Last night, my dad learned a lesson I learned several months ago: Don’t open your mouth about a crazy running idea or you’re going to set yourself up for a tough challenge! For me, it was the idea of running 60 marathons in 2010 to raise money and awareness for Train 4 Autism. For him, it’s running the Orange County 1/2 Marathon to raise money and awareness for Train 4 Autism.
He told me he was thinking about it, but I told him it was too late, that I was going to blog about him today. So he said OK, he’ll do it for Jack. There’s a catch, though. We’re going to have a bet over this. He has to finish quicker than me. Lucky for him, I’m running the full marathon. I should finish in the neighborhood of 3 hours. Can he do 13 consecutive 14-minute miles? We’ll see. And we’ll figure out a wager between now and then.
Anybody have any ideas? And who do you want to win? Me or him?
Brrrrrrrrr …
High of 36 in Jackson, Mississippi on Saturday, low of 23. That’s where I’ll be. Um, that’s cold. But that’s OK. You guys have been really supportive of Operation Jack lately and it’s the least I can do. Running a marathon in freezing temperatures the day before running a marathon in another state? I’ll do it!
As my only chance to prep, I pulled a pair of running pants out of the closet this morning and went out in those, long sleeves and gloves. An easy 10-miler with 10 hill sprints at the end. It’ll be fine. Cold, but fine.
Surf City Pasta Dinner!
OK, we had to do some work to square away the catering and location, but we’re going to have a pasta dinner the night before Surf City! If you’re running Surf City, or even if you’re not and you want to participate, it’s going to be $20/person for all-you-can-eat pasta (two types), salad, garlic bread and non-alcoholic beverages.
For all the details and to reserve your spot, click here! I hope to see you there!
In-N-Out Today!
YEAH! I haven’t been since December 23! Well, actually, I went on December 26 now that I think about it, but I haven’t been with my friends Ben and Kevin for my standard weekly In-N-Out (standard since 1993) since the 23rd. That’s a day shy of two weeks! Yikes! Normally we go on Thursday or Friday, but this year, it’s going to have to be Tuesdays and Wednesdays because of my pre-race nutrition schedule. In-N-Out isn’t exactly the low-fat, high-complex-carb meal I need to be eating in the three days prior to a race.
What great friends I have, huh? Willing to eat In-N-Out on a Tuesday or Wednesday because of me! For a YEAR!
Ice Cream Update
For those of you who are relatively new here, I have a problem with ice cream. I like to eat it every day. Some people like to unwind with wine at the end of the day. I like ice cream. I also like to eat it with lunch or really any other time of the day. Last night, I had a bowl of the peanut butter fudge swirl that was in my freezer. That stretched my current streak to 76 consecutive days eating ice cream or frozen yogurt. I’m just 34 shy of my personal record of 110 straight days.
On Friday, I didn’t unwind with my ice cream until 11:30 p.m. My wife accused me of only eating ice cream because of my streak and because I wanted to keep it going. Well, I like ice cream, but she was partially right. It doesn’t matter, though. I’m at 76 days in a row right now.
Movies This Weekend
It wasn’t necessarily planned this way, but I watched three movies in about 24 hours after getting back from my race in Texas.
When I got back from the airport on Friday, I had babysitting lined up and went out to see The Blind Side. I loved it! I think the story is better than the movie, but definitely worth the price of admission. We really liked it.
Saturday, while doing my blood donation, I watched Bucket List. Kind of slow and sad, but it was OK. Marley and Me was on DVD there at the Red Cross, but I’ve heard it’s going to make me cry, and I had to maintain my toughness in public. I only cry when I watch football in the privacy of my own home.
Saturday night, we watched Inglorious Basterds via Netflix. I love Quentin Tarantino’s work and I really hope this one wins something at the Academy Awards. I’m not a big movie critic or movie buff, but every here and there, I see a movie that I think is really well done. I liked Slumdog Millionaire last year. I loved Saving Private Ryan and was shocked when it lost to Shakespeare In Love. And I thought Inglorious Basterds was really well done. I have No Country For Old Men from Netflix right now. I’ll watch it on the plane to Jackson on Friday.
That’s All For Today!
Have a great Tuesday, everybody!
Jamie Fellrath says
NEVER apologize for eating ice cream for ice cream’s sake! It’s the food of the gods.
Katie Abdolhosseini says
I wish I could eat the pasta dinner with you all! Enjoy it!
And good luck to your day…we already know your a kick-a$$ runner, let your dad have a shinning moment for once, geesh! J/K! May the best man win!
BTW, can’t believe you liked Slumdog Millionaire, hard for me to get through – but you will enjoy No Country this weekend. Happy Tuesday!
Erin Ruff says
Hey Sam- That’s awesome about your dad. Maybe he can run with me. I was planning on putting down three hours, 5 minutes for my OC half marathon time. I hope we beat you!
Ben Fesagaiga says
“10 easy miles” sounds like an oxymoron. U are a machine – running on In & Out and Ice cream at that. ๐ Keep up the good work Sam. I hope to be able to run at Carlsbad despite pulling my calf yet again- hopefully will be healed by then.
Ally Phillips says
I want to see The Blind Side! Glad you liked it. We watched No Country for Old Men on TV last week and it’s good–a little dark and whatnot, but, I got sucked into it!
Hope In-N-Out Burger was awesome (it always is of course). Sigh…
Stay warm running this weekend–it’s supposed to be 13 degrees here–are ya kidding me?? I don’t have enough layers! Although, I might not be here to run in the frigid temps anyway–we’ll see. ๐
Jason Laurel says
That’s great what your dad is doing. Is this going to be his first half marathon?
Good luck in Jackson this Saturday!
RuthE Levy says
Considering that your father hasn’t run a mile since he was in the Army in 1968, even running a half-marathon is huge! Me, I am thinking about doing 26.2 miles on my treadmill per week in honor of Sam and Jack. That’s double what I’m doing right now…not too bad for an old Grandma with a bad hip. And I’ll be donating for every mile Sam runs in a marathon.