Operation Jack

Fighting autism, one mile at a time.

Great … Flight Problems Back From Boston

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Well, it took three months, but I have my first major airlines crisis. I got an email from JetBlue this morning telling me they’re canceling my flight back from Boston due to some kind of scheduling issue. I’m getting a refund, but that one-way was only $149. I looked for acceptable alternatives this morning, but there’s nothing less than $627 right now that gets me back that night. Part of me thinks it’s irresponsible to spend that much. But I also have a race in Virginia two days before. Do I miss that one, too?

I think I’m going to keep my eyes open and hope I catch a break. I’m definitely going to be on the phone with JetBlue today, trying to see what they can do to help me. I didn’t have time to call this morning and that email wasn’t too apologetic.

I guess I’m pretty mad about this. Not so much at JetBlue. I’m really mad at myself. I mean, I knew April 1 was coming, and this was the best April Fools I could come up with? Weak. Very weak. I’m going to Boston. I have no flight problems.

Autism Awareness Day Is Friday!
April 2 (Friday) is Autism Awareness Day. I know a lot of you are here for all sorts of different reasons. Some of you are in the autism community, some of you are runners and some of you heard about what I’m doing and are curious. Whatever your reason for following along, I know you believe in the cause and support what I’m aiming for.

So, I’m hoping that you’ll help with Autism Awareness Day. If you’re on Facebook, go to the World Autism Awareness Day page and become a fan. They have an image for you to use as a profile picture for a day. Do that and make a post on your wall or change your status to explain what you’re doing. If you’re on Twitter, send out a tweet or two letting people know. You can also wear blue and tell people why you are.

Heck, I don’t know. I’m no expert in all of this. But you can do what I mentioned with Facebook and Twitter, wear blue, and poke around the World Autism Awareness Day website for ideas. If you weren’t going to do anything, but you are now to support what I’m doing, I really appreciate it. PLEASE let me know!

Guess My Time!
I have a weekly contest now where you can win an Operation Jack t-shirt, tech shirt or sweatshirt. To enter, guess the time you think I’m going to run in the form of a small donation. For instance, if you think I’m going to run a 3:10, donate $3.10 as your entry. To make a donation, click here or click on the “DONATE NOW!” link on any page on this site. The person coming the closest without going under is the winner. If I choke and go too slow and everybody bids under, it’ll go to the person who comes closest.

Last week, the winner was Katey Williamson. It was one of those choke weeks, where I thought I’d go 3:13 or so and I went 3:20. But she got herself a prize for $3.17!

To help you guys, I write up an analysis of my race to let you know how I’m feeling and what I expect to run. Wow, what a smooth transition. Give me a Pulitzer.

Race Preview: Train 4 Autism Marathon Series, Race 1
This weekend, I get to stay home! I’ll be running the first of the three races I’m putting on with local race director Charlie Alewine as part of the Train 4 Autism Marathon Series. It’s a fairly flat course in Huntington Beach, 10 laps of a 2.62-mile course. It sounds kind of boring, but I’m pretty excited about it, because quite a few folks are coming out and participating to support the cause.

I ran a marathon on this course last November and went 3:29:05. But I was totally out of shape, fighting my back from a five-week layoff last summer due to a sprained ankle. I felt good for the first eight or so miles, but I ran out of gas. I’m expecting this to be completely different, though. I’m in shape, and I’m really determined to get a good run in. With back-to-back 3:20s, I’m in dire need of a confidence boost and I’m going to do my best to combine conservative and aggressive like I did in Tampa earlier this year.

This course is flat enough to be considered flat. There’s a small incline at one point, but it’s maybe a 10-foot climb? It’s really nothing, and you get it back coming down, because it’s a loop. The course is primarily on road and sidewalk, but there’s a small portion that’s on dirt. That dirt is packed hard enough that it won’t slow me down at all, unless there’s rain this week that makes it muddy. I’m still not particularly worried.

On tough part about this race is that I’ll run the bulk of it on my own, since it’s such a small field. When you do that, it’s tough to stay motivated. But that clock will be my motivator. I really, really want to go sub-3:10 and get back on track mentally. I have seven races in April and I want to attack them with confidence.

