Tel Aviv Marathon | Triumph Wellness

On Not Settling for just OK

March 17, 2013 by Emily Segal 2 Comments

As those of you who follow me on Facebook already know, I finished my last Half Marathon on Friday, in a race where sadly, one young man lost his life, and many others were hospitalized for heat related injuries. A few posts ago, I predicted people were going to get hurt if the forecast was correct and I described how we runners were being encouraged by local coaches to change our pre-race prep and our plans for the race to just run a relaxed pace, watching ourselves and those around us all the time, for signs of heat stroke. The race organizers postponed the full marathon to next week on a changed course off the main streets. They were unable to postpone all the races scheduled because of Obama’s visit to Israel next week. But moving the full marathon assured that no one would be out in the heat too long and enabled them to move all the other races up an hour. The first half marathon heat began at 5:45am. I was in the 6:00am group.

I ran the course from 6am – 8:40am and although the heat was rising quickly in the last hour or so, it was really not THAT hot. And I am someone who is totally sensitive to the heat! There were a couple of problems from my perspective: First of all, they ran out of electrolyte drink very early on. I’d actually love to know how many of the sickened were suffering from hyponatremia rather than dehydration. I had electrolytes in my pocket so I felt comfortable guzzling back large amounts of water. I also didn’t feel like there were enough water stations. Yes, they were every 2 kms, but they were manned by kids – hot and suffering volunteer kids – and there were times I had to actually stop running and ask to be poured a cup or two of water! Finally, we were promised sprayers with hoses and by my count there were only TWO. I could have used 50!! At every water stop, I took 4 cups: drank 3 and poured the 4th over my head. Oh yeah, and there was no food, or at least none by the time I rolled through. Again, I had my own supplies, but if I had been depending on what had been promised, I would have been in big trouble!

Despite these rather minor criticisms - and I know plenty of other runners who do not share my opinion or experience – I don’t think you can lay blame on anyone for the tragedies. I don’t know what happened to those people so how can I say? The man who died was apparently the epitome of fitness and health and nearly 20 years younger than me. How can you explain such a thing? I was running with 50-70 year olds and we were plodding along just fine. I did not see a single person weave, trip, or show any signs of distress where I was at the back of the pack. I was also, for the first time in my life, completely willing to take a DNF (did not finish) if I started to feel unwell.

As you can see from above, my finish time was 2:40 – a far cry from that 2:15 I had been training for!! But I must tell you that this is by far my proudest finish of all the races I have run! I am proud mainly because I got SO many emails and texts from people who said they ran on Friday because they had been inspired by me. I mean, does it get any better than that?! But I’m also proud because despite the string of very valid reasons to drop out of this race over the last few months, not only did I stick with it, but for the VERY FIRST TIME, spent the entire race thinking “I’m OK ! I can totally do this!” I wasn’t worried or wondering. I wasn’t gasping for air or feeling at all hopeless. Other than blisters and toenail trouble, I felt absolutely no pain! I was tired when I crossed the finish line, but I actually forgot to stop running for a minute until someone said “You can stop now.”

Lastly, I am proud because my husband went from non-runner to successful half marathoner who finished a few minutes before me. When I flew into his sweaty dazed arms in the finish corral, he said “I did it! YOU inspired me and I did this!”

shucks ya’ll

You know what I am going to miss the most by not competing in long-distance races anymore? Being an inspiration for people, yes, but I will endeavor to do that in different ways now. Yes, the high of accomplishment and the bragging rights too. But more than that, is the energy of a group of committed people who are out there pushing their physical limits because they want something MORE than the ordinary in life.

There were 35,000 people out there running on Friday. That is 35,000 people willing to put in the training, say no to months of desserts, get out of warm beds on cold days when everyone else is snoozing cozily on, run in rain, get splattered with mud, skip the late night drinks with friends, lose our toenails, (sacrifice our Achilles in the case of my training partner!), stay committed, stay on track. We all have our own reasons for being out there, but I believe we all share the desire for something more. Something greater.

I gave myself one day off. One. Then last night, I sat down with my calendar and my journal and mapped out my next goal. I hope I always have this desire to grow, to better myself, and to make the most of what G-d gave me. I hope I never settle for just OK.

I hope you won’t either. It doesn’t have to be running – it can be any area in which you choose to push the envelope and to stop accepting “good enough”. You will get a calendar, make a plan, check off your day by day goals, and before you know it, be standing at the pinnacle of your achievement, knowing that every single drop of blood, sweat and tears was worth it. Amen.

