5 runs in a busy week

yesterday I got a middle of the day run in. It was tough and slow, it was hot and humid, but  was happy to get it in. I have come to realize that even on such runs, when feeling lethargic and with tired legs, it is often an unintentional recovery run and the next run is much better.

That held true today.

I ran 13km at a nice pace. It was sunny and warm, but nto as humid, though there was some decent headwinds...

It was a good week, getting 5 runs in, despite being a very busy personal week..

fast 7

I went out for a nice short run, and it felt like it is getting too hot and soon I won't be able to run in the middle of the day. The run was pretty normal, felt like average pace - I did not push myself today - yet somehow it was significantly faster than my average runs recently, according to Runkeeper.

I don't know how or why, but while my average pace recently has improved to probably around 6:20 minutes per kilometer, with the occasional faster run, this run was tagged at 6:09 minutes per kilometer. I'll ignore Endomondo's calculation of 5:47 minutes per km just because it cannot be accurate as I put the info in manually and I just rounded the km down and it sensed the amount of time I was running, which I did not adjust. So 6:09 is far better than the 6:20 or 6:35 runs I usually do. Maybe it indicates improvement somewhere.

Anyways, 7km on a nice warm day.

post wedding 7km

post-wedding, body and mind tired, but going for a run is like taking a breath. It makes everything all good. Even though the run was slow and difficult. I got in a 7km run, on the regular route, at a significantly slower pace

7km wedding bells

Today is my daughter's wedding day, so I did not know if I would be able to get a run in or not. After an early morning visit to Hebron to visit and pray by the Mearat Hamachpela prior to the wedding, I decided to not delay and go right out for a run, before anything would get too busy or crazy. It was a good move and I got a nice 7km run in.

It felt great, both physically and mentally. If I could I would go out for another similar run again now or in a bit, but that is not going to happen... The mental and emotional benefits of running ar tremendous and cannot be overstated...

Fabulous Far Friday

fabulous 15.8km run. Beautiful weather, felt great. I could have kept going I felt so good. With the wedding coming up I was not sure I'd be able to get out at all, let alone go for a nice long run. I was hoping for 14-15km, but would have been happy with 10km. I just felt great and just kept going.

I ran once again with Runkeeper and I think that is what I am going to stick with. It notifies me often, it lets me pause the system if necessary and the stats are pretty good. I'll probably keep updating Endomondo as well with the basic info of the runs, just because it asks me every time I finish a run - unless I choose to uninstall the app one day...

10km

got a wonderful 10km run in today. It was so important and necessary. I felt my mind exploding, and going out for a run really lets me get back in sync.

Today I ran with Runtastic. Not bad. I liked the screen and info it gives, and it looks like the premium paid content has some nice features that are missing form the free version. Using the free version, it notified me after each of the first two kilometers as to my distance and pace and even calories burned, but then it went silent. I would assume that the paid version gives notifications at all times. Auto-pause is less important, but I see it in the options for people who pay. The stats at the end, beyond the basic initial stats offered, were a bit confusing and overwhelming.

So far, Endomondo is still the best, if not for the fact that it has been crashing on me. It is especially the best because I still burn the most calories per km using Endomondo! Of the others, Runkeeper seems to be in the lead.

7km stretch

Between a busy work schedule and getting ready for my daughter's wedding ,I have not had a chance to run this week. Every time I made plans to run I would have to cancel. Thankfully I just found some time at the end of the day for a 7km run. It felt great to stretch my legs out a bit. It felt a little slower than I expected, but it was good to be out.

I tried Strava this time to track my run, and was really disappointed. Maybe the paid version is much better, but the free version has hardly any decent features. The display does not even have basic features like a pause button and it did not notify me every kilometer as to the distance or pace I was running, and  could not find any such options in the settings menu. I uninstalled it at the end of the run. So far I like Runkeeper, and next time I'll try Runtastic, and then decide which to keep.

Kol Hakavod Team Lemaan Achai!

I did NOT run any race in the Jerusalem Marathon, but I captained Team Lemaan Achai from the sidelines with 37 runners, many of them first-timers, and they raised a phenomenal amount of money! So far, this is the third year Team Lemaan Achai has had a team, the number of runners and the amount of money raised, has increased significantly each year! I am very proud of all the runners and happy to have been a part of this project.

