The Running Bear Blog

Based on my tweet I promised I’d post about boxing. I’m pretty tired and need to just chill out and go to sleep but all I can say is that boxing is amazing. It’s an amazing way to get fit because it taps into biological instincts and it forces you to fight, to make decisions, to survive, to take a stand. Have many more thoughts but need to get to sleep. Wanted to get a post out there. So happy that all of you are still reading, those who read, and know that I think about this blog and the issues surrounding it every day. Leave a comment if you have a suggestion for any new RB-related topics!
Good night (get some sleep too)!
Zack Gober

Hey all –

One of our readers, whose name is Joanne, got in contact with us via email and let us know about some awesome products she sells that include chia seeds. Check out Chris’s review below!

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CH-CH-CH-CH-CHIA!!!
Hey everyone, Chris here. I’m helping out this week with a special post. I’m going to review a new product: chia seeds. That’s right! Remember those little seeds you used to plant in that ceramic Scooby Doo head and watch the grass grow out the top? It turns out those little seeds have a lot more going for them.
I first read about chia seeds in Born to Run, the NYT best-seller that got barefoot running on its feet (pun intended). The Tarahumara tribe featured in this book is known to consume chia seeds for energy before their long runs. Now, you can get chia seeds in the US.
Chia seeds (their scientific name is Salvia hispanica) are similar to flax seeds. Their benefit comes from the omega fatty acids that are packed inside – omega 3, 6, and 9 to be exact. Scientists are increasingly interested in the positive effects of consuming omega fatty acids. For this reason, I had tried to take fish oil pills in the past. I hated them. They tasted nasty, and that fowl taste lingered in your mouth for hours.
That’s why I was so excited to try chia seeds. I would sprinkle the crushed chia seeds into my plain Greek yogurt every morning, or I would munch on the whole seeds plain. By and large the seeds are tasteless. However, I did notice a big change in the way I felt. For starters, I didn’t feel like I needed caffeine every morning. I phased coffee out of my morning ritual, replacing it with my chia seeds and yogurt, and I felt like I had more natural energy.
It’s worth mentioning that the time at which I began taking chia seeds coincided with a recent knee injury that required my second cortisone shot in less than a year. When I started rehabbing, I didn’t feel like I was lacking energy. I was able to bike for longer, and soon, I was able to get back to running faster (which is what everyone wants after an injury, right?)
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised at the chia seeds and the way my body felt. When I run out, I’ll be sure to stock up again! If you’re looking to get the benefits of omega fatty acids without the fish oil, this is definitely the way to go.
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Thanks again for the tip, Joanne!

Zack Gober

“The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall.” – Vince Lombardi

“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.” – Bill Cosby

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” – Winston Churchill

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

“I couldn’t wait for success, so I went ahead without it.” – Jonathan Winters

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Do… or do not. There is no try.” – Yoda in “The Empire Strikes Back”

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” – Robert F. Kennedy

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” – Alan Kay

“Man is not made for defeat.” – Ernest Hemingway in “The Old Man and The Sea

Inspiration from Men’s Health Magazine. Love it.
Zack Gober

Got my first pre-work workout in today. 2 miles, followed by abs and stretching. Nothing like stretching at 7am after a good sweat. Wow.
Zack

So, as some of you may have noticed today (those of you who also follow the blog’s Twitter feed), I changed the Twitter handle from @therunningbear5 to @zdgober. Some screamed, some wept, and some questioned it all. It was traumatic, I know. :::cosmic irony now picked up by the 3 people that will actually read this post::: I decided that I’d write a post of explanation before I go to bed (and get up early for a workout before the workweek begins).

I have been playing around with this change in my mind for a while now. I think it came about for two main reasons.

1) I am pretty much the only person who posts on the blog now. Of my many founders and co-founders, Chris Guenard (@chris_guenard) is the only one left, and he, being quite busy with pre-med related stuff, has not had much time to post and I do not blame him, although I think he may do a guest post in the coming weeks. We’ll see.

