Getting My Mojo Back, Running Israel Week 3

Wow. Three weeks of running posts? The days and weeks go by so fast here, but when I look back on the time as a whole, you'd have a hard time convincing me that it hasn't been a year and I wouldn't have it any other way. I think it means I'm enjoying everyday and living life to the fullest.

So now that I've completed my third straight week of running all over Karmiel, I'm thrilled to be able to say I found my running mojo! I've settled into a routine, chosen to keep Thursday as my speedwork day, found a relatively flat (by Karmiel standards) stretch of road to do said speedwork on and finally got my long run back up to where it should be. My legs are feeling stronger (maybe they got used to constantly running hills?) and I'm actually looking forward to running again. It definitely helps that the evenings and mornings are pleasantly cool, even though the temperature during the day consistently hits the high 80s.

There's been a lot of talk amongst our group about trekking to Tel Aviv for the Nike Night Run next month, which means I've been sharing my training plan and Kevin's Y-Running Demystified with everyone who's thinking about signing up. It's so nice to have a concrete plan to share and be able to encourage everyone to join us. I'm excited to have a short term training goal, in addition to my long term training goal. (Thinking about pulling the trigger on this one October 1.)

5 hours and 3 min! (Yes, that includes two long runs, but still.) Monday's 42 minute run was a huge breakthrough. As my friend and I left to run one evening, the Shomer (guard) introduced us to his friend, a fellow Shomer and former Ukranian immigrant who was looking for someone to run with. Dima showed us how the roads in Karmiel loop back on each other, so doing (in his words), 'boring out and back' runs isn't necessary. He got to practice his English, we got to practice our Hebrew (I learned the word for run - roots or la'roots - to run) and I finally got over the 40 min mark for a base run.

Then, armed with a new cell phone plan with unlimited data, three Pimsleur Hebrew lessons on the iPhone, my fuel belt and a loose idea of a route I thought would be long enough, I set out determined to complete a 90 minute run. I must have been a sight - fuel belt, headphones, repeating after the teacher, "ani rotsa lishtot mashoo" and "ani rotsa l'echol, b'vakasha"as I ran up hill after hill. I hope the people of Karmiel all got a good laugh. I got this at the tail end of the run. Finished just in time!

Hope everyone has a great week and a sweet new year!

Marathon Thoughts and Running Israel, Week Two

Aside from the one line of the really annoying Hannukah song from 3rd grade that is stuck in my head, there has been one constant theme on all of my runs this week. Marathons. Yup, you read that right. I've got marathons on the brain. I've literally been analyzing every minute of every run, thinking about how I feel, if I'm mentally tough enough to basically train myself to run 26.2, if I can handle the hills in Jerusalem, etc.

I think I am. I think I can. I think if I put my mind to this I will make my body do the work. I'm also trying to rationalize the way I've been feeling on my runs this week. Tired body, heavy legs. Then we went to Haifa for the weekend, and I slept 10 straight hours in an air-conditioned room. Oh. Duh. Now I know why I've been feeling sluggish. I just haven't been sleeping as well here as I do in my nicely air-conditioned room at home. Combine that with the late nights, early mornings and way more time on my feet than normal, and my legs are just taking their time to get adapted.

I'm also slowly teaching myself to be a night runner. Cooler temps, beautiful sunsets and not having to wake up so early is totally worth it.

I still didn't really get in a true long run, but I'm working my way there. The tempo was the hardest I've done in a long time. There's really nowhere flat to run here. I found the flattest strip of road I could and ran it twice. About 17 minutes in my legs just weren't having it. I pushed myself to run to the end of the street, but I was definitely not at tempo pace anymore.

So here's my week:

Think I can get from here to a marathon by March 1st?

PS. About that 13 minute swim....We joined a gym, with a nice pool. But I have never seen so many people swimming breast stroke in my life. Every lane had 3 or more people circle swimming, every person was swimming breast stroke. I hopped in the only lane with 2 people and tried to swim. Oy. Those two people I was swimming with? An 80-year-old man and a middle-aged woman, swimming the WORLDS. SLOWEST. BREAST. STROKE. Oy, I spent 13 minutes swimming around them before giving up and going home. Hopefully I can get into a routine that involves getting to the pool at 6 am (when the guard said was the best time to go).

PPS. I found a bike shop! The guy was great and after really awkwardly measuring me because I didn't know my height in centimeters, he called a bunch of his bike-shop-owning friends around Israel to see if anyone had a used bike for me. I'm waiting to hear back. Hopefully soon.

PPS. They sell PowerGels here, but they cost a fortune! ($2.50 each) Anyone want to send me a care package? Does PowerBar want to sponsor me???

Aero Bars and Motivation

I have one and I'm lacking the other.

I got the aero bars the day after the Iron Girl triathlon. (Great timing, I know.) I took 'em out for a spin that day and promptly fell in love. The pain in my back that had been getting worse while riding was virtually eliminated. Plus, I felt really fast and professional. Then...I got busy and didn't ride again until Saturday.

We rode the Skinnyman course bright and early Saturday morning, which meant leaving my house at 6:30 am, after getting home from camp at midnight (and doing a rare Friday morning boot camp). Needless to say I was tired. Riding those hills was crazy hard, and I lost site of the lead rider, which meant I had to keep stopping to check my cue sheet. Despite that, the other eight people didn't catch me until the last turn. So I felt slow, but I guess I couldn't have been doing too badly for my first try if everyone else was struggling.

I'm hoping that when I ride the course again this week I'll feel a little faster. I don't have big aspirations for Skaneateles. I think having a race after my A race wasn't the best idea. There was so much build up to the Iron Girl, I was so focused on doing well there, that when it was over I was left with a little bit of a, "what now?" kind of feeling. Oh yea, another race.

But this week has been better, I think I have my focus back. I'm working on the motivation. Right now it's more obligation than motivation, but at least I'm getting all the workouts in. Two weeks from Saturday! Which means only one week till I get to taper. (I never thought I'd ever type the words get to taper.)

And with this race falling Labor Day weekend, I feel like my life is racing in to the Fall. I start coaching varsity gymnastics next week, then it's Labor Day and soon enough the weather will start to change. I'm not wishing summer away, but I do love Fall. Cooler weather for running, apple picking, leaves changing, even the Jewish Holidays and of course, my birthday :). I'm also ready to focus on running again, see how much better I can be when I'm just focusing on one sport. I think taking a break from focusing on running was good for me this summer. But now I'm ready to get back to giving it my all.