Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv

This passed weekend I was in Tel Aviv. It was as if I had gone to another Country, just they spoke Hebrew there as well. What can I tell you, the air is different, the atmosphere is different, the people are different. Walking around on Friday you see everyone lounging about, eating in restaurants, riding their bikes, walking their dogs, like a
real weekend. Then on Saturday, what do you know, they are doing the same thing. It's like everyone is on vacation, every weekend. I was staying at my friend Michali for Shabbat, she lives right near Kikar Rabin which means that she is pretty much within walking distance to most places in Tel Aviv that you would want to go to, especially the beach. Friday afternoon, we cooked food for the meals that we were hosting, lounged about on the porch in the sun, relaxed, ate a nice dinner with friends, what else do you need. Oh, and how can I forget, of course I went to Pro:Sport to visit and walked out with a bag filled with running gear. No shoes this time, that I bought at the Jerusalem Marathon Expo last week, Brooks PureGrit running shoes, really great feel and so pretty:

So what was there to do Saturday morning at 7:30 other than go for a run along the water. I thought that 7:30 was pretty early for a Saturday morning, but apparently not. I ran from the Tel Aviv Port to the Yaffo Port and back, along with another 300 or so runners, walkers, bikers (not Harley bikers) and it was such a beautiful morning! I ran on the sand a bit too, which is always fun. A lot of the runners out were getting in their last runs before the Tel Aviv Marathon this Friday, which I am sad to say I will not be participating in, in any way, but it was just so invigorating seeing all the runners out. When I got home at 9, all there was to do was just to lounge around, finish my book, drink my coffee and wait for everyone else to wake up.

Later in the afternoon we all went back to the beach to walk around, and if I thought that it was packed in the morning, Saturday afternoon the place was a mob scene. We had to weave our way in and out of all the people. This time around there were a lot more walkers and bikers rather than runners, but at least they were out ;)

Oh, to be able to live in Tel Aviv and have that long weekend feeling all the time...

Plus, running on flat ground is so much easier than running the hills of Jerusalem, especially when you are trying to get back in the swing of things.

'Till next time.

Peace.

Words of Wisdom

I am trying to recall how I felt the week before the Venice Marathon. I am sure that I could just scroll down and see the blog post from that week or the several, but that would be cheating. I would say that I was probably getting cold feet and saying to myself over and over again, "What the hell in the name of g-d am I doing???" In retrospect, training for the marathon is the crazy part, once you are done with that, the marathon is a piece of cake, literally. You can eat whatever your heart desires once you are done with the 42.2 km, no matter where you run them, for how long and if you can move afterwards, you can eat anything.
As a one-time marathoner, for now, I don't know what real advice I can give, just hope that your training was sufficient, be confident that you will succeed and know that after this is 0ver, you do not have to run again for a long time, (a month is a good amount of rest time).
Today I saw a great quote by Jim Ryun "Motivation is what gets you started, habit is what keeps you going." All you need to do come race day is put one foot in front of the other and then your body will take over.
We are indeed, creatures of habit.

Good luck to all the runners out there, be it of 3km or 300km.

'Till next time,

Peace.

Jerusalem Marathon 2012

It was inevitable that I would be staying in Jerusalem the weekend of the marathon. I have come to terms with the reality that running is not right for me, right now. I was hoping that I would be able to escape the hullabaloo of the marathon. Instead, I will be elbow deep in it. When my mom asked if I was running in the marathon, after giving her the strangest look ever and telling her that her question deserved no answer, she suggested that I go and give massages at the end of the marathon, since that is what saved me at the end of the Venice Marathon. I looked at her again like she was crazy but I pondered her suggestion for a while and decided that it would be the nice thing to do. Since I can't run, I might as well help the runners to the best of my ability. So I signed up thru my school, who has 2 massage stations this year, for the marathoners and the 1/2 marathoners. They said that as a marathoner, they would put me at the full marathon runners' station. I'm not sure if I'll be helping prep and recover or just recover, either way, it'll be a very early wake-up for all of the participants that Friday. I'm already excited/nervous for the runners, I can imagine what they are going thru and I think that deep down inside, I am relieved that I won't be going thru all of that this year. All I have to do is find nose plugs and not get grossed out by all the sweat ;)

A little info on massage benefits for athletes.

PRE & POST SPORTS MASSAGE

All athletes have their own particular way of preparing for a good or excellent performance. Pre event massage plays a very useful and additional part in any preparation for competition. Only the principle muscles for the event are treated

• Helping an athlete prepare for, or recover from, is an important part of sports massage
• Your first ever massage should not be before a major event
• No two sportsmen/women respond to massage in quite the same way

Pre event massage can be done anything from two days to immediately before the event; however, deep massage should not be considered as it can take two days to recover. Some athlete’s say they lose some of their explosive power if deep massage is used.