So, I’m going to go out and try to hold pace between 7:10 and 7:15. I should be able to get into a rhythm and hold my stride. I always think I can run faster than I really can. And I think I can go 3:10 on this course. I’d like to go sub-3:16 and BQ. I’ve surprised myself a few times this year, especially with my success in Carlsbad and my struggles in Napa.

If I’m betting on myself, I’m going safe with 3:16, because I’ve run poorly lately and my legs were heavy on my run this morning. But I’m gunning for sub-3:10. Take that for what it’s worth.

That’s All I Have For Today
Have a GREAT weekend, everybody! I’ll post a race report at some point on Saturday. Please, please, please, support Operation Jack and try to guess my time!

What's Up With OJ Wednesday

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OK, these weeks are flying by way too fast. Saturday races, like I have this week, make them fly by even quicker. My quads are still a little sore and I’m already carb-loading. Ahhh, the joys of a Saturday marathon. Good thing I don’t have one of those every single weekend in April. Oh wait, never mind. I do.

Just in case this is your first time here, I’m a marathoner and a father of three. My middle child, 6-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. I’m trying to run 60 marathons this year to raise money and awareness for a wonderful charity called Train 4 Autism. I write this blog Monday through Thursdays (plus race reports on the weekends) to give y’all an insight into what goes on in my mind. Scary, I know.

Yes! An Excuse For Me To Mention Kansas State University!
There was a nice article about Operation Jack in the Kansas State Collegian today. The Collegian is the student newspaper at KSU, my alma mater. I spent a couple of years on staff back in the 90s and about a month ago, I got a call from a student reporter working for Update Magazine, one of the publications in the journalism department that tracks alumni.

She had a few questions about what I’m up to, primarily with my family and career. We were chatting for a few minutes and at one point, she asked if I was up to anything interesting that might be newsworthy. Well, aside from trying to run 60 marathons this year to try to raise money and awareness for Train 4 Autism, I couldn’t think of much. Maybe I should have mentioned my ice cream streak? (59 days now, by the way.) Operation Jack was newsworthy enough for her, though, and today, the article made it to print.

I read it before my run this morning and really liked it. Online, you can see how they lay it out and they allocated about 1/3 of the front page to the story! EVERYBODY reads the Collegian at K-State, so I know it will be seen, which is good. It kind of makes me laugh to know that some of my old professors will probably read it and do a double-take. Sam? Running? For reals?

Train 4 Autism Marathon Series, Starts This Weekend!
Along with local race promoter Charlie Alewine, I’m putting on a series of three marathons this year as a part of Operation Jack. I’ve named them the Train 4 Autism Marathon Series and the first one is THIS WEEKEND! We’re going to have a half-marathon and a full marathon and there’s going to be prize money for the series!

If you’re local, I’d LOVE to see you out there! Jack is scheduled to be in a therapy session on Saturday morning, but we’re working to re-schedule that so he can be out there at the finish line. I’m totally excited about this and I really, really hope to meet some of you out there! E-mail me if you have any questions!

Congratulations to Katey Williamson!
Every week, I have a contest where you guess what time you think I’ll run and the winner gets their choice of an Operation Jack t-shirt, tech shirt or sweatshirt. You guess by making a super-easy donation in the amount of what you think my time will be. So, for instance, if you think I’m going to run a 3:15, you make a donation for $3.15.

Whoever comes the closest without bidding too low is the winner. Or, in the last two weeks while I’ve struggled miserably and nobody bids a high enough time, the winner is the person who bids the closest even though they didn’t bid high enough. Katey is this week’s winner and we’ll send her out some gear.

Thanks to everybody who played along!

Reminder About Our April 30 Silpada Party
We’re going to have a Silpada party on April 30 in Lake Forest, Calif. That’s two nights before the Orange County Marathon and 9 days before Mother’s Day. All the profits from this will go to benefit Operation Jack. Silpada is company that sells jewelry. I’m a guy, so I can’t really give a good description. It’s nice stuff, decent quality. It’s not like diamonds and fancy stones. It’s just nice, moderately priced things. Maybe the right word to use is that you would accessorize with Silpada?

