Today's run was just great. It was the first time in a long time when the impending tempo run on the schedule was an excitement rather than a threat. I have said before that tempo runs always make me unduly nervous because I know they are never as bad as they seem. Well today was even better than that. I jogged about 1.5 miles to warm up, and I was a bit nervous because my inner thighs were a bit sore from yesterday's weights. But as soon as I picked up the pace, my stride just felt "on" and the first mile passed by quickly - and I actually had to rein it in a bit as I started at about 7:30 pace and didn't want to overdo it. It was the first run in a long time where I actually felt like I was focusing on speed - all the runs in Israel were challenging enough with hills and heat that I never felt like I was pushing the pace. Don't get me wrong, they were all great workouts, but there's something great about just feeling like I'm flying on the road.

My not-fresh legs were definitely the limiting factor, because my heart rate and my breathing weren't strained at all by the end. My legs were glad to be done after 5 miles, and looking forward my next tempo run won't follow a lifting day, so I hope I feel even better next week!

8.3 miles in 1:07:21 - 1.3 in 11:09, 5 in 38:28, 2 in 17:45

Ani ratza.

I have returned to Manhattan from the land of milk and honey... or should I say, the land of sun and hills. This being my second trip to Israel, at least the terrain and weather wasn't a surprise.

The trip was, in a word, amazing and on top of everything I was able to get a lot of good runs in. There was a tie for my favorite run of the trip:

Har Eitan (Mt. Eitan) is a park just a few minutes' drive from home and a favorite run of R's. There is a difficult 8 km trail loop, which I ended up doing in various repetitions and directions to get in the majority of my miles. I arrived on Friday, and Saturday morning R and I ran this loop together (plus an extra 4 km for me). The reason this one was my favorite? Because I was running with R :)

The Sunday before I left, R had to go to work for a half day, and I had a 12-miler on the schedule. The only trails I knew about from home was a 4-miler and a 6-miler. I decided to venture onto paths unexplored. With the help of R and a trail map completely in Hebrew (ha), I found myself on trails with views of vineyards and vistas. I also met these guys along the way:


wild cat!

Gray fox!

Attention all male runners

It is not impressive nor does it make your dick bigger to speed up when I'm about to pass you, maintain that speed for about 2 minutes before dying and slowing down, allowing me to be able to catch you again and repeat the process. It is especially creepy when you audibly coax yourself - yes I have ear buds in but I'm not deaf to your breathless chants, especially when I am the main character. We are not in a race. You'll notice I am breathing comfortably at my 8:10 min/mile pace while you gasp for every breath. If we were in a race, I'd be about 45 seconds faster and so far out of your league you could only dream of using me as your pacer.

*Rolls eyes*

9.1 miles in 1:13:42 (8:06 min/mile)