Exercise for the love?

This post is way overdue.

For the past three weeks or so I've just been exercising. I haven't been training.... I've been doing what I love with no specific purpose. If I feel like running 20 miles I'll run 20 miles. If I feel like cycling, I cycle. This brings me to why do some of us exercise in the first place???

Lately I've noticed more and more people that use ANY POSSIBLE excuse they can to NOT exercise! If they think they have a good reason not to exercise they use it. To me this blatantly shows that whoever it is, obviously does not have a "love" for exercise and is doing it for the wrong reasons in the first place. (Granted everyone has their own reasons....)

Exercise should most definitely NOT be a burden. These past few weeks I've been waking up, and just really looking forward to a nice workout. When I start my runs I start them having no idea how far I'm actually going to run or at what pace. It's totally amazing setting myself free in this way.

I've realized overtime that the best results I can get, are when I'm just exercising, not training. I haven't written a training plan in almost a year, and I've set 5PRs, not mention had a blast!! I also set my Ironman marathon and swim PRs this year.

Ok ok... So what am I trying to get at?? Every once in awhile as athletes, triathletes, cyclists, or ultra-runners, we need to take time off from training, and JUST exercise. Re-discover that love for just working out. If you have to, take your watch off and enjoy the peace. Register for races and just do them. Don't worry about time or pace.

I haven't taken a day off from some sort of cardio exercise in almost a month, yet I feel more refreshed than ever because I've just been exercising for the love. For the love of exercise...

_Jacob_

WS100 2010

So I totally forgot to mention that I entered the WS100 lottery last week.

I had told myself that no matter how I did at Where's Waldo in August that I wouldn't enter the WS lottery. Well, after MUCH! influence, I entered the loterry on October 5th. Of course I had to clear it with Courtney. We talked it over for a bit and I decided to go ahead and register when I found out I didn't owe any money up front!

So. Let's hope I don't get selected.... BUTTttt, if I do it will be interesting doing two 100 milers in my first year doing them. Rocky Raccoon will be a piece of crumb cake compared to WS if I get in.

Of course Courtney jinxed me and said, with my luck I'd get picked no problem. I beg to differ :)

ps- MAKE THE RAIN go away.

_Jacob_

Jesuit XC Photos

As promised here are a few photos from the Cross Country 5K I did Saturday morning. My friend Aaron Patel took them. I you're interested in photos by Aaron let me know and I can get you in touch with him.

Enjoy!

My 5th PR of 2009....

So yesterday I set my 5th personal record of 2009. So far this year I've set personal records for the half marathon, half ironman, 50K trail run, 100K trail run, and now a 5K. (even though it was cross country!!)

Yesterday morning when I got off work at 6:30am I headed to Norbuck Park on the Northeast corner of White Rock lake to run the Jesuit Cross Country Classic 5K. I finished in 17:28 just 5 seconds behind the winner in 2nd place.

I had an absolute blast. It's when I'm flying down a nice muddy hill with mud fly off from the guy in front of me whacking me in the face that I know why I race. Why I run. Because I love it... and I don't ever want to stop. I don't ever want to not love it. When I'm racing, whether it be a 5K, 50K, 100K, or Ironman I'm loving life, and loving what I'm doing right then. I hope that everyone gets the same joy from running and racing that I do...

**Back on subject**

The race was really different for me. It was the exact same course the high school teams were running and was set up the same from start to finish. We started in a huge corral that was about 25-3o yards if not longer wide. The grass was still really damp and the course had plenty of mud to go around! The gun went off and I immediately started glancing around to see if anyone was going to go for it. I ended up in first place and could hear the pitter patter of someone else smacking in the mud behind me. It wasn't till about a mile in that he passed me for the first time. We traded on and off for about 2.5 miles. We'd get to an uphill and I'd catch him, then he'd take me on the downhills.

Finally I mentally gave in and let him get about a 4-5 second gap. I thought that maybe I'd have a chance of catching him the last 500 yards or so, but just couldn't reel him in. It was odd, I finished and he had already headed off to who knows where. I stood around for 2 and a half minutes waiting for 3rd place to cross so I could congratulate the others on a good run and chat. Once the results were posted I saw that we were 2:33 ahead of the nearest competitors.

