I’ve been off-and-on, hit-and-miss for most of this year. I had a good race in Boston, a decent race in Orange County, and a pretty lousy year aside from that. But I have one last chance to salvage 2009 in Tucson on Sunday. This is my last chance until 2011 to just go out, run hard and not worry about anything else.

Tucson is one of my favorite courses. It’s downhill, so it can be incredibly fast. But it’s like the Golden Goose. You don’t want to kill it. This will be my fourth year running it. The first year, when I was in shape to run 8:20 miles, I tried to run 7:15s and the Goose was cooked by 18. There’s nothing quite like running eight miles with legs that feel like they’re made out of bricks.

In 2007, I ran the fastest race of my life, a 3:00:05, by cruising perfectly down the hill. I was in good shape and locked in a zone. I think I ran better in Boston this year, but I’d still rate my 2007 run as one of the top 3 runs of my life.

Last year, I wore the wrong shoes (bad choice — lightweight racers, but I’m a heavy guy) and didn’t have the support I needed for the pounding the downhills issue. My legs were in excruciating pain for the last 24 miles. That was the most painful, miserable run I’ve ever had.

So, I’ve run Tucson three times. Twice I ended up in miserable pain, but the run in the middle was my fastest marathon to date. Feast or famine, I guess. But I’m excited about it. My goal is sub-3. I’ve been chasing it for a while and one of these days I’m going to get it. I don’t really think I’m going to get it, but I’m certainly going to try. I need to average a 6:52/mile pace and I have reasons to think I can do it.

My fitness over the past eight weeks or so has been getting back to where it was last year and when I ran Boston. I spent five weeks off this summer with a sprained ankle, and when I came back, I was pretty slow. My long runs that used to take 8 minutes per mile were taking 9, and I was cutting them short to 24 or 25 miles and walking at the end. But my last one was 26.75 at 7:56/mile. Also, my training runs are a lot closer to where they were. I’m feeling quicker in the mornings. I’m running a tiny bit quicker than I was in the spring, but I’m also running a tiny bit harder.

I’ve run stretches in the 6:30-6:45 range and they feel fairly natural. A little bit tough, but not like a sprint. By feel, a marathon isn’t going to be like a sprint or a 10K, but it’s definitely a tough run. I don’t feel like it’s out of the question. My weight is borderline where I want it to be. I was 197 yesterday morning. I’d rather be 195, but I’m not going to sweat it. I was 204 or so about a month or two ago, so I know that’s a plus. No sense carrying dead weight.

But, I’m not anywhere near peak condition. I haven’t done a ton of speedwork, I haven’t trained all that hard and I haven’t been tremendously focused. I know I’m hedging, but I really think anything is possible on Sunday. I could get the sub-3, but I think if I set an over/under on my time for Vegas, I’d set it at about 3:12. I just don’t feel like I’m fast enough right now. I’m not worried, though. I’ll be doing 26.2-mile marathon-pace workouts every week next year. I’m pretty sure I’ll get quicker!

Take a guess at what time you think I’ll run. I’ll send whoever’s closest an Operation Jack t-shirt. Speaking of Operation Jack t-shirts, they’re in and everybody seems to like them. If you want, check out the donation levels and get yourself one!

You Think I’m Nuts? Check Her Out!
OK, I feel totally lucky that I get to meet so many great people through Operation Jack. Maybe that’s one privilege I get by running myself into the ground. One person I’ve met is Ally Phillips from Dallas. Super nice, new marathoner, and really excited about helping Operation Jack. It absolutely blows my mind how people want to push so hard to help. I’m actually pretty shy about it and I don’t really feel worthy. But I really appreciate it. Check out what she’s doing in her blog today. Thanks, Allie! I’ll have my wife bake you some of her cookies when you come out for Catalina.

I Need 30 Seconds Of Your Help By Friday!
I’ve been pushing this, but I REALLY need your help by Friday! I’m sure you know by the annoying announcement I have on the page, and maybe you’ve already voted, but there’s a contest being put on by Chase that’s going to award $25,000 to 100 different charities nationwide. The winning charities will be the top vote-getters at a Facebook group page. So, this is a way you can really help out in less than a minute. Just take the following three steps:

1. Click HERE to go to the Chase Community Giving page on Facebook and join the group.
2. VOTE FOR OPERATION JACK.
3. (Optional, of course) Click the button to post in on your wall and tell your friends.

You’re all here because you believe in Operation Jack. Take a minute and help this thing go viral. 100 charities are going to get a huge holiday bonus. Let’s be one of them!

