Invisible Shoes - Barefoot Running Sandals

Sunday, February 27, 2011

A Good Hard Recovery Run

Still sore from Friday's exerting run, I went out today with a couple other guys for an easy paced 10km recovery run.

I must say, these guys dont know the definition of "recovery run" or "easy pace". I am a professional at running easy pace and recovery pace, and these guys dont know the first thing about it. We did not run hard, but about 2/3 of the run was at a normal pace (which for me is right now fairly fast and hard work), and only the hill sections were at a reasonably recovery pace.

It was tough, and my calves felt strained, but I managed 11km. The weather was nice, albeit a little bit warm, and the mountains and fields are green and in bloom. We ran a couple kilometers on the way back on a nice soft grassy trail.

Overall a good, hard recovery run.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

New Route For 34km, Finishing At 31.5km

Friday's long run was absolutely amazing. Originally scheduled to be a 34km run to Rehovot, it was changed to a semi-local 34km run. I had not run all week, so I was really itching to get out. I had never run this route before, so I was looking forward to it.

The route was from Bet Shemesh to Tzomet Nachshon, to Latrun, then somehow to Al Derech Burma to end the run. It was unclear whether we would be running from Latrun via Highway 1 or if we would be finding our way via the trails.

I started the run from RBS with my running partner, and we ran hard. he is faster than me, and I suspected I would not be able to keep up, though he was planning on running a little bit slower than usual. The run included a few major hills, including at least leaving Bet Shemesh, the President's Forest climb, the Har'el climb, and perhaps more depending on the route.

The first 20km I ran very hard, a lot faster than normal. I paid for it in the second part of the run. The first half was great. I felt great, the pace was fast, and the weather and run were beautiful.

After a short water break at the Tzomet Nachshon gas station, we headed out toward Latrun. The Highway 3 was at an uphill gradient, and I started to struggle after a bit. I could feel wiped out from the first half running too fast. My running partner preferred to run through the trails rather than Highway 1, so we did. he had planned a route through Neve Shalom and the Burma Trail.

We took the turn-off from the highway at Neve Shalom and before we knew it, we saw a major climb ahead of us. The mountain toward Neve Shalom was a long and steep climb. It was tough, but we did it. After that was probably even a tougher section - trail.

The Burma trail is not bad terrain, but running it barefoot is still not easy. I had to run it at a very slow pace, constantly searching for good footing. Parts of it were smoother, and parts rougher, but the last 5km were slow going. It was also a bit painful, but not bad. The terrain and views were beautiful, and it ws nice to be on a new route that I had not run before.

I finished the run at 31.5km, and did not feel like extending it, due to sore feet, to complete the 34km.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Running Strong.. (video)

One of the greatest things about sports is that everywhere you look there is an inspiring person, with an inspiring story.

Here is the story of 95 year old Ida Keeling..



I hope when I am near that age I am as active as her..

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Stretching Out a Twinge

This morning I went for a nice 11km run. We ran from Tzomet Ha'Elah through Park Brittania. We climbed Park Brittania until we hit the peak of the mountain. Then we ran out the northern entrance of the park and ran back around to Tzomet Ha'Elah.

The run was tough because of the steep and long hill climbs, as well the weather was not optimal. We beat the expected rains, but it was very windy.

This was my first run since Friday's 30km run. Due to some scheduling issues I have not been able to get out for a run. As well, near the end of Friday's run somethign started to hurt inside my ankle. I thought I would let it rest and heal, and my schedule allowed me to use that as an excuse. I went out today despite it still hurting and it was perfectly fine. As a matter of fact, now that I am post-run, I no longer feel the twinge I felt before. Maybe the run stretched it out.

Monday, February 14, 2011

PSA: Marathon Items

I have two public service announcements to share with you:

1. The Fresh Air Fund is still looking for runners to join our Fresh Air Fund-Racers team for the NYC Half-Marathon this coming March 20th and I was hoping you might be able to post something about it on Rabbi Running a Marathon. This is a great way to participate in NYC's premier road race while helping Fresh Air Fund children. Please feel free to repost any videos, banners, or images from our news site here: http://freshairmarathon.com/

We are also in need of host families for this Summer. Host families are volunteers who open their hearts and homes to a child from the city to give them a fresh air experience they never forget. Please let me know if you are able to post or tweet and if you could send me the link that would be wonderful. Together we can help make sure these children have everything they need!

