Weekend Preview: Anchorage

Well, it’s already Thursday, so it’s time for another weekend preview, another announcement and another contest.

First, just in case you haven’t been here before, I’m a father of three and a marathon runner. My middle son, 6 1/2-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. And if you click here, you can see why I’m trying to run 61 marathons this year for Train 4 Autism.

Quick Jack Update
A couple of months ago, we took Jack to a new D.A.N. doctor. It was an extremely traumatic experience for me and Jack. But it was the start of quite a bit of testing and a new routine. Tiff is going back for a return visit today, so we’re anxious to get feedback on test results and his dietary routine going forward.

I won’t be there, but I’ll be nervously awaiting Tiff’s call to find out how things go. I hope to hear good news about the tests, but I also hope to hear the visit goes well for Jack. I’ll never forget how upset he was on the ride back last time. Totally heartbreaking.

Helping Operation Jack Brings You Good Luck!
Yesterday, I announced a special fundraising event involving two members of the St. Louis Cardinals, Skip Schumaker and Adam Wainwright. And yesterday, in their game against the Reds, Schumaker went 3-for-4 with an RBI while Wainwright pitched seven innings, allowing no runs and only two hits to drop his ERA to 1.99 and improve his record to 17-6. With the win, the Cardinals took sole possession of first place. Surely this all happened yesterday because they’re going to help Operation Jack. Right? Right?

New Race On The Schedule
Well, it’s not actually on the schedule, but I’ll be running it. It’s a seven-hour timed race in Portland on September 5th and it’s going to be called the Operation Jack 7-Hour Challenge. Should be fun to do the day after a marathon, right?

About a month ago, Operation Jack supporter Deb Bosilevac approached me about the idea of a timed 7-hour race as a possible fundraiser. I told her that if she could put it together and make it happen, I’d do my best to make it happen. Well, she got it done, and we’re going to do it. We’re getting runners and it should be a good time.

Here’s the fun thing about it, though. Deb is a graduate of the University of Kansas. Me, I’m a proud K-Stater. So, this gives me an opportunity to compete against a rival Jayhawk. I’m going to work on collecting pledges for how much I beat her by. She’s expecting to cover about 35 miles. Even though it’s going to be the day after I run my 41st marathon of the year, I’m aiming for 45 miles. I’m curious to see what I can do in this race. It should be good training for the Tahoe Triple I’m running in late September (three marathons in three days).

Weekly Contest
Every week I have a contest where people try to guess my time in my race by making a small donation and the person who comes the closest without underbidding wins their choice of an Operation Jack t-shirt, tech shirt or sweatshirt. If you think I’m going to run a 3:17, you make a donation of $3.17. If you think it’s going to be a 3:12, you donate $3.12, etc. I haven’t done this contest in a few weeks, but those of you who have been around are familiar with it.

To make a donation, click on the “Donate Now!” link at the top of any page on this site. But first, read on and get my opinions on the course.

This Weekend’s Race
I’ll be running in Anchorage, Alaska on Sunday. It’s a race I’ve really been looking forward to, because I’m definitely more into open space and wilderness than big cities. And in this country, does it get any more open than Alaska?

The course doesn’t look terrible on paper. There are some moderate hills, but nothing that looks too tough. It’s down at sea level and gets up as high as about 100 feet. I don’t think the climbs are too punishing, but I won’t know until I run them. I don’t have any recent performances to really judge my current fitness.

I went 3:33 last week in a run that I treated as a fun run. I stood still for about four minutes and I inadvertently ran an extra quarter mile. The week before, I felt sluggish and went 3:35 on a course that started at 3800 feet and went up from there. 22 of the miles were on a gravel road, which also made things tough. The week before was the San Francisco Marathon, which was very punishing with the hills and ran long by a good 1/4 to 1/3 of a mile according to just about everybody who ran the race. I went 3:21.

Before that, I went 3:42 in the humid Iowa heat. Temps reached about 87 or so, it was humid, and I was exposed for most of the run. Prior to that, a 3:49:40 while pacing the 3:50 group in Missoula. Going back, there was a completely uninspired 3:17 in Portland and a decent 3:12 in Seattle.

I feel good right now. I did well with my spadework this week, I’m recovering well from last weekend and I’m in a good spot mentally. I’m ready to run and I’m ready to run fast. I’m sick of this funk and I have a long flight back from Alaska. I don’t want to be dwelling on a poor time. So, if I had to guess, I’d go with 3:11 this week. I’m going to be ready to run and I’m going to do everything I can to make it happen.

Now go ahead, win something! And help a great cause at the same time!

What Does It Mean?
Last night, I went to In-N-Out for dinner with some friends of mine. Our order number was 38. I’m running my 38th marathon of the year this week. What does it mean? Probably nothing.

OK, that’s all for today. I’ll try to post a race recap at some point on Sunday. I’m pretty sure that won’t be problem. Thanks for following along and participating in the contest!