Facebook Changes
You might be a fan on the Facebook page, but we’re moving our Facebook home to a new group page. This will make it easier to communicate with you. I’m not going to spam you, but I’ll probably send brief updates periodically. Messaging will be more effective than having things fly down your news feed, so I’m going to use the group. Make sure you’re over there at here (or click on the Facebook button on this page).

And going back to that contest and going viral, PLEASE, if you have friends in your address book on Facebook who might be interested in Operation Jack, please send them an invite to join the group!

That’s All For Today!
I probably won’t write anything tomorrow, so have a great weekend! Ice cream streak is up to 50 days now, in case you’re curious!

Last Thursday, my wife was in a local mall and she saw three women in their 40s, each taking care of a young adult in their early 20s with an obvious mental development delay. These women were caretakers, not parents. Tiff was in the food court and impulsively, she went to the McDonald’s, bought a bag of 13 cookies and gave it to them. She told them that as the mother of a boy who is severely autistic, she appreciated what they were doing and wanted to thank them. The women accepted the cookies and one of them broke into tears.

She was grateful for the gesture. She works hard taking care of the young man she is assigned to and people never do what Tiff did. It felt nice to be thanked for what is normally thankless work.

In a way, I know how that woman felt. What I’m doing doesn’t compare to what she’s doing — she’s working anonymously and thanklessly to help those in need and I’m just running (literally) with an idea that could make a difference. But I receive comments, suggestions, offers for help and donations and I’ll admit to getting a little watery-eyed at times. I try to thank all of you because I really appreciate all of your support. It’s nice when people support your effort to try to make a difference. Like I said, in a way, I understand how that woman at the mall felt.

Running Update
I’m running the Tucson Marathon this weekend, so I’m in taper mode. Kind of boring and blah. I went for 13.1 yesterday morning in 1:41. It felt nice to turn the wheels a little bit. I think it’s going to be too little, too late, and I don’t think I’ll be ready to get that elusive sub-3 on Sunday. But I’m getting closer and closer to getting back to where I was before my disastrous summer.

This morning, I was going to run 6, but it’s cold and raining outside and I’m starting to come down with a sore throat. I figured I’d be better off staying in. Maybe I’ll go for a run after work tonight or maybe I’ll go to the gym. Yeah, right. Who am I kidding? Maybe I’ll go for a run tomorrow morning.

I Need 30 Seconds Of Your Help!
I’m pushing this every day, but that’s because I have to! Between now and December 11, there’s a contest being put on by Chase that’s going to award $25,000 to 100 different charities nationwide. The winning charities will be the top vote-getters at a Facebook group page. So, this is a way you can really help out in less than a minute. Just take the following three steps:

1. Click HERE to go to the Chase Community Giving page on Facebook and join the group.
2. VOTE FOR OPERATION JACK.
3. (Optional, of course) Click the button to post in on your wall and tell your friends.

You’re all here because you believe in Operation Jack. Take a minute and help this thing go viral. 100 charities are going to get a huge holiday bonus. Let’s be one of them!

Facebook Changes
You might be a fan on the Facebook page, but we’re moving our Facebook home to a new group page. This will make it easier to communicate with you. I’m not going to spam you, but I’ll probably send brief updates periodically. Messaging will be more effective than having things fly down your news feed, so I’m going to use the group. Make sure you’re over there at here (or click on the Facebook button on this page).

And going back to that contest and going viral, PLEASE, if you have friends in your address book on Facebook who might be interested in Operation Jack, please send them an invite to join the group!

Ice Cream Update
I’m at 47 days in a row now after a bowl of peanut butter fudge swirl last night. That’s definitely my new favorite. I’m sure you’re glad to know. You may now carry on with your Monday.

That’s All For Today
Have a great Monday, everybody!

I’ve mentioned a few times that I wanted to talk about the greatest soccer team of all time, the Orange Strikers. I’ve been putting it off and putting it off, but I can’t delay writing about them. They’re playing for the FINAL TIME in franchise history this weekend and I’m going to be fortunate enough to be in attendance. What a great team (only one loss ever) and what a fun bunch of 8-year-olds!

OK, so my son Benjamin plays for the team in AYSO. I have to say, though, with the teams he’s on, and all the teams I was ever on as a kid, this team has been the most enjoyable team I’ve ever seen. It’s been pure joy to watch these kids have so much fun. And on top of it all, they won their region championship, so they get one more chance this weekend to play in an area tournament.

