Operation Jack

Fighting autism, one mile at a time.

Race Report: Gasparilla 15K and 5K

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I’m unfazed when I look at my schedule of 60 marathons this year. They’re not easy, but I don’t dread them. But I was certainly not looking forward to a pair of races I had this morning — a 15K and a 5K. Those distances are tough!

I ran the races as part of the Gasparilla Distance Classic in Tampa, Fla. Tomorrow, I’ll run the marathon. Here’s a quick race report for the 15K and the 5K.

15K
Shorter races like a 15K are difficult, because in order for me to earn a time that I’m capable of, I have to run very hard for a considerable amount of time. It’s not an endurance test — it’s a speed test. And it’s a pretty tough burn.

I really hate 10Ks. They’re by far my least favorite distance to run. I had never run a 15K before today, so I didn’t really know what to expect. I figured it would be a little bit less painful than a 10K, but since it’s 50 percent longer, I was thinking it would just be a long, slow death.

The 15K came first today at 7 a.m., which was 4 a.m. body time for me. I was a little on the sleepy side, which might have been good. Maybe I’d be too tired to feel the pain! The race calculators said I should probably have run somewhere mid-1:01. I’m not very good at shorter distances, and I’m obviously not 100 percent considering I’ve run 10 marathons this year, so I was really hoping I could run sub-1:02. That would have been a good confidence boost. In reality, I thought I was probably going to run a 1:04.

I wasn’t concerned as much about my heart rate like I normally am, because I don’t know what I’m supposed to run a 15K at. I just tried to keep my average pace below 6:40. We took off and I was moving pretty well on the pancake-flat course, so I gradually pushed my heart rate up and didn’t worry about my pace.

I hit the first mile in 6:19, knowing I wouldn’t hold that pace, but my average heart rate was only 160, so I wasn’t worried. It was time in the bank, although banking time is never a strategy I use. I knew my pace would creep, I just didn’t know how bad.

I went 6:36, 6:48, 6:49 and 6:48 in the next three miles, settling into a pretty good groove. I didn’t feel any terrible fatigue and my legs were turning pretty consistently. I didn’t feel any slow stretches. I knew I wasn’t going to be turning 6:40s, but I felt decent and I didn’t feel any kind of a fade.

Miles 6-7-8 went 7:01, 6:58, 6:54. The course was basically an out-and-back on a road along a bay called Bayshore and coming back, there was a little bit of a headwind. Light, but it was there. Looking at my miles and knowing I had a headwind for 4-5-6, I’m thinking my output and effort was very consistent for six consecutive miles.

At about 8.3 miles, I heard a techno version of “These Boots Are Made For Walking” coming from a setup along the course and for whatever, my body decided it was time to roll. I thought it was early, but my body was going against my mind’s advice. I started thinking that if I bonked a little bit at the end, at least I’d know I left it all out there. I went 6:38 that mile, passing several people and not really getting passed a whole lot.

The last .37 on my Garmin was at a 6:07 pace. A little bit of a kick, but not huge. I crossed the line in 1:03:02, a time I can live with. I’m not a speed guy, I’m not tapered, I’m not fresh, and I missed where I should be by about seven seconds a mile. I took it as a confidence boost.


That’s me on the right after the 15K. Wait, no … I’m in the middle.

5K
I was really not looking forward to the 5K after the 15K. 5Ks are tough, because you have to run so fast, but they’re over pretty quick. My PR is 19:20, more proof that, considering my marathons I’ve run, I’m not a speed guy. That race was in October 2008, and on that same course in 2009, I ran a 20:31 or something like that. I missed five weeks of running last summer with an ankle injury, and I had a miserable time fighting my way back. I’m not all the way there yet, but I’m getting pretty close.

Anyways, I had several thoughts about my goals. I think I’m pretty strong right now, even if I’m fatigued, and I wasn’t ruling out a PR. I had a donation offer if I beat 19:30, so I wanted to do that. But what I really wanted to do, because I didn’t want to have unreasonable expectations, was to go sub-20. That would give me a pretty good indication that I’m doing pretty well and getting back into shape. No way would I get 100 percent out of myself in this race, because I was 90 minutes removed from a 5K, six days removed from a marathon, etc. But I really expected at least a sub-20.

