What's Up With OJ Wednesday

It’s Wednesday which means I’m having In-N-Out for lunch and I have to fly to a race (again) in three days. But it also means it’s time for What’s Up With OJ Wednesday, my weekly opportunity to use alliteration and give you a rundown of what’s going on here.

First things first, just in case this is your first time here, I’m a marathoner and a father of three. My middle child, 6 1/2-year-old Jack, is severely autistic, so I’m doing something this year where I’m trying to run 60 marathons this year to try to raise money and awareness for a great charity I’m a part of called Train 4 Autism. So far, so good. 14 down. I just don’t want to say how many there are to go, because it seems like so many. OK, 46. There, I did it.

Train 4 Autism Marathons
I can’t believe these races are going to start next weekend! With the help of Charlie Alewine, we’re going to have the Train 4 Autism Marathon Series, a set of three marathons and half-marathons starting on April 3 in Huntington Beach, Calif.

I’m pretty excited about the third race in the series, because it will be my 60th of the year. But I don’t think too much ahead, because I have enough on my plate. Really, I’m barely thinking about next week, because I need to run Knoxville this week. But I can’t just remind everybody just a few days in advance, so to you Southern California maniacs, I’d love to see you out there a week from this Saturday! We’ve got a half and a full and we even have prize money.

Help Wanted!
Please help me spread the word about Operation Jack! Tell your friends about the site, invite them to become fans on Facebook and follow me on Twitter! I haven’t thrown this out there in a while, so I figured I’d throw this out there.

When It Rains, It Pours
I hadn’t gotten Operation Jack in the paper much lately, but I hadn’t pushed much lately, either. I broke out of that slump this weekend when I contacted the daily paper in Virginia Beach and got a story in Monday’s paper. Well yesterday, I had three good interviews that should help the cause. I don’t want to name the publications here (I save some of that for my personal Facebook page and I’ll wait until the stories run to go into more detail about them here).

I had a quick 15-minute interview during the day, then two for about 30 minutes each after work. I was a journalism grad in college and my first job after I graduated was working for the AP, so it’s kind of fun being on this side of things. I know to try to use complete sentences and avoid saying um too many times. I also know that I have no clue who reads this blog, but if you’re a member of the media, or if you know anybody who’s a member of the media, I’d be happy to talk to you (them)!

Guess Who Won My Weekly Contest Last Week?
Every week, I have my contest where you guess my finishing time in the form of an easy donation. So, if you’re expecting me to run a 3:11, you donate $3.11. The winner gets their pick of an Operation Jack t-shirt, sweatshirt or tech shirt. One of my loyal followers out in Florida, Jen Morgan, gave me the idea for the contest. And sure enough, she won. I thought I’d go quicker than 3:10, and when I saw her guess of 3:18 come across, I told her I hoped she lost and she told me she was just trying to put a chip on my shoulder and motivate me. Well, she had the slowest guess and I couldn’t even pull that off, going 3:20. Grrrrrr …

I’ll forecast this weekend’s race tomorrow and y’all can take another stab at it.

Silpada Anybody?
There’s a company called Silpada that makes jewelry and we’re going to have a party to benefit Operation Jack on April 30. It’s a network marketing company that sells jewelry and I don’t know a ton about it, but I know my wife likes it and I’ve bought her a few things from there. It’s not expensive diamond stuff, it’s decent and fairly inexpensive. You’ll have to forgive me for not giving a very good description, because I’m a guy, and this really isn’t my thing. Anyways, some friends of ours hosted a Silpada party last fall with a distributor who’s a friend of theirs and all of the proceeds from the party were donated to a local shelter for abused women. I talked to that distributor and she’s going to do the same thing for Operation Jack.

So if you’re on here and you’re in Orange County, keep that date in the back of your mind. That’s the Friday before the Orange County Marathon, nine days before Mother’s Day. We haven’t set a location yet, but I’ll let you know the when and where as soon as we do. It’ll be a fun little opportunity to go to a party, pick up something for yourself or your mom, snack on some finger foods and help Operation Jack in the process. If you’re not nearby but want to see their stuff, I’ll put a link up and you’ll still be able to look and participate if you want to.

Ice Cream Update
I haven’t talked about my ie cream much lately, but I’m up to 52 days in a row now eating ice cream or frozen yogurt. I had butter pecan last night and it was fantastic. Too bad I just about fell asleep with my face in the bowl. But I kept the streak alive. Just 58 more days until I tie my all-time record!

That’s All For Today!
Thanks for stopping by! I feel like I didn’t have anything to say. Maybe that’s because I’m starting to get into a rhythm and it almost feels routine. But I do appreciate your support and I’m glad you’re here. Have a great Wednesday! I’ll see you tomorrow with my weekend forecast!