Operation Jack

Fighting autism, one mile at a time.

Weekend Recap: Mother's Day Weekend!

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Normally, I try to write something catchy at the top of my blog to lure you in to the rest of it. But sometimes, like today, I look and notice I didn’t do that the night before and I figured I’d take care of that later. Well, later is now, and I have about five minutes to post this and send it out, take out the trash and put my shoes on. Jack has to get to school So nothing catchy today. But if you want to read my blog, you can read out my luxurious hotel in Colorado, catch my review of a new Taco Bell product, view three new media clips and … I think there’s some more stuff in there. Oh, I ran a race, too.

I guess since it’s Monday morning, I’ll give a quick introduction in case you’ve never been here. Actually, I do that every morning, but if you’ve never been here, you wouldn’t know that!

I’m a father of three and a marathon runner. My middle child, 6 1/2-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. To try to make a difference in his honor, I’m attempting to run 60 marathons this year to help raise money and awareness for a charity called Train 4 Autism. So far, so good. 24 down, 36 to go. Actually, I might be running 61. I’ll probably talk more about that on Wednesday.

Speaking of 24 down, that 24th race was Saturday in Palisade, Colorado. I ran the Grand Valley Marathon on Saturday. It was a tough race with altitude, a monster of a hill and some pretty rough wind. I went 3:19, which is a slow time for me, but it wasn’t a PR course or a PR day. Well, unless it was your first race. Somehow, that was good enough for second place overall. Yeah, small field of about 100 in the marathon. If you want, you can read my race recap.

Media Coverage
I’ve had a few things done lately and I’ve been slow posting links. I’ll get caught up, but for now, here are three recent things that were kind of fun.

First, here’s a piece the local ABC station did on me on Saturday. On the left, right above that ugly side profile of me, there’s a link to the video they did. Actually, I just noticed that this will take you to the video.

A few weeks ago, a Charlottesville, Va. station included me in their coverage of their marathon there. I’m on about a minute into this one.

If you want to hear me ramble on and on, I was the subject of a podcast called RunRunLive for about a 30-minute interview. I come on at about 8:45 into it and it goes on for a little while. Tiff liked it. I kind of did too — it almost made me sound like I know what I’m talking about!

I’m going to be interviewed this morning for a sports radio station in Colorado. I’ll post a link to that tomorrow.

This Is How The Other Half Lives
I’ve been sleeping in fleabag motels. Dirty, gross stuff. Places that I refuse to walk around barefoot in, places that didn’t have hot water in the shower, places with old hardware on top of the shelves in the closet. But then again, I’m doing this as low budget as possible, so when you get a rental car and a motel room for less than $70, including taxes, what can you really expect?

Well, I stayed in Grand Junction, Colorado on Friday night, and Travelocity gave me a great combo deal to stay in a Courtyard By Marriott. It’s not like I’ve never stayed in a decent place, but staying in the places I’ve been staying in made this place seem like a Ritz Carlton. I was on cloud nine when I walked in. There was an actual lobby, the check-in folks were dressed nicely and helpful, I was able to get a 2 p.m. checkout, everything inside the room was nice and plush. And this room was the cheapest deal in town since I bought a package on Travelocity!

So, I guess for once, I operated on my tiny budget but got to enjoy what now seems like luxury. I even got to take an ice bath and there was hot water. It was awesome!

Fast Food Critique Of The Week
Normally I’m into burgers, but the only places in Grand Junction I saw where I was at were Wendy’s and Burger King, and I wasn’t in the mood for either of those after the race on Saturday. There was no Cracker Barrel within 50 miles, either, so I just hit up Taco Bell. Normally, I mix it up with bean burritos and chicken burritos. I still maintain that there’s nothing better that 99 cents can buy than one of those chicken burritos.

Anyways, they have something new they call a 7-layer Big Beefy Burrito or something like that. It was only 89 cents, but what a waste. It was something like two tortillas, nacho cheese, sour cream, ground beef and maybe some cheese. Not only is that terrible for you — it didn’t make a dent in filling me up. Bean burritos and chicken burritos aren’t incredibly healthy, but they’re way better and worth the extra dime.