It was chilly (mid-40s) and started to rain a few minutes before the race. It wasn’t a torrential downpour, but it was definitely heavier than sprinkles. Coming through the start, I got pretty frustrated for the first 3/4 of a mile or so. WAY too many people started in the wrong place, and I had to keep dodging. I don’t demand that people don’t wear iPods during races, but I get mad when they start up front when they know they shouldn’t, then can’t hear when I’m coming up on them. The road was also a little slick. Not icy slick, but I could definitely feel that it was a touch slippery.

I needed about a 6:15 pace for the race, and I knew if I wasn’t anywhere close to that for the first mile, it was going to be a frustrating race. I went 6:26, and knowing I was 11 seconds in the hole just like that, I figured all I had to chase was sub-20. I didn’t really feel the burn like I normally do in a 5K, but I didn’t have anything to really go with. Mile 2 is usually my worst mile in a 5K, but it wasn’t difficult today, even though I only ran a 6:39. I really didn’t have anything to go with and I could tell that sub-20 was slipping away pretty quickly. Mile 3 was only 6:42.

It was becoming pretty obvious to me that I was going to struggle to even catch my 20:31. I kicked at a 6:00 pace for the final .13, but it was too little, too late. 20:33. I’m pretty hard on myself for my individual performances, but I was very disappointed with this one. I know it doesn’t mean much in regards to my marathoning, but I just wasn’t very happy.

What Does It All Mean?
Hmmm, well, I got two medals to give to my kids. And two tech shirts to give to anybody who wants them. I wasn’t happy with my speed today, but I was pretty happy that I didn’t fade much. All in all, I’d say I can walk away from these two races with a little bit of a confidence boost as I head into tomorrow’s Gasparilla Marathon.

Weekend Preview: I GUARANTEE a PR!

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It’s not my style to get bold or make outlandish predictions, but I absolutely guarantee that I will set a new personal best this weekend. I will come back here and say I told you so, because I know I will get the job done. As long as I don’t sleep through my alarm and I get to the start line, I will come home with a PR. You heard it here first, period.

Of course, I’m not talking about my marathon on Sunday. I’m talking about my 15K on Saturday. I know I’ll set a PR because it’s my first-ever 15K. This weekend is a triple, in a way. I’m heading out to Tampa for the Gasparilla Marathon. I’ll be running the 15K on Saturday morning at 7 a.m., a 5K at 9:30 a.m. and then the full marathon Sunday morning at 6 a.m.

15K
I’ve never run a 15K before and I’m not really looking forward to this. You might be wondering why I’d dread a race that’s only 9.3 miles when I race 26.2 every weekend. Well, it’s simple. To get a time that’s respectable for my ability, I have to run pretty fast — considerably faster than I run in a marathon. And I have to keep that pace up for 9.3 miles!

I’ll tell anybody who asks that a 10K is my least-favorite distance to race, because it’s basically a sprint for 6.2 miles. I’m thinking that this 15K is going to be pretty tough for me. I’m not good at the shorter stuff. Just going off of my best marathon time this year, 3:07:21, the race calculators say I should be able to run a 19:13 5K and a 39:55 10K. I haven’t hit either of those times, yet I’ve actually run a marathon more than seven minutes quicker than my best time this year.

My 5K PR is 19:20. My 10K PR is 40:39. Add them together and you get 59:59. The calculators say, based off my 3:07:21 in Carlsbad, that I should be able to run a 1:01:52 (6:38/mile). I’m going to set my goal at sub-1:02 (1:01:59 or better), but I don’t think I’ll hit it. I’ll certainly try, though.

Whatever my time is, it’ll be a PR, like I promised!

5K
I’ll have just under 90 minutes after the end of the 15K before I run the 5K. That’s just enough time to get some stiff legs and lose motivation. I don’t dread 5Ks as much as 10Ks, but they’re hard, too. Running 3.1 miles isn’t tough for me. But doing it so hard that my lungs just about burn is a challenge.

