Mmmm... Meat.

So I ran again this Saturday. I woke up early, filled my fuel belt up with Gatorade, slapped on the sunscreen, donned the hat and sunglasses (camouflage) and went to pick up Danielle. I can't say that I was mentally ready for the run but I sure as hell looked the part. We started off walking to the Park and once we got there we started to run. It was already a bit on the hot side and we could tell it wasn't going to be an easy run. The run was going well, no one bothered us with retarded comments and the one couple we spoke to asked us for directions to the Zoo, which as Danielle pointed out, I gave like a real true Israeli - take a left and a right and go straight until the end. Once we got to the Jerusalem Forest I started feeling a little sluggish. It wasn't the lack of fluids, that was pretty much under control, I was drinking. The hills were killing me when the week before that wasn't the problem. Last week I went for acupuncture in school and they really helped me with my lack of energy and the ability to keep my eyes open... but that was the aftermath of the run, not the run itself. So Danielle said something extremely true, that I need to eat meat and not just tehina for my protein and I realized that she is right. I do fluctuate between eating meat and not eating meat and my energy levels are really screaming for meat right now.

When I got home from the run I showered ate some lunch, no meat in it just yet tried to read, slept for 2 hours and studied. Today I woke up feeling like I had run 15km in the blistering heat, which is indeed what I did, so it wasn't that surprising but still not fun. I did some errands and realized that I was starving so for lunch I bought myself a chicken wrap which was delicious and eaten pretty quickly, I will spare you the details. Instead of studying all afternoon I fell asleep at my desk for an hour. Once I woke up, I did some yoga to get my blood flowing and went back to studying. After work I was starving again so this time I went to the supermarket and bought steak burgers. Meat can still be made in a healthy manner, so I just put 2 patties in the oven and cooked them. I made a really nice sandwich with tehina, tomatoes and red onion on pumpernickle bread for the patties and had a great dinner. I have no idea how long this meat rampage will last but it seems to be helping. Last Sunday night I was asleep by now, so we are on a good track.

I don't think I filled you in on my workouts from last week so here it goes. Monday - pretty much 1/2 hr of sprints, which surprisingly enough, went really well until the end, when I thought I was going to die, but that's the point of sprints. I took Tuesday off since the bike just wasn't working out for me. Wednesday I slept in also and went to school where they did wonders and jump-started my system. I walked home from school and Thursday morning I went to the gym and ran 5k increasing the pace from 9kmh to 11.5kmh with the last kilometer being at 11.5kmh, which impressed me. Friday I did the bike for 1.5 hrs since there was a decent movie on the television. Thats the only way I can stay on the bike for that long, if there is something decent to watch...

That's it. Today I took the day off from exercising, just walked to town and back and did a bit of yoga to wake up.

To my readers out there, you don't have to worry about Saturday runs in the near future, they will be put on hold for the next couple of weeks... When they do happen the time is going to change to either 8am or 6pm. I think 6pm is a much better time, but that means not eating too much for lunch, which can be hard to stand by, we'll see.

The Tel Aviv Marathon is in 3 weeks!! Hopefully if I keep up being a carnivore I will be able to run the 1/2 marathon and not just the 10km.

Crime and Punishment

Saturdays are my day of rest. Saturdays I barely get out of the house. This Saturday morning Danielle and I went for a run. I remember the days that I would sleep until 1130 Saturday mornings, stumble down to lunch, read a bit and go back to sleep until the evening. I was up this Saturday at 8, I don't know why... I had my coffee, ate some breakfast, read a bit and got ready for our run. I met up with Danielle and we started with some stretches. Now it wouldn't be Israel if some old guy didn't comment on what we were doing and how we were doing it all wrong, since he's a masseure, he knows what he's talking about, I shouldn't punch myself... I'm also a masseuse and the Chinese are violent people... (On a side note, last week I was walking with friends and having a conversation about working out when this guy who was walking in the street near us drinking a beer with his wife while pushing their child in the stroller decided to join in on the conversation. Needless to say, everything he said was completely false, even though he is a personal trainer himself, and I held back from correcting him since obviously it would have been a lost cause. It seems that on Saturdays people are more obnoxious than usual when it should be the opposite. Its Shabbas, give it a break.)

