Operation Jack: Reflections On Year 1

Yesterday marked a year since I launched Operation Jack. I did a lot of planning in the spring of 2009, then launched this site on July 1 last year to give myself six months to build a base. It hasn’t gone exactly as I expected, but I didn’t know what to expect, so that’s to be expected. Or something like that.

Just in case this is your first time here, welcome! My name is Sam and I’m a father of three and a marathon runner. My middle child, 6 1/2-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. I came up with this idea of running 60 full marathons in 2010 to raise money and awareness for a charity called Train 4 Autism. I’m kind of, sort of hitting my goals and I’m through 31 of the 60 marathons. I launched this site July 1, 2009, and since I didn’t write a blog yesterday, that’s pretty much the subject for today.

I mentally carved Operation Jack into trimesters — the first six months were to build a base, then I had the first half of this year and the second half of this year. So in a way, I’m 2/3 of the way through this. In reality, I really am. I was concerned about the running heading into this. I had never run more than 10 or 11 marathons in a year, and while I run long distances in training, races are different and I go all-out every time. But through 31 of these things, I have all the confidence in the world about things physically. That part is going well.

Everything else is a challenge. One of my followers on Twitter yesterday asked me what has been the toughest part, and no question, it’s leaving the family every weekend. I had traveled for work at my last job, and I enjoyed going on the trips and working hard, but it was only 2-3 times a year. It took about a month this year for me to start getting homesick. I hate being on the road, sitting in a motel room, knowing Tiffany is running around doing family things with the kids. I feel like I’m being punished and I’m missing time.

I knew this going in, but I didn’t realize how tough it would be until I actually started doing this. It’s easier when I leave from work to go to the airport, because it doesn’t seem like I’m leaving anybody. But when I leave from home, it’s tough. And when everybody is awake and I leave from home, it’s really tough. Tiff is getting to the point where it’s almost not that big of a deal when I leave on a trip, because it’s every … single … week. It’s hard, though, no question.

The second thing that’s the toughest is the additional work that comes with this. I write four blogs a week and a race report. That’s a huge chunk of my spare time, and typically, I’m writing on the couch at night while sort of watching TV with Tiff. It’s a non-stop cycle that never ends. I’m always on the computer and there’s very little playtime going on with that. Blogs, Twitter, emails … I do everything I can to try to spread the word about what I’m doing and it’s exhausting and never-ending. There’s basically no time to sit back and relax, other than when I eat my dinner. I certainly go to bed tired every night.

Fundraising has also been a challenge. I have zero experience in this, and I’m shy and not really comfortable asking for anything. I don’t know how to go to companies for anything, which is why I haven’t gotten any money from any companies. Even if I did know how to do it, I wouldn’t have the time! From the beginning, I’ve always said that all I want is a little bit of help from a whole lot of people, and that’s what I’ve gotten. I think we’ve raised a little more than $30,000 to this point, which is pretty good with no corporate sponsors.

So all-in-all, if I had to give myself a grades, I’d go with A for effort, C for results and as if my running matters in all this, I’d give myself a C there.

Effort-wise, my heart is in this, probably even a little too much, and I run myself into the ground trying to do everything this year. I want to spend quality time with the family, I want to do a good job at work and I want to squeeze everything I can out of Operation Jack, because it truly is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a difference like this. I’m putting my body on the line to try to make something happen for charity, and this really isn’t something I can do twice. Like a good marathon, I have no doubt I’m leaving it all out there, and while I might regret the way certain things worked out when all is said and done, I’ll have no regrets about laying it all on the line.

Results-wise, I’m not doing as well as I hoped. I really wanted to see things explode over the course of the year, and I’ve known that the last half of the year would be the best. But I’m impatient and I want to see things explode now. I know I’m planting seeds and making progress and it’s a lengthy process. I’m optimistic that Train 4 Autism will continue to benefit from what I’ve done more and more every year. I wanted to bring in more people than I have, but I’ve brought in some quality people, which is why I’m in this. I don’t want to name names, because I might leave some out, but everybody who participates knows how much I appreciate it and I know that if not for Operation Jack, they wouldn’t have found Train 4 Autism. That’s why I do this.

Running-wise, I give myself a C. A lot of you would be happy to average a 3:20 for 31 marathons through June, but I’m disappointed with about half of my races. I expect more out of myself than the way I’ve run. I’d love to chip away and get that average down closer to 3:15 for the course of the year. We’ll see. It’s tough to get motivated sometimes, but when I run, I know those times are forever and I give it everything I’ve got.

So, six more months and Operation Jack is going to finally be done. It will be nice to spend a weekend at home and not have to get up at 4 a.m. in a different time zone to run a marathon. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be depressed at first, but I can’t go on running marathons every weekend for the rest of my life. I’m still going to try to do something next year, though. I’m building a platform of people who want to make a difference in the autism world and there’s no reason to destroy that platform just because the calendar turns to 2011. I owe it to myself for all the work I’ve put in to keep it going, and I owe it to Jack, because the reason I’m doing this is so that he can make a difference in the world.

I don’t know what I’m going to do, but it’s going to be something. I know I’m going to Maine and I’m pretty sure I’m going to Utah. I’m also going to be running the Los Angeles Marathon — Train 4 Autism was selected as an official charity and I’m going to work on building a team for that race. I’m super-excited about that one, especially because it’s going to be a big Train 4 Autism race, not just Operation Jack, though.

I don’t know what else I’m going to do, though.

So I guess that’s the first year summed up in a lengthy blog. If I summed it up in a word, it would be “exhausting,” but I feel pretty blessed to be on this path. It’s been an amazing experience.

Anyways, real quick, two things:
1. If you’re familiar with my weekly contest, Scott Yerbic won last week. The contest is you guess my time in my race with a donation (if you think I’m going to run a 3:15, you donate $3.15). I’ll just sum up Portland this weekend by saying it’s flat and I’m aiming for a 1:35:00 first half to practice for pacing next weekend. I’m going to try to hang on and then go hard late. If I was betting, I’d go with $3.11. But I think I’m going to run a 3:09. To participate, click on the “Donate Now” link at the top of any page on the site.

2. I need your help in the Chase Community Giving contest! I need 15 seconds of your time if you have a Facebook account. Just click here, vote for the Operation Jack Autism Foundation, then use their “share” feature to share it with your friends on Facebook and Twitter. We’re legitimately in the running for $20,000 and I REALLY, REALLY need your help!

OK, that’s all for today. Have a safe weekend, everybody!