Status Update

I know it's been so long since I've written here, but it's not for a lack of things to talk about. On the contrary - I sometimes feel overwhelmed (in the best way possible), because there is just no way to share everything and do justice to the experiences. 


My biggest writing block has been Yom Kippur. I just feel like there are no words for how meaningful it was spend the holiest day of the year in the holiest city in the world. Walking to the Kotel after Kol Nidre services (a 2 mile walk each way, while fasting!) walking in the middle of normally busy streets, their traffic lights changed to blinking reminders that tonight was different. The helpful people we met who walked us to synagogue after we got lost and my group leader's husband who whispered a hushed translation of the Ne'illah sermon. We spent the day synagogue hopping, not exactly sure if we were looking for the place that felt most like home or the most completely different, but by the end of the day it was clear that it didn't matter what you were looking for. The experience itself was enough.
Post Yom Kippur marked the official start of our first vacation. 10 days completely to ourselves! Although it does sound funny to me to talk about a vacation from the program, because despite the volunteer hours, Hebrew classes and Beit Midrash, I often feel as if my life is a vacation. I am so blessed. 

Anyway, we took full advantage of our time off to do some serious relaxing and a exploring. First to Petach Tikvah to visit our friends on ITF, to the beach in Tel Aviv and finally to Haifa, were three of my friends and I took an Israeli cruise line to the Greek Islands of Rhodes and Kos. Being the only Americans was a fun badge of honor, and we were able to meet some great people, eat way too much food, play tourist and relax some more. 

Clock Tower on Rhodes

While we were on vacation, September became October and I fulfilled a promise I made to myself - I officially registered for the Jerusalem Marathon! After counting back the weeks to race day and realizing it was only about 20 weeks away, I jumped head first into my training plan and have since completed two long runs over two hours each and my first official marathon length speed session (30 minutes of hills all alone). I know this journey to 26.2 is going to be difficult without my normal training partners-in-crime, but I know that with their virtual support and the physical support and company of a the runners and friends I've met here, I'll be crossing that finish line on March 1st with a bigger cheering section than I ever could have imagined (even if they all think I'm crazy).

Let's see...what else?

Hiking Adventures right in Karmiel

Beach days in Tel Aviv

Pot Luck Shabbat Dinners

Rock Climbing in Haifa

Taking in a Shlomo Artzi concert like true Israelis, even if we didn't know a single song

So that's much of what I've been up to. What have you been up to? More to come sooner than last time, I promise!

ARC 5K - Another Check Mark

I woke up yesterday morning to find an absolutely perfect day for a race. Gorgeous, sunny and not too hot, I was ready to run! I wasn’t planning on going out super hard, trying to win or anything crazy like that. I just wanted to know if I was fully back in shape after my break in May and how the triathlon training had affected my running. I got my answers. I’m definitely back in shape and the triathlon training made me stronger. I finished the ARC 5K in 21:59 (a new PR) and actually won my age group! I’ve never done that before so it felt really cool to be able to check off another secret goal (to win something).

The PR was what was really most important to me though. Not only had I taken a break right after my last 5K PR (Race for the Cure), but I also had someone pacing me through it. Ever since, I’ve wondered if I could have accomplished that 22:04 by myself. Did I have the mental toughness? Could I focus long enough? Yup, I did and I can!

Knowing that this race was just a test of my fitness, I felt no stress, panic or anxiety going into it like I normally do. At Iron Girl, Race for the Cure, Mountain Goat and even to some extent at the Teal There’s a Cure 5K, I was putting serious pressure on myself to perform, to place, to PR or even just to prove that Kevin’s training was working.

But what I found yesterday is that going into a race with no pressure, running just for me and just for fun, I’ll still see results as long as I’ve been putting the work. And that’s what matters. Yes, my inner competitiveness still comes out a little once I start running and I’ll pick someone up ahead to try and catch or pass, but starting relaxed is the key for me. As long as I haven’t given that race anxiety time to build before I even start running, I can use it to my advantage.

