Runnin 50s for what?

Geezz. I'm not really even sure where to start this post.

I've been so unbelievably lazy with my posts lately. It's amazing how the more I have to talk about the less I actually post stuff.

About two weeks ago I ran my third 50 mile race in the past four months. The Jemez Mountain 50 miler in Los Alamos, New Mexico. I had such high hopes going into this race. I don't know if I was expecting some kind of breakthrough ultra race, but I got almost the total opposite. Once again, a hard ultra mountain race showed me whose boss.

This race was 50 miles in the heart of the Jemez mountains. We started around 7,500 ft and topped out over 10,300 ft at least three times for a total climbing amount of 12,000 ft. (Loss and Gain in 50 miles)

After my previous experience at the Zane Grey 50 where I felt like I'd pretty much hit rock bottom, I didn't think it got much worse than that. Boy was I wrong. The Zane Grey 50 took me around 12:47. (That's 12hours and 47 mins for those non ultra runners out there). The Jemez 50 took me something like 14:19. Yea. That's pretty much an average mile of 16:50 something. Borderline embarrassing for me. I trained for the Jemez race fairly hard but just got completely owned by the terrain and altitude.

I feel I made a few critical mistakes looking back now. First I took a gel that I RARELY use if ever anymore. After about 4-5 of these things I couldn't eat one more. Literally. Everytime I tried to take one I started dry heaving. I also feel that I got pretty dehydrated pretty early in the race. While it wasn't hot at the start it warmed up by mid day to around 80 degrees. I ended up dehydrated (I guess) which led to me not being able to eat a whole lot. Finally around mile 44 (I forgot to mention the last 10 miles or so are pretty much ALL downhill) I started dry heaving. I knew it was coming up. For the first time in my career of running in general I threw up. Let me tell you. It's GROSS watching brown and black gels come back up! Haha.

I pretty much walked the last 6-7 miles. Downhill. Like I said. Embarrassing.

I crossed the line, got my finishers award, hopped in the car, went straight to Sonic, went back to the hotel and fell asleep. While I was "racing" I literally felt like I was sleep walking at certain points. Again, not sure if that was the altitude or what, but I was literally exhausted.

During races like that I really question my reasons for doing those things to myself. I question my ability to do that stuff, and I question if I'm even an ultra runner.

Of course, I don't do it for the time, I don't do it for anyone but myself, and the fact that I get to see some of the most gorgeous terrain the U.S. has to offer, all on foot. Obviously I'm going to have to do some tweaking with my nutrition and be sure that I stick with my tried and true.

I've got a few more races lined up pretty soon. The Abilene 6hr Endurance run is coming up that starts at 8pm. (1 mile loop) Then in July I've got the El Scorcho 50K that starts at midnight in Fort Worth. I'm really pumped about that one. I'm not going to keep it a secret, but I'm definitely racing for the win out there. Hopefully the guy that won last year (Ran like 3:06 or smoething crazy) won't show up and I'll at least have a chance at the top 3.

**********************************************************************

In the personal life things are pretty busy! Courtney is planning away at the wedding and things are REALLY going smoothly. We now have a wedding venue and reception venue! The date is set for January 8th, 2011. It definitely couldn't come fast enough.

I'm gonna try to post more pictures and videos from now on. I'm working on updating my Picasa page, much like my facebook. You search Jacob Evans (Dallas, TX) you'll find me there!

Enjoy the video! (Not made by me)

Train hard and live harder.

_Jacob_

Zane Grey 51?

Who's the worst ever at updating? Me. I know... Iknow. Hopefully everyone knows that I update my training log on a daily basis, and is a great way to know what I'm up to. (training and personally)

I don't have too much time right now but I did want to post the link to my race report for the Zane Grey 50 (actually 51 miles) trail run that I did in Arizona last weekend! CLICK HERE to check it out. I got in a really nice 21 mile run today at the Northshore trail in Grapevine. Man, do I LOVE that trail.

Hope everyone is doing well and I will definitely be updating more. I'm obviously going in a different direction than I have been in the past few years, but I couldn't be any happier. Triathlon is still important to me, but ultra running has become just as if not more important. I find it unbelievably challenging and beautiful.

Train hard and live harder :)

_Jacob_

Marathon Maniacs!!!

So for the past few years I've wanted to be a part of ths group called the "Marathon Maniacs". There's a fairly strict set of guidlines to actually get into this group. The easiest way to get it in two run 2 marathons within 16 days which I easily did last weekend. (Not to mention running 100K in less than 14 hours)

Anyways, I actually qualified last weekend without even thinking about it. IT wasn't until a few days after that it hit me that I had qualified to apply. Well know I can gladly call myself Marathon Maniac number 2383!

In other news I did end up racing the A2A marathon (obviously) and finished 9th overall and 2nd age group with a time of 3:21:25. I started out super easy and actually ended up running close to 7 minute miles at the end. I felt great and was happy to get Oklahoma knocked off my 50 states list.

Now I have to big 50 milers coming up in less than 50ish days. I'm really looking forward to both. The first is Zane Grey which is supposed to be super tough, then I'm doing Jemez which is supposed to be equally tough due to the huge altitude.

I'll keep everyone updated on those races and anything else I add to the schedule. Hope everyone is training hard and enjoying this amazing spring weather!!

_Jacob_

My infatuation with the HR100....

I haven't been a part of the ultra running community all that long, but from what I can tell the majority of ultra runners dream race is the Western States 100. While this race seems incredible, I can't help but imagine why when the Hardrock 100 is out there.

Hardrock seems like a pipe dream at this point, but I can only hope someday soon I'm able to make it to that finish line. To me Hardrock seems like the epitamy of what ultra running is. It has single track, jeep roads, absurd climbs, uber remote locations, weather, and is just plain jaw dropping beautiful.

If you've never heard of the Hardrock 100, or even if you have, I'm sure you can appreciate genuine beauty. I'm posting a few photos I recently found that make me want to "run" Hardrock even more than I already do.

Train hard and live harder...

_Jacob_

Legit update!

I will be updating soon!

Some cool things have been happening and my running is coming along! I'm finally feeling ready to get some big mileage under my feet and start focusing on training specifically for my upcoming 50 milers!

Just real quick, I have finally decided on a 100 mile run for this year. The Arkansas Traveller 100 is definitely the race for me. It's relatively close, it's not multiple loops (just one), and it's all trail. The only thing I don't like about it is, is that it only has 8 miles of single track. The rest is jeep roads/double track.

So, I hope everyone is doing awesome and bearing through some of this ridiculous weather we've all been having! (1 ft + of snow in the Dallas area!!) Congrats to all the finishers at the Cowtown Marathon/Half Marathon/Ultra/ Etc! You guys did awesome.

_Jacob_