Now you know.

Ice Cream Update
If I had a bottle of beer on the wall for every consecutive day now that I’ve had ice cream or frozen yogurt, I’d have 99 bottles of beer on the wall. 99 bottles of beer!

Saving The Best For Last
My race was on Saturday and I got home before Ben and Ava were even asleep. I planned it that way to make sure I could be home and dedicate the entire day to my family for Mother’s Day yesterday. Tiff deserves nothing less. So, that’s exactly what I did. One Facebook status update to say that I was dedicating my day to my family, and one tweet doing the same thing.

We had a great day. Me and my kids are pretty lucky.

That’s All For Today
Have a great Monday, everybody! I’ll see you back here tomorrow!

Race Report: Grand Valley Marathon

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Another weekend, another Operation Jack Marathon in the books. This time, it was the Grand Valley Marathon in Palisade, Colorado. I didn’t run as well as I’d hoped, but then again, do I ever?

The course itself was very scenic. We ran across and alongside a river, past vineyards, with snow-capped mountains in the not-so-far distance. We also went past a few farms and I saw some horses. We started and finished in a quaint little downtown section of Palisade, a fairly small town about 12 miles east of Grand Junction.

I’ve always thought of Grand Junction as a pass-through area, since I always stopped there for gas or a meal when driving back and forth between Kansas and California when I was in college. But wow, this area was pretty scenic.

This was a nice, local race that was pretty well organized. Probably not something I’d recommend traveling to if flying was required, but I think it’s worth driving a few hours to and staying in Grand Junction or Palisade (I don’t know if there are rooms there).

Anyways, the run. I was a little apprehensive about the elevation. I knew we started at 4,700 feet and climbed to 4,900 or so feet, which isn’t incomprehensible for me, but that altitude is considerably higher than the 700-1,100 foot range I train at every day. I knew we had a climb of about 195 feet between mile 4 and 5 that would sap me a bit, although it was an out-and-back, so I knew I had that on the way back. The only problem with climbs like that is you never get enough back to make it worth it. And when the climbs are early, I worry about taking too much out of myself.

We took off and I felt OK, running at what I figured would wind up being about a 3:10 pace. I was hoping I’d end up in that range, although I knew that hill was coming. The field was small, maybe 100 or so runners. In a race this size, you know exactly where you stand pretty quickly and I knew within a mile that I was in third. I had zero shot at the guy leading, but the man in second wasn’t too much faster than me.

As expected, I struggled up that big hill. My pace dropped to as slow as 12:00/mile or so at one point. I caught up with the guy in second at around mile 7 and we ran together for a few miles. I don’t come out and start talking about the 60-marathon thing right off the bat, but it’s pretty easy to pull out when he asks where I’m from and finds out I flew in for the race from California. He was a super-nice guy, and like everybody else, he thinks I’m crazy. But he ran that race where you trek 150 miles across the Sahara in a week. And he does those adventure races where you need a map that they give you to figure out where you’re going. All I do is play follow-the-leader for 26.2.

We ran pretty close together, either side-by-side or leapfrogging each other, until about mile 15. We hit the half in 1:36 and I thought I could negative-split the course because of the big downhill I’d get at 21, so I thought 3:10 was still in reach. But as soon as we turned around at 13.1, there was a pretty strong wind straight in our face. I don’t why I didn’t notice it at my back much on the way out. But it lasted until about mile 24.

Larry (that was the man’s name) started to pull away at about mile 15. My quads and glutes had been screaming at me since mile 8 and I was no match for the wind. I knew fourth place was about 5 minutes behind me, so I figured I had a pretty good shot at holding onto third. I kept trucking, wallowing in self-pity, enjoying the sights. I could tell I was a good minute or so from second. He’s a pretty quick guy, with a PR of 2:56 from a few years back and he ran a 3:07 earlier this year.

I didn’t have a lot going down the hill. I think I got my pace as quick as about 6:30 or so per mile, but that’s not all that fast for me considering what I’m capable of and how steep that hill was. It was actually kind of painful using my legs as brakes.

