My Journey To The 2011 NYC Marathon (video)

My Journey To The 2011 NYC Marathon

Marathon Runner Gives Birth Shortly After Completing Marathon

After this, can anyone have an excuse for not running (or doing whatever your preferred form of exercise is)?

From the Chicago Suntimes:

Amber Miller slowed her usual pace for Sunday’s Chicago Marathon, taking 6 hours and 25 minutes to complete the grueling 26.2 mile race, but she had a great reason for finishing three hours off her personal best time.


Miller was almost 39 weeks pregnant when she hit the starting line and finished despite running through contractions — then delivered a daughter Sunday night about 7 1/2 hours after completing the race.


Still, she said, the marathon was the easiest part of her day.


“The race was definitely easier than labor,” Miller said Monday as she cradled her new daughter, June Audra.


Miller, 27, a veteran marathon runner, decided to take part after getting the OK from her doctor — and because she and her husband had already signed up for the race.


She’s also been running regularly through her pregnancy without any problems.


“I know what I can handle. This is something I’ve been doing for a long time,” said Miller, who has completed eight marathons.


In fact, Sunday’s race wasn’t even her daughter’s first marathon — Miller was 17 weeks pregnant when she ran in the Wisconsin Marathon earlier this year.


The Westchester resident competed in another marathon when she was about 17 weeks pregnant with her son, Caleb, now 19 months old.


She set an easy pace, running two miles, then walking the next two, Miller said. Her husband, Joe, ran with her to keep a close eye on her.


She said some other racers did double takes when they noticed the visibly pregnant runner in the white T-shirt jogging along.


And some medical workers and race volunteers seemed startled to see her on the course.


“They kept looking at me,” she said.


While she experienced some contractions during the race, she’s not sure she actually was in labor because she typically feels some contractions when she runs while pregnant.


“I don’t know if I actually was in labor during the race,” said Miller.


She figures her labor really started about 3 p.m. just after she finished the race, but she still felt well enough to grab a late lunch before heading to the hospital.


“I thought I should probably get some food first,” she said.


She and her husband drove to Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, where their 7-pound, 13-ounce daughter was born later that night.


The little girl, who slept through a Monday press conference, is in “excellent” shape, said Dr. Jeffrey Loughead, a neo-natalogist at the hospital.


The biggest risk Miller faced in running was dehydration, which could have sent her into labor, said Loughead, a doctor for 21 years.


But he said it was clear she was in good physical shape when she ran — and her pregnancy was already full term, though Loughead said he can’t recall any other patient running a marathon before giving birth.


“This is a first for my career,” he said.


Miller, for her part, said she felt good and was looking forward to going home on Tuesday.


“I don’t feel tired,” she said, smiling as she held her daughter.


But the race and delivery really took a toll on her 32-year-old husband. He said he didn’t train as hard for the marathon because he really thought his wife wouldn’t run because he expected their daughter to be born first.


“I was completely exhausted. I was placing my bet on June being here already,” said Joe Miller.

Hats off to you, Amber Miller.

To paraphrase a talmudic expression, Hillel obligated the poor people, Joseph the handsome people, and Amber Miller all the pregnant women (l'havdil)

Run Through The Roglit Vineyards

I have not written here in a while, but I have been running. Today was a great early morning run. I ran 21+km through the Roglit Vineyards.

The group was running 30km, and I would have liked to run about 24-26km. Due to my schedule I was overly tired and that was just too much, so I cut it short at 21. I planned to meet my running partner at the entrance to Aviezer - he was driving and I was running there, as he wasn't looking to run more than 18km.

So, I get up at 4 AM to get ready and headed out at about 4:30. We met at Aviezer at just after 5. We ran up to Roglit and then found the gate to the path through the vineyards locked. We climbed over the fence and ran. The air was cool and the early morning was beautiful.

The path through the fields and vineyards starts with a long climb up to the back of Aderet. It is a tough climb, but the view behind us was stunning, which we saw when we got to the top. This picture is not even close to giving due credit to the amazing view.

As we crossed over the peak and ran down through the vineyards, the air turned much cooler. The vineyards were a strong green and the terrain was beautiful We turned around at about 8km through, and ran back. The run back was tougher, as it was a longer, albeit not as steep, uphill run. At some point we crossed through a flock of goats. This was very timely and made us consider the "sa'ir la'azazel" we are going to read about in the coming days on Yom Kippur. We would have taken a couple, but the shepherds would not have liked that idea, so on we ran.