2. http://www.teamlifelineisrael.org/ - Chai Lifeline is putting together teams to run in the Jerusalem 10 km 23 km and 43 km race that will take place on 25 march.

Teamlifeline Israel aim is to raise money for Chaiyanu which is the Israel branch of chai lifeline- a charity that helps children with cancer.
 
If either of these events are relevant to you, please consider supporting these important organizations, either by joining the team or by supporting someone who has joined the team.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Runnign 30km in wet weather

We planned to run 30km today, but it was going to be dependent on the weather. We have finally been having a rainy stretch, and the forecasts had more rain predicted for early morning today. So I met my running buddies at 5:35 AM to head out to run, and sure enough a nice and steady rain was coming down - not hard, not a downpour, but nice and steady. We decided running 30km in that would just get us sick, so we canceled.

The rain stopped shortly after, and the sky was clearing, so it looked promising. After the morning prayers we decided to try again. We ran out from RBS to Roglit-Neve Michael. The gate to the fields was locked so we had to climb over the fence. We ran through the vineyards, including the crazy 2km uphill, and all the way out through Givat Yeshayahu.

Overall we ran a nice pace, but we did not push ourselves too hard. Between the uphills, and the weather, we didn't overdo it. And we took generous water stops.

From there we dumped out on the 38 and it was starting to rain very lightly. We decided to head back rather than extend the run in the middle, and ran out to Elah Junction, where we stopped for a bathroom break at the gas station and to buy some drinks.

The next part is the hard part of the run, with the next 5km being a long uphill angle of highway.

By the time we were halfway across Road 10 towards RBS, the rain started coming down seriously. Running in the rain was not so bad, but the rain wasn't such a heavy rain either.

I got down to the bottom and hit 29km. I decided to extend it to hit 30. I ran past the shopping center, and then back to my house, pulling in right as my watch registered 30km.

All in all a great run, mostly "dryish".

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Beautiful 10km Run, Seeing An Old Partner

With the forecast predicting two days of rain starting tomorrow, I considered taking advantage of a beautiful, albeit windy, day and running today, even though I ran last night. When one of my running partners sent me a message saying he'd like to go out for a run, I jumped at the bit and joined him.

A 7 - 9 km run turned into a 10.5km run. We decided we have run the standard "to the satellites and back" run too many times and needed a change. So, we ran around RBS and then down and up Tzeelim. It was a great run, with a tough uphill by the end (Tzeelim).

During the run we saw my first running partner ever also out on a run. At the time I was just starting out and was just about at the 10km distance. I went on a couple of group runs and those first group runs I ran with this partner, just because of our similar paces. This runner taught me a lot about starting running and how to gauge my abilities, and mostly gave me my early lesson in respecting every runner and their abilities and challenges, and not thinking you should run better than anyone specifically.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

A Great Saturday Night Run Despite The Warning Of Arabs

Due to a combination of weather, work and laziness it has been a few days since I last ran. I was really itching to get out and run a bit. So i went out tonight and decided I would run longer than I normally run a=on a Saturday night, and run a bit harder (Saturday night is generally a recovery pace run).

I ran out on Kishon to the end, back and up Yarkon, out to Road 10 and out to the end of 10 by the junction with 375, back and finished the circuit of RBS, concluding at 12.3km.

It was such a pleasant evening that I saw lots of people taking advantage of it and getting some exercise outdoors. There were runners, walkers, people walking dogs, older people, middle aged, teenagers, husbands and wives, friends all out burning some Shabbos calories (if such a thing exists - dont we say that it doesnt count on Shabbos...).

An interesting incident, as I was running down towards Road 10, I was stopped by 2 young men running in the other direction. They wanted to warn me that they had just seen a group of about 20 Arabs down the road heading out into the field towards the area below RBS's Nehar HaYarden. They wanted to ensure I had a cellphone on me so I could call someone if I ran into trouble, and if not (I did not and told them so), to at least warn me to either turn around or be careful.

I chose to continue running - if we canceled our plans in fear every time we see an Arab, we would not get anything done. We are in a country that has Arabs, and we must figure out how to live our lives productively and not in fear. Yes, one should always be careful and wary of dangerous surroundings, but there was not anything specific in their warning that made me think I must turn around as danger is imminent.

And anyway, I figured that even if they jumped out at me and chased me to stab me, I could probably outrun them.