Coming out of that drop, I saw Larry and he wasn’t too far off. I could tell he was struggling. I felt bad, because I know how not fun it is to fade late, but all I could do was run my own race. I passed him at 23, he offered some encouragement, and I had two things to work for over those last three miles.

One, I had to go strong and immediately create some distance, otherwise he’d find a way to make a charge at me late. And two, I needed to push, because I knew I was on the cusp of 3:20. I did not want to end up in the 3:20s again. So, I pushed pretty hard over those final three miles. I had been running miles in the mid-8s, but I got down to the low 7s.

I felt pretty beat up, but I went strong to the finish and after doing an over-the-shoulder peek on a turn at 24, I knew I had second place locked up. I knew with about 3/4 of a mile to go I had the 3:19 locked up, although I kept pushing as hard as I could. I finished in 3:19:30, not a great time for me, but it was absolutely not a PR course or PR weather. The guy who won the race went 2:51. So I was right knowing I had no shot at him.

All-in-all, I’ll call it a good run. It was a beautiful course, and while my time wasn’t the greatest, I was content with what I got out of myself given the course and the wind.

Next up, Cleveland. 24 down, 36 to go!


Dang, am I that wide? The camera doesn’t lie. :/

Thankfully my award for second place was a small trophy, not a new car. I wouldn’t be able to carry a car on the plane!

Mother's Day Weekend Preview: Grand Valley Marathon

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A lot of people ask how I picked my race schedule. Quite a few things went into selecting each of the 60 marathons on my schedule for this year, but being home with my family for Mother’s Day outweighed everything else for this weekend.

There are races on Sunday, but I didn’t even consider those. I originally scheduled a race for this Saturday in Wisconsin, but the flight schedule getting back was pretty tight. I was looking at running a race starting at 8 and the last flight of the day leaving the local airport (30 miles away) was at about 1 p.m. The schedule would have been possible, although extremely tight, but it wasn’t worth the risk.

Luckily, about three weeks ago, I found a race just outside Grand Junction, Colo. I only need to leave work about two hours early to catch my flight on Friday, and I’ll be back fairly early on Saturday night. On top of that, the race director was very friendly to deal with, which is always a treat.

So, I’m running the Grand Valley Marathon in Palisade, Colo. on Saturday, my 24th full marathon of the year. Every week, I have a contest where you guys make a small donation and guess my time (for example, if you think I’m going to run a 3:07, you donate $3.07). I analyze the course and give you my best guess as to what I think I’m going to run. And then you give me a pat on the back by clicking here or on the “Donate Now!” link at the top of any page on this site. $3 and a nickel or two (or three or four if you have no confidence in me) is all it takes. The winner gets their choice of an Operation Jack t-shirt, tech shirt or sweatshirt. I’ll get to that in just a bit.

First, since it’s Mother’s Day Weekend, I’m going to talk about mothers briefly. I have a bunch of mothers in my life. I talk about my wife a lot, but I never really talk about my mom or my stepmom. I’m not going to go into huge details, because I view their privacy in regards to Operation Jack a whole lot differently than I do Tiff’s.

Anyways, my parents split more than 30 years ago, but in my mind, it was for the best for everybody. My mom found her soulmate and has been happily married since 1993, and my dad found his soulmate, and they just celebrated their 18th anniversary on Monday.

My mom lives in Atlanta, but I keep in pretty close contact with her. She’s a huge supporter of Operation Jack and does crazy things like stopping random runners on the street to tell them what I’m doing. I’ve told her that’s bad etiquette with runners, but she’s proud and there’s not a lot I can do to stop her. She loves me unconditionally the way a mother should.

My dad met his wife when I was a sophomore in high school. That’s a difficult time to come into the picture, but she’s been a big part of the equation for the majority of my life. My world has been pure chaos for a good 12-15 years as I went through college and then got married and started a family, but she’s been there with me and for me the whole time. She, too, loves me unconditionally the way a mother should.