On the way back out, the gate was still locked. Those moshavniks must have been sleeping late, as it was already 6:45 am. We climbed back over and ran down to the car.

Great run through the Roglit Vineyards.

And Thus Concludes Week 2 Of Marathon Training...

Week 2 of Marathon Training was not great, but it finished well. The week started off poorly, with me under the weather. Saturday night and Sunday I could not run because I was under the weather, while Monday morning I got a light run in. The rest of the week I did not run because of a busy schedule, late nights, and an under the weather running partner.

Friday, long run day, was looking particularly daunting. After a low-intensity week, we had 24km scheduled for Friday. The route, a nice, albeit difficult, route, would be along Highway 383. Going out is a nice run, with a largely downhill trend. the way back would prove more difficult - with a largely uphill run, and a fairly strong headwind, the final 12km would prove to be difficult.

I started out the run thinking I might cut it a bit short. I did not feel I needed to run 24km so soon into the season, and it would depend on how the run was going. I would have been happy with a 21-22km run as well, with an absolute minimum of 18-19km.

We started out as a group of 4, until the main running group would pass us. At about 7.5km 2 guys peeled off, as they were looking to run only 15km. We continued on, and shortly after the main group passed us by. The run out was great, as I felt strong and confident. The run was smooth, and I ran it at a fairly fast pace.

That fast pace was probably a mistake, as I was a bit winded and unprepared for the 2nd half of the run. Turning around meant long uphill climbs, though not steep climbs. I have always been poor with hill running, and I dropped back from my running partner, and slowly but surely lost a lot of ground. Eventually I thought maybe I should stop running and let him come pick me up with the car when he finishes, but I kept trudging on telling myself just a little bit more. i felt ok, just tired from the hills.

Eventually I made it back to the end, concluding a 24km run after being totally unprepared for it.

And thus concludes Week 2 of Marathon Training

The Benefit Of Running With A Partner

After a late night and big meal last night, I was not sure I would get up in time for an early run this morning. Running this morning would also be a test of my calf and the muscle pain I experienced on Friday. The pain was almost completely gone, but there is still a lingering touch of pain, at a very dull level. I also expected my running partner to sleep in, or I was at least hoping he would, but when I sent him a text message in the morning he quickly replied, so running was remaining on the morning agenda.

That is actually a very good example of the primary benefit of running with a running partner over running alone. Had I planned to run alone, I would definitely have stayed in bed. Knowing I had someone else out there expecting me to show up, even though he would have understood, knowing that I would have looked a bit lazy to him, that encouraged me to dress up and go running. On a day like today, at 5:45 am after a long and tiring night, that is the only thing that got me out on the road.

We ran 6km down to the Junction of Roads 10 and 375 and then back. The air was slightly warmer and more humid than it has been normally at that time in the morning. I felt the pain slightly, but it did not really hurt and was not at all disabling. Even after the run and after having rested and cooled down, at the point when the pain normally gets worse, it remained only a slight dull discomfort. Hopefully that means I am really past it.

It was a good run. I would still have liked to run tonight with the group, but that is not going to happen due to a conflict. I am still under-mileage for the marathon training, though it is still very early in the season. Our coach gets into high gear very quickly, but as long as I stick with it even in lower gear I should be able to pick up the pace a bit later.

First Long Run Of The Marathon Season Ends Not Well

This past Friday was the first long run of the marathon season. The run was scheduled to be 22km, but since I have not run more than 15km all off-season, and even that only a few times, I decided to alter the route slightly. My altered route would total 19km, and depending on how I was feeling at the end I would possibly extend it a bit. I call it a long run, because it is my longest since my last marathon. However, my coach does not call it a long run - he says long runs are only called long runs if they are of a distance of more than a half-marathon (21.1km). Anything less is only a medium-long run at best.

I met with a couple other guys who were going to run part of it and then turn around, as they were not going to be running more than 14km. We were running the Lamed Hey route from RBS, being starting in RBS across Road 10 to the 375. Up 375 to Elah Junction. Across 38 to Bet Shemesh, and up to RBS. The run includes two major hills, one being the hill of Zechariya and the second being the Tzeelim hill up to RBS.

After my running partners broke off a bit after Tzomet Aderet, I continued the rest of the way on my own. We were getting a good run. I have not run with a watch in a long time, but now that marathon season is back I decided it was time to start monitoring my speed and distance more accurately again. A few quick glances at my watch let me know that were were running at a pretty fast pace. It is not unusual as that stretch of road is at a slight downhill angle and it is easy to not pay attention and run much faster than normal without realizing.

