Operation Jack

Fighting autism, one mile at a time.

A Very Happy Birthday

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I don’t know why, but it seems like for the past 10 years or so, my birthday has always seemed to go sour one way or another. Nothing really major, and nothing that anybody really did wrong, but it always seems like there’s something that comes up that makes the day a bummer. Well, yesterday, my 36th birthday, made up for all of that. It was just an awesome, awesome day.

Real quick, just in case you’ve never been here before, I’m a father of three and a marathon runner. My middle child, 7-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. I’m attempting to run 61 marathons in 2010 to raise money and awareness for a charity I’m a part of called Train 4 Autism. So far I’m through 55. I named my endeavor Operation Jack, after him. It’s my first attempt at making something good come from his struggles.

So as I mentioned, yesterday was my birthday. I’m 36 now, and I really can’t remember having a great birthday over the past 10-12 years. It’s nothing I’m going to blame on anybody at all, it’s just that sometimes things don’t work out and it’s always been something. Well, yesterday made up for all of that. It wasn’t a super-exciting day, like when you’re a kid and you turn 10. But it was just a great day from start to finish.

So much of it revolved around food, which for me is awesome.

One thing that didn’t revolve around food — I got a happy birthday text from my mom in the morning. She’s 58 … how 2010 is that? I was pretty impressed! I called her later in the day. Anyways, food …

Breakfast
My favorite cookies are white chocolate and macadamia nut. I love pancakes. So Tiff made me macadamia nut pancakes and put in white chocolate chips. They were amazing. But the best part is that the kids all joined me. When I say the kids, I’m including Jack. All three sat at the table with me. Jack had already eaten, but he was calm and playing with toys.

Tiff had Ben and Ava each say something the liked about me. Ava said she liked that I’m nice to her. Ben said he likes that I take care of the family. It put a smile on my face. As did the pancakes. The coffee was good. All-in-all, a nice start to the day.

Visit To The Doctor
I’ve had a cold for about the past week or so, and it’s not getting better, and I’ve had bronchitis two times in the past three years. I’m running six marathons over the next 34 days, which will continue to break down my immune system, and I’ll be spending time on airplanes immediately following those marathons. Ahhh, flying germ tubes.

So, I went to the doctor on my way into the office this morning to get myself taken care of. It was my first visit to the doctor in more than a year. I’m impressed that it took me this long to get sick. But I need to get everything taken care of before it gets worse. I just wanted a Z-Pak prescription to make sure I nip this cold in the bud.

I got there at 9 a.m. and there was nobody in there waiting. It took me more than 30 minutes to get called back. Frustrating! After getting my vitals checked, I spent another 20 minutes waiting for the doctor. I spent about three minutes with him, got a Z-Pak prescription, was advised to rest (that isn’t going to happen) and then went on my way. That took about an hour and 10 minutes — completely inefficient, but nothing to truly bring down my day.

Cool Gift At The Office
Some people at the office made a nice framed presentation of my Runner’s World article and the article that appeared on the front page of the Orange County Register back in January. It was pretty cool and made me smile.


My gift.

Lunch
I met Tiff and the kids at a place called Farrell’s. It’s an ice cream parlor and they serve burgers, salads, sandwiches and other similar things. All three kids were very well behaved and had a good time. It’s nice when we can bring Jack out without any help and he doesn’t have any problems. We don’t get a whole lot of chances to do normal things as a family of five, but this was one of those chances and it worked out. It was really nice.

Something funny happened when I ordered my lunch. I asked the waiter for a recommendation. I was looking at a couple of burgers or a reuben sandwich, but he highly recommended the Philly cheesesteak. I told him I’d take it, but I also warned him that I was going to put his advice to a serious test because I ate a cheesesteak in Philly the day before! He laughed, but stood by the sandwich.

It ended up being pretty good. No complaints, I enjoyed my lunch. They brought out some ice cream and sang a song afterwards. I had a great time, thanked the kids for being so well behaved when we went out to the parking lot, then I went back to work.


Me and my gang.

My and part of my gang.

Dinner
Benjamin’s soccer team had its end-of-the-season soccer party last night at a local Italian restaurant called Peppino’s. I got home from work, picked up Ben and Ava, and immediately took them back out. Jack was calm and bathed and stayed in with Tiff. That was OK — he’s better off being comfortable in his own environment in the evening.