I guess racing at any distance is tough. I’m trying to remember why I do this? Maybe it’s the ice cream and the In-N-Out, I don’t know. But whatever the case, I come up short in 5Ks. My best was 19:20 on a pancake-flat course in 2008, although on that same course last year, I went 20:30. In all fairness, I was coming off and injury and was fighting to regain speed when I was slow last fall. But I’m not positive I’d go much quicker than 20 flat right now.

I’m going to be aiming to go as fast as I can. I have no idea what’s in me. I think I’m getting faster with the 26.2 miles of hard running I’m doing every weekend, but I’m not 100 percent. If that speed is there, maybe I can fight through the pain for 20 lousy minutes? 5Ks are interesting. I get rolling and my wheels turn almost effortlessly that first mile, then I fight through a burn in the second mile, and I finally watch my time slip away over that last mile. A 5K is one race where it’s actually OK to go out “too fast” and I certainly push it.

That all being said, my A goal is to PR (19:19), my B goal is to go sub-19:30 and my C goal is sub-20. I’ll be disappointed if I don’t go sub-20. That doesn’t mean I’ll be capable of that on Saturday given the proximity of that race to the 15K and 10 marathons this year, but I’ll still be disappointed. I expect to be able to produce a time in the 19s.

Marathon
I think I’m going to take a different approach on Sunday. Typically, I run by heart rate, take what the course gives me, and try to get as much as I can out of my body. This year has been a string of races that have been a little bit disappointing, but not by a lot. I have a 3:12, two 3:13s and a 3:15 sticking in my mind, but my 3:07 is where I want to be.

So, I think I’m going to switch it up this weekend. I know the course is pretty flat. Every course is going to have some rolling changes, but from what I know, this is a pretty level track. Instead of running by heart rate, I’m just going to go out and run by pace and try to stay in the 7:00-7:10 range. Nothing faster, regardless of what the course allows.

I’m not tremendously concerned about the impact of the 15K and the 5K and I’m curious to see if I can get myself in a good groove. I think it’s possible, but there’s only one way to find out. If I knock off miles in that range and stay consistent, I should be back in that 3:07 range. The weather and the course look favorable for me, so that’s what I’m going to try to do.

I get a lot of positive feedback when I turn a 3:12 or a 3:15, but I feel like I owe 3:0X finishes. I’d like to get a little bit of confidence back. I know I can run sub-3:10s and I want to start doing that consistently again. Fatigue is not a good enough excuse for me. In 2008, I went 3:06, 3:04 and 3:09 on a Sunday and then the following Saturday and Sunday. I know I have it in me, so I want to pull it out.

So, my A goal Sunday is 3:07:20 (new best for the year), B goal is 3:09:59 and C goal will be 3:12:37 (would be second-fastest of the year). I just feel like it’s time to step it up and produce better results.

And of course, I’m doing it in Tampa, the home course for Jen Morgan. As I mentioned yesterday, I’m really appreciative for everything she’s done for Operation Jack and I want to come up big in her race.

So that’s all I have. I’ll post a race report for the 15K and 5K on Saturday, but I don’t expect to have one for the marathon posted until that evening when I get back to California.

Have a great weekend, everybody! Thank you for your support!

OJ Update: Another Piece In Place

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To me, it’s fitting that one of the symbols of the fight against autism is a puzzle piece. This morning, I realized that I have no idea what kind of impact Operation Jack will have or what the bigger picture of what I’ve done will look like at the end of the year. But it’s like putting together a puzzle. I’m assembling it one bit at a time, and yesterday, I snapped another nice piece in.

Chapters Aren’t Only In Books!
So this is where I take a moment to thank Alicia Verburg and hope she inspires at least one of you! Alicia is a fellow marathoner and the parent of cute son who has autism. Late last week, she posted comments on one of my blogs, which included the following:

So happy for you guys and totally inspired by your journey. I want to get involved with Train 4 Autism but not sure where to start. What can I do?