After they broke off and I continued on towards Elah Junction, I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my left calf. It felt almost like a small bruise, but I am pretty sure it was a slight muscle pull. Nothing specific caused it - I didn't misstep suddenly or trip or anything that i noticed. The pain just suddenly appeared. I stopped and stretched it out a bit, and then kept going. it still hurt, but I had to get home, so my only option was to keep going.

The only thing I could think of that caused it was perhaps running too fast, It is a classic mistake at the beginning of the season. Thankfully, it was not bad. I was able to continue on, slowing down a bit. i made it up the entire Zechariya hill respectably.

Only when climbing the Tzeelim hill did I have to stop and walk a bit as the pain increased with the hill. I got to the top and finished the run at 19km and did not extend it. Obviously the pain increased over the day, but then over Shabbos it began decreasing. i still feel it slightly, but it mostly gone. I expect by tomorrow I should be running again.

Besides for the pain, the timing worked out after I turned at the Elah Junction that I saw a beautiful view of the mountains just after sunrise with the sun over the Elah valley and the mountainous backdrop. It was stunning and the air was beautiful and cool. The run was beautiful, albeit slightly marred by the slight muscle pain. If everything goes well, it looks like it should be a great season.

The Double-Morning Run That Didn't Happen

Today's run was going to be unusual. Due to a convergence of events, I was planning to run two separate runs this morning. I was going to run at 5 am with one running partner, and then at 6:15 am with a second. When the possibility of this happening came up I decided to go for it. i figured marathon training season just began - the whole idea of running, and training for, a marathon is going beyond your abilities. Running the marathon itself is crazy, so when you train you sometimes have to do crazy runs as well.

Anyways, it did not work out because my first running partner overslept, so waking up at 4:30 am turned out to be a waste of time.. I still ran a great run at 6:15 am, logging 7km in the nice cool morning air.

I am going to soon start ramping up my mileage...

Runner's Guide To Israel: Burma Road and Nachshon Nature Reserve

This morning was the last run of the off-season. Friday off-season runs are almost always trails, often trails that the group has never before run. The group scheduled a casual 14km run on Burma Road.

1. When the group says "casual" or "easy" or anything of the sort, I know I am in trouble. i always expect it to really be a slower pace than they usually run, but it never is. With me being much slower than almost everyone else, I often get left in their dust.
2. I have run Burma Road before, and know it is a beautiful run, and doable in my Vibram barefoot shoes.

So, I decided to join the group for this last trail run of the off-season. And it was really nice.

The group really did run a semi-casual pace, and they stopped at frequent enough stops to let the laggers like me catch up.

And, it was only partially Burma Road. We started off on Burma Road, and then hooked into the Nachal Nachshon Nature Reserve. Burma Road was as beautiful and pleasant as always, but the Nachshon Nature Reserve was really stunning. We ran through vineyards, crossed a soft-dirt field that had just been freshly turned, along a field of grass, and sheer beauty of nature and the Land of Israel. We also ran by a couple people who were using the vast empty space to fly a remote controlled airplane. They had the plane about 150 or 200 meters up in the air.

The run started northward, turned east and then we ran parallel to Highway 1 for a bit. Then we looped around back to Burma Road and back to Al Derech Burma store to shower and daven.

Marathon Training Season Cometh

This morning I ran my third run of the week, with another 6.5km run. The early morning runs are great in the still-cool air and mostly empty roads.

With marathon training season about to begin, the runs are going to have to start earlier in the morning and go longer distances. Runs of 6.5 to 8 km are not going to cut it starting next week. The training is great, but the change in schedule is going to be tough, getting up so much earlier, and then running distances that will take me until my day actually has to start with kids going to school and work.

Looking at it now, I could easily see how I could talk myself out of doing it, saying I don't have the time or whatnot. good thing I just registered in early registration for the 2012 Israel Marathon in Tiberias to be run in January 2012. Now that I paid the money I am committed and have to train.

Runner's Guide To Israel: Beit Natif

I have fallen behind on my writing here. Today i did not run, but I have run four days straight until today.

On Friday we had a small group running out shooting for about 14km. The main group was going to be running a 22km run through the Dolev Nature Reserve to Bar Giyora. Just last week I had gone on a jeep tour of the nature reserve and I saw that it would be impossible for me to run these trails. The trails in Dolve Nature Reserve are very rocky and difficult, besides for the difficulty of the long mountain climb, the steepness and the general terrain.