We got to the function and Ben had a blast hanging out with his team, eating pizza and running around having fun. Me and Ava split a pizza (with plenty of leftovers) and got a little silly ourselves. It was a nice event, both kids had fun and were well behaved and heck, the pizza was good!

Dessert
My favorite marathon is the Boston Marathon. Everybody knows that, including my wife. For my cake, she picked up a Boston cream pie. Just because. I got a kick out of that. I’m not really picky. She picked that out because it’s something to associate with Boston, so she figured that would make me happy. Because of her reasoning, it did. And it was pretty tasty!

Jack was already in bed, but the four of us sat at the table, enjoying dessert. I had two of those two wax candles with the numbers “3” and “6”. I did some quick math in my head and told Benjamin that we should save them until the year 2037, because in that year, he’ll be turning 36 and I’ll be turning 63! That’s how I see the world, and apparently, that’s how my son sees the world, too. He did the math and got a kick out of that.


My Boston cream pie with the numbers.

Ava went to bed, and I hung out with Ben and Tiff, who were both reading. I watched K-State get a nice basketball win. Last year, Ben behaved very poorly and all but ruined my day. Last week, he told me was going to try very hard to make sure that wasn’t the case again this year. Well, he was great.

When I tucked him in, he asked me if he had behaved better than last year and I told him he was so good, it made me completely forget all about last year. I went downstairs and started writing my blog with SportsCenter on in the background, basically falling asleep at my computer.

There was nothing spectacular about the day. But it was super nice from start to finish and I spent a lot of time with the family. I couldn’t really ask for much more in a day.

Weekend Recap: I … Am … Exhausted

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Oh, what a weekend. I’m exhausted. I’m not as young as I used to be. This one really wore me out and I don’t even want to think about my next trip out, which is in three days. Wow. I’m writing this on the plane back from Philadelphia. I want to take a nap, but I don’t have time.

Real quick, just in case this your first time here … welcome! And to fill you in, I’m a father of three and a marathon runner. My middle child, 7-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. I’m attempting to run 61 marathons this year to raise money and awareness for a charity I’m a part of called Train 4 Autism. So far, I’m through 55. And a couple of ultras. I would absolutely not be doing this if not for him, so I know that his autism is making the world a better place.

I ran the Philadelphia Marathon yesterday (read my recap here). It wasn’t my best or fastest marathon of the year, but I felt like I gave it my all, considering my lousy physical condition heading into the race.

OK, my weekend.

Would It Have Been Faster To Drive?
I left for the airport from the Thanksgiving celebration at Ava’s school. Really, there’s no point in putting that in here other than I wanted to post a picture!


Me and my owners.

My flight from LA to Philadelphia on Friday was at 2:10 p.m. I got to LAX a little before 1 p.m. I was flying through Atlanta, arriving at 9:25 p.m., then hopping onto a 10 p.m. flight scheduled to land in Philadelphia at 11:57. I would have been asleep by 1 a.m. and had the opportunity to sleep in and recharge on Saturday.

I’ve been sick for close to a week and I’m feeling fairly miserable. Nothing helps quite like sleep. I’m guessing that no sleep isn’t a good thing when you’re sick?

We were about to board the flight when they announced that the captain issued an order preventing people from boarding due to maintenance issues. Hey, no complaints from me on that! About 30 minutes later, they announced that the part we needed had to be flown in to Atlanta. The flight was now scheduled for 9:15 p.m.

I was flying Air Tran, which has various partners and hubs. They told us they had rescheduled everybody’s itinerary. I had a lunch to go to at noon on Saturday in Philadelphia, so I was afraid I’d miss it. I waited in line until 4:30 and found out I was indeed on that 9:15 p.m. flight, arriving in Atlanta at 4:12 a.m. My flight to Philadelphia was scheduled to leave at 8:55 and arrive at 10:51 a.m. At least I’d make the lunch.

While I had time to kill, Operation Jack supporter Jake Rome came and picked me up and showed me the course for the Operation Jack Marathon. I took a picture at the finish line!


I can’t wait to get back there! 34 days!

I got back to the airport, ate some Burger King, hopped on my plane and got about three hours of lousy sleep while listening to my iPod. I was a zombie when I got to Atlanta. My mom lives there, so I had arranged with her to meet me at the airport for breakfast. I’ve only seen her twice this year, and once was an unexpected visit there when I got bumped from a flight and had a long layover.

