I was worried about how I’d mentally after my 61-marathon endeavor last year. I thought I’d be depressed and sad. I mentally prepared for the letdown and through seven days, it never came. I was never really bummed. Not until now. I’m writing my first blog since I completed Operation Jack on December 26 and I can’t help but think … what do I write about? And why would anybody care at this point? At least I have a couple of cool video clips for you.
Anyways, just in case you’ve never been here, I ran 61 marathons in 2010 to raise money and awareness for a charity I’m a part of called Train 4 Autism. My middle child, 7-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. So I named the endeavor Operation Jack, after him.
I ran marathon No. 61 of the year on December 26. And then life went on. I worked 18 hours the next day and I didn’t run. That was last Monday. I was worried I’d feel like the world passed me by, but I was fine. I was still on a high and getting a fair amount of attention.
I was busy as heck last week, working about 75 hours. I start working by 9 a.m. and worked until 4 a.m. Monday night, 11 p.m. Tuesday night, regular hours on Wednesday and again until 4 a.m. on Thursday night. Friday, allegedly a day off, I worked from about 10 a.m. until 11:30 p.m., although I took a break for about an hour in the middle for a media interview (keep reading — I embedded it a little ways down in this blog). I got too tired to keep working at that point, watched the ball drop with my wife, Tiffany, then called it a night at about 1 a.m.
On Saturday, I was at it again by about 10 a.m., then finally ran out of brainpower at about 7:30 p.m. I was so tired I decided not to run yesterday morning. So, in my first-week post-Operation Jack, I ran zero miles and spent about 75 hours in front of the computer. Man, what a bummer.
But I took yesterday off. I slept in, went to church with my family, took care of some Operation Jack stuff that I still need to finish up on, completed my honey-do list, visited with my parents, watched a little football, played Uno and squeezed in a tiny bit of bodyweight exercises (pushups, pullups, crunches, dips, etc.). I felt unproductive for at least 2 or 3 hours, which was amazing. Is that what the rest of you do on Sundays? It’s been a while — I don’t really remember.
Anyways, I haven’t checked in for about a week, so that’s what I’ve been up to. I knew I wanted to write a blog for today, because that race report can only stay up for so long. And then I started to write this and I got pretty sad.
What do I do now? And who really cares? I want to keep pushing this cause. And I’d love to help out with a few other causes that I believe in. But I don’t really know how I can help or what I can do.
I feel like Superman when he lost his powers:
I guess for now I’ll stop dwelling. Well, at least for today. I did get out and run 15 miles this morning, which was nice. I kind of found the old me.
My Wife Says I’m Not Funny, But I Made Her Laugh
So on Saturday night, we were watching some movie called The Backup Plan or something like that, with Jennifer Lopez and some guy who, according to my wife, has the perfect upper body. It was a chick flick, and in all fairness, I fell asleep about halfway through the movie. I can keep my Man Card.
In that first half, there was a scene where there was a first date and they went into some kind of garden setting and it was romantic and the kind of stuff that chicks dig and guys don’t really do in real life. So of course, my wife has to jokingly nag with something like, “Why didn’t I ever get something like that?”
I guess being funny all depends on timing, so fortunately, it took about half a second for me to come up with my reply.
“Because I didn’t have access to a movie set and a million-dollar budget.”
I would say that shut her up, but it didn’t. She was laughing for a good minute or so. I’m funny, even if Tiff and my friend Nicole say I’m not.
Media Coverage
We got featured on the LA NBC station and on the LA ABC station. The NBC piece made its way around the country and folks saw it all over, even in Australia! Here they are:
That’s Enough For Today
I’m guessing I’ll blog again later this week. If you have any questions about anything, let me know. If you have anything you want me to blog about, let me know. If you have any ideas for things I can do make the world a better place, let me know.
Beyond that, have a great day!
Sarah Reade says
Great video clips! And I love how you talk about running 15 miles this morning like it’s no big deal… have you started your count down to Boston yet?
Erin F says
Hurray for all the positive media. Don’t beat yourself up about losing your superpowers (b/c for one, you totally haven’t). Now is the time to relax, recharge, and soul search what your next big chess move will be. And once you figure it out, you’ll still have all of us, cheering you on. In the mean time, enjoying Boston training! Sub 3 this year?? I think so!
Jan Menegio says
Sam!!! It’s your favorite PT checking in on you again! It’s been a while since I checked in on you but I must say that I am SO proud of all your accomplishments! I am even happier that I didn’t have to see you at all throughout it! I wish you continued success in whatever you do!!!
-Jan