After getting my award, I talked with my friend Aaron for awhile and headed home so I could sleep. At that point I'd only slept 3hrs in the past 28! The results can be found by clicking HERE.

I wish I hadn't had to work tonight or I would have headed out for a nice long run yesterday afternoon. But alas, here I am working!

I know it's rare that I post this much, this often but I wanted to let everyone know about my experience with a legit cross country 5K! Aaron, has a lot of photos from the 5K and I'll get them posted as soon as he gets them uploaded.

I also want to congratulate all the finishers from the Ironman World Championships yesterday!! It was a great race to watch online. It felt really strange watching it online after racing in it last year.

Lastly, I wanted to tell Scott that I'm planning on running down to your house sometime this weekend so I can let you guys know about the 100K! I feel bad for not getting down there yet, but It's been a crazy past few weeks. Also, STAY on your side of the road :) :)

I'm out! Included is a photo of my shoes after the 5K.

_Jacob_

Five Finger Nation...

I've been SO overwhelmed lately by all the talk of minimalist running and the such. This idea that people weren't meant to were shoes. That we CAN run 100s of miles barefoot.

One of the factors that's contributing to this feeling, is that amount of attention the Vibram Five Finger shoes are getting. This is absolutely amazing, because it's great to see a company just take off after I've been following them and using their product for a few years.

My five finger story starts about 2-3 years ago if not longer. I probably bought my first pair back in 2006 when the company was just starting up. When I bought my first pair of five fingers I had NO intention of EVER running in them!! I got my first pair in the mail after ordering them the Vibram website. Once they arrived I tried them on and ended up sending them back for a different size because the first didn't fit just right. Once my second pair came they fit like a glove!

I used that first pair on and off when I first got them. I'd wear them to class... around town... while driving, but then I wouldn't use them for a month or so, if not longer. After awhile I started using them again and was really starting to love them. They had become super comfortable and just left me feeling less restricted as I do with regular shoes.

One day in early 2009 I was at school working out in our activities center. When I work out there I always wear my five fingers. In early 2009 I was really getting into indoor rowing, and my five fingers worked perfectly for this machine. Well one day, I glanced over to see a friend that was trying to get back into running on a treadmill. I went over to say hi, and just for fun got onto the treadmill next to her at a walking pace. After a minute or so I found myself pushing the pace a bit, till all the sudden I was running! I'd heard of people running in these shoes, but up until this point I thought they were all lunatics!! Next thing I knew I had run an entire mile on the treadmill at less than an 8:00/mile pace.

Over the next few weeks/months I started using a 1 mile run on the treadmill in my five fingers as a warm up and warm down for my gym workouts. Over time this progressed to the outdoors where I was doing a lot more running on the trails (which I'll touch on tomorrow). The trail running in the five fingers was one of the most liberating experiences EVER. It was AMAZING how good it felt. It was AMAZING at how wrong it felt!! I couldn't believe I was doing what I was doing. I mean.... people have been wearing shoes for hundreds of years. We've been adding more and more padding to our shoes, when we should have been taking it away! After those first few trail runs in my five fingers I was hooked. I'm currently doing almost ALL my trail runs in my five fingers. Anything over 12-13 miles I still do in my Newton running shoes.

Speaking of my Newton running shoes, I'll be writing a post later that covers my transformation to a mid-forefoot runner that saved my running career.

But back to my five fingers for now. Like I was mentioning earlier it's incredible how popular five fingers have gotten recently. In some ways it almost makes me mad that they're becoming so popular! I hate to see something so awesome become more of a fad. I want people to buy the shoes for the wonderful power they possess. Not just for the funny looks they'll get while wearing them! I hate to say it, but in some ways I feel like i've become a Vibram Five Finger elitist. I mean... I was running 10-12 miles in my five finger CLASSICS on trails, plus on of the shoes didn't even have a strap anymore! I mean... I've gotta be someone special RIGHT!!?!?