Although we live in Jerusalem the holiest city ever, there were lots of people out and about once we got to Gan Sacher. When we started however, we had the street to ourselves pretty much, except for the one woman who stopped us and thinking she needed directions we complied, only to hear her say "you are osim kosher!" (meaning - you are exercising!) Thank you lady, we didn't realize. We continued on our way and I couldn't understand why I couldn't breathe, my legs were working fine, they didn't hurt and they weren't tired. My nose was stuffed! So that took away from the multitasking of running, breathing and talking. I tried, it just wasn't working. (Now I know how you feel Phelpsy Jr.) We explored a new route, for me at least, past the Central Bus Station and through part of Kiryat Moshe which I strategically made sure that we crossed the street as to not get stoned for desicrating the Holy Sabbath. We then came to familiar ground and made our way back home. It was really nice to see all the people in the Park exercising, playing ball, hanging out, kind of what would be your typical Sunday but on Saturday...

We made it home in decent shape, ate lunch and then Danielle went on her way and I decided to hang out on my porch in the sun. After an hour I came inside and tried to read on the couch a bit but fell asleep after 5 minutes. An hour later I woke up and went over to a friend to study and after 20 minutes fell asleep again for another hour. All this sleep did not prevent me from sleeping well at night and Sunday morning I could hardly get out of bed. I didn't go to the gym, instead I did some yoga (which I am in love with - by the way) and went to work. I went to sleep last night at 10. I don't remember the last time I went to bed at 10pm. I could not keep my eyes open. This morning when my alarm went off at 630 I did not want to get up. Since I had to go to work, I pulled myself out of bed and once I got to work I made myself a big cup of coffee. I am still tired as I am writing this and I would love to just close my eyes for a little longer.

Why am I so tired???

Conclusion: God must be getting back at me for not using Saturday as my day of rest. That seems to be the only logical explanation.

I will try this experiment again this coming Saturday. I will let you know how it goes.

Got Inspiration?

"Don't follow your dreams, chase them."

So I threw my back out. That was like over a month ago. I have been taking it easy, trying not to overdo it, stretching, doing yoga, strengthening the area. I want to run, I really do. But the big question is: why do I still hurt?

Pesach came and went and I say good riddance. Enjoying holidays has never really been my forte and Pesach is always the least favorite. I tried to run as much as I could. The weather was pretty great for running, probably the only time of the year that I will be able to say that about the weather. The problem was, every other day was another chag. So I think that I ran, maybe, 2x. I went to the gym, thats for sure, did the elliptical a lot on a high resistance level. As the time went on my hip didn't feel any worse and was slooowly getting better. Now the pain has moved to the outer thigh, which, in my perspective, is much better than being in the inner hip area. Now that I am back to my regular routine, I can get back to writing about running since I'll actually be running, whether I like it or not. The Tel Aviv Half Marathon is in a month, that is my inspiration.

I have started sprinting again, which is always hard but always rewarding. I think that I overdid the whole sprinting last time around and will be leaving it to once a week and not more than that, but I love it so much. Like I said, I have also incorporated some yoga into my daily routines, helping me wakeup in the morning and stretch properly before or after my workouts. (Here is a link to the yoga classes, I have been doing the yoga for runners podcast - its free) I have seen an improvement. I have also gone back to school and I love being the guinea pig when it comes to orthopedic problems. Sometimes I come home smelling like I smoked 10 packs of cigarettes in a hermetically sealed room but after a while the smell wears off and people start sitting next to me again on the bus and I feel better.

Patience is a virtue that I do not have.

Today, weather permitting, will be our return to long runs. Us being me and Danielle. Tel Aviv is in a month and I would really like to run the half marathon. Depending on how today's run goes and how I feel afterwards, I will decide which distance to run. I want to be able to run the Venice Marathon in October. So I have to find some patience. For that I listen to Guns and Roses.

Peace out.