Well the answer to that question was simple — I asked her to start a chapter! Well, maybe I begged her.

The biggest thing to do to really help would be to join Train 4 Autism and start a chapter. My biggest goal with Operation Jack is to help T4A grow, so bringing people in all over the country is the biggest thing I’m trying to accomplish. It’s not a huge responsibility and we have people who will help you out. Believe me, it’s a LOT easier than you might think.

And, just like both times I asked Tiffany to marry me, she said yes! So I think this is the fourth new chapter that has spawned as a result of Operation Jack. And that, at the core of it all, is why I’m running 60 marathons this year — because people like Alicia, who otherwise might not have ever heard of Train 4 Autism, are now chapter presidents!

I have no idea who reads this blog, but I know it’s a lot more of you than I hear from, because I keep an eye on the traffic numbers. Some of you are runners and some of you are affected by autism. I get a fair amount of feedback and quite a few of you have told me that you’re inspired by what I’m doing. I know that for every one of you who speaks up and tells me something, there are 10 more of you thinking the same thing but remaining silent.

If you’re one of the silent types out there, and you think what I’m doing is kind of cool and you want to join in somehow, PLEASE consider starting a chapter! It’s super, super simple, I swear! We have people who will help you out and there’s not a ton to do. Maybe man a table at a local autism walk. Or try to build a team for a local 5K. You don’t have to run 60 marathons. You don’t have to raise any certain amount. We know that any help we get is help we didn’t have, so we’d love to have you and we promise we won’t complain!

Alicia filled out the New Chapter Form. If you fill it out, you’ll give me a huge psychological boost for this weekend!

Help Me Clean My Garage!
I have a whole bunch of Operation Jack t-shirts, tech shirts and sweatshirts in the garage. I really like the sweatshirts. I guess I like the t-shirts and tech shirts, too, but I really like the sweatshirts. Anyways, I need to get rid of them! Well, I guess that’s a weak way to solicit donations, but take a look at the levels on the Sponsors page and see if you’re interested.

I’d love to have you walking around wearing Operation Jack gear! That reminds me — if I owe you clothing and you haven’t gotten it, send me an e-mail and I’ll make sure it’s in the shipment we send out this week. Tiff and I aren’t flawless at our routine of sending stuff out, but we’re getting better.

Cleveland Anybody?
I’m really trying to make a big push for a good turnout in Cleveland on May 16. We’re about three months out, so it’s starting to get close to that time where you need to start thinking about it if you’re going to run it. They have a 5K on May 15, plus a 1/2 marathon and a marathon on May 16. I have discount codes if you go to my Cleveland page. PLEASE make sure you use the code when you register.

If you’re going to be there and you can bring anybody out, even for the 5K, that would be a big help for what we’re trying to accomplish there! I have 60 races this year, and this is one I’m really trying to make a big push for. So be there! Or tell somebody you know to be there! Or be there and tell somebody you know to be there!

Thank You Jen Morgan!
OK, so in each Wednesday blog, I’m thanking somebody who’s helped Operation Jack. And I guess I kind of already thanked Alicia today, but I’m really trying to use her as an example to get you guys inspired to start a chapter!

So instead of settling with my thanks to Alicia, today I’ll throw out a big gracias to Jen Morgan. Jen likes to be called Morgan, but I like to call her Captain — it’s a rum thing. Anyways, she is really, really enthusiastic about what I’m trying to do. She did a great job fundraising, she’s been very supportive for a good six months or so, and she’s worked pretty hard to spread the word.

I finally get to meet her in person on Friday in Tampa! She’s running Gasparilla with me this weekend and she’ll be wearing her own custom-made Operation Jack shirt. She’s really fired up and makes me feel like a rock star. I’ve told her plenty of times that she’s going to be severely disappointed when we meet, but that’s her problem! I know it’s going to be a treat for me to meet her and I’ve been looking to Tampa for a while because I know she’s going to be there. For somebody I’ve never met, I couldn’t ask for anything more than all she’s done over the past several months.