First things first, though … I need to take care of a little Operation Jack housekeeping. If you’ve never been here, I’m a marathon runner and a father of three children, not in that order. My middle son, 6-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. Next year, I’m going to try to run 60 marathons in his honor to raise money and awareness for a great charity called Train 4 Autism. T4A is a great charity that helps people train for races and raise money for autism-related charities. Our strongest base is here in Southern California, and I want to do what I can to help build new bases nationwide. This is my stupid human trick, jump on the bandwagon!

OK, I’m going to talk about the Orange Strikers, but two quick things:

I Need 30 Seconds Of Your Help!
Between now and December 11, there’s a contest being put on by Chase that’s going to award $25,000 to 100 different charities nationwide. The winning charities will be the top vote-getters at a Facebook group page. So, this is a way you can really help out in less than a minute. Just take the following three steps:

1. Click HERE to go to the Chase Community Giving page on Facebook and join the group.
2. VOTE FOR OPERATION JACK.
3. (Optional, of course) Click the button to post in on your wall and tell your friends.

You’re all here because you believe in Operation Jack. Take a minute and help this thing go viral. 100 charities are going to get a huge holiday bonus. Let’s be one of them!

OK, I’m going to talk about the Orange Strikers, but one more thing:

Facebook Changes
If you’re a fan on the Facebook page, you might have noticed we created an Operation Jack group page instead of a fan page yesterday. This will make it easier to communicate with you. I’m 29 days from kicking this thing off and that’s when it’s going to start getting exciting. Make sure you’re over there on the group page. It’s here, or on the Facebook button on that page.

And going back to that contest and going viral, PLEASE, if you have friends in your address book on Facebook who might be interested in Operation Jack, please send them an invite to join the group!

OK, The Orange Strikers!
These guys are so much fun. Coach Peps and Coach Darren are great and the kids have really developed over the course of the year, individually and as a team. As a competitive guy, it’s been fun to watch them improve. But 100 times more important than that, because these guys are only 8, it’s been a blast to see them have so much fun.

I went to just about every practice and stayed for the duration. They worked hard, but laughed harder. Nothing but smiles on the faces of these kids. And these guys are a team. They just want to win. They’re unselfish. The best player on the team gets along great with the worst player on the team. Like I said, it’s been my favorite youth team of all time. It’s everything youth sports should be, and I’ve been lucky to be a part of it as a parent.

Anyways, they won their region championship in the playoffs in amazing fashion. On November 14, they won their first playoff game. I think the score was 3-1. The game was never in jeopardy and they rolled pretty easily. The semi-final match was a different story.

They took a 1-0 lead, but surrendered a late goal for a tie. But in the playoffs, one team has to advance, so it went to penalty kicks. At first, the teams alternated five times. If it was still tied after those five kicks, it would be sudden death — one kick for each team until the score wasn’t tied.

All the hard work, all the practices and all the games came down to those five kicks. Sure enough, it was tied. So it went to a sudden-death kick. And then another. And another. After six sudden-death kicks (11 penalty kicks total), it was STILL tied! The Strikers were the home team, so the other team kicked first. Our goalie made a stop on the 12th kick, and our best player was eligible to kick.

Coach Peps (the player’s dad) asked him if he wanted to take the kick. The kids on the team were all jumping up and down with excitement and the kid was cool as ice. There was no doubt he wanted that kick. It was like watching Mariano Rivera come in for the 9th to put the hammer down. He nailed the kick and the Orange Strikers won the game. Oh, and I brought snack for that game — donuts. We finally got to eat them!

They won their finals game that afternoon 1-0 on a fourth-quarter goal by the same player who kicked the game-winner in the semifinal game that morning. What a great way to cap the season — a region championship! They earned trophies that were about as tall as they are.

This weekend, they get some bonus ball. Two games on Saturday against other region champions, and at least one game (maybe two) on Sunday. And that will be it for the Orange Strikers. It’s been a fun ride, but I’ll miss watching them play!

OK, That’s All I’ve Got For Today
Not like it wasn’t enough. If you actually reached the bottom of this, thank you! Have a great weekend!

Do you know how hard it is to write a blog when your foot is sitting in a bucket of ice? It’s really, really hard. But I have things I need to post, so I’ll just fight on. It’s like mile 23 of a marathon and I’m cramping. I have to go on despite the pain. OK, that’s weak, but it’s all I’ve got. Well, I’ve also got some information about a super-cool contest, some changes with our Facebook page, some people I’m thankful for and the greatest soccer team of all time. Oh, and an ice cream update, of course.