Earlier this year, we gave her one of our dogs, because she can provide her with a much better life. Something about empty nest vs. three kids, including one with a disability. So my mom showed up with Holly, we visited for a couple of hours and I went and boarded my flight. If you noticed, there was no nap in all of that.


Me and Holly.

I couldn’t sleep on my flight, but I finally got to Philadelphia at 10:50 a.m. Eastern time, 20 hours after I left my hometown to drive to LAX. A friend of mine picked me up and we went back to her apartment. We chatted for about 10 minutes max before I left for the lunch I had to go to. After that, I walked to look for a certain souvenir for my oldest son (couldn’t find it, though), then went to the expo and walked around for a little bit, but I felt numb and faint from the exhaustion.

I sat down on a concrete floor, leaning up against a wall, letting my friend do a little shopping. She came and got me, we walked back to her place and I took a nap for a couple of hours. I couldn’t tell you the last time I was that exhausted.

I Finally Missed Something Important
I’ve done a pretty good job of not missing things this year. Despite jetting all around the country, I’ve been home for all the birthday parties, birthdays, my wedding anniversary, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Independence Day fireworks, trick-or-treating, first day of kindergarten for Ava, back-to-school nights for the kids, Benjamin’s only goal of the season in soccer, etc.

I’ve been away a lot, but I’ve made a lot out of the time I’ve been home. This Saturday was Ben’s last soccer game — his team was in the playoffs and this was the championship game. There was a good chance of rain, and if the game got postponed, it would have been played either Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday of this week.

I kept my eye on the forecast and there was a a 70 percent chance of rain. I was hoping I’d luck out on this one. I was texting with my wife Tiffany about the weather. It rained all night, but it stopped in the morning. But then it started again and it was pouring pretty nicely. I’m on the email distribution list with Ben’s coach and I was waiting eagerly for that cancellation email.

But 90 minutes before game time, he let us know that it was still on. I was hopeful that they’d cancel the game, but I was getting kind of anxious. Tiff was texting me pictures of the downpour and I couldn’t see how they would possibly play the game. I was cautiously optimistic.

They got out there, and there were teams playing another game. At that point, I knew I was going to be out of luck. They were doing whatever they could to play the games. I was so bummed knowing I’d miss the game. This was the first big miss of the year for me and it really made me sad. I know I’m doing what I’m doing for a good cause, but that doesn’t make it any easier to not be there, especially when Ben begged me to make it to the game earlier this week.

The game went on and Ben’s team won, 2-0. I got pictures of the trophy presentations and they all had a blast. That was going on at the same time I was leaning up against that wall while sitting on the concrete floor at the expo. For lack of a better word, it sucked.

Oh well. I’m glad they won.


Pretty bittersweet for me to get this picture of Ben getting his trophy, because I wasn’t there.

Other Misc. Stuff
I ate a cheesesteak for lunch yesterday. I guess that makes up for not having pizza in Chicago. Also, I’m just sneaking this in here to see if anybody actually reads this whole thing, but I was born on November 22, 1974. Now you know.


This was my lunch yesterday. It kind of made up for not getting pizza when I was in Chicago.

The Long Road Home
On October 31, it took me 4 1/2 hours to fly home from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles. Yesterday, apparently there were really strong headwinds. It took us about 2:15 for the first leg of the flight back, Philadelphia to Chicago. Chicago to Los Angeles took FIVE HOURS. I can’t even begin to tell you how tired I was.


At least I had the best seat on the plane from LA to Chicago.

That’s All For Today
Like I mentioned, I wrote this on the plane last night. And I was tired. And I needed to take a nap before driving home. So that’s all for this one. I’ll see you back here tomorrow. Maybe?

Race Report: Philadelphia Marathon

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As a runner, sometimes I wake up and feel great and can’t wait to get out for my run. I feel strong, I feel alive, and I’m ready to go. Sunday was the exact opposite of that. If there was ever a race I wished I could have ducked out of, it was Sunday’s Philadelphia Marathon. I was sick, I was tired, and I had 26.2 miles ahead of me.

Real quick, just in case you’ve never been here before, I’m a father of three and a marathon runner. My middle child, 7-year-old Jack, is severely autistic and I’m attempting to run 61 full marathons this year to raise money and awareness for a charity I’m a part of called Train 4 Autism. It’s my way of making lemonade out of lemons, of making sure my little guy has an impact on the world. I wouldn’t be doing this if not for him. Philadelphia was race No. 55 of the year. I’m almost there!