Anyways, the way I see it, God leads you down paths for a reason. I wouldn’t be who I am today if not for both of them. I’m not saying I’m anything special, but I am who I am, and there’s no question they have both shaped me. And since it’s Mother’s Day Weekend, I figured I’d give them a shout-out.


Me and my mom in Atlanta on April 16. I volunteered to get bumped off my connecting flight to Virginia and I was able to sneak out of the airport and go to lunch with her.

Me, my dad, my stepmom Nancy and my brother after the Orange County Marathon last weekend. She ran the half-marathon, the first time she’d ever covered that distance, to support Operation Jack.

I’m also pretty lucky to still have one of my grandmas. My Grandma Bea, still ticking at 85 (she’d kill me if she knew I put her age in here!) is a one-of-a-kind. I’m grateful for every opportunity I get to see her. She’s got her little quirks, but all-in-all, she’s a sweet grandma. If you’ve been following along this whole year, you know that we’ve had a Super Bowl bet for each of the past 22 years. This year, I won, so she took me and my family out to lunch. The way she sees it, she really won. For starters, my grandpa paid. Plus, she got to see all of us!


Me and my grandma on February 21. She loves penguins, and I got one from my first race of the year, so I gave it to her.

But really, I’m biased. I have a favorite mom … my wife! I know everybody thinks their wife is the best mom, so I guess I’m just like everybody. She sometimes gets upset that she doesn’t have a “job” or a career, but she does an amazing job with our three kids. It’s really tough to raise a special-needs child, and it’s even tougher to raise a special-needs child and two more children. But she does, and she takes care of me, and she takes care of herself. The older my oldest son Benjamin gets, the more I can tell that we have a very sweet, loving son who’s going to grow up to be a good man.

And I should clarify. Her taking care of them goes way beyond taking care of them. She has grown into her role so naturally since I met her back when she was 18. She’s the type that knows every little detail about each one of them in order to take care of them perfectly. She’s their biggest defender and their first source of comfort.

We all have our talents. I run marathons, I’m good with numbers and computers and I can write pretty well. She was born to be a mother and her impact will live on for generations through our children and their children. I tell her all the time that I’m glad our kids are so fortunate as to have a mother like her. She likes it when I’m around, and in my book, Sunday is HER day. That’s why I’m running on Saturday. I picked out this song for her today:


Ben!

Jack!

Ava!

OK, The Race …
The race doesn’t look tremendously easy or difficult. There’s a pretty steep climb of mabye 150-200 feet in mile 4, but there’s an equal drop in about mile 21 or so. It looks like an out-and-back with some rollers, nothing tremendously significant. The biggest problem is that it’s going to be at elevation, varying between 4,700 and 4,900 feet. I have strengths and weaknesses in my fitness and I’ll find out how oxygen deprivation impacts me.

Lately, I’ve been hit-and-miss with my races, but I have pretty good confidence right now. I feel strong, although not particularly quick, and I know what’s slowed me down lately. I really think I can go sub-3:10, although if I was betting, I’d go with a 3:12 to be conservative.

So go ahead, make your guess. Winner gets some Operation Jack gear. I didn’t have a contest last week, but two weeks ago, Dina Williams, a loyal Operation Jack supporter who used to work with my father-in-law, guessed I’d run a 3:19 in Oklahoma City and I went 3:17:42. I hope you play this week!

That’s All For Today
I’ll post a race report at some point on Saturday. Have a great weekend everybody!

What's Up With OJ Wednesday

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Ahhh, Wednesday. The middle of the week. It’s time for me to come up with another creative way to say “It’s time for my What’s Up With OJ Wednesday Blog.” Well, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is I don’t have a creative way to announce my WUWOJW blog today. But the good news is at least I wrote it.

First things first, in case you’ve never been here before, I’m a father of three and a marathon runner. My middle child, 6 1/2-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. I decided I wanted to find a way to use my running to make a difference in the autism world. My idea is to try to run 60 marathons in 2010 to try to raise money and awareness for a charity called Train 4 Autism. So far, I’m through 23 since January 1. Only 37 to go. Sort of. I’ll explain that in a bit.

