Friday, September 9, 2011

Skydiving + Ultra Running = ?

So my 26th birthday is this Wednesday. In the past I haven't been a huge birthday celebrator (is that a word?), but my wife on the other hand is good at birthdays. Wait, not just good, but GREAT at birthdays.

About 4-6 months ago she started telling me that she had already planned my birthday for this year! Of course she wouldn't tell me anything. Anything other than to leave the weekend clear and take Friday night off from work.

Well yesterday morning when I got home from work she finally told me what we're doing this weekend! She had a birthday present waiting for me. I opened it, and to my surprise found a puzzle. Yes, a PUZZLE! This, ladies and gentleman is Courtney at her finest! She had made me a puzzle to put together so I could figure out what we're doing!

So a few minutes later after getting this thing together I see that it reads, "You're going... SKYDIVING!"

What a surprise! I've been telling her since we first met 4 years ago that I wanted to skydive. The entire time she said that it was crazy and way too dangerous. I of course told her it's perfectly safe, but she always dismissed it!

To say I'm excited is a complete understatement. She actually went all out and ordered the video/picture package as well! Hopefully I can get the pictures and video uploaded sometime next week. We're actually heading down to Austin to spend the weekend, I'm jumping Saturday, having a nice dinner Saturday night, and driving home Sunday.

In running news, I'm quickly reaching my weekly goal of 82 miles. Monday I had a nice 12.5 mile road run, Tuesday a long 22 mile trail run at the Northshore, Wednesday AM a 9.7 mile trail/road run, Wed PM a harder 5 mile road run, then Thursday a decent 10 mile road run. This morning when I get off work I'm running another 12.5 or so, taking Saturday off to jump, then running a trail or road 8 Sunday depending on how I feel.

This week has been good, but my body is feeling a little more fatigued than normal, which of course is normal due to the higher mileage. Regardless my body is holding up and recovering OH so well. That's one thing I've really noticed in my training for 100 miles is that I have become so much better at recovering quickly. My run after the 22 miles Tuesday was fine. A few years ago, there's no way I could have run after a long run like that.

Next week I'll run ~92 miles and begin a drastic taper. I am REALLY looking forward to the taper, and even more so the race.

Last but not least (I was going to keep this post short), the weather in north Texas has FINALLY broken!!!! The morning lows have been absolutely wonderful. It's been mid 60's in the mornings and mid to high 80s in the afternoons. It looks like next week we'll be back in the 90s, but anything is better than the 104+ degree days we were having just a few weeks ago.

That's all I've got for now. I shall report back after my SKYDIVING experience this weekend!

Also, to answer the question in the blog title, Skydiving + Ultra Running = One happy Jacob :)

Enjoy this video. I love the song and the video. Good all around. (As always, better enjoyed with good headphones on)



-Jacob

2 comments:

  1. Good luck with the AT100. This was my first and was not prepared for the extreme heat and humidity the weekend hit us with (outside the normal). Also, was not ready for the rocky terrain and hammered my feet (I needed better inserts and 1/2 size larger shoe). I learned a ton about Ultras with this race, and still learning.
    This is a great race with supportive AS. You will do well and love the course (mix of trails and dirt roads).

    Tapper - 2 weeks works best for me, with only a few short 3-5 mile easy runs the week of to control my energy level. Everyone is different and need to find what works best for you.

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