I had a few struggles heading into this race. Ever since I got home from San Antonio last weekend, I’ve felt sick. I had some headache and stomach problems last Sunday and Monday, then I developed a cold and a sore throat on Tuesday. When I went to the gym for easy runs on the treadmill, I got extremely winded, felt faint and had to stop.

I’ve been tired and chose to sleep instead of exercise in the morning. I’ve felt exhausted and miserable all week. On Friday, my flight out of Los Angeles was supposed to leave at 2:10 p.m., get me to Atlanta at 9:25 for a 35-minute layover, and I was going to land in Philadelphia at 11:57 p.m. I’d be asleep by 1 a.m., sleep in Saturday, and hopefully feel a little recharged.

Instead, my flight was delayed seven hours, becoming a redeye. I got three hours of bad sleep on the plane, landed in Atlanta at 4:15 a.m. for a 4 1/2-hour layover, then got into Philadelphia an hour before a lunch I had to get to. By mid-afternoon Saturday, I was exhausted to the point I could barely stand up or keep my eyes open. I took a nap for about two hours, but then had troubles falling asleep at night.

When I woke up for the race on Sunday, I was pretty exhausted, and that’s not the way to feel before running a marathon. I felt a little sick still, and I had zero desire to run. But I had to. So I did.

I was wearing pink arm warmers for the race. I made a commitment this week that I would wear them if y’all raised $1,000 for the Hearts & Smiles Foundation in Philadelphia. I tried for four weeks and only pulled in $240. But that arm warmer pledge netted $800 in 24 hours. Go figure.

I got to the start line five minutes before gun time, ready to go. My basic strategy was to run hard as long as I could, because I figured at some point my body would quit on me and I wanted to be as far through the course as possible. This marathon would simply be a matter of getting to the finish line as fast I could so I could stop. With my body in the condition it was in, I wasn’t going to attempt anything too strategic.

I got going and my legs actually felt pretty good. I suspected they would and I was moving well. I didn’t feel like I had the capacity to really go full-throttle, but I was hanging on at about a 7:05 pace early. I felt terrible, but I was moving well. I started to feel good at about mile five, but that only lasted for two miles. And then I felt sluggish again for the rest of the race.

I tried to pay attention to the course, because it was really nice running through the streets of Philadelphia, but I felt so miserable it was hard to focus. I could tell it was a course I would have really enjoyed if I felt better.

I went through the half somewhere around 1:37, which I was content with. At about mile 14, I saw Operation Jack super supporter Sarah Emerson, along with her husband and baby, and that put a big smile on my face. I’ve met a lot of people I really like this year and she’s way up there near the top of my list. I told her I felt like death. She told me I looked good in pink.

About a mile later, I heard two people running behind me talking and one of them said he lived in Los Angeles. When they caught up with me, I started chatting a bit. He saw my shirt and said, “Oh, Operation Jack — I’m thinking about running that marathon.” He didn’t know who I am, so it was pretty funny when I told him. We chatted for a couple of miles. He was looking to improve his PR of 3:29, and he was well on track to do that.

By about mile 17, I was running out of gas in a hurry and I told him, “I’ll see you later — this is where you leave me in the dust!” He ended up running a 3:12, so I was right and he had a great race. I faded, but not too bad. I think I was running miles in the 7:50 range. The second half of the race was mostly along a river and through a town that was on the outskirts of Philadelphia. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but it was a nice run.

I didn’t pay a ton of attention to my time. I just wanted to knock off the miles and get done with the run. I thought I was in line for somewhere around a 3:22, but I wasn’t really certain. I was slowing down and I felt miserable. There were a couple of spots late in the race where I heard some music playing along the course and I got pumped up and ran fairly quickly with relative ease. I had the confidence that I was strong, but I just didn’t have the energy to do much.

I decided to check my time with exactly two miles to go so I’d know where I stood. I was at 3:03:50. I really wanted to beat last week’s time of 3:17:59 to get faster for the fourth consecutive race, but that would basically require two 7-minute miles. I knew two 7:30s would give me a 3:18 and I would stay sub-3:20 with two 8s.