[part of] Team Lemaan Achai at pre-race pasta and sushi dinner

As to myself, I ran a paltry 7.5km run this morning. Good run, nothing special - no intervals, no workouts. Body was a bit tired from yesterdays long run with intervals.

I just completed my round of the Insanity workout, so as of next week my legs should be doing much better overall.

As to my running app situation, I went out and tried to turn on Strava but couldn't find it. Turns out when I tried to install it yesterday it failed. Good thing I had installed 2 other apps as well to try, so I ran with Runkeeper today and it seemed to work pretty well. I like the stats it keeps, though I noticed that for the same, more or less, distance, and speed, I burned less calories with Runkeeper than what I have been burning with Endomondo. Maybe I should switch back to Endomondo 😊 I am going to try Strava and Runtatic in upcomnig runs and see how they compare.

10km in under an hour!

I decided it is time to start improving my running performance and not just continue going for relatively easy jogs.To that end, I decided that my long run, which would be today instead of Friday (due to possible scheduling problems tomorrow) would include some sort of interval work.

Since I no longer have a GPS watch, tracking my speed during the run is relatively difficult. Using Endomondo just lets me know at the end of each kilometer my overall speed. So, I ran intervals, but I did so informally. I would run normal speed (i.e. slow) for a minute or two and then run fast for a couple of minutes, and so on and so forth. As the KM were going on, I noticed my overall speed was much fast than what it has been, and I was still feeling great.

Unfortunately Endomondo crashed in the middle so I do not know my exact speed or distance. My estimated distance was somewhere between 14.5km and 15km. Endomondo crashed at 10.25km and I only noticed it much later... My speed for the first time in ages, though I have come close before, logged me 10km in under 1 hour - at the 59:36 mark Endomondo told me I had hit 10km!

This is the third time (that I can remember) in recent months that Endomondo crashed on me, so I think it is time to look for a different app. recommendations are welcome. If I go back to running races one day, maybe I'll buy myself a new GPS watch.

great 7km run this morning. great weather. felt great. for the first time in a long time I didnt feel any exhaustion in my legs, and my speed was much faster withoiut feeling like I w

short and sweet

went out for a short run today, mostly to shake out my legs after Purim. When I went out it was cold and windy and overcast and it looked like the rain would come soon. After I finished stretching I turned around and started going home, saying I really dont want to run in this weather. After about 50 meters I turned around and started running - have to win the mind over matter battle and be in control.

Sure enough, while running a light drizzle started and I got a couple of important phone calls as well that made me pause my runs. I ended up running just across Kishon and back, 3.5km, and then finished my run, but at least I went out and ran a bit...

perfectly overcast

great 12.5km run on an overcast Friday morning with perfect temperature and no significant wind. I love what I am doing right now with the regular shorter running, but I think my body feels it is ready to start going longer. If this keeps up, probably after Pesach I will start looking at longer distances.

warm and cool

This morning I went out early enough that it was already warm and sunny but it was still cool enough that the run was very pleasant. I got in about 7.5km. tomorrow will not be a running day. My legs need a break - I really feel the exhaustion in them

didn't bail

Today's run was a warm 7.25km in nice sunny weather. It is getting so warm that i might have to make the effort to start going out earlier again, the way I used to. I still like running in the sun, but it is getting warmer than I like to run in.

Legs felt like lead today, but I stretched it out to 7 after thinking of bailing at 5

Friday rainy 10

I decided not to go for 15km, and kind of felt like 7 would be enough. Weather was not great and I had a bunch of things to do. I was feeling great on the run so I kept telling myself to just keep going and go for 10. In the middle of the run a light rain started falling, which then turned to a harder rain (but not very hard). It was pleasant, however, as it was not windy and the temperature was decent.

I decided to make it to 10 and not go further, and that's what I did. I find it important to let myself dictate to me what I will do and not let myself just get carried along by things..

good 7

got in a decent 7km run. felt very humid - I was sweating much more than usual. felt strong.