Operation Jack

Fighting autism, one mile at a time.

This Looks Like A Picasso!

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Earlier this week, Jack surprised us this by giving us a hug spontaneously. This morning, he surprised again with his artwork. He’s put some thought into what he’s doing on there in the past, writing “BEN” (his brother’s name) and drawing a clock. This was one of the better drawings we’ve seen, though, so I definitely took a picture! We continue to see progress with him. Maybe he’s reaping a reward from all the work I’m doing?

Here’s the picture he drew. He had a good morning. He stayed up in the playroom drawing and watching Up!, smiling and laughing the whole time. The past two mornings were filled with meltdowns, so this was a breath of fresh air!


He later drew a little hat, but he wrecked his drawing before I could get another picture!

Weekend Forecast
I’m not talking about the weather — I’m talking about my racing. But unfortunately, that’s going to force me to talk about the weather. I have a double this weekend, my second of the year, and I’m looking forward to the challenge. Saturday is the Diamond Valley Lake Marathon, which is run around a big lake about 70 miles from my home. This is my third time running it, and both times I’ve run it, I’ve won my age group. I’d like to make it three-for-three.

It’s definitely not going to be an easy run, though. The elevation rolls a little bit and there are a couple of short, steep climbs, but about 22 of the 26.2 miles are run on a dirt fire road. I’ll end up with a few pebbles in my shoes, which isn’t that big of a deal. I’m more concerned with the mud. It’s supposed to rain, which will make it tough. You can bet I’ll go all-out, though. I think I have a follower who’s running a marathon on Sunday who’s pledging a dollar for every minute faster I am than him in his race. I don’t have this 100 percent confirmed, but I’ll blog more about it on Monday.

I’ll start my Super Bowl Sunday with the Surf City Marathon for the fifth consecutive year. Well actually, it used to be called Pacific Shoreline, and the first time I ran the 1/2, but regardless, I’ve made it a habit of working off my calories that day well before I consume them. I’m the official 3:30 pacer for the race on Sunday, so my goal is a 3:29:59. Last year, I was the 3:30 pacer and went 3:29:57 on my Garmin, 3:29:54 chip time.

I take pacing pretty seriously. If I mess up my own race, that’s my own problem. But I don’t want to mess up anybody else’s race. I was only off the perfect time by five seconds last year, but I still hope to be closer this year.

What about 59 and an Ultra?
I got a crazy idea yesterday, but it’s still in the infancy stages. I haven’t even told my wife, which means she’s going to get mad when she reads this and she’ll call me and tell me I’m nuts. But I have a friend who’s an extremely good ultra runner (he’s run Badwater about four times, he runs 100-milers on a whim) and we were talking about Tahoe a little bit. The third day of the triple also gives you the option of a 72-miler instead of just a marathon.

So I was talking to him about us doing that together. I’m very passionate about raising money to help fight autism, and he’s very passionate about raising money to build wells in Africa. I’m thinking that if we did this the right way, we could help each other do very good things for both causes. But I don’t consider ultras to be marathons. Would I need to add another marathon to the schedule? Would I just call it 59+1? Am I just an idiot? I don’t know. I’ll figure it out at some point.

Pasta Dinner Saturday Night!
If you’re running Surf City, or if you’re in Southern California, come to the Operation Jack pasta dinner on Saturday night! We can actually accommodate a few more at the door than I thought. I’ll be there, Jack will be there, food will be there … what more could you possibly want?

Ice Cream Update
For most people, eating ice cream five days in a row would be an unusual binge. For me, though, it’s an indicator that I really messed up six days ago. I went with vanilla last night. Not glamorous, but it was good.

Thank You Deirdre Edwards!
I decided I’m going to try to thank somebody for something they’ve done for Operation Jack in every blog I write. So far, I’ve thanked Jake Rome, Erin Ruff and Danica Kooiman. Today, I’ll thank Deirdre Edwards. She’s always very supportive of what we’re trying to do and she always spreads the word on the social media outlets I interact with her on.

Early on, she helped design flyers for me and was able to obtain 14,000 two-sided, full-color flyers printed on a nice card stock for FREE! Those have really helped quite a bit! Also, she volunteered to help me out with the dirty work involved with Saturday’s pasta dinner, and I’m going to be working with her to help plan a future event.

Operation Jack takes a lot of work from a lot of people. I run myself into the ground, but I can’t do it all on my own. It’s nice to have people like Deirdre in my corner!

That’s All For Today
Have a great weekend everybody! Geaux Saints! And relax a little more than I will!