I don’t know. Whatever the case, I’ll be posting the evite next week for everybody. RSVP so we know how much finger food to provide. When I say we, I’m talking about my wife and my mother-in-law. I’ll be home with the kids. I don’t do jewelry parties. I have a rep to uphold.

Coming Soon, WordPress
I’m working fast and furiously to integrate WordPress into here. I know it’s a total pain in the butt to have to register or log in to leave comments, and nothing puts a dagger in your efforts to interact with folks like an unfriendly blog. I had no clue what I was doing when I built this, so I just kind of cranked it out last July and I’ve run with it while making only a few minor modifications. But I know it’s going to be better with WordPress. I’m just working on finalizing some integrations in my, uh, spare time.

Please Help Spread The Word!
I know y’all are here because you support what I’m doing, so I don’t feel too shy to ask for a little bit of help. All I’m asking for right now is for a little bit of help spreading the word. Facebook, Twitter, the site … whatever you can use to pass the word along, I’d greatly appreciate it!

Anything You Want Me To Talk About?
I have plenty of blog topics in mind, and with my formulaic approach I’m taking nowadays, it’s fairly easy for me to come up with material. BUT, if there’s anything you want me to talk about, let me know. If you have any questions, fire them off and I’ll answer them in a future blog. You can post them in a comment or use the Contact Us Form.

That’s Pretty Much All For Today
I’m going to cut myself off for now. I need to shift gears from blog writing to code writing. Have a great Wednesday everybody!

Be Smart Out There — It's A Matter Of Life Or Death!

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Every morning when I run, I see an older man running and he totally inspired me to write this blog. But not in a good way.

Real quick, just in case this is your first time here, I’m a marathon runner and a father of three. My middle child, 6-year-old Jack, is severely autistic and I’m attempting to run 60 marathons this year to raise money and awareness for a great charity I’m a part of called Train 4 Autism. So far, I’m accomplishing my goals and I’ve completed 15 of the 60 races.

Anyways, back to the man I see running who inspires me. He does so because he runs in the street. I’m sure he subscribes to the theory that the asphalt is better for your knees than the concrete of the sidewalk. But you know what’s even worse for your knees than concrete? Cars!

Some people may have no option if they live in rural areas and there may not be sidewalks to run on. I have a spot where I run that’s about 1/4 of a mile and I have no choice but to run in a wide bike lane. During that stretch, I pay attention like it’s a matter of life or death, because it is. But I know a lot of folks willingly run solely in the street or bike lane because they think the asphalt is better for them.

Everything I’ve ever read says that the “asphalt is safer than concrete” theory is a myth. It’s probably brought to you by the same sedentary doctors who say that running will make your knees go bad. Funny, I have friends with more than 150 marathons to their credit whose knees are doing just fine.

I ran 3,850 miles in 2008 and the vast majority of those (3,500+) were on sidewalks. The only knee problem I’ve ever had is a slight case of tendinitis, which was caused by weakness in my glutes. Last summer, I had x-rays taken of my knees and the doctor told me they looked perfectly normal for a 34-year-old.

A lot of folks who run in the street justify it by saying they run facing traffic and they pay close attention to the cars coming at them. But all it takes is one split second — a driver veering outside of their lane to avoid a wreck or not paying close enough attention and failing to properly negotiate a curve. Or maybe the sun is at your back, but its in the eyes of the oncoming driver.

Some running friends of mine lost a friend two years ago when she was hit by a car while running in the bike lane. It was that one split second that made all the difference and there’s no take-backs. As I mentioned, I have a portion on some of my runs that exposes me in a fairly wide bike lane for about 1/4 of a mile. I pay extremely close attention when I run along that stretch and traffic is very light when I’m there. Still, I’m always prepared to jump in the ditch on the side if a car gets anywhere near me.

It’s fairly easy for me to pay attention and focus, because it’s only for 1/4 of a mile, about two minutes. If it was a longer stretch, though, there’s no way I wouldn’t zone out. If you’re running long runs in the street, you’re going to lose focus at times no matter how hard you try to pay attention. If you’re doing a short run, not that asphalt saves you, but do you think it’s going to make that much difference? Yesterday, I saw a teenager running in the concrete gutter at the edge of the street. Really, what’s the point of that?