So our small group ran out to Kibbutz Lamed Hey. From there we went in to the entrance of the kibbutz and followed the path around the back. That took us in to the Beit Natif Nature Reserve. Beit Natif is a mountain range outside of Bet Shemesh with beautiful trails and terrain. Parts were rocky, parts were soft, and overall it was beautiful.

We started off running through a vineyard. Much of the run through Beit Natif was uphill, as we were climbing from the very bottom, from the kibbutz, and crossing over the top to get back to Bet Shemesh. After the vineyard, we hooked onto a trail that was part of the Shvil Yisrael trail - the cross-country Israel trail. We ran along that for a bit, until it continued too far south, while we had to be turning eastward at that point. We followed some other trails up, eventually forcing us to stop running. We knew which way we had to go, but we did not necessarily know which trail would take us there. We basically hiked for a bit climbing from trail to trail until we found the main trail that took us back to the top of Beit Natif.

Along the way we found a well, an ancient olive press, an ancient cell phone tower, and more. The path then took us down past the area where the new nighborhood of Bet Shemesh is being built, just below tel Yarmout. and that brought us back to RBS.

the total run, not including the hiking, was probably about 16km, though that is an estimate. None of us were wearing a GPS watch.

Back to 7km

It has been a while since I have written anythign here, but it has also been a while since I went running. Due to smoe personal scheduling issues right now, in addition to the heat and general laziness that is always difficult to overcome, I ended up not running for the past 9 days. Besides for that, I have been eating like a pig and could feel myself going to waste...

But I went for a great 7km run this morning with one of my running buddies, and that is a start to getting back on the road properly. It was tough. The run was hard, the hills I normally take just fine were difficult. But I was back out there and it felt great.

Running Early

A run is a great way to start the day.

This morning we went for a basic 6.5km run. Saw a bunch of other runners out. It felt like it is going to get hot pretty early, so it was good we went for an early, instead of late, run today.

And Sometimes Barefoot Means Barefoot

We put a small group together, four runners, and ran about 15km this morning.We ran out to the Junction of Aderet and then back. Running back we detoured by Eziyona Junction and ran on a path through the fields. The end of the path is pretty rocky, but not horrible. The run was mostly uneventful.

When we got back to the top of RBS and split ways, I stopped to remove some pebbles and thorns from my Vibram Bikilas. While I had my Vibrams off, I decided to run the last kilometer completely barefoot. So I did. and it was not bad. if I do it a few times, my feet might get used to the feeling of the surface. I must say that it felt great to put the Bikilas back on for the last 300 meters...

Running Through Elul Into The Tanakh

This morning's early run was great. We ran 7km, and got out early, starting my run at 5:23am.

When starting out, while running up Kishon/Yarqon, it was still dark and the sky was just starting to show some light. The crickets were cricketing in full force, there were no cars on the roads, and it felt like running in Elul. What does "felt like running in Elul" mean? When marathon training season starts, at the beginning of September, usually in Elul, we revert to doing most morning runs very early. Early, as in, when the crickets are still chirping, the sky is still mostly dark, the cars are far and few apart... and during the run, if running in the neighborhood, you can even hear the distant shofar being blown. Today we had all of that except for the shofar, and it made me feel like Elul had arrived, and I was almost waiting to hear the shofar.

My running partner is participating now in a Tanakh conference. During the run he described to me some of the interesting lectures he had heard yesterday, and we discussed various issues from Tanakh and politics and social justice. It was a great run as it was stimulating for the body, stimulating of the mind and stimulating in a spiritual sense. Our runs are just about always stimulating for the body and for the mind, as we discuss all sorts of issues, the extra stimulation of the spiritual senses was an added benefit today.

6KM Not Enough

My right ankle has been sore, feeling like I twisted it at some point, though I don't remember actually doing so. Because of that I was not able to run a for a few days. Now it is feeling much better, albeit not 100%, and I am running again.

I ran the other night with a friend and a fellow visiting who is an experienced Comrades runner. Comrades is an ultra-marathon run in South Africa that is a 90km run. This fellow ran for 11 hours! Talk about making you feel insignificant! I can't even imagine that, though it reminds me of the days when I could not imagine running 42km..

This morning I ran a nice 6km run. The early morning air was still cool, and the atmosphere was pleasant. We had a great run at a good pace.

By the end I felt like 6km was not enough. My body still wanted more.