First Things First: Super-Cool Contest
As I mentioned yesterday, and as I’ll probably mention between now and December 11, there’s a contest being put on by Chase that’s going to award $25,000 to 100 different charities nationwide. The winning charities will be the top vote-getters at a Facebook group page. So, this is a way you can really help out in less than a minute. Just take the following three steps:

1. Click HERE to go to the Chase Community Giving page on Facebook and join the group.
2. VOTE FOR OPERATION JACK.
3. (Optional, of course) Click the button to post in on your wall and tell your friends.

You’re all here because you believe in Operation Jack. Take a minute and help this thing go viral. 100 charities are going to get a huge holiday bonus. Let’s be one of them!

Facebook Changes
If you’re a fan on the Facebook page, you might have noticed we created an Operation Jack group page instead of a fan page yesterday. This will make it easier to communicate with you. I’m 29 days from kicking this thing off and that’s when it’s going to start getting exciting. Make sure you’re over there on the group page. It’s here, or on the Facebook button on that page.

And going back to that contest and going viral, PLEASE, if you have friends in your address book on Facebook who might be interested in Operation Jack, please send them an invite to join the group!

Seven Days After Thanksgiving, Here Are some Mortals I’m Thankful For
It’s been a roller-coaster six or seven days for me and some of you have said and/or done some big and little things that have really made a big difference to me. I’m sure I’m forgetting a ton of you, but (alphabetically by first name), thank you Ally, Emil, Erin, Erin (yeah, both of ya), Heather, Jamie/Jenn, Lori, Laura and Morgan. I’m sure there’s more of you, but thank you guys for your support.

Ice Cream Update
I’m the king. 43 now. There’s a NASCAR/Richard Petty reference for you. Yeah, my streak is up to 43 days in a row eating ice cream or frozen yogurt now, 66 from tying my record, 67 from passing it. Peanut butter fudge swirl again last night. Worth every calorie, although it’s low-fat. Still super tasty. Capped off a great day.

The Greatest Soccer Team Of All Time
I was going to talk about my son Benjamin’s soccer time, but I’m getting tired. I lied. Tomorrow. They’re so much fun and I can’t wait to tell you about them.

That’s All For Today, Friends
29 days until Operation Jack kicks off, not that I’m counting! See you back here tomorrow! Have a great Thursday!

Yesterday morning I found out about a great FREE contest sponsored by Chase that could really help Operation Jack, and I knew that I had no doubt I had to blog about it immediately. Like today! It’s extremely simple. If you have Facebook, become a fan of Chase Community Giving, vote for Operation Jack, then tell everybody you know! 100 charities will win $25,000. It’s a 30-second process, and I get nothing out of this, but it could breathe HUGE life into Operation Jack!

Just click here and vote for us! PLEASE! Oh, and spread the word. If it’s too confusing to send them the link to the page on Facebook, just send them here. As you noticed, I have that announcement page up now, and everybody will see it once per visit for the next two weeks until the contest is over.

Post it on your wall, tweet it, tell your friends to tell their friends … it’s really easy, and I’m begging! Begging! Begging! I’ll think of something I’ll do if we pull this off. But get to it! We can do this!

Running Update
I finally snapped out of my funk and went for a run yesterday. I took it hard and pounded my legs for 10.1 miles. Not really a long run for me, but I have a marathon next weekend I want to well at, so I have to keep the miles down. I took a stumble and cut up my knee, but that wasn’t even my worse gaffe of the day. On my way to lunch, I stepped off a step and missed in and totally rolled my ankle. Yes, the ankle I sprained so badly this summer I had to take five weeks off of running.

I panicked, because this isn’t what I need right now, but it didn’t swell and it didn’t feel anywhere near as bad as it did last time. I was really surprised it wasn’t worse, because I landed sideways on my foot after about a two foot drop. Thank God!

This morning, I went out for nine miles, nothing to it. I’m feeling good. I’m a touch sluggish from my lack of running last week, but nothing major. I kind of like tapering. I should just run a race every weekend.

Ice Cream Update
I had some peanut butter fudge swirl ice cream last night. If you go to Ralphs to get your groceries, it’s their Private Selection generic label and it’s DELICIOUS. It’s probably my favorite right now.

Anyways, I’ve very quietly worked my latest streak up to 42 days, my second-longest ever. If my math is correct, I believe this makes it 158 out of the past 161 days that I’ve had ice cream. I’m 67 days shy of tying my record, 68 from breaking it.

That’s All For Now, Folks!
I need to keep these blogs short so that I don’t take all night writing them and it doesn’t take you all morning to read them! Have a great Wednesday everybody. I’ll see you tomorrow. Can’t wait to tell you about the Orange Strikers! Big games this weekend!