A stimulating massage is required for sports that require speed, strength and explosive power. For pre event nerves a more calming massage is often welcomed. At this point a well-trained athlete would use massage psychologically rather than physically.

In the last hour before the event massage should not suffice as an adequate warm up, only as part of.

Post Event Massage
Most athletes carry out a cooling down routine but often fail to do so after competition because of sheer exhaustion, elation or disappointment.
Massage can be an adequate substitute for a warm down as it can achieve much of the same effect by removing muscle waste and stretching the tissues.

http://www.massage4athletes.com/massage.html

Bring. It. On.

As the weeks go on and I'm still not running, I am trying to find ways to challenge myself and still get that feeling of exhaustion that inevitably arrives with finishing a long, challenging run. I have to say that I love weight lifting, but I was getting a bit bored of it. I mentioned before that I have taken up yoga, which I still love. But today I needed something new. I wasn't going to make it to Inbal's Ashtanga Yoga class, which is great, and I have decided that I want to get recertified in lifeguarding, which means that I have to start swimming again. The weather out today was just perfect for an outdoor swim, but alas, its still winter here and the pool is still covered at the hotel, so I was a big sport and went swimming. I haven't swam since they put the cover over the pool and that was in October. I don't think that you can call my swim today perfect, maybe just impressive for being able to swim the 40 laps without dying of boredom or killing the old ladies that don't know how to swim in straight lines (I hate that!), but I did it and it felt great. I hope that it will become a regular ritual so that I can really work on my technique and be able to pass the refreshers course, here in Israel.

In other news, I signed on my new apartment, forked over the 1st months rent, now it's time to find a roommate and buy some furniture. I can't wait to be able to decorate! My mom is coming tomorrow and that will make purchasing accessories all the easier.

Tomorrow morning calls for yoga. Let's hope that I wake up on time for work first...

'Till next time,

Peace.

Oh, and the answer to your question is, "No. I am not running in the Jerusalem Marathon."

Yoga. Ohhmm...

Power Flow & Twist.

All I have to say is O. M. G. and I do not usually let those letters exit my mouth one after the other. It was one of the better classes I have been to ever. Challenging and hysterical all at the same time. Power Yoga Flow is a trully unique yoga practice based on intuition rather than tradition. The class that I tried to go to on a weekly basis was Ashtanga, taught by my good friend Inbal, and I really enjoyed it but it doesn't seem to want to fit with my schedule. I tried out the Power Flow today and it was a great success, which I am hoping to attend each week, now that Thursdays have an opening at 9am. Luckily the studio is located right near my work, so I don't have to find myself with nowhere to go at 830 in the morning. You can check out the webstite here or look them up on Facebook, Flow Power Yoga Studio in Jerusalem.

The next indulgence of the day was a facial. No one told me how painful they are. Boy, I almost hit the cosmetician, but I held back and tried to breathe deeply. Next time I hope to not need the deep cleanse. Now I could really use a massage...

Next on the list is a Tu B'Shvat Wine Festival party with all the single Anglos in this city. Should be interesting. According to my Horoscope, Jupiter is going to be at the party so I should keep my eyes open...

In the meantime,

Peace out.

Where to begin?

Its been a really long time since I've last written. So much has happened, yet I feel as if nothing has. Life these days is school, work, clinic, sleep, work, work, work... I'm almost at the end of the 1st semester of my last year at Reidman. It feels like it was yesterday when I was a college dropout not knowing what to do with my life and a good friend told me I had to go study Chinese Medicine. Needless to say he was dead on. I do like to brag, I won't lie, so I will tell you that I am one of the more serious students at my school and they say that I will go far in my career in Chinese Medicine. I try not to let it go to my head. I honestly cannot wait for school to be over, I have serious senoritis all over again and its killing me. Mondays classes consisted of me searching for Bed Bath and Beyond products for my Mom to buy me to furnish my new apartment (!!), falling asleep in class sitting in the front row and providing the class party with strawberries and whipped cream. I am looking forward to the second semester of only 1 day a week of class and the clinic. Which by the way, if anyone reads this, is looking for patients, so if anyone is interested in acupuncture treatments for only 50 shekel, please let me know!

