity that helps provide a group home living environment for adults with intellectual disabilities. There’s a real chance that Jack could end up living with a similar organization. He won’t be in Mobile, but that doesn’t matter to me. It’s an organization I can get behind.

The award I received was a canvas that was hand-painted by a L’Arche resident. On the back, there was a bio of the woman who painted it. I absolutely loved winning it and it’s a reminder to me of what I do and why I do it. The first two years of the Operation Jack Marathon, we’ve gotten trophies from a trophy shop to give to our winners. But this year, I contacted L’Arche to check about making a reasonable donation for these same hand-painted canvases. And … they said yes! We went back and forth on the details and finally got it finalized yesterday. I’m so excited!

Why would I want to send money to a trophy shop when I can send it to L’Arche? I’m really, really excited about this. It’s what an award from the Operation Jack Marathon should be.

We’re giving them out for age group winners and top three overall for men and women in the marathon and half marathon. Whaddaya think? Would something similar be a good fundraising incentive?

Oh, and a quick final reminder: Operation Jack Marathon prices for the full marathon and half marathon go up on Tuesday! Right now, it’s only $45 for the half and $55 for the full, a ridiculously low price for a race. That’s jumping to $60/$70 on Sept. 4, so if you know you’re going to run it, CLICK HERE and get in! [Read more…]