Aside from running in the street, that man I see every day inspired me to write this for another reason. He runs in the street listening to music on headphones! I’m not one to ever get into an iPod vs. no iPod debate. I don’t listen to music when I run, but that’s my choice and I don’t care what anybody else does.

Listening to music when you run will distract you from your surroundings, and if you do that when you’re running on the sidewalk, the consequences aren’t that big if you are at least aware enough to avoid danger. You might get startled if somebody passes you, but that’s about it. However, if you have the earbuds in while you’re running in the street, you’re begging for trouble. That’s like the running equivalent of drinking and driving — you’re sapping yourself of awareness while placing yourself in a dangerous situation.

The third thing the man does that freaks me out is he runs with traffic. We already know he can’t hear cars coming. He can’t see them coming, either. He does this when it’s dark outside, so maybe his logic is that he’ll see headlights coming. But it’s only going to take one car driving with its lights off to cause an avoidable fatality.

So, this guy commits three no-nos I’m really hoping you avoid. Running with traffic is not smart at all. Running with earphones while running in the street is not particularly smart, either. But all of this danger can be avoided if you just refrain from running in the street!

I get a fair amount of people who tell me I inspire them. If you’re included in that group, and you run in the street, please be inspired by the fact that I run all my miles on the sidewalk and I’m doing fine! The true danger is the cars, not the concrete. Be smart and be safe — I want to hear how your run went from you, not from a tragic newspaper article!

Weekend Recap: Burgers, Cats and Technology

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15 down, 45 to go. Another exhausting weekend is in the books. It’s fun to see new places and meet new people, but wow is this tiring!

First things first, I ran the Knoxville Marathon yesterday. It wasn’t a particularly easy run for me, but are they ever? You can read my race report here. Also, I got write-ups today in Knoxville News Sentinel and also in the Knoxville Shopper-News, although I don’t have a link to that second article yet.

Just in case this is your first time here, I’m a marathon runner and a father of three. My middle child, 6-year-old Jack, is severely autistic and I’m attempting to run 60 marathons this year to raise money and awareness for a great charity I’m a part of called Train 4 Autism. So far, I’m accomplishing my goals and I’ve completed 15 of the 60 races.

Mess With The Calf And You Get The Bull
My weekend started a little earlier than I would have liked on Friday. We had an incident with Benjamin at school and I had an issue with how the school was managing his safety. I’m pretty big on protecting Ava, 4, my only daughter, and Jack, 6 1/2, my special-needs child. But nobody messes with Benjamin, 8 1/2, either.

I was in a pretty grumpy mood when I got to his school, but he was pretty happy to see me there, knowing I have his back. As a dad, it was a pretty cool feeling. I didn’t make any friends Friday afternoon, but I wasn’t trying to make any friends. Nobody hits my son and gets away with it. The end.

Proud To Be A Kansas State Wildcat
Most of you probably already know that I’m a K-State grad. We always say “It’s a great day to be a Wildcat!” after big wins, and then we often correct ourselves and say, “Win or lose, it’s always a great day to be a Wildcat!”

Last Thursday, we had an epic game against Xavier in the third round of the NCAA Tournament. I had a blast watching that game, but the double-overtime thriller probably took about 10 years off my life! We lost to Butler Saturday and narrowly missed advancing to the Final Four, but I’m still proud to be a Wildcat. I love my school and I’m glad I chose it.

This season was an unexpected surprise. If you would have told me in October we would have won three times as many Tourney games as rival Kansas, I would have never believed it.

As for the Final Four, I think I’m like about 90 percent of this country, pulling for Butler. I’d love to see a mid-major, with a coach who looks like he still gets carded for beer, win the whole thing. Plus, if the Cats are going to lose, let them lose to the eventual champs!

Good thing college basketball isn’t like college football. Otherwise, we’d be sitting around waiting for Kansas and Syracuse to play in about a month.

I’m Officially Settling Any Five Guys Vs. In-N-Out Debate
I ate Five Guys yesterday after the race. It was absolutely delicious. It was enough for lunch AND dinner.


This was very, very good.

One thing I really liked about Five Guys was that you can get mushrooms on the burger, a huge plus. The fries are pretty tasty, too. I got the cajun variety and they’re super salty, which I dig. They have Coke Zero on the fountain, another huge plus in my book.