A Gift From Jack!

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Time drags on forever when you’re waiting on something — that extra day before your magazine comes in the mail, 15 extra minutes that you stand there waiting for your ride to pick you up, an hour sitting on the plane waiting for your delayed takeoff. Well yesterday, I finally got something I’d been waiting six years, four months and 16 days for … a hug from Jack!

I had already given him a kiss goodnight and I was downstairs making a phone call for work. As I sat there waiting on hold (those 10 minutes seemed like forever, too!), Tiff called me upstairs because I needed to see something. At bedtime, one of us typically lays next to Jack in his bed for five or 10 minutes, scratching his back or arms as he relaxes before going to bed. Well, last night, he put his arm around her up by her neck to hug her and wouldn’t let go. She wanted me to rush upstairs to see that, because he’s NEVER done that.

I got up to his room, and she wanted him to give her another hug, but he didn’t. After about a minute, though, he spontaneously looked at her and said “mommy”! He doesn’t do that. Ever. Tiff got pretty excited, and about 15 seconds later he looked over in my direction and said “daddy”! And no, he doesn’t ever do that, either!

We were completely shocked, in a good way. We know there’s something going on in there, and when something comes out, it’s exciting. We still look forward to the day that he talks with us and tells us what he’s thinking and interacts with us, Ben and Ava.

He wasn’t really giving Tiff a hug again, but I believed it. He wasn’t really letting her get up, so she asked him what he wanted. When we prompt him with “what do you want?” we usually get a muffled answer that helps us know what he wants. He’ll say “drink”,”chip”,”cookie”,”push play” and a few other things like that in his cute, muffled voice.

But last night, in response to the question, he said “I want Daddy”! As you can probably guess, that was the first time that ever happened, too. He didn’t have to ask twice. I went over to give him a hug, but he beat me to the punch, giving me the same neck-lock he gave Tiff a few minutes earlier. And he wouldn’t let go. He was giving me kisses and pulling me tight enough to bend my glasses a little bit. All the while, I still had the phone on hold, prepared to hang up if I actually got to a live person at that time.

That was the first hug I’ve ever gotten from him. It’s pretty hard to explain what it’s like to have virtually no emotional interaction from your child towards you for six years, but I’ve become pretty numb to it all. We’ve known that there are plenty of thoughts going on inside his head, but it’s really encouraging to see things like this. We know better days are ahead, and with signs like this, we’re still optimistic that they’re not too far off.

After a few minutes, he let go to go to sleep and I went downstairs, still listening to the hold music on my phone call. After a few minutes, I finally spoke to someone and resolved my issue. For once, I wasn’t bothered while waiting a few extra minutes.

I Thought This Would Be Easy!

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My body hates me. 5 1/2 hours of sleep Friday night, cross-country flying Saturday, 4 1/2 hours of sleep Saturday night, up at 12:30 a.m. (body time) Sunday morning to run a marathon in 70-degree, 96-percent-humidity weather, then a cross-country flight back. My flight back was delayed an hour while we were on the tarmac and when we got in, we waited on the tarmac again because there wasn’t an open gate. I had to get a little bit of work done when I got home, but I followed my day-after-a-marathon routine and got up bright and early this morning to run six miles. Am I an idiot?

I like to push myself, and as long as that keeps you entertained and coming back to follow Operation Jack, I’ll keep running myself into the ground. Yesterday’s race was a pretty difficult 3:20:03 in Miami (you can read about it here). I’m bummed about the time, but totally content with my effort. I wrecked myself out there.

This weekend should be easier. I get to sleep in my own bed! I just have to run two marathons, but big deal!

Early Intervention Is Critical
If your child is showing signs that they have autism, you have two paths you can take. One will make you feel better, but the other will make your child get better.

Early intervention is the key, and the family I stayed with this weekend is living proof of that. The father is an online running friend of mine and I spoke to him last summer when he first realized his son had autism. It’s natural for parents to want to live in denial, but that doesn’t do your child any good. The family I stay with knew to attack the problem head on and their son has made amazing progress.

Their 2-year-old had regressed and had no language as recently as last summer. But after all sorts of speech and behavioral therapy, he’s doing remarkably well. He’s talking up a storm, very engaged and he was pretty social with me. I’m so, so happy for him and for his parents. They’re great parents who would do anything for their kids and this story looks like it’s going to have a happy ending.

I always say that autism is like a knee injury. It might always be there beneath the surface, and there are varying degrees of severity, but the sooner you treat it, the better it will be long-term.