I kicked right then, knowing full well I was at risk of falling apart before I got to the finish, but I also knew that I had no other chance at a 3:17. I went hard and started passing a lot of people. My heart rate was at 181 bpm, roughly 10K pace, and I was moving. I was running, which felt good. I’m a runner, so it’s nice to move. But it also hurt. I felt miserable. I wasn’t sure if my body could handle two miles at that effort. I was locked in, although I kept my eyes open for Sarah, because I knew she was going to be somewhere around 25. I saw her, but all I really had the ability to do was point. I was in a zone.

I was counting down the fractions of that last mile, looking at my watch and knowing it would be close. When I passed 3:17, I was anxious to see the finish line. I knew I was going to do no worse than a 3:18. But I couldn’t see the finish line and the seconds were ticking away. Finally, we rounded one last curve, and there it was. I looked at my watch and I was pretty certain I had that 3:17. It’s tough to judge distances, though. I kept blazing and knew I had it about five seconds before I crossed the finish line.

3:17:45 is what I ran. Definitely not my fastest time. But I was happy with it. I improved 14 seconds over last week, and I was just not in shape to run. I won’t look back at this one as a great race, but I’ll look back at it as a good effort. I had to tough it out in Philadelphia. It was a challenging day for me physically, I tried hard to manage my body well, and I stepped up and went for broke when I had to.

So there you have it. 55 down, six little marathons to go. The Operation Jack train is getting pretty close to its final destination!


Me and Sarah after the race. I mean, me, Sarah and my pink arm warmers after the race.

Me and my friend and host Peggy after the race. Peggy was coming back from injury and not only did she stay completely healthy — she went 1:26:58 when she was realistically hoping to run a 1:35! I was really excited for her.

Real Men Wear Pink

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Wow, I guess it took until late November, but I finally figured out what gets people excited — me wearing pink!

Real quick, just in case you’ve never been here before, I’m a father of three and a marathon runner. My middle child, 7-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. I want him to be able to make a difference in this world, so I’m attempting to run 61 marathons in his honor this year to raise money and awareness for a charity I’m a part of called Train 4 Autism.

So far, I’m through 54 of the 61. I wouldn’t have done this if not for him. So if this makes a difference, he made a difference.

Anyways, I’ve been fundraising for a charity called Hearts & Smiles for about a month now. It’s a great charity that helps the siblings of special needs children in low-income families in the Philadelphia area. It’s been tough, but through Tuesday, I gradually worked my way up to $210 in donations. On Tuesday, I went with a guest blog from the founder of the organization, Melissa Scarcelli.

That blog was really nice and told all about how she founded the organization, why she started it, plus the types of things they’ve been able to do. In two days, we went from $210 to something like $240. My goal was $1,000. Melissa was nice enough to make that an optional goal, so there was no penalty if I didn’t hit it, but I still wanted to get there.

So yesterday, I told y’all that if I hit that goal, I’d wear pink armwarmers in the race on Sunday. And sure enough, you came through! I wish I would have known that me wearing pink was the key to fundraising. I would have jumped on that train a long, long time ago! When I dropped off Jack at school this morning, I was talking about this to another dad, who told me I needed to wear all pink for a race.

As I told him, everything is for sale. But that would cost a LOT of money! The price tag on just the armwarmers was $1,000!

I called Melissa up to let her know we hit the goal and she was really excited. I’ve done a lot to help Train 4 Autism, and I’m still pushing forward. But it’s nice to do a little bit here and there for other good organizations, too. We’ve raised money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and now Hearts & Smiles. It’s nice to help and you’re the ones who have come up with the money. All I’m doing is running. So thank you for what you’ve done!

Can Somebody Do A Rain Dance?
My 9-year-old son Benjamin’s soccer team is playing in the championship game of the playoffs on Saturday. I’m going to be in Philadelphia. BUT, if it rains, the game will be played on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. And I’m going to be in California those days. The forecast for Saturday is for rain!

So, if you have the ability to do a rain dance, please do! I really, really, really want to see Ben’s soccer game!

Two Repeats From Yesterday
1. My wife had surgery Wednesday — an outpatient procedure on her leg. She’s totally fine. I was in there with her until they started the procedure. The doctor came in and asked me if I had any questions. Yeah, I did.

“Are you a real doctor?”

“No, I just play one on TV,” he told me. I told him that was good enough for me and I trusted him.