The burger tasted like it came straight from my grill, and I was absolutely full afterwards. That says a lot, because I eat a ton, and I rarely get full on race days. All in all, it was a great meal.

That being said, In-N-Out is better. The portions aren’t as big, but bite-for-bite, it holds a slight edge. It’s kind of like a Ferrari beating a Viper in a race. They’re both fast. But one has to be faster. And In-N-Out is better than Five Guys. It’s just a solid burger, with slightly better quality and better vegetables. It’s also easier to eat. And as a tiebreaker, you get a better value for your dollar with In-N-Out. A meal costs about $6 there, vs. about $9 at Five Guys.

I know you were dying to get my analysis on the subject. So, you’re welcome.

Minor Details
I flew home through Atlanta last night. My plane was there on time for the 8:40 p.m. departure. The only thing missing was the pilot. We waited, and waited, and waited. Our on-time arrival time was scheduled for 10:41 and Orange County has an 11 p.m. curfew, so if you miss it, you get re-routed to Los Angeles and then bused down. It makes for a pretty late night, especially when you woke up at 2:10 a.m. Pacific time to get ready to run a marathon in the Eastern time zone.

By 8:40, we hadn’t even started boarding. We started getting on a little before 9 p.m., but then sat there on the tarmac for what seemed like forever. We FINALLY took off at 9:36 p.m. and once we were in the air, they told us we would land at 10:56. We touched down with a nice, rough landing at 10:45 p.m., and we didn’t have to go to LA, but it was a little closer than I would have liked.

The Joys of Technology
I told Tiff to text me or email me if she went to bed so I’d know not to call when we landed. When I powered on my phone, there was no text or email from her, so I sent her a note to let her know we landed safely. I waited a few minutes and didn’t hear from her, so I called her cell (I didn’t want to call the home phone and wake anybody up). About 10 minutes went by, and then I saw … a Facebook status update from her? So I changed my Facebook status to the following:

Sam is mad that Tiff won’t return his texts or calls, but is playing on Facebook. Maybe she’ll reply here? Hey babe, I landed safe, be home in 30!

Well apparently, her cell phone died, and she was just getting it charged back up when she responded to my text at about the same time I posted my status. So, I pulled it down. Only in 2010, huh?

The Joys of Technology, Pt. II
I don’t think I posted this last week, but this was pretty cool, so I figured I’d mention it. On my flight home from Virginia last week, I had a code for a free wi-fi session, so I was able to do all sorts of things — post a race report, update some code on the Operation Jack site, send emails and play around on Twitter and Facebook. But the coolest thing I did was do a video chat with my wife, Benjamin and Ava on iChat. Nothing like saying hi from 35,000 feet!


How cool is this?

Thank You Orler Family!
I met Bob Orler of Knoxville through Operation Jack and Twitter and he offered to put me up at his house over the weekend. I had a nice time hanging out with him, his wife and kids, his brother-in-law and his in-laws. We chatted for a while and watched a fair amount of basketball.

Bob ran his first marathon yesterday and couldn’t have picked a tougher course! We celebrated with Five Guys afterwards and then watched some more basketball. Not only does staying with a host family increase the amount that goes to Train 4 Autism — it makes the time away from my own family a little less lonesome. So thank you Bob and Jennifer!

By the time I’m through with my first 18 races of Operation Jack, I’ll have spent only five nights in motel rooms and nine nights in hosts’ homes.

That’s All For Today
Have a great Monday everybody! I know I say that every Monday, but that’s better than wishing you a lousy Monday right?

Race Report: Knoxville Marathon

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Run enough marathons and you’ll have some pretty good days. On the flip side of that, though, you’ll have some pretty tough days, too, like I did Sunday in the Knoxville Marathon. With full respect to the 26.2-mile distance, every one of my 43 marathons have been tough. Sunday was just a little bit tougher.

I headed into the race feeling pretty good. I’d been running hard during my training runs this week and I was ready for a good day. The course profile indicated a hilly, challenging course, but I wasn’t at all concerned. I had a ton of confidence heading in and I thought I’d be able to handle the hills pretty well. Boy, was I wrong. I might need a few days to fully reflect on this one, but I really think this was the toughest road course I’ve ever run.