And while Jack is still straggly pretty badly, I can keep think about my brother Josh and the knee injury analogy. Josh was in a serious car accident when he was 16 and has had at least a half-dozen or so knee surgeries in the past 17 years. But he ran a half marathon in October, proof that you never say never.

Schedule Change
A lot of races are switching weekends this year, so I’m changing up my schedule. I was going to run Baltimore and Long Beach, but they each dropped back a weekend, conflicting with Kansas City and Denver, which I’m sticking with. So the weekend of October 9 and 10, I’m going to run Hartford and Chicago instead. Registration for Chicago opens today. If you’re going to run it, don’t delay and miss the boat!

Surf City Pasta Dinner
The Surf City Marathon is this weekend in Huntington Beach, Calif., and we’re going to have a pasta dinner the night before. We’re starting to get a pretty good turnout and I’d love to see you/meet you there. More details are available here. You need to confirm by about Wednesday, because we need to call in the head count to our caterer on Thursday. I hope to see you there!

How’s This For Ironic?
On the Delta flight I was on last night, the TV screen in the headrest in front of me mentioned that Delta was the official airlines of the Grammy Awards, which were on last night. The funny thing is, the show was on CBS and the satellite TV on the plane only gave us NBC. Go figure.

Thank You Danica Kooiman!
I’m trying to thank somebody in each of my blogs, because so many of you have done so many things to help Operation Jack. Today, it’s Danica Kooiman.

A lot of you know Danica because she sent you here in the first place. And that’s why I’m thanking her. Back in the summer when I was first getting going with this, she helped get the word out for me and gave me very helpful advice about using social media to help promote Operation Jack. That component has really made a big difference and she gave me a big jumpstart.

Actually, maybe I should curse her, because this is like a second full-time job now!

Ice Cream Update
I know I’m probably letting a lot of you down by announcing this, but my current ice cream streak is 1 day. I didn’t have any on Saturday, snapping a string of 101 consecutive days eating ice cream, frozen yogurt or gelato. I was only nine days shy of tying my personal best of 110 days. But I promise to work hard again to reach 111 for you guys.

That’s All For Today!
Have a great Monday (if there is such a thing)! See you tomorrow or Wednesday!

Race Report: ING Miami Marathon

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With 60 marathons on the schedule for this year, there’s no question I’m going to have challenging days that aren’t a whole lot of fun. Today was definitely one of those days. Running a marathon in Miami today seemed like a job, although I’m not complaining. It’s a pretty good job.

I knew heading into this race that it was going to be a challenging day. I didn’t sleep much Friday night (5 1/2 hours), flew cross country Saturday, didn’t sleep a whole lot Saturday night (4 1/2 hours) and woke up at 3:30 a.m. for the 6:15 start. That’s 12:30 a.m. Sunday morning my body time with 10 hours of sleep the two nights before!

I actually felt decent, but the weather was not at all conducive to running a marathon. It was about 70 degrees with 96 percent humidity at the start. It was really muggy and people around me were sweating before the start. I was convinced it would be a long, miserable day, but I didn’t fear it. My plan was to run by heart rate, keep my body under control.

I got rolling and I felt OK to start, but I felt really warm. There was nothing at comfortable about the run, but my legs were moving OK. I started to warm up pretty quickly and knew my suspicions were coming true. It was quickly turning into a difficult day and I knew I would have to take really good care of myself to not wreck myself.

I feel like I did a fairly good job of that. I knew I wouldn’t run a 3:07 like I did last week, but I wanted to at least get as much out of myself as I could. I was consistently running in about the 7:30 range. That’s all I had. I was feeling really warm and didn’t want to blow up.

The course was pretty nice. It started going through busier parts of Miami. We ran past a row of 8-10 cruise ships in port, then went through South Beach, and I think we hit downtown before the half. I’m not certain on my Miami geography, but it’s always fun to take a foot tour of a new city and see things I wouldn’t ordinarily see. I hit the half in 1:38, but didn’t feel bad. I wasn’t fatiguing too bad and I was maintaining pretty well.

The second half of the race went mostly through more residential areas, which I enjoyed. I like seeing neighborhoods in new cities. I started to slow a tiny bit in the high teens. 7:28s were turning into 7:34s. I thought I was looking at a 3:17 or 3:18, but I really started to struggle starting at about 22. My miles were pretty close to 8 minutes or so and I was giving it all I had.