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Filed Under: Exercise, Goals, Growth, health coach, Inspiration, Positive Thinking, Running, Tel Aviv Half Marathon, Tel Aviv Marathon Tagged With: Achievement, Exercise, Goals, Nutrition for Athletic Performance, Running, Self-Improvement, Tel Aviv Marathon, Vegan Athlete

Leave Yourself Room to Grow

March 11, 2013 by Emily Segal 9 Comments

The first part of this post is going to be a running update but then I’ll be discussing something more universal and IMPORTANT. So hang with me for a minute even if you aren’t into the running stuff.

Here I am, 4 days from the half marathon that is the culmination of 22 weeks of dedicated training. Sadly, the weather report has predicted unseasonably high temps in the 90′s. The race has been pushed forward half an hour to try to reduce the inevitable weather related injuries that are going to occur and we runners are being urged to give up on our time goals, leave our Garmins at home, walk through all aid stations while drinking, take salt tabs, and focus on crossing the finish line NOT on a stretcher. This is more than a little disappointing to the thousands of us who have prepared so long for this day, but there’s nothing anyone can do about the weather.

But even before this weather news broke, I had come to a decision – This will be my last endurance sporting event. 10K’s yes, but longer than that, no. I have LOVED being an endurance athlete. I have adored the preparation, the step-by-step achievement of small goals and then larger ones, and every single lesson each training period and race has taught me. Many races have taught me about perseverance and the depth of my strength. Others have taught me humility. They have ALL taught me to trust in G-d that whatever I truly need is delivered right when I truly need it.

So why would I give it up? Well, the lesson this training period has taught me, is that sometimes, even when you love something, you need to move on.

Long-distance training aggravates a health issue I have. Simple as that. When I get above 35km/week I start suffering in ways that blacken and char every single aspect of my life. I am simply not willing to live this way anymore. I did my absolute best to ensure that this would not happen again this year: professional guidance, the very best nutrition and supplements, more rest, better training. But I still did not escape. One more long run on Friday, and then I’m done. It’s time to move on and find a new sports hobby I will love and that will love me back.

The important take-away here is that those of us who are on a committed path of self-improvement, MUST leave room for growth! And when we are working really hard on ourselves every day, growth can happen so rapidly, we must be prepared to quickly shed our skin OR we will be choked by self-sabotage and stuck in a too small space where our dreams and spirit wither and die.

Recently I realized that I had painted myself into a corner in several areas of my life. I tried to delicately extricate myself from these corners but unintentionally made a painful mess, splattering paint everywhere.

Watch those corners, stay awake to your intuition, and always leave yourself room to grow. Pay close attention to when something is starting to chafe. Even if it was your favorite sweater in the whole wide world, there comes a time when you will need to let it go.

It’s scary also because you cannot know what lies beyond. What if what you had really was the best you’ll ever get?

It’s not, darling. It can’t be. The world I choose to believe in has limitless possibilities. But you will only find the new and wonderful things, if you let go of the ones you are choking to death in your sweaty, fearful grasp.

Let The %$#@ Go.

My Tel Aviv Marathon 2013 Theme Song. Every single word of this = YES

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Filed Under: Goals, Growth, health coach, Inspiration, Love, Running, Tel Aviv Half Marathon Tagged With: Achievement, Anti-Ick Techniques, Goals, Tel Aviv Marathon

Mind Monkey Warning: T-minus 5 weeks

February 12, 2013 by Emily Segal 1 Comment

Sorry for the unintended blog break there! When you are in the health or fitness industry, January is a busy, busy month. In a major “be careful what you wish for” kinda way, I decided to up-level my business and was literally slammed with new inquiries! Hey, I’m not complaining!

Now I am settled in with a new crop of wonderful clients who, with my support and guidance, are well on the way to fulfilling their dreams and desires, yay! And I can get back to a more regular writing schedule.

So I am 5 weeks out from the Tel Aviv Half Marathon of 2013. What I want to write about today, is my struggle to increase my speed, set a personal record finish time, and the monkeys that are getting in my way. If you remember, I had decided that since I have already run this distance several times, I would work on my speed to keep things interesting. Turns out it’s much harder than I thought it would be!

