When I say it’s tough for me to run this many miles, that’s because “this many miles” is zero. I hate not running. But I’m trying to be smart, for once (well, once aside from my decision to try to run 60 marathons next year).

Today’s Run
If you’ve been reading this, you know I have issues with my knee right now and I’m seeing a good sports medicine specialist for it next Monday. I’m fairly certain it’s tendinitis, which hurts a little, but isn’t as bad as a tear. For the most part, it takes time and rest to get over. I’m pretty sure that’s what it is, because I’ve had it before, and I’ve run plenty since it first flared up two months ago. I’ve run a marathon and a 10K (albeit both were slow), and a fair amount of training miles since then. I haven’t run particularly well, but I’m not that far off and still running better than I was when I was a 3:20 marathoner.

But I went NASCAR with my running last night. No, I didn’t go out for a 500-miler. I decided to shut it down. Sometimes a car will go to the garage in the middle of a race for some kind of problem, then head back out to the track and run laps. There’s no chance of a victory, but there is an opportunity to pick up some points by moving up. But there comes a point when there aren’t enough laps left to gain any more ground and they call it quits. There’s absolutely zero to gain and no reason to continue.

That’s the point I decided I’m at last night. I think that overall, I’m just a little banged up, but good enough to run. The goal is next year, though. Not this week. And I just don’t want to risk anything between now and then. How much fitness am I going to gain or lose in four days? What if I ran awkwardly and truly damaged something? What if I’m actually on the verge of a tear and one more mile put me over the edge? It’s just … not … worth it. So, I shut it down. I’m in the garage. And quite frankly, this is coming at the perfect time, because I’m so busy with all of my “real world” work obligations. I’m no sponsored athlete — I work way too much, although that’s what you do when you’re single-income, five mouths, especially in this neck of the woods.

For those of you reading this for the first time, wondering how many miles a guy planning to run 60 marathons ran this morning, the answer isn’t too exciting: Zero.

Sweet Schwag For A 5K
I have enough race tees to clothe an overcrowded classroom. I have enough freebie tech shirts to outfit a PE class. Yet I’m pretty excited about the giveaway being offered at a 5K at Angels Stadium on August 1. $30 is the entry fee, and ordinarily, I’d call that a tiny bit high. But ordinarily, race entries don’t include two tickets to a ballgame. So, if you’ve been wondering, “Where will Sam be on the morning of August 1?” … now you know! (Thanks to my friend Danica for telling me about this race!)

Talkin’ Jack
In case this is your first time here, or if you’ve never been to the rest of the site, I’m planning on running 60 marathons next year to raise awareness for a charity called Train 4 Autism. My son, Jack, is severely autistic and I want to do something to make a difference in his honor. In this spot in each blog, I’ll talk about Jack a little bit.

Jack had a little bit of a tough day early on yesterday. He got upset for no good reason several times in the first part of the day and had a few meltdowns. That happens often enough, unfortunately, because of the problems caused by his inability to effectively communicate. However, yesterday was his day off from therapy — that’s like a day off of work for him, and he only gets one of those per week. On top of that, he got to go to Us Too Gymnastics, a gymnastics center for special-needs kids. We take him there every other week, but the lucky guy went Tuesday as a make-up session and again yesterday. No therapy, two days in a row at Us Too … yeah Jack!

Ice Cream Update
My kids finished off the ice cream in the freezer yesterday afternoon, so come early evening, there was nothing in there for me and I hadn’t extended my streak yet. So, I did what any rational person would do: I went down to the grocery store and picked up a couple of half-gallons. Peanut butter fudge swirl was the flavor of the day, and it was pretty good. Generic, and only $2.39 per 1/2 gallon, yet very good. The streak is now at 22 days with ice cream or frozen yogurt. I’m not going to get over confident, but I feel good about my chances of pulling within 33 of Joe DiMaggio tonight.

In-N-Out Today!
This is my first week blogging every day, so some of you might not be used to my eating habits. Well, I make a weekly trip to In-N-Out on Fridays. Those of you on the West Coast know what that means. Most of the rest of you probably know what it means. For those of you who don’t, I feel bad for you. Dollar for dollar, it’s the best food on the planet. You might find a slightly better meal (might), but it’s going to cost you a whole lot more that $6. I normally go on Fridays, but I’m switching to Thursday this week because I think I’m meeting up with a friend of mine for Chipotle on Friday.

Sign Up For A Team And I’ll Do The YMCA In A Chicken Suit In Front Of 16,000 People!
Oh wait, I’ve already done that. Yeah, that’s me, in a packed MGM Grand Garden. Don’t ask. For the record, I couldn’t see down or more than three feet in front of me, hence some of the awkward movements. Oh, and I’m totally not coordinated, plus I’m a computer guy, not a professional mascot. Yeah, that might’ve had something to do with it! I’m at the beginning, blindly going down the stairs and scared to death of falling in front of everybody, and I reappear at about the 1:10 mark. I actually fell on top of people, because I couldn’t see, but that’s not on the video.