So Captain, Jen, Redhead Running, Morgan, or whatever you want to be called … thank you!

That’s All For Today!
I write my blogs the night before, and it’s Tuesday night as I write this and I’m getting kind of hungry for some ice cream. This streak of eating ice cream isn’t going to jump to 24 days on its own — I need to get over to my couch and have myself some peanut butter fudge swirl! Have a great Wednesday, everybody! I’ll be back tomorrow with a weekend forecast!

When A Great Weekend Isn't A Great Thing

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I had a great weekend. I spent plenty of time with the kids, got some work done in the garage, hung out with the wife, visited my grandparents, ran a marathon and even took a nap on the couch. It was wonderful! And that made me miserable.

I had been looking forward to this weekend for a while — it was my third weekend staying home this year and for the first time I wasn’t overwhelmed with planned Operation Jack activities. But by the time I woke up for my race on Sunday morning, I was totally bummed about how much I enjoyed Saturday because it made me realize what I’m missing every other weekend.

I have naysayers who think this is the wrong thing for me to do, and for the first time, I understood why. It would be so nice to do these things every weekend, like just about every other dad in America. But I’m spending my weekends everywhere but home. I woke up on Sunday morning and was sad for the first time this year. It’s tough being away, but it’s really tough being home and realizing what you’re missing when you’re away.

I got ready for my race in the comfort of my own home while everybody was sleeping, even the dogs. On my way out the door, I went and checked on Jack and covered him up, because he’d slipped out from his blanket. I gave Benjamin and Ava a kiss on the cheek — they were camping out in the playroom in their sleeping bags and they looked so cute! I went and gave Tiff a kiss on the cheek and told her I’d be safe and take care of myself, as I always do when I’m leaving before a race.

And then I got in my car and made the drive to Pasadena, completely unmotivated to run. I had my upbeat pre-race CD in the car and that didn’t even do the trick. I got to the race and just kind of roamed around aimlessly until the start. It seemed like all work, no play. I didn’t want to run. It was pretty miserable.

But somewhere along the way, it just kind of snapped for me. I thought back to my fifth marathon ever, the 2007 Carlsbad Marathon. That was one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had in a race. In my previous marathon, a runner died at the finish, and that shook me up. So in my next race, that run at Carlsbad, I went out and ran scared. I held back, afraid of not dying. It was absolutely miserable. I swore to myself during mile 24 of that race that I’d never run another marathon, but that changed about an hour after the finish, when I knew I didn’t want to dwell on that race forever. So I ran the Pacific Shoreline Marathon (now Surf City) two weeks later, 16 minutes faster. I got my groove back.

That mindset I had on that drive home from Carlsbad is similar to the mindset I had early on during Sunday’s race in Pasadena. At some point, I broke out of my funk and knew that I need to be all-in mentally. I know that as a family, we’re taking care of everything and moving along just fine. So I need to stick away from my short-term emotional swings and just keep rolling forward, chasing my goal of helping Train 4 Autism grow.

So, to wrap up this “Dear Diary” moment, that’s how a good weekend can actually be a miserable weekend. As I keep saying, the running is the easiest part of all this. I just need to keep my head up and my eyes focused straight ahead. Ten down, 50 to go!

Weekend Recap: Home Sweet Home!

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I got to stay at home for the third time this year, but for the first time, I didn’t have any extra-curricular functions on the schedule. My first home weekend, for the Carlsbad Marathon, I had a dinner on Friday night and a lunch on Sunday. Two weeks ago for the Diamond Valley/Surf City double, I had to put on a pasta dinner as a fundraiser, which totally consumed me. This weekend? The Pasadena Marathon and plenty of time with my family. Oh, and Jack did something really cool yesterday. Not a bad weekend!

Real quick first, I ran the Pasadena Marathon yesterday. Kind of a so-so performance.

