05.15.14
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Running Dry

Nothing like a little disaster to take you away from your blogging commitment only one post in! So the story goes: Shortly after my last post, as I referenced in it, I hit my first race of the year with the 5k Run for Southlake in Newmarket. I ran all three days from that post to race day, including (and I should have known better) the day before.

10155875_10152357763089420_1142034682490347701_nThe day before race day is always a rest day. Always has been for me, from my first race. Yet this time, in my obsessive rage to become a Spartan, I decided I don’t rest. And not only do I not rest, I run 17km. Prior to that day the longest I’d ever run in one go was 10km, yet there I was, pushing myself to new limits. Burned 1,400 calories and came back accomplished. Ate like a crazy man and was up the next morning for the competitive run.

So here’s the good news – finished it in 23:01 for a new personal best. That time put me 9th/63 amongst men my age, 38th/377 men, and 53rd/1089 overall. The weeks of hitting the pavement almost daily, hill trials, and pushing for time had paid off.

10264972_10152357764749420_3648711805101751780_nUntil the next day, when the pain set in. Something close to “searing” on the right side of my right foot. So I smartly rested for what ended up being a week and a half. Finally hit the road again this past Thursday where I could only muster a lowly 2k. Matched that lowly 2k on Friday, then pushed it to 3.5k on Sunday. Monday I strapped the new gear on, bolted out the door… and stopped. Reluctantly admitting to myself it hurt far too much I angrily came back, showered, changed, and went to work. Spitting nails that my goals had been lost.

The good news is it appears to be a scare – a small case of tendinitis in the foot that, after constant icing, stretches, and one physio treatment is coming around. Physiotherapist feels I could be back on the road by Tuesday night, and should be able to hit the Spartan Sprint at Brimacombe on June 7th without difficulty.

What have I learned from this?

  • New shoes: I was still wearing the ASICS I bought in 2011 for the Island run, and that’s idiotic
  • Pace: I’m not going to be an elite racer overnight, pace myself and work my body up

Hopefully I’ll have more training to report on shortly.

04.23.14
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The Beast in its Tracks

On the cusp of the 20th birthday of my blog what could possibly drag me out of a semi-retirement for the past six years and (hopefully) invigorate my desire to blog once again? The Spartan Beast World Championship in Killington, Vermont.

Rick Jessup on the mud slide @ 2013 Mud HeroThose few of you left who’ve been with me for the long haul know my story: In 2002 I found myself with an active blog and a sedentery lifestyle. When I finally had enough I joined a gym and got on a scale – I was 241 lbs. I set out to just start, and a year later ran my very first 5k at the urging of a friend, Clive. You can read that journey right here. I arrived at the finish line entirely gassed and ranked 47th out of 54 male runners, dead last of three in my age group. But I liked it. 18 months later I ran my second, 20 lbs lighter: 27:29, 229th out of 477 men, 90th out of 179 my age. One year later I did the Achilles again: 24:56, 167th place and 39th out of 140 men my age. Unfortunately I pulled a muscle in my foot that race and found myself out for a long time. Five years to be exact – the 2011 Longboat Toronto Island Run where I came in at 23:29, and last year’s Toronto Pearson Runway Run at 24:03. However, last year was also when I become introduced to obstacle races through Warrior Dash and Mud Hero.

All this to say that coming into 2014, as I crossed into age 40, I decided to do what a lot of old guys do: Get in the best shape of my life. The carrot hanging in front of me would be the literal beast of obstacle races – the Spartan Beast World Championship. I’ll be joining the two big shots from the office, Jay & Nick, in a road trip to Vermont where we’ll compete in a 12+ mile race in which the fastest, elite competitors will take three hours to complete. On the road to Vermont I will, so far, take part in:

Here, I will discuss my training and my journey. From ~180 lbs in my birthday to already ~168 lbs. I’ve already set a new personal best in a 5k (23:18) in training, and that first race is this Sunday. Hope you’ll join me on this ride, should be a good one.

09.20.12
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Thinking People

I’m not sure what’s led to a complete and utter lack of discernment in this world but we’re there. As a Christian, I basically speak directly to two “facts” of 2012:

  • The Bible is written by men thousands of years ago and can’t be trusted
  • Everything said in current day should be assumed fact immediately

Sure, some of you reading this will contest one or both of those, most likely the latter. We want to pretend we have discernment but in an age of retweets it’s push the button first – tobe first – and then worry about the truth and the fallout afterwards. Which brings me to the article that prompted this:

The Gospel of Jesus’ Wife

Read the blurbs and the Tweets and what we have is an original manuscript that finally proves Jesus was married. This is good news for false Christians because it means Jesus was more human than we thought (read: sinned) and now we’re justified in our human actions! Good stuff. All this from one single cellphone-sized fragment of papyrus.

Except that’s not what the story was. The actual story, possibly best laid out in The Christian Post, is that someone found a tiny single fragment of papyrus that said Jesus was married. What does that mean? That at some point in history someone thought Jesus was married. Which we already knew. Which has been proven false through 19,300 fragments of New Testament writings dating as far back as AD125.

But in 2012 a single fragment of papyrus that tells us something we want to hear is far more important than a book written by men that has no doubt been translated poorly over time and no longer tells the same story. Ignore that we have almost 20,000 fragments of varying sizes that have been used as recently as the past decade to translate, ignore that there are thousands of single fragments that aren’t reliable.

The truth is the information is out there. The New Testament is the most historically accurate translation in print, above and beyond any other book you could find. We’re confident in the translation. It’s written closer to the source material than any other historical book, so those of us who’ve taken the time to research are confident in the material. Where the true issue lies isn’t in translations or material, it’s in a book that tells us how to live when we’d rather guide our own ship. I have far more respect for someone who simply admits that than those who choose to perpetuate ridiculous “facts” online.

“Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.”
– GK Chesterton

09.17.12
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Oh My God

Sometimes I cannot forgive
And these days, mercy cuts so deep
If the world was how it should be, maybe I could get some sleep
While I lay, I dream we’re better,
Scales were gone and faces light
When we wake, we hate our brother
We still move to hurt each other
Sometimes I can close my eyes,
And all the fear that keeps me silent falls below my heavy breathing,
What makes me so badly bent?
We all have a chance to murder
We all feel the need for wonder
We still want to be reminded that the pain is worth the thunder

Sometimes when I lose my grip, I wonder what to make of heaven
All the times I thought to reach up
All the times I had to give
Babies underneath their beds
Hospitals that cannot treat all the wounds that money causes,
All the comforts of cathedrals
All the cries of thirsty children – this is our inheritance
All the rage of watching mothers – this is our greatest offense

Oh my God