2) I think that I created the Running Bear blog because I wanted to create an image and a mascot that collectively represented my experiences after the point I decided to get healthy and prior to the inception of the blog. My life had been a mix of running, healthy eating, and sheer determination, and I wanted to share my story. The image of a running bear, a ferocious man-creature that grabs life by the salmon lends itself quite well to that story. So I went with it, and the blog speaks to those ideas. The blog has spoken to them and will continue to speak to them, and so for those reasons, the blog is staying www.therunningbearblog.com for the foreseeable future.

However, Twitter is something different. Twitter is my voice. I probably tweet several times a day, if I can. And, when I think about my voice, and when I think about @therunningbear5, the voice of the Running Bear, I can’t help but see a difference. The Running Bear is a part of me, of course, but if you subtract out The Running Bear part of me, there’s still a whole other guy. There’s a guy who loves traveling, movies, restaurants, and getting in long conversations with friends at bars he’s never previously heard of. There’s a guy who gets up every morning, walks 20 minutes to work in business formal, and actively comments on how great it is to be alive. There’s a guy who loves what he does for a living, gets a thrill out of working in teams, and strives to inspire those around him with the goodness he cannot help but see in the world. I know who that person is. And it takes about 24 hours of energy per day just to be that person, but I’ll keep doing it because it’s worth every one of those 24. It’s worth each hour because I know that if I give each hour that full hour of Zack Gober, of @zdgober, then I will eventually achieve the things that I want to achieve and set new goals and achieve those. And I’ll be able to help others achieve their goals in the most effective way that I possibly can.

These past two months, since college perhaps, have really helped me understand the difference between @therunningbear5 and @zdgober, the persona and the person (if there ever really were a persona, because as far as I know, I have never actually seen a Running Bear, or a Running Bear costume, for that matter, no matter how cool it would be). They have helped me understand what I want to do, what I need to do, what makes me happy, and who I really am. I can reasonably conclude that I am Zack Gober; in fact, I can decisively conclude that. And for that, I’m grateful. The Running Bear may be some fraction (or maybe even multiple) of me, but Zack Gober is all of me, and I want you, the readers, to know that in the arena, the stadium of the Running Bear blog, it is Zack Gober talking. It is me, not the Running Bear, humbly sharing my stories and putting my heart on the line, hoping that some modicum of what I let flow from my fingers onto the WordPress text field will move you, or at least help you, to continue pursuing your passions and your dreams. That’s all I can do. That’s all any of us can really do.

Zack

Just ran 6.2 miles in around 50 minutes, and it felt great. Stretched and lifted after that. That’s what happens when you treat your body right. Time to enjoy the weekend.

It is amazing to see what happens when you treat your body with respect. Absolutely amazing.

The body, and the mind, are a lot more logical than we care to believe. We may have free will, and yes, we can in theory control our destiny, but the fact is that we are an amalgamation of chemical reactions, purely biological beings. We respond to stimuli. Our bodies respond, as do our minds. When you tell yourself that you are happy, when you tell yourself you want to succeed, when you spend your time doing things that you love, your body and your mind reprogram to express your feelings through your body and its behavior.

This past week was the first week during which I was really able to immerse myself in the content and the lifestyle of my new environment. I did a lot, I learned a lot, and I spent time with a lot of great people. That’s what I signed up for, that’s what I want, and that’s what I did. It made me happy. Consequently, I treated my body in the best way possible. I ate really well, got as much sleep as physically possible, and tried to fit some strength work into the schedule when I could. Could I have done better? Yes. Was the week still a resounding success? Yes.

I could go on, but I think the point is made. Do not be afraid, wherever you are, to seek out what it is that makes you happy. If you’re already there, stick with it. Keep enjoying it. Immerse yourself in it. You will thank yourself for it, as will your body.

Go for a run (or a walk) this weekend!
Zack