Anyways, I write about various things here in my blog about four times a week and give a little glimpse about what it’s like to go through all of this. I’m going to read all these blogs at the end of the year, because it’s all such a blur and I’m going to want to see what happened.

Since today is Wednesday, I’m giving my weekly rundown on what’s going on with Operation Jack. Most of it is going to involve fundraising today.

What You’ve Done
I don’t have the exact numbers of what has been raised. I do certain things well, like running. I went 3:06 last Sunday in my 23rd marathon of the year. Finances aren’t my thing, though. I messed up on a transfer this week and bounced a payment. My wife will probably be mad at me for mentioning that. Oh well.

Anyways, my dad does certain things well, too. He ran his first half-marathon last Sunday in 2:53. A for effort, but maybe running isn’t totally his thing. But he’s been a CPA for the past 42 years. So he does a little better managing finances than I do and he takes care of the Operation Jack Autism Foundation. So according to him, plus according to what I can see from our Kintera site, I think we’re at somewhere around $19,000 raised. So we’re doing well, although I’d like to be better. I’m sure things will pick up as the year goes on and I’m still holding out hope that we’ll hit $100,000.

But that’s where we are for now. I get asked how we’re doing pretty frequently, so I know a lot of you probably wonder. That’s how we’re doing.

What You Can Do
Well, I haven’t asked in a while, but if you support what I’m trying to accomplish, the biggest thing I can ask you to do is to try to spread the word. If you’re on Twitter, let people know about me (@operationjack). If you’re on Facebook, “like” the fan page, join the group and invite your friends to do the same. If you know people outside of Facebook and Twitter who might be interested, drop them a line and invite them to check out the site.

Runners and people impacted by autism tend to take an interest in Operation Jack, but other folks thing I’m crazy, too, which is why I’m doing this. So please, spread the word. If nobody finds out, it’s almost a waste.

Also, I won’t lie … fundraising is a big part of this. Creating chapters for Train 4 Autism is a big part of it, but I’m definitely trying to raise money. I have sponsor levels, there are easy ways for you to raise money without even contributing money (I know, the economy is tough) … I’m not counting on any one person to make or break Operatoin Jack (unless Bill Gates finds the site), but I’m hoping that little tiny efforts from a whole lot of people can go a long ways.

If you have any ideas for anything, don’t hesitate to send them my way. If you work for a company that might be able to donate something for raffles we’ll have in the future or if you have a good idea that I’m not using (I’m smart enough to know I have no clue what I’m doing), PLEASE email me! I don’t know everything about everybody who’s following along, so if you have a unique way you think you can help, let me know!


What I Might Do
I’ve repeated this, but I’ll probably keep repeating it for a little while. I was talking with a runner named Lance Haney who lives in Alabama and he wants me to run Memphis on December 4. The problem is, I’m not dropping my race on December 5, so this would boost the total for the year to 61.

I’ve talked with Lance a little, and he’s a good guy and wants me to try to pace him to a 3:10 in Memphis. And I really want to do that for him. So we came up with a deal. He set up a fundraising page and if he hits his goal, I’ll be out there. I’d love to be there — I’ve heard great things about the race and I need to avenge my two poor races I’ve already run in Tennessee this year.

I Think That’s All For Today
I write these at night and I’m starting to get a little sleepy. Plus, I want to take an ice bath. So I need to get off the computer. Have a great Wednesday, everybody. I’ll be back tomorrow for my weekend preview.

Ten Random Things For Tuesday

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Sometimes I have serious issues I want to tackle, and when I do, I cover them in my Tuesday blog. As you can probably guess by the headline, though, I’m not doing that today. I’m going with 10 random things for Tuesday. These are fun to write, as long as I can come up with 10 things. Lucky for me, I did today!

Real quick, just in case this is your first time here, I’m a father of three and a marathon runner. My middle child, 6 1/2-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. I’m trying to make a difference in his honor and create a legacy for him, so I’m trying to run 60 marathons this year. I named the endeavor Operation Jack and so far, so good. I’m through 23 marathons since January 1.

OK, now 10 random things.

