I was expecting a great weekend, and it was exactly as planned. In the span of about two days, I had a nice, 24-hour vacation with my wife, a great marathon and a day off with plenty of time with the kids and my relatives. What more could I ask for?
First things first, the reason I’m here and blogging is Operation Jack, my attempt to run 60 marathons this year to raise money and awareness for Train 4 Autism. This weekend was marathon No. 13 so far this year, the Catalina Marathon. The scenery was amazing and I was pretty happy with how I ran. You can read my recap here and see a pretty sweet photo of me wearing a medal with a pink ribbon that I won for taking third in my age group. My first pink medal. Probably my last.
Stuck On An Island Without The Kids!
Don’t get me wrong, I love my kids. But since this weekend’s race was on Catalina, an island 26 miles off the coast of Southern California, I dragged Tiff along with me and we had a nice little getaway. We got to eat our meals while they were warm and have grown-up conversations! It was awesome! I just had to run 26.2 miles up and down mountains to hold up my end of the bargain. One of the best parts is that we were still home by 6 p.m. Saturday night, so I also had plenty of extra time to spend with the kids.
Just before getting on the boat back from Catalina. What’s she doing with that guy?
Not The Greatest Hotel Experience
One condition I had when I booked my hotel was that I needed to check out no earlier than noon. A lot of hotels had an 11 a.m. checkout time, but with the race starting at 7, and my expected finish time somewhere in the 3:45 neighborhood, I needed it to be at least noon.
I checked with at least a dozen places and had a few that were OK with noon. I ended up going with a place called Hotel Macrae based on cost, although it was only a $6 difference over two other hotels — nothing significant. They told me their checkout time was 11 a.m., but late checkout at noon wouldn’t be a problem. They also told me they’d hold our luggage for us while we waited for our boat back.
Much to my displeasure when I checked in (after I had paid), they told me noon would be a problem and I’d have to be out by 11. They wouldn’t even let me stretch it until 11:30, although they told me they had a room I could use to shower and change in after the race.
The race started late due to a boat docking problem, so we were a few minutes late getting out. They weren’t very pleased, so I guess the feeling was mutual. I came to find out the “room” I was supposed to shower in was a public restroom on the hotel grounds. Not awesome.
I was going to ask about the luggage, but I saw an open space with cubby holes and somebody being directed to leave their bags there. I also saw a sign that said something like, “At your own risk, hotel not responsible for stolen belongings.” So yeah, we dragged our bags around Catalina for 3 1/2 hours. Again, not awesome.
As for the room, it was small and old. Nothing special. Not even a phone. Maybe we didn’t have the best room, because apparently, the one next to ours was the honeymoon suite. Definitely not awesome.
Sunday — Off!
No work, no travel, no running on Sunday. I truly had the day off. I haven’t had one of those in I-don’t-know-how-long. Even with the time change, I got eight hours of sleep. I went to church with the family and got my favorite donuts (maple old-fashioned). I went to Home Depot and then Advanced Hyperbarics with Jack.
I went to a family function celebrating my Uncle Marty’s 50th birthday and got to see a bunch of relatives, which was nice. I played soccer with Benjamin and Ava in the backyard, then ate dinner with them. I gave Ava a bath, worked on her with her reading then lost to her at Candyland. I got a chance to lick a bowl when my wife made some banana nut bread. I had some peanut butter fudge swirl ice cream, stretching my streak to 43 days in a row now.
In other words, I had a perfect Sunday. Or, maybe I just had a normal Sunday and I’m not used to this. How long until 2011? I could do this every week!
I took a picture of Jack when we were at Home Depot just to document our trip. But he stuck his tongue out at the perfect moment, which made the picture take a whole new twist.
We played some game that Benjamin made up and Ava actually won. I’m not an athlete. I just go left-foot, right-foot, repeat. I’m a one-trick pony.
I’m Human! I Really Am!
I get a lot of comments like, “I don’t know how you do it” and “I don’t know how you’re still walking around” and all that kind of fun stuff. Well, I’m really just a guy, and for those of you who think I’m superhuman, I’d like you to know that my quads were KILLING ME yesterday! It hurt to walk downstairs, it hurt to get up when I was sitting down … I was pretty beat up.
This morning, I tried to run, but it hurt too much so I quit after 3/10 of a mile. I didn’t want to overcompensate for quad pain and injure something else with an altered stride. I know nobody wants me to feel pain, but I am human! Be glad to know I’m just like you!
A Restaurant We Just Couldn’t Pass Up
We saw a place called “Jack’s Country Kitchen” and there was no way we could go without eating there. So, we went there to eat after the race on Sunday.
I’m sure we looked like tourists taking this picture. Sitting without our suitcases right by our table probably clued people in, too.
The meal was great, and really, I only wrote that because I’m dying to post these pictures I put up on Facebook and Twitter on Saturday.
Before.
After.
OK, That’s All For Today
I write these the night before and I’m pretty tired right now (Sunday night). So, I’m calling it quits for now. I’m pretty sure I know who won the contest to pick my race time, but I’ll confirm that Monday, notify that person and put it in the blog on Wednesday.
Have a great Monday, everybody!
I had so much fun with you this weekend too! One of my highlights of the trip was walking up the street on the way to the expo, and seeing someone wearing a shirt with MY kid’s name on it…what a trip! Thanks Allie for your support! And thanks babe, for the much needed mini-vacation!
I heart your wife and wish I could’ve met her in Tampa! … not that you’re not cool or anything but she just seems like such a doll. So glad you had such a wonderful weekend and congrats again on Catalina. Now go rest those legs!
I am so glad you got to enjoy your weekend with the fam! I hope it renews your soul for the coming weeks ahead 🙂
Great job on the race! You are amazing!
Glad you had such a great weekend–love the picture of Jack! Catalina was a blast, the best racing experience I’ve ever had.
Oh, and meeting you guys was cool too I guess 😉 Actually, it was the highlight! Getting to chat with you and your darling wife was so great–and seeing y’all at the finish line–ah! Awesome.
Can’t wait to show y’all around Dallas!
PS. My legs are still killing me. Damn mountains (no, I will not refer to them as hills)