Well no. I'm just someone else that's realized how we were meant to run. The vibrams set us free and let us experience something that I never imagined I could experience. We've spent SO long in running shoes that it seems SO wrong to not be in them. We've HAVE to change our thinking. People are running 100s of miles in just Vibram five fingers!! Someone finished the Leadville 100 (one of the TOUGHEST 100 mile trail runs in the world!) in Vibram Five Fingers!

So... What am I ranting about here? What does all this mean? Honestly I just want to share how liberating it is to not depend on $160 running shoes that have to be replaced every 300 miles.

So here's my challenge to you! TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF. Find some soft ground and run. Not hard. Not long. Now slowly work your way up to longer distances. Discover what it's like.

What's next for me you ask? Well I'm planning on doing my first 50K in my five fingers in December, followed by a road marathon (in my Newton shoes) the next weekend. Of course as soon as I'm don with the 50K i'll report back and let you guys know how it goes!

I know that a lot of you guys are going to stay skeptics, but at the least check out some of the research out there. You can always go to Vibram Five Fingers website for some good information, or just google barefoot running and you'll find some great sites.

As always, I hope everyone is taking care and "training" hard!

_Jacob_

Sick and Racing = ?

Not much has been going on lately other than more student teaching and my final triathlon of the year. The triathlon was the SMW Regional Texas State Championship. I've had my sights set on winning this race all season long. After I won my first OK State Championship, then took second overall at the next two I felt confident I could win the Texas State Championship and end up with 100+ points overall in the SMW region.

Coming into the race I had 98.5 points which was and is good enough for 1st overall triathlete. Unfortunately a week before the race I came down with what I'm guessing was Bronchitis or some sort of flu type infection. I immediately took some time off from exercise to help my body fight the infection. I attempted to cycle a few days later and made it about 30 mins before I came home. I ended up taking the rest of the week off till that Friday where I ran about 3 miles. I was still feeling pretty bad and had a wicked bad cough. By Saturday I was feeling much better, but was definitely not 100%. I went and picked up my packet for the race on Sunday and started prepping for the race.

Sunday morning came and I was feeling confident. Well as soon as I got out of the water and started the bike ride I KNEW that something was seriously wrong. I had ZERO energy and felt really lethargic. I kept trying to push the pace but just couldnt get anything done. I was getting passed by people on road bikes, which is unheard of for me. Long story short, the race was a disaster and I ended up like 12-14 overall. After such a solid triathlon season this race was a horrible way to end the year.

Everyone has been really supportive about the race and keep trying to tell me how 12-14 overall is still good, but honestly when looking at my previous results, I have a reason to really ashamed and embarassed regardless of my illness. I'm well aware that the illness was the problem, and the fact that I had to take 6 days completely off, but it was still really hard to watch those guys pass me.

Now regardless of my finish I believe that I'm going to be able to hang on to first overall in the region. That was my goal coming into this season, and I'd like nothing more than to be able to keep it.

After the horrific race on Sunday I decided I needed to just do what I love doing, so I strapped on my fivefingers and went for a few trail runs. Ended up doing 8 miles on Monday, 6 on Tuesday, 9 on Wed, and 19! on Thursday. Most I've run since Where's Waldo, and man did it feel gooood.

I'm just going to take it easy for awhile and do what I feel like doing. I don't have anymore big races this season. I will be doing the Boston Marathon, but the bigger race to me will be the Rocky Raccoon 100 in February. I'm 99.99% sure I'm doing that race. All I've got to do now is get the entry fee!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend, and staying healthy! The swine flu is making it's comeback in North Texas....

I wanted to share a quick quote with everyone that I recently read on an ultra runners blog.

"I know this might sound like a lot of emotional, sappy, hippy bull shit but I would challenge anyone to give it a try and see what you find out. Throw away your training schedule, find a mountain and run up it. The next day find another mountain and run up it. Once you fall in love with doing that share this love with others. It can be that simple."

-Geoff Roes, Ultra-runner

That quote really hits home. The entire blog can be found by clicking HERE.

_Jacob_