Weekend Kickoff: Hyperbaric Chamber, a 100K Race and the Pasadena Marathon Expo
I kicked off the weekend with a visit to Advanced Hyperbarics with Jack for a session in the hyperbaric chamber. Lucky for me, we watched Monsters, Inc. instead of the Sesame Street counting video he normally picks. Tiff teased me on Twitter about the Sesame Street video, but too bad — I lucked out!

After that, Jack and I went to visit my friend Rachel, who was busy running winning a 100K race (yes, that’s 62 miles!). She was sporting her Operation Jack shirt. Yeah! She was pleasantly surprised to see us and I was pleasantly surprised that I only had to wait about 30 seconds after I got there to see her! We chatted for a minute, then Jack and I headed off to the Pasadena Marathon expo to get my stuff — his first “appearance” at anything Operation Jack-related this year. So, we got a picture.


It’s tough to get Jack to look at the camera. But that’s OK. He’s still awesome!

I Got To Do Some Dad Stuff Saturday
Yeah, that means eating my lunch on the couch in front of the TV, dozing for about 20 minutes, then going out to work in the garage. The mission this weekend was to go through a bunch of old storage boxes I had out there and get rid of old junk. I found some stuff I’ll probably sell on eBay, I got rid of a ton of junk, and I also found some cool memories from my childhood.

The project is far from finished, but I made good progress, which made Tiff happy. And when Tiff’s happy, I’m happy! Here’s the coolest of the cool stuff I found:


The cleats were game-worn by my all-time hero, Brian Downing. The hat was also game worn by Jim Abbott. He gave it to me straight from his head after the last game of the 1990 season.

Ultimate Post-Race Meal
Yesterday afternoon, I went with the wife and kids to eat at Souplantation (Sweet Tomatoes in other parts of the country) with my grandparents. If you’ve been following along, you know I beat my grandma in our 22nd-annual Super Bowl bet this year. And you also know that she woke me up with a hilarious phone call last week in Austin inquiring about this lunch.

Well, post-race, I can’t think of anything better to eat than an all-you-can-eat buffet of food that can actually be pretty healthy if you want it to be. ESPECIALLY with good company! We had a blast, I got full (which says a lot) and all three kids were very well behaved. We really had a great time.


Me with one of my owners at Souplantation yesterday.

After lunch, we went over to my grandparents’ house for a little bit. My grandma picked out some outfits for the kids that she wanted to give us. For 85 55, she does a pretty good job picking things out!

Anyways, she LOVES penguins. At my first race of Operation Jack, the Texas Marathon in Kingwood, Texas on January 1, they gave us a stuffed penguin with a number around the neck. The number indicated what your overall finishing place was. I was seventh overall, so mine had a “7”. Actually, I shouldn’t say “mine” … I should say “my grandma’s,” because I knew I was going to give it to her before I even got it. She was totally thrilled and of course, we took a picture together.


Me and my grandma with her penguin.

Jack Did Something Super Cool!
I’m hoping I can explain this in less than 1,000 words. OK, Jack was in his therapy session last night, and he was drawing on a piece of paper and then running to look at it in the bathroom mirror. He’d get over there and shout what it was with big-time enthusiasm. The first time, it was “TWO!” and then it was “FIVE!”. Me and his therapist noticed the numbers were written backwards, so we watched to him, because we thought he was intentionally writing the numbers in reverse so they would show up correctly in the mirror.

Sure enough, he drew a “10” on a doodle pad and ran over to look at it in the mirror and shout “TEN!” Wow … I was shocked! I had a camera nearby, so I snapped a quick picture. I love the expression on his face … he’s so overwhelmed with excitement!

The 1 wasn’t just a straight line — he made the little whatever you call it at the top go in the right direction. And if you look at the words above the number, they say “Doodle Time” and you can tell they go in reverse. There’s no question he knew what he was doing, and that actually takes some pretty good thinking to make that happen. Beneath it all, he’s a sharp kid. We’re going to keep working our butts off to chip off that outer layer!


I LOVE this picture!

That’s All For Today!
Have a great Monday (if possible). It’s been fun writing about my nice weekend, but tomorrow I’ll be talking about why a nice weekend is so difficult for me.