Oh, what a weekend — exhausting and HOT. But I had a great family day yesterday and through it all, I had wonderful experiences and witnessed more proof (not that I needed it) that I’m being led down a wonderful path. The Operation Jack train is still headed down the track and I got to spend a full day with my four favorite people in the world. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Just in case this is your first time here, I’m a father of three and a marathon runner. My middle child, 6 1/2-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. To try to make a difference in his honor and help him have an impact on the world, I’m attempting to run 61 marathons to raise money and awareness for a charity I’m a part of called Train 4 Autism. I named the endeavor Operation Jack
So far, I’m through 34, I’ve raised a fair amount of money and I’ve introduced a lot of people to Train 4 Autism. That doesn’t mean I’m not trying to raise more money or reach more people, but it does mean that so far, I’d call this a success. Only 27 more marathons and I can take a nap!
This past weekend, I ran the University of Okoboji Marathon in Okoboji, Iowa. There’s really no University, but that’s an inside joke with the locals. The race was absolutely miserable to run in because of the weather, not that I expected a marathon in Iowa in the middle of July to be cold and overcast. It was very humid, in the 70s at the start and in the high 80s by the finish. I don’t know the exact temperature when I was done, but when I got to my hotel, it was 96 and it didn’t feel significantly warmer.
If you want to read about misery, check out my recap.
Why I say The Running Is The Easiest Part Of This
When I was walking to my car after flying home Saturday night, I started doing the math in my head. In the previous 14 days, I had driven about 1,200 miles in rental cars. I’d spent four nights in four hotels in four different states. I’d spent about 12 hours sitting in airports on layovers. And I spent three days as Mr. Mom. That’s why I say that the running is the easiest part of all of this. The three marathons in those 14 days were nothing!
But of course, in those 14 days, we also won $20,000 for Train 4 Autism. So it was all worth it.
How I Know My Race Was Truly Humid
I knew it was going to be humid, because I could feel it when I got into town and it’s humid in that part of the country. I can truly tell during a race by how soaked my clothes get from the sweat. If it’s not too bad, my clothing wicks sweat and will actually be pretty dry in the front.
But on Saturday, I was drenched from head to toe about 5 miles in. My shoes and socks were totally soaked, too. At one point, at about mile 22, I looked down and noticed I was leaving light footprints where I was running because my shoes were so soaked. I think it was humid.
Not Much Weekend-ness To Report On From Iowa
I flew in Friday, drove 3+ hours to where I was going, got some Taco Bell for dinner, then went to sleep about 30 minutes after getting my stuff ready for Saturday and calling home. On Saturday, after getting up at 3:45 (Central time) and running the race, I drove back to my hotel, spent about 20 minutes getting showered and checking out, then drove back to the airport.
I stopped for 15 minutes to eat at Taco John’s on the way back and eventually got to the airport 55 minutes before my flight. I flew home and walked through the front door at about 9:15 p.m. Exciting stuff, huh?
One thing about Taco John’s … I see that chain in a lot in my travels, but I had never eaten there. I never thought I’d utter these words, but I should have had McDonald’s instead. With my chicken burrito, which was mediocre at best, I got a big cup of tater tots that were the size of lifesavers. Seriously, tater tots with Mexican food?
At least they had Diet Mountain Dew. Side note: I don’t recommend drinking three 44-ounce cups of Diet Mountain Dew if you still have 2 1/2 hours to go to get to the airport. Just sayin’.
Sunday Fun Day!
Slept in until 8, lazy breakfast (Tiff’s homemade banana bread!), church with the family and then the five of us went to the community pool for a couple of hours. I dozed on the couch for a bit, watched a little ESPN while Ava took a nap laying on me, then had a mellow evening. The kids had fun playing in the backyard, they were good at dinner, Tiff made some really good salmon for dinner and I celebrated National Ice Cream Day with a bowl of peanut butter fudge swirl.
I’ve been longing for a day like that for a long time. It was nice to get it.
See that smile on my face? That’s because I was incredibly happy spending time with my four favorite people!
Speaking Of Ice Cream, …
For those of you who didn’t see on Facebook or Twitter, I totally forgot to eat ice cream last Thursday and my streak snapped at 165 consecutive days eating ice cream or frozen yogurt. Oh well. Please don’t hate me!
Fun Jack Story
Last night at dinner, we had fun playing a clapping game with him. He was clapping on and off, so me, Tiff, Ben and Ava started clapping when he was clapping and stopping when he stopped clapping. He figured out what we were doing pretty quickly and had fun being in charge and leading us. We did this for several minutes, and it’s a good thing for his development — it’s good reinforcement that there can be positive results from his actions.
After a few minutes, Tiff made him start saying “clap” and “stop” to get us to start and stop with him, so we added language into the equation. He had a lot of fun with it. He’s getting there. Slowly, but surely.
Grandparents Watch
15 days until they move to 20 minutes away from my house and 10 minutes away from my work. I … can’t … wait! I’m going to be super sad when their house sells, though. They’ve been in it since 1968, which was before I was born. I’m going up there on August 1. Might be the last time I’ll be there. I’m betting that I’m gonna cry.
That’s All For Today
I’ll see you back here tomorrow! Have a great Monday, everybody!
Jamie Fellrath says
Love the clapping story. I think that’s a simple form of ABA, too. We do that sort of stuff with Duncan and one of the folks evaluating him told us that lots of the stuff like that is the same as they do in ABA type therapies. So more kudos to the Felsenfeld family on that one!
Tffany Felsenfeld says
First off, you failed to mention the never-ending game of Life we played with Ben and Ava last night. It was fun though! Also, the reason why I had Jack saying,”Clap…stop” was because games like that are great opportunities to pull language out of him. It really wasn’t to get all of us in sync with him. You know, any time we know we can get him to use words, we jump at the chance! That’s okay, I still love you! And, we had so much fun yesterday. Let’s do it again soon! 😉
Ally Phillips says
Love that you had a great Sunday with the family!
That is so great that you’ll have your grandparents close by–but, I totally understand the whole them selling the house thing. I don’t have any of my grandparents anymore and we recently sold my grandmother’s house. I hadn’t been there since probably 2003, but, it’s still a special place and I think about it a lot. Those are just good family memories, ya know?
It’s so great that your kids have the chance to know their great grandparents and have them nearby.
Ugh. That Iowa marathon sounded painful. But, that’s the midwest this time of year. Is it fall yet? It’s hot and humid here too!
Adair Renning says
Eye-oh-wer can be brutal in the summer! Glad you survived! (I coulda told you about Taco John!)
How does Jack like the pool?
Off topic: I love reading the one-sided Tweets and trying to figure out the other side :>)
Have a great week Sam!
Yasmin Malik says
I’ve said this before, but it needs to be said again: You are doing an amazing thing.
You deserve great family days!
Chris Stores says
Dude, those aren’t tater tots. They’re potato oles. Big difference.