The course itself was really nice. Very scenic (keyword for hilly?) and it wasn’t too crowded. The volunteers did a great job. I guess you’d probably expect that in the hometown of the University of Tennessee Volunteers, huh? I felt unusually tired this morning, despite getting 6 1/2 hours of sleep last night and 7 1/2 the night before (probably a record for me this year in the two nights prior to a marathon). I never really woke up too well before the 7:30 a.m. start (Eastern time), but I figured I’d snap into it once the gun went off.

We shot off straight up a hill, not a great way to get rolling in a marathon. I’ve been tinkering with my racing strategy, mixing it up between going by pace and heart rate. Early on this year, I went pretty fast by heart rate early, but struggled late in the races. I switched it up by trying to get myself into a groove during the first three miles and then monitoring by pace and heart rate, adjusting on the fly depending on how I felt.

Well, the reason I think this course was the toughest road course I’ve ever run is because with the mix of the climbs and the descents in the first half, it was absolutely impossible to get into a groove. The course really chewed me pretty nicely while I failed to find any kind of consistency.

Early on, the course was nice, running through the campus of the University of Tennessee, then through the town a little bit before turning into a very nice neighborhood. I really love seeing different communities during my races, and today was no different. Physically, I felt a little bit of a burn in my calves early, but that’s standard. Normally, I’m pretty warm by about four miles in and I lock into a zone.

I felt fine early enough, but since I couldn’t get any momentum, the race turned into a battle way earlier than I wanted it too. I knew there were some climbs late. I was mentally prepared to rough it out over the last hour. But not for the last 2 1/2 hours. To complicate things, I started to feel sick about five miles in. I really thought I was going to throw up. I have a Powerbar 15 minutes before the start of each race, but today, it wasn’t sitting well. I battled nausea until about mile 12.

I hit the half in about 1:38, knowing I was already off pace for a BQ. I figured I might be able to negative split the course, but I was starting to feel pretty beat up by then. My nausea went away, which allowed me to really notice the fatigue.

Still, at least the run was really nice. We spent about three miles in a wooded park, ran near a river, then headed through some parts of town that weren’t too nice. They weren’t totally ghetto, but I always like seeing all types of living on my runs. I think it’s interesting to see different lifestyles, and it makes me pretty grateful for everything I have.

As we started to creep up in the high teens, I knew I was probably looking at a 3:20 or so. My miles were creeping up a lot closer towards 8:00 and I didn’t have a whole lot. I was fatiguing pretty nicely and was really looking forward to the race ending. I don’t normally get like that until 4 or 5 miles later in the race.

We ran over a bridge, alongside a river, through a neighborhood, then back towards the campus. We ran through the downtown area, which was one of the coolest downtowns I’ve ever seen. It was big enough that you could tell there was plenty of activity there, but at the same time, it had a little bit of a small-town feel to it. Knoxville was a great city to run through. I really enjoyed it.

Heading for home, I was looking pretty closely at my watch, because I thought I needed about a 6:45 final mile to come in sub-3:20. I’d been watching my Garmin and it looked like I was going to end up running 26.35 with the tangents. I hit a pretty good pace at the end and probably covered that last mile in that time (mile 26 was 6:52 and the last bit to the finish was at a 6:18 pace), but I ended up running 26.4 and I had 3:20:27 on my Garmin.

The finish was pretty cool — it was the 50-yard line in Neyland Stadium, where the Volunteers play! The stadium seats 107,000 people, although only a few hundred were in there. Maybe a thousand? It was pretty sweet to look around and think about all the big-time players who have played in there. Peyton Manning … that’s enough, huh?

So, it was a tough course. I didn’t feel totally up to par (I don’t feel up to par at all this year, but I was even worse than normal) and I went 3:20. I guess nothing to really complain about. Thrilled about my time? No. But it’s not going to bug me on my flight home. And of course, I get another crack at it next weekend!

I’m actually 25 percent done with Operation Jack now. I guess that means I’m 75 percent not done! 15 down, 45 to go!


Here I am in the stadium, ducking out of the rain.