This is a re-cap of my racing “career” for perspective:

2005: Westchester County Half Marathon ~ This was my first attempt at a long distance race and my goal was just to finish it no matter what. Finish time: 2:23:56

2006: Yonkers Half Marathon ~ I came into this race under-prepared and over-confident. The race itself was a nightmare of pain for me. Finish time: 2:35:39

2011: Tel Aviv Half Marathon ~A return to long distance running after several years off as I adjusted to life in a new country. My goal was just to finish. Finish time: 2:36:11

2012: Tel Aviv Full Marathon ~ Decided to double my distance and go for 42.2 kms in honor of my 45th birthday. My goal was to finish before the 6 hour cut off. Finish time: 5:44

2013: Tel Aviv Half Marathon Goal Finish Time 2:15.

The difference between my last two finish times in 2011 and 2006 and my goal for this year is about 21 minutes. Spread that 21 minutes out over 21 kms of running and it’s basically running one minute faster per kilometer.

THAT SOUNDS SO EASY!!!

What’s one minute faster? When I was in the planning stages I felt that was totally doable. Here in the trenches, I can tell you it feels like the fight of a lifetime for me!! When I am out there running and trying to maintain my desired race pace, I feel like I am pushing against a 40lb sled! And really, this is still a pretty slow pace for most people. The average half marathon pace for women is 2:12. That is a demoralizing thought.

There are very real issues that impact speed such as age and weight (both have increased over the years!) but truly I think I am up against a mental block. The bottom line is that it plain hurts to run faster! And it is scary. I feel like I could trip and sprawl more easily. I feel like my heart might explode or that I won’t be able to go the distance. And the biggie, behind almost every fear: What if I fail?

So that brings me back to the beginning of the post and the January influx of new people excited to start on a new path to health and fitness. At first, it’s exciting! It seems doable. We are pumped up to get started!

Then a few days pass, or weeks or months, and we get tired of watching our calories, planning and journaling our food. Surely we can skip the workout, just today. We look over a month of “work” and see that we have lost a tiny fraction of the weight we need to lose. It starts to feel impossible. And hard. And scary. Besides, our friends are giving us flack for not being able to eat out with them, and drink, and stay up late. They’re right, who wants to live such a strictly disciplined life anyway?

WARNING:

The fact is, we DO want to achieve something here! If we listen to all the monkey chatter about “I can’t”, “It’s too hard”, “It’s not that important anyway” we will never get what we want.

NEVER

The reason working with a health coach is so valuable, is because you have someone reminding you of this and calling you back when you start to party with the monkeys.

In lieu of personal health coaching, I give you Bruno Mars and some muppets to say what I would say to you. And what I say to myself every. single. day:

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Filed Under: coaching exercises, Exercise, Goals, Growth, health coach, Inspiration, Running, Tel Aviv Half Marathon Tagged With: Achievement, Anti-Ick Techniques, Exercise, February slump, Goals, goals forgotten by February, Running, Self-Improvement, Tel Aviv Marathon, weight loss

Winner of the 30-Day Vegan Challenge

December 16, 2012 by Emily Segal 2 Comments

Thank you all for participating in the give-away. I wish I had a free membership to give out to everyone of you! However, the winner of the 30-Day Vegan Challenge Membership is:

Hannah Lee!

Hannah Lee, please send your email address to me at Emily@TriumphWellness.com in the next 7 days so Colleen’s crew can get you all set-up with your membership. And take notes because we’d love to read a guest post from you on how the program changed your life, hint, hint.

For those of you who had such great reasons for wanting to take part in Colleen’s program, consider purchasing a membership. It’s only $20 and well worth the price. You can sign up HERE.

Next up: Running Announcement!

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Yeah, so did I…

I made a decision about the Tel Aviv Marathon and signed up for the Half Marathon (21.1km). If you’ll recall, when I ran the Full Marathon last year I said there were a few things that would have to be different for me to run it again. I would need to: a.) run with a group, which would require me to, b.) run faster, and in order to do that, I would need to, c.) drop some serious weight.

I did lose weight, but not enough to make a difference yet. I did try my best to put a group together but they are not ready to commit to the Full Marathon this year (I aint getting any younger people!). Lastly, despite several weeks of training, so far I have not increased my speed by a second. Why? Because I keep increasing my distance. Heck, I’m up to 17kms already, so basically, I could run the Half today! But if I can stop working to increase my distance to 42kms, then I believe I can work more on speed.

I do not want to run another nearly 6 hour marathon all by myself. It would be the exact same race as last year, blech.

