September 30, 2009

ACSIS Cross-Country Champioships

So I have been talking a lot about future and stuff... and not enough about present things. I probably just have not been talking enough in general. I am not big on "small talk" so this is difficult, but I like to write so I will try harder. Okay?

Well anyways, I was invited by a coach at ISS to run the cross-country meet at SAS on Friday. To tell the truth I was not all that excited. Before the race I remember wishing I was running a 100 miler rather than a 3.1 miler. Going into Friday I thought that it just might be the hardest, most grueling, fastest race I have ever run. Fast, hard, and especially grueling runs are not cool to me. I think it is more of an accomplishment to run as far as your body will take you rather than as fast. Put me on a road and say "run straight for as long as you can" and that would suffice. I just hope to never become ann Anton Krupika, where I probably don't eat enough, run 200 miles a week, and have no time for friends and stuff. I have to say that that man is just insane though. I do hope to be able to run as consistent as he does, but not as far and fast.

But anyways, I warmed up really well and felt great! I ran a few sprints and stretched probably 4 times. Me and dad have this routine stretch that we always do before a run and it takes like 10 minutes, so four of those will tell you how much I stretched. I drank tons of water the last two days or so and ate pasta for dinner the night before made by my mother. (It was good too :) ) You might think that is a little extravagant for just a 5k, but I was really really nervous. But for some reason when I line up on the starting line, those nerves completely disappear. I don't know why but they do. The race director blew the horn to start and off we went.

Because of my background in running, which is not a lot but much more than probably every kid there, I knew how to run a race. I started off slow, not going for show like everyone else did. I paced myself at the beginning, so much so that I thought after the finish that I could have run it faster from the start. Right at about 2k people started to get the idea in their head saying," Wow I started off too fast." About 3k I made my way to the second pack of kids, because their were, in fact, some incredibly fast kids there. About 4k the pack finally spread out to where I had no more people to draft off of and so I sped up a lot. I kept my teammate in sight the last kilometer and with about 1k to go, I caught up with him and said,"Dude let's go!" We started almost at a sprint until we hit the track. We caught up with and passed about 5 people in the process, and one guy stuck with us.

Then something happened that seems to happen every race I run. The last stretch of the race seems to be a "non-memorable" time where is does not matter how hard or bad I hurt, I pick up the pace and hit full-throttle. It's weird though because that last section of the race you already don't have breath but something hits you and when you start sprinting, you basically just stop breathing. I don't know if I am the only one that does that, but... Well I passed up my teammate and the dude that couldn't be shaken and hit the finish like in somewhere around 21 minutes. My previous 5k record was just under 23 so I definitely PR'd. I was happy and so was my teammate, Aurthur. Afterward, some SAS people through an ice-cold towel or my head and gave me a freezing cold 100 Plus to drink and I felt good. I finished 23rd out of something like 100 people and Aurthur finished 24th, seconds behind me.

I am pretty proud of what I ran, but I still hate 5k's, and I always will. haha

September 12, 2009

What's been going on in the world of Jakeb

Well, I technically don't have a world but the title sounded good. I have got lots of things going on or about to go on.

Running... I have not really been running. I got sick and have "actually" been out for 2 weeks or so. I have run the long runs necessary and a little in between but getting up in the mornings just got harder and harder. Tomorrow morning I will try to run 12 with dad. Hopefully it will all be well.

School is okay. Not really excited about the next two years. College sounds really good at the moment because the U.S. sounds really good at the moment. Thoughts of graduating early are creeping up in my mind and I am sure my parents are not ready for that. I really, really miss having great Christian friends to talk to all the time and do stuff with. In the school I am in, I can't find that. No one shares the same belief as I do and it doesn't help my faith all that much. But on the school note, I have way too much homework, or way more than I ever had in the U.S. and I do not like it one bit. I constantly have 1000 word essays to do and math homework every night and studying for a physics test or something like that. It feels like all the teachers are only thinking of themselves and that one class. When they think a few problems is easy to do in one night, they give us a few more, not thinking that we have 7 other subjects. I don't like to stay in my room for a long time, so I try to get to Starbucks when I have the money because it is some-what of a home away from home. Good coffee and sometimes a song that has come from the other side of the meridian.

Next, I signed up for a 5 day bike ride through Angkor, Cambodia where it is all country and a whole bunch of ancient temples and stuff. We ride about 20 Km a day to different sights. I wish it was more. One of my pet peaves is waiting on people slower than me. Not that I am fast, but I like to get where I am going. I guess you could say I like to do things my way. But I just hope we can ride an average speed and that their aren't a whole bunch of people that like to wine. That and I really hope we are nowhere near the city. I would hate to go to Cambodia to ride in the wilderness and hear some cars and motor bikes in the distance. Not fun at all.

And last but most likely first is Nepal. Mom, Anna, Dad, and me are all going to Pokhara, Nepal to experience the Himalayan Mountains and me and dad will do some hiking up to Poon Hill and some how end back down in Pokhara in three days. Not sure how it will all work out but dad has been and hopefully he knows his stuff. While we are not hiking, the whole family will be doing some shopping in Pokhara and some good eating as well. I hear they like Daal Bot their.

But that is what is happening at the moment. I also am trying to raise money for going back to Kenya. In order to do that I am trying to get quotes on a shirt so I can sell them to whomever wants to buy them. If anyone who is reading this wants one then comment please. You could be one of the firsts to have a really cool looking shirt designed by my completely awesome, artistic cousin Erin. Not sure how much they will be but I am sure you won't waste your money. I also except prayers... I really like prayers and so does God.

Well now you are caught up in the life of Jakeb...