That’s All I Have For Today
I say this every day, but I really appreciate you reading this. I can tell during the day how many times it’s being read, and I get excited when I see the number jump. You all read this because you are supporting my cause and you believe in what I’m trying to do, and that means a lot to me. I’m going to beg this every day, so here goes: If you’ve read this far, please do me a huge favor and encourage just one person to come to the site! Operation Jack is going to succeed due to tiny efforts by a ton of people, not just huge efforts by a couple of people (well, I’m going to have to work hard, but that’s a different story). You can truly make a difference by bringing 2 or 3 people to the site each week.

Thanks for your help! Have a great Thursday, everybody!

Today, I’ll finally do it. I’m calling the doctor. I got a good recommendation to a doctor (I don’t know what kind — I just know it’s a doctor that takes care of your knees). I have tendinitis in my right knee and it just … won’t … go … away. I had the same exact thing in March 2008, and four days off along with some kind of a prescription did the trick. This time, it flared up after my 50-miler May 9, and while it’s died down 99% at times, it just won’t go away.

If I need to take time off, now is the time. I have to be good to go next year. I get concerned about losing fitness, but my wife just took 9 weeks off due to injury and after being back on for just 9 weeks, she’s already back to where it was. I have more experience than her and I should be able to handle time off even better than her, but it’s tough to look at yourself objectively. I go back and forth between wanting to run and wanting to take time off and get better. Actually, I take that back — I go back and forth between being willing to risk injury and knowing to be smart and take the day of.

But I need to get this done right, so I’m calling the doctor today. I’m a computer guy … why should I be following my plan to make my knee better ? I’ll leave that up to the experts.

So yeah, no run today, not that I could have, considering I was up 2 1/2 hours past my bedtime working last night. That makes two days off in a row, three out of four. I’m doing a lot of perfect pushups, but I don’t think those are helping me much with my running! Better July than December, though. It’s kind of convenient, because I have a ton of work to do and a big project due August 1. I’m just looking forward to next month, when I should be able to get back on track.

Badwater starts today
Anybody who thinks I’m crazy should check out Badwater (or twitter.com/adventurecorps), which started today. A friend of mine, Jonathan Gunderson is running it. Nothing like running 135 miles in 115+ temps from 282 feet below sea level up to Mt. Whitney. The toughest race I did was a 50-miler with moderate elevation gains (varied between about 4,000 feet and 6,000 feet) in 85-degree temps. It was a miserable day for me, but it was 85 miles shorter and 30 degrees cooler than what Gundy will be doing. It’s mind-boggling and something I will never, ever do.

Site changes, Operation Jack update
I made a change to the way this site functions. You don’t totally need to go through the registration process to leave a commeunt. Well, you kind of do, but it’s part of leaving a comment. When you post a comment, name & email are required, but putting those in will automatically register you. You can add a URL if you want to. Also, you can subscribe to the blog via RSS feed now.

I’m getting some positive feedback from various groups around the country. Several organizations are thinking of coming on board to try to help make a difference. It’s a win-win … Train 4 Autism gains awareness, and those organizations raise funds they wouldn’t have raised.

Thought I had …
I love ice cream and frozen yogurt. Right now, I’m on a streak of 19 consecutive days of having one or the other. A friend of mine, knowing this, told me she received two certificates for a free pint of ice cream at Baskin Robbins for donating blood that she wasn’t going to use. She’s going to give them to me, but it gave me an idea. I’m so focused on doing what I can to help the Autism community, but there’s no reason to only help in that area.

I was thinking (which is when I always get myself in trouble) that we can do various things that are easy to do that will make a difference. The blood donation idea was a no-brainer. Right now, there aren’t enough people following, so I want to save the first blood-drive attempt for later. But I’d love it if at some point we had people all over the country donating blood as part of this. I hate needles, but I’d do it. I think it would be cool if 100 or 200 people went out and donated blood on a designated day at some point in the future.

Jack, my super star!
I’m doing Operation Jack in honor of my son, and I talk a lot about Train 4 Autism and running and all sorts of things in between, but I realized I never really talk about Jack. So, I figured I’d throw in a happy Jack story.

Jack is off in his own world quite a bit. He’s oblivious, he doesn’t communicate too well … he just kind of does his own thing. As parents, it’s like Tiff and I have two sets of kids — Ben and Ava, the older brother and little sister, and then Jack, the only child. Last night, we were at Lucille’s, a BBQ restaurant, and he was playing with Ben and Ava, getting wild and having a blast. All three of them were having blast with each other, which is something we never see. Ordinarily, I don’t let the kids run around and make noise in a restaurant. But fortunately, we were in a back room and nobody else was in there (smart hostess!) and it was loud anyways. Ahhhh, the joys of parenthood!

Randomness: I heard this song today and I hadn’t heard it in a while
Big and Rich, Lost In This Moment. I love country music and I listen to it all day long. For whatever reason, I can’t stand Big and Rich. But I love this song. Anything that makes me pause and think of my wife is a good song. This one qualifies.

That’s all I’ve got for today
Thanks for reading. Don’t hesitate to sign up for Operation Jack! Register for a team — there’s no obligation! There are no fundraising minimums and you don’t have to run a marathon. I’m just trying to drive participation and awareness, so please — sign up and tell a friend! You can follow me at twitter.com/operationjack.