Therefore, the plan is to work my butt off for the next 14 weeks until the race and try to get as close as I can to a 2 hour Half Marathon. Then, next year I can think of training for a 4 hour Full.

Fourteen weeks people in Israel. Even if you are a couch potato, you can be ready to run a 5k or 10k in 14 weeks. If you are a casual runner, 14 weeks is more than enough to get ready for a Half Marathon. Hal Higdon’s free plans are HERE. Come run with me!!!!

Training Song of the Week: Linkin Park, Burn it Down. This song comes on and my legs are suddenly pistons.

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Filed Under: Product Reviews, Running, Tel Aviv Half Marathon, Tel Aviv Marathon, weight loss Tagged With: Achievement, Exercise, Running, Self-Improvement, Tel Aviv Marathon, Vegan Athlete

The View from Here

November 19, 2012 by Emily Segal

(Tel Aviv, Israel)

You are all waiting for me to write something.

I can feel it.

It would be far easier and undoubtedly better for business if I mentioned nothing of our current conflict. But I know who my readers are and that I am the only Israeli and in many cases the only Jew that many of you know. I recognize that I have an opportunity here to share a viewpoint you might not hear elsewhere. I understand that most of you listen to standard media outlets who I can tell you are not even making the simplest of efforts to get their facts straight. Yesterday the BBC showed footage of people running from missiles and identified it as Gaza City when in fact it was Tel Aviv – and in front of one of Tel Aviv’s most iconic and easily recognizable hotels, the world-famous rainbow facade of the Dan Hotel! If they are messing up simple shit like that, trust me, they are not even getting close to the facts on the ground, nor do they even try. There is so much you don’t know that it makes my head hurt.

My country is doing what it has to do to take care of it’s citizens and protect our free, democratic society. There is not another country in the world who would put up with the kind of terror and hate we have had directed at us for the past 6 decades of our existence. It is enough to me that I know we are a just people; that we try harder than any other nation has ever tried to fight a war while limiting civilian casualties even while Hamas is trying to maximize them! I know that my tax dollars go to providing Gazans with electricity, aid, medicine and food at all times, not just during the current conflict. I know that injured Gazans are sent to Israeli hospitals where they receive top of the line care and compassion. I know that in other parts of the country, like my town for instance, Arabs and Jews live side by side with no strife. My kids play with Arab kids in the park. My doctor is Arab but it was two years before I even knew that because guess what, Arabs and Jews look exactly the same. When I go running in the morning, Arab women in hijab often speed-walk right past me (which tells you how fast I run). There were 3 Arab women in my last Hebrew class who had come to Israel from other Arab countries because here they can study and have careers that are prohibited to them in their home countries. These Arabs are citizens of my country enjoying the same rights as me and suffering the same terror.

We are fighting Terrorists, not Palestinians. I would be quite happy to have Palestinian neighbors in a country under their own control IF and only if, they would agree to stop trying to blow me up. I don’t think that is too much to ask.

How this war effects me personally? Where I live is about 13 miles from the farthest missile strike in Tel Aviv. We have not had any air raid sirens in my city and we have not had to run to our safe rooms, although we were instructed to ready them. The fact that we go about our day normally while 13 miles away people are running for cover is beyond weird. We hosted some of our family who live in the South over Shabbat and when a car alarm across the street went off, they rose robotically to head to the shelter like some sort of twisted Pavlovian PTSD.

In a country as small as ours, pretty much every person I know has a husband or child serving in the IDF. We literally dodged the bullet on that one, but in 4 years it will be my son’s turn. Of course by then, all wars will have stopped and my son’s job will be to plant daisies and sweep the porch, said every Israeli mother for the past 64 years.

OK, enough of that. I am happy to answer individual questions you may have if they are respectful and something that I, as an Israeli citizen, would be able to answer. I have been having email exchanges with a few of you who wanted to understand some things better and that was really wonderful. I am closing comments to this post though, so you will need to email me if you want to ask anything. However, if you just want to share your opinion, don’t bother writing as I will delete it without reading. I have had opinions up to my eyeballs!

If after reading this you wish to stop following this blog, go right ahead and click the unsubscribe button at the bottom of your email. This is who I am. You don’t have to like me.