Me and my friend/host Tim McDuffee after the race. He went 2:53 in that humidity … now that’s fast!

I could feel a sub-3:20 slipping away, but I had nothing. By 24, I knew I was cooked and I was going to be close to that 3:20. I pushed and pushed, and felt very confident that I was giving it everything I had. It’s very important to me to give 100 percent in all of my races.

I tried to go a little harder at 25, but my body had nothing for me. I kept pushing and pushing and knew I’d be close. I saw the finish line about 1/4 mile in advance and gave it another try, and didn’t have much of an answer. I crossed the line 3:20:03 after I went through the start.

I don’t like the time a whole lot, but I’m completely comfortable with my effort. I stayed with a friend of mine who went 2:45 on the same course last year, but went 2:53 today and thinks he ran better. I know it was a tough day and I know I gave it my all. I think I finished about 145th and there were somewhere around 5,000 starters in the marathon. Not horrible, I guess. But the weather was.

So, that’s 6 out of 60 for Operation Jack. Next up, Diamond Valley and Surf City next weekend.

Who Can Answer A One-Word Question For Me?

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I’m doing my thing here, writing my blog and eating my ice cream and running my races. And at the same time, a lot of you are out there pounding the pavement, spreading the word and raising money and awareness for Operation Jack and Train 4 Autism. I appreciate it tremendously, but I have one question that I hope you can answer. Why?

Don’t get me wrong — I’m very, very glad you’re here. But I want to know why you’re here. Do you have expectations? Hopes? Is it for you? Me? Somebody else? I’m doing the carnival trick, running (well, at least attempting to run) 60 marathons this year. But nothing is possible without the grassroots support y’all are providing. So I want to provide you with what you’re looking for. Maybe it’s just jokes in a blog. Maybe it’s running advice. Maybe it’s some kind of inspiration if you’re a parent of a child with autism. Maybe you need help training for your first marathon.

Whatever it is, I want to give it to you. Even if you just come by to read the blog, I’d love to know that. Please, please, please help me out today and let me know. If you don’t feel comfortable leaving a comment publicly on the blog, please just fill out the Contact Us form or drop me an email. Let me know why you’re here! That’s not too much to ask, right?

EDIT: I think what I’m really asking is what you expect/hope for when you support or follow Operation Jack. That’ll teach me to write a blog when I’m fall-asleep tired!

Weekend Forecast
This weekend, I’m running the ING Miami Marathon. It should be an extremely exhausting weekend. Fly out Saturday, fly back Sunday. From California, that’s quite a haul. I don’t know if I’d call it a quick weekend or a long weekend, but I’m thinking it’s going to be a combination of both and Monday morning I’ll be tired.

From what I’ve seen, it’ll be a little warmer in Miami than the rest of the races I’ve run this year. I don’t think I’ve been in temps above 45 degrees at the start and it should be in the 60s Sunday. That’s getting to the point of warm, and mixed in with the humidity, it might not be an incredibly comfortable day. But the race is supposed to be pretty flat and it’s at sea level, so that should help.

I have no idea what kind of time to expect, but whatever it is will be the best I can do. Maybe I’ll be too tired to feel any pain. The race goes off at 6 or 6:30 a.m., which is 3 (or 3:30) a.m. body time for me. I’m sure I’ll be sleeping on the plane.

Ice Cream Update
I hit triple digits last night! 100 days in a row now with ice cream or frozen yogurt, just 10 days shy of my personal best. Peanut butter fudge swirl, my personal favorite, was the flavor of the night.

Thank You Erin Ruff!
OK, so in my last blog, I said I’d thank somebody different in every blog where I discuss multiple topics. So today, I’m thanking Erin Ruff. Erin is a friend of mine and one of my biggest cheerleaders. She’s really supportive of what I’m doing and emails me here and there with positive feedback. You know how there are certain people you get emails from and you get excited to open them up? Yeah, Erin’s emails fall into that category.

Anyways, she is the one who suggested I contact the Orange County Register for their Morning Read feature. I did, then corresponded with an editor, then followed up a little later, and the next thing I knew, I heard from a reporter and this story ran on the front page of the paper last week! When it finally made it up, I dropped her a line and told her it was all her fault! That article worked out well, though, and was really nice to read. So Erin, thank you!

That’s All For Today
Have a great weekend everybody! I’ll try to get my race report posted before my flight on Sunday. If it’s not up by 4 p.m. Eastern/1 p.m. Pacific, I’ll have it up late that night (10 p.m. Pacific). Happy Friday!