1. I went to McDonald’s on Saturday to get Jack two things from the dollar menu — a 4-piece Chicken McNuggets and a small order of fries. I was shocked when they wanted $2.49 for the chicken when they charge $4.99 for 20. I asked how much a 4-piece chicken happy meal was, and it was going to be something like $4.68. Do they rip off parents for the meals for kids? They have a bunch of those $2.99 meals now, but it costs more than that for four nuggets (worst chicken ever) and fries. We’ve been over the fact that I’m cheap, so we relocated to Burger King.

2. I got to spend a lot of time in Jack’s therapy sessions this weekend. Normally, that doesn’t happen. I get home from work as he’s wrapping up during the week, and I’m gone on the weekend. When I’m home on the weekends, I observe and the therapist explains what he’s doing while he’s doing it. But this weekend, he put me in the driver’s seat and I got to conduct the session. On Saturday, Jack figured it out pretty quickly that I was the one doing the session, and he got a big ol’ kick out of that, giggling hysterically for a little bit. The therapist was happy with how I did and was very happy with some of the things I did to creatively pull language out of Jack. It was a lot of fun, something I don’t normally get to do.

3. Jack was was due on September 12, 2003, the day Johnny Cash died. When I found out that morning that Johnny Cash had died, I told Tiff that if Jack was born that day, we had to name him Cash. Yeah, um, that’s not a good thing to suggest to a woman who’s nine months pregnant. It didn’t matter, because he wasn’t evicted until September 16. And as one of my Operation Jack followers pointed out, it’s a good thing we stuck with Jack as the name. “Operation Cash” probably would have sounded like a scam.

4. One thing I love about music is that it brings you back in time. “Right Here, Right Now” reminds me of the first summer I had a car. “Baby Got Back” reminds me of a ridiculous night in New Orleans. I’m thinking that this “Carry Out” song by Timbaland will always bring me back to the beginning of Operation Jack.

5. This is borderline inappropriate, but what the heck. I have a supporter in Colorado named Erin Fortin who will be running the Cleveland Marathon as part of Operation Jack. I’m going to finish ahead of her, but I want to wait to see her finish. There’s a flight I could probably catch, but I’d have to rush and I’d miss her at the end. I found a schedule that worked, but it was a touch more expensive. I went with it, because I want to be there at the end of her race.

I told her, “I’m sure you’ve never been told this, but you’re worth $49 and a red-eye flight.” It was totally appropriate in this circumstance, and I’m sure I’ll never have an opportunity to use that sentence again. So when I booked my ticket, that’s what I told her.

6. My bride Tiffany stopped in the middle of her 5K on Sunday to take a picture with some firefighters. Typical chick.


I’m so jealous of my wife. I wish I had groupies, too.

7. If you don’t have an Operation Jack t-shirt, tech shirt or sweatshirt, please check them out on our Sponsors page! These are one of our big fundraisers and (I think) the prices are pretty reasonable. If you dig what I’m doing, please consider picking one of these up and showing your support!

8. I’m considering adding a 61st race this year, Memphis on December 4. Lance Haney, a grad student at Auburn University, wants me to run that race with him. He created a fundraising page and if he reaches his goal, I’ll be there.

9. I saw this as my friend Susan Hill’s Facebook status last week and I couldn’t resist using it as my own: TICK WARNING! I hate it when people post bogus warnings, but this one is real. Please repost this as your status! If someone comes to your front door saying they are checking for ticks due to the warm weather and asks you to take your clothes off and dance around with your arms up, DO NOT DO IT! THIS IS A SCAM! They only want to see you naked. I wish I’d gotten this yesterday. I feel so stupid.

10. I started a new training plan today, the Pfitz 12/55. Not the highest-mileage plan, but now that I’m through my doubles that I had in April, I want to start working on my speed. The strength and endurance is there, but the speed isn’t. We’ll see how it goes. Today called for 8 miles with 10x100m strides. I went 8 on some pretty nice hills with 11x100m hill sprints. So far, so good.

That’s all for today. Have a great Tuesday, everybody. See you tomorrow!