****************************************************************

Next: People keep asking me if I am training for the Tel Aviv Marathon. The official answer is yes, but don’t tell myself as I am trying to keep it a surprise. From myself. Otherwise I won’t do it. I’m in my 6th official week of training with 17 weeks left to go. My long run is up to 13 kms so far. My husband is actually training with me, although that doesn’t really mean anything as he takes his first few steps with me and then bolts off way ahead. But when I hear him tell people how he never liked running before he watched me finish 42.2 kms and was inspired him to try it himself, I feel pretty darn proud! I am still undecided if I will run a Full or Half Marathon at this point and have given myself the early registration deadline of December 15th to decide.

In order for me to register for the full marathon, I have determined that I need to drop another 5kgs between now and December 15th. I am down 4kgs from the steroid gain, but it’s not enough to run 42kms with. To that end, my last tidbit of news today: Starting today, Dr. Fuhrman is running a 6-week Eat to Live Challenge, based on his book by the same name. It is free to register and for the 6 weeks you get free access to his member forums at the Gold Level. I had a Silver membership which was upgraded for the challenge, in which I will be participating.

Eat to Live is a program of eating called Nutritarian. The main tenet of Nutritarianism is to eat the greatest amount of nutrients for your calorie buck: tons of veggies, fruit, limited fats, measured nuts and seeds, limited starchy veggies and grains. Most Nutritarians are vegan, but some include 10% of daily calories from animal protein. I have been an Eat to Live dabbler for years, but I am committing to a 6 week challenge to see if I can’t get down to fighting weight. Running weight. Whatever, smaller, you get it. If you’d like to join me, the link to the challenge is HERE.

And now, to confound those of you who read this and concluded I am “right-wing”, here is a little song I like. Hm… am I left-wing? Darlings, I have two wings right there on my back. They do not define me in one direction or the other!

Filed Under: Rants, Recommendations, Running, Tel Aviv Half Marathon, Tel Aviv Marathon, vegan Tagged With: Exercise, Running, Tel Aviv Marathon, weight loss

Training Time!

September 9, 2012 by Emily Segal Leave a Comment

The other day a friend asked me “So, have you started training for the next race yet?” And I was like “No man! That’s like WAY off in the future!”

And then I realized it’s not and crapped in my pants.

But seriously, rather than panic, we need to PLAN. I am not going to be offering Team Triumph this year. It was a great program last year and got a lot of people running who weren’t already running. But now I feel like we need to move forward from that.

I am going to list here the major races I know about in Israel. Obviously there are more – every city runs a race of some sort – but these are the biggies. I urge you to pick one and join in! Remember, that every single race can be walked if running isn’t your thing. You still get a medal for walking!!

The Tel Aviv Night Run 10K October 30, 2012. People say this one is all about fun. It is very crowded and lots of people walk. Not for me personally, but go for it if you like the scene. Website HERE. It looks like they are offering free coaching in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa. Cool beans.

The Tiberias Marathon is January 10, 2013. A great way to start off the new year! This is a very pretty course along the southern end of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) and back. The weather is cool and often rainy. It looks like this is just the full marathon distance. Website HERE.

The Jerusalem Marathon is March 1st, 2013. They offer Full, Half, 10K and 4.2km races. Jerusalem is a hilly town. I imagine the course reflects that. It is also a stunningly beautiful and historic place to run through! Weather cool and possibly rainy. Website is HERE.

My Mac Daddy, the Tel Aviv Marathon, will be held on March 15, 2013. This is 2 weeks earlier than last year and 26 weeks from today!!! They offer Full, Half, 10K, 4.2km, Hand Cycle, Inline Skating and a Kids Mini Marathon. Something for everyone. Tel Aviv is relatively flat, beautiful, balmy, the courses go along the Mediterranean… it’s wonderful, run it. Website is HERE.

The Herzliya Women’s Triathalon is on June 1, 2013 and offers several different distances and relay options as well. Website is HERE.

All other races and sporting events in Israel can be found at Shvoong.co.il.

Race calendar for the US can be found HERE. Pick something!!!

As for me, I will be running in Tel Aviv on March 15th, but I can’t say at the moment if I will be doing a Half Marathon or a Full. I will be training for the Full (following Hal Higdon’s free online plans again – worked last year!) but will make my final decision before December 15th when the early registration prices go up.

Why am I not sure I want to run the Full when I said here that I would? Well, you remember that plan to drop some weight and heal my adrenals before I started training again? Best laid plans and all that. Around the time of the apartment move I had a medical issue arise and went on a very large and protracted course of steroids. Prior to starting the meds I had been doing well and had lost about 5 lbs. But on the meds I gained almost 10! Ouch! Let me just say once again, that if I did not have my own health coach, I cannot imagine how I would handle something like that? My coach helped me turn things around before it became a real disaster and over the past 6 weeks – even while on the tail end of the steroid tapering – I have dropped back down 6 lbs. Basically, back where I started!