Yesterday was the first time I’ve ever run the ARC race. It’s never been on my radar before but a friend got me an entry so I figured, why not? It was a nice race (flat out and back), plus there is a half marathon also. The half starts 10 minutes before the 5K, so we got to cheer them on as they headed out. Then, timing works out perfectly as almost all the 5Ker’s are done right before the fastest guys finish the half. We got to see Kevin win the half marathon by more than 2 minutes! It was so cool to see. I couldn’t stay for awards but I heard he gave away his medal to a disabled child. That I wish I could have seen, so heartwarming!  

Play Like It's The Last Time

Our gymnastics team had a quote that got passed around a lot, then took on new meaning after we were cut. Who could have ever known how meaning full that third sentence would be to us all?

Believe in you. Trust in us. Play like it’s the last time. Enjoy the ride.

I have no idea where it came from. To be honest, since I graduated from JMU it’s not something I think about very often. But after an amazing reunion this weekend, I was reminded of it and some of the other quotes we loved so much.

“I don't remember how we happened to meet each other. I don't remember who got along with whom first. All I can remember is all of us together...always.”

“From the outside looking in you could never understand, and from the inside looking out we could never explain.”

Forever a Duke.

But it’s that first one that’s been stuck in my head all day. Play like it’s the last time. Enjoy the ride. It has always carried a ton of meaning for me, but now it might have even more significance. It’s not a quote we came up with after we were cut. It’s one we always tried to live by, since as a gymnast, you never knew when your last chance would be, so we always did our best to leave it all on the floor. It’s how at our last ever gymnastics meet, we were able to hit 23 for 24 of our routines that day. Ask any gymnast, 6 stuck beam routines as a team doesn’t happen often in a meet situation.

So with two weeks left until the triathlon, I’m going to play every training session like it’s the last one and I’m definitely going to enjoy the ride. And then? On race day? It’s only fitting for the race plan to be leave it all out on the course. I need to set a time goal. Realistically, I’m confident I can go under 1:35:00. I’m tempted to make my goal 1:30:00.

Leave it to a weekend full of good friends, good memories and way to much food and wine to bring me back to my training with a renewed focus. I guess it makes sense though and the timing was right. The end of my gymnastics career was when I chose to start running. The weekend came at the end of my easy week, right before the start of my last hard week. A week from today I start to taper. I’m already going crazy thinking about the taper. I’m not going to know what to do with myself. Anyone have any suggestions? How do you deal with all the free time and excess energy during a taper? This will be the first time in a while I’m truly tapered. For the last couple of road races I just took it easy the day before. Help!

The Rest of the Rollercoaster

Ok, so picking up where I left off…

New sneakers in tow I headed to our running group on Thursday night. It was HOT. But those are the days when finishing a tough workout makes you feel like you can achieve anything. We did a 10 minute warm up, followed by strength intervals of 5, 7 and 3 minutes with only a minute of rest in between. Then we finished up with a 10 minute cool down. It was tough, but I felt like for the first time since the hill workouts, I was able to finish a workout without having to lay off early. It felt good.

The got even better from there. I finally got to see one of my best friends who was back in town from Seattle with her baby! It was great to see her and although I may be biased he might be the most adorable kid I’ve seen in a long time.

Friday it was back to spine doc. He’s one of those people that’s very book smart, but he has no people skills. The good news is I can still run. I just have to see him again in 6 months for an x-ray. The bad news is he wants me to follow up with a sports medicine specialist about my shins. I’m torn. On one hand I am so done with doctors. On the other hand, as my dad pointed out, it would be free this year since we’ve met our insurance deductible. As for right now, I’m not doing anything until I get back from Israel. Hopefully the little break will be just what I need and I’ll be able to start training in earnest for the triathlon. If not, well, then I guess I’m going to need to find a sports medicine specialist.

Saturday was the Race for the Cure, and that deserves a post of its own…