Now on to the more exciting news. I am moving!! Thanks to the good Lord above. My new apartment is on Emek Refaim, right on top of the Ne'eman Bakery, which is a real shame now that I am really trying to stay Paleo and all. It is light and airy, with a porch and a great living room. I have my own ensuite bathroom and am looking for a roommate for the second bedroom, preferably male. I've had it with the females. I can't handle the whining, screeching, fighting, dirt, bitchiness. I grew up with brothers, as unpleasant as they can be sometimes, I prefer that over the drama. For the past 2 weeks now, I have been hearing from lots of different people how I should just keep the apartment for myself and make the other room into a clinic. I am debating, its not an easy decision, entails lots of risk taking, but in the end will be worth it. The question is, do I have the time and patience to wait for the long run right now.

Speaking about long runs... My longest run in the last 1/2 year was 3 weeks ago and only 5km. I have not ran farther than that since the last Jerusalem Marathon which was almost a year ago... I miss it every day, inside, but my body thanks me for not causing it more pain than needed. Hopefully I will make it back to the pavement soon. In the meantime, Crossfit has been keeping me in shape and helping me get stronger, as well as yoga. I haven't been to a yoga class in a long time, I think I'll go Thursday morning, its time.

I hope that this has been an enjoyable first entry back and that there are many more coming. I don't know how often, but I will try my best.

Time for dinner with the ladies.

Peace out.

Sum', Sum', Summatime

Summer means vacation, right? Vacation means straying from your routine. How do you keep on top of your training while on vacation? When I went to Barcelona for the weekend last year right before I had to start training for the Venice marathon, I was a little nervous about how I would fit in runs and where I was going to go without getting terribly lost. There is also the issue of fitting in workout clothes as well as vacation clothing and the fact that you might not be doing laundry for the time you are away (gross, believe me.) The few things that I have learned over my years of running and world travel are, if running is your priority, you will find room in your suitcase, you don't really need 5 pairs of sandals for a 4 day weekend getaway. You will make the time to get out and run, even if it means waking up at dawn when you were partying the night before, isn't that what you would be doing at home anyway? My advice is to take advantage of your surroundings. Working at the gym at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, I have had the opportunity to meet many runners on vacation trying to find a way to get their runs in. I have mapped out so many different routes for my fellow runners, I was starting to run out of ideas, no pun intended. So ask the instructor at the gym in the hotel you are staying at where they would suggest you run distance, level of difficulty (ie. hardest hills), safety-wise, most scenic or more touristy route. If there is no gym (how dare you?? jk...), ask the front desk, that is what they are there for. The morning is the best time to get out for a run. If you are in a warm climate, it is usually the coolest time of day and there won't be many other people out so its a whole other way to experience the city. Barcelona is a city that goes to sleep extremely late, so when I was waking up to get out and run, the city was just dying down. When I went out to run on the marina, the sun was just coming up and everyone else was making their way back home. Running in unfamiliar territory really opens your eyes to your surroundings in a way you wouldn't normally be seeing them when you are just touring. When I was in Australia and New Zealand and the weather permitted it, I would wake up long before I had to wake Reina up and go out for a 30-45 min run, each time seeing places we most probably wouldn't be visiting.

As for me, right now. I don't have any vacations planned for the Summer at the moment, maybe something before I go back to school in November, after the holidays. I have been running here and there and the swimming has been very helpful to my hip as well as the acupucture, so I am hoping to spend my next weekend getaway running the sites.

Of course Runner's World has some advice of their own, pretty much along the lines of my advice, just a bit more conducive to families travelling together:

HOLIDAY HURDLE: You can't break away from the family to run.
GET OVER IT Walk together 30 to 60 minutes a day. Long walks, like long runs, can help build and maintain endurance. You'll get in quality family time while everyone gets in better shape.

HOLIDAY HURDLE: The kids love the pool, but you're not much of a swimmer.
GET OVER IT Aqua jog for 30 minutes. Pushing against water's resistance can eliminate inefficient movement, which can improve your form on land. Plus, it's a great cardiovascular workout. Wear a flotation belt to keep you upright in the deep end. Let your legs move as you would on land. If there's no belt available, do the same movement in shallower waters.

HOLIDAY HURDLE: You've never run on the beach before.
GET OVER IT The softness of sand can strain muscles and tendons because they're stretched farther than when you're running on a firm surface. Start with several one- to two-minute segments of running. Walk one minute between each. Limit the distance to a quarter-mile on the first day; add an additional segment every time after that.

HOLIDAY HURDLE: Running on vacation feels like work.
GET OVER IT Stray from your routine. If you normally run in the morning, try a sunset run. If you typically run on the roads, hit the beach, trails, boardwalk, or park. If you mainly run solo, check out local clubs and join a group run.

Oh, and how could I forget! The best way to see a new city/country... run a marathon there! You will definitely be seeing more than you would as a plain old tourist.

'till next time,

Peace.