When he was done, he came out and got me and told me everything went fine and she was doing well. He told me didn’t have a lot of time to talk, though. He said he had to get back to the studio to finish the commercial shoot.

“That’s cool,” I told him. “That’s where the money’s at.”

I guess even when I’m grumpy, I still have my bad jokes.

2. Registration is open for the Operation Jack Marathon, the 61st and final marathon I’m going to be running this year. It’s a race we’re putting on and it should be a good time. If you’re not going to be in the area, check out the satellite run option we have.

Either register or tell me your excuse!

OK, that’s it for today. Have a great weekend, everybody! I’ll see you back here with a race report on Sunday!

I'm On My Way To Funkytown

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Normally, I have a pretty good idea of what I’m going to write about when I write up a blog. I have a few different things I’m going to cover or maybe a topic I’m going to attack. But today, I’m in a funk again, so I think I’m just going to ramble.

If you’ve never been here before, I’m a father of three and a marathon runner. My middle child, 7-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. I wanted to do something to make a difference in the world, especially in the autism community, so I came up with this idea to run 61 full marathons this year to raise awareness and money for a charity I’m a part of called Train 4 Autism. I named the endeavor Operation Jack, after my son.

So far, I’m through 54 of the 61. Only seven of these things to go. The last one will be on December 26 and I just … can’t … wait. If you’ve been following along, you know I go through swings every here and there, and today is one of those days where I’m on a major downswing.

I had a terrible day yesterday and it’s all because of stupid stuff. I’m not naming names or placing blame here. But I have my own, real, personal life and sometimes things go poorly. I think that’s the case for everybody. It was Operation Jack-related and it started over my inaction on something.

I think a lot of you know that I drop the ball on a lot of stuff. It drives me crazy, because I feel like such a failure. I found out yesterday morning that I never sent shirts to somebody who donated about six months ago. I found out the day before that I hadn’t responded to an important request I’d received about two weeks ago. I have a bunch of people who made pledges for a a race I ran in September that I never followed up on. My issue that exploded yesterday was something different than all of those, but it’s something that’s a big problem now.

I’m the right person to run the marathons and maybe write the blogs, but I’m pretty bad at everything else. At this point, it’s like I’m seven races done from escaping from all of this and I’m pretty miserable. I’m overloaded, overstressed, and I’m not getting stuff done. I’m a one-man gang and I let people down left and right. It’s killing me, it’s upsetting me, and I’m totally over it. I feel like I’ve tried hard, but at the same time, I kind of feel like I just want to lay down on my couch and cry myself to sleep.

I look at where I’m at and I know things would be different right now if not for Operation Jack. It’s kind of tough in that regard. In the long run, I know I’ll be glad I did this. Today, I’m just not having a very good day.

Three quick things:

1. My wife had surgery yesterday — an outpatient procedure on her leg. She’s totally fine. I was in there with her until they started the procedure. The doctor came in and asked me if I had any questions. Yeah, I did.

“Are you a real doctor?”

“No, I just play one on TV,” he told me. I told him that was good enough for me and I trusted him.

When he was done, he came out and got me and told me everything went fine and she was doing well. He told me didn’t have a lot of time to talk, though. He said he had to get back to the studio to finish the commercial shoot.

“That’s cool,” I told him. “That’s where the money’s at.”

I guess even when I’m grumpy, I still have my bad jokes.

2. Registration is open for the satellite run option we have.

I’d write something funny and enthusiastic to get you to register, but it’s just not in me today. Sorry.

3. I’m trying to raise money for the Hearts & Smiles Foundation for the Philadelphia Marathon this year. I had a blog about it on Tuesday. I’m kind of bummed because I didn’t come close to hitting my goal. The race isn’t until Sunday, though. I’m kind of running out of things to do to raise money, so I’ll offer up this: If I reach my goal on my fundraising page, I’ll do one of two things: I’ll run the marathon on Sunday wearing pink arm warmers, or on Monday morning, which is the day after the marathon and four days before my next marathon and also my 36th birthday, I’ll run 36 miles. My wife is going to kill me for offering that up, but I want to raise this money. If we hit my goal, I’ll let the person with the highest donation there pick which one they want me to do.

And, that’s all for today. Have a great Thursday/Friday/Saturday/Sunday, y’all. I’ll have a race report posted on Sunday at some point.