I don’t want to run another 42km race at this weight. I don’t see the point of dragging my body through that again. So the revised plan is to keep working on my weight while in the early months of training. And for those of you who are thinking “But surely training for a marathon makes you lose weight!” Not really. Not in my experience anyway. You have to refuel when you are doing that much exercise so you build muscles and heal injuries. I think being in caloric deficit while training for an endurance event is a very bad idea. Not only that, it’s just super duper difficult!

But the good part is that I continued to work out through all of that, so I’m in good starting shape, my muscles are strong, and despite steroids which should have affected my adrenals, I actually feel much BETTER than I did before. I’ve been doing some of my short runs in my Vibrams which just makes it that much funner. I’ve been swimming, Spinning and weight training too. The Hal Higdon plan is an 18 week plan but I remember after the last race feeling that 18 weeks hadn’t been long enough. If I start now I have an additional 7 weeks minus what I will miss during the upcoming Jewish holidays.

Battle Cry Time!

WHO THE HELL IS WITH ME???!!!

Do Something! Do Anything! Just set a goal for something a little crazy and make it happen!! Here’s an oldie but goodie to get your blood pumping. Don’t you want to be a part of something like this?? In 6 months or so, this could be YOU:

Filed Under: coaching exercises, Goals, health coach, Inspiration, Running, Tel Aviv Half Marathon, Tel Aviv Marathon, Vibrams, weight loss Tagged With: Achievement, Exercise, Goals, Running, Self-Improvement, Tel Aviv Marathon, Vegan Athlete, weight loss

The Next Goal

April 22, 2012 by Emily Segal 8 Comments

So I left you off as we were in the home stretch of preparing for Passover. Truly it was a little intense to have one week between completing my marathon and getting Passover-ready. But once we were into the holiday itself, I had plenty of time to relax. Like much of the Israeli population, we spent the week traveling from place to place, visiting museums, hiking the land, and picnicking.

Here’s a little photo recap:

Alas, vacations must come to an end. We packed up the Pesach plates for another year, we re-stocked our pantries, and attempted to return to a somewhat normal life. For me, this period of time was yet another one of adjustment. All of a sudden, I was goal-less, after being so focused on completing one major goal for so long. Luckily my friend Andrea had cleverly reminded me, before I even ran the race, that last year I got depressed when the race and bar-mitzvah were over and I had nothing to work towards. So after taking a few weeks of break, I now I am ready for my next goal, which is….

Start preparing for next year’s race! I know that sounds crazy, but here’s the very honest deal: I want to be better physically. I want to be lighter and I want to be in better shape. It’s not just for the race, but I do like how the race gives me an anchor event to work for. As time marches on and age accumulates, my body is becoming less forgiving of dietary sloppiness and incomplete physical training. My hormones have been ridden roughshod by race training and my blood sugar is becoming increasingly difficult to control. I need to tighten the screws a bit on my plan.

There are 11 months until the next Tel Aviv Marathon. The next 5 months will be devoted to slimming down and strengthening up, and the following 6 months will be devoted to race training hopefully in a way that enables me to keep the muscle. I know it seems strange, but long-distance run training cannibalized a lot of my muscle. I know what mistakes I made, but I don’t think I can implement the changes I need to make without professional help.

Therefore, I’ve signed a 3-month contract with a new health coach here in Israel to help me achieve my first-half goals. Then I plan on hiring a personal trainer who specializes in long-distance running to take me the rest of the way. I am looking for such a person in the Sharon area if you have any recommendations.

Want to come along for the ride? I’ll be logging my food over on sparkpeople and will open my tracker to public so those of you who have accounts there can follow along with what I’m eating. My plan is a super high-nutrient plant-based vegan diet combined with cross-training and strength training. No sugar. Not sure about gluten yet. I will limit it for sure, but I’m not ready to completely nix it unless I see that I really can’t get my hormones back in balance by eating the occasional wrap or pita.

I’m going to drop my running distance way back – no more than 10k on long-run days – usually much shorter. I’m keeping Spinning at least 2 times a week because I must get the endorphins to stay happy. But aside from that I am going to do something different every single day, keeping it functional and well-rounded without further damaging my adrenals.

My coach and I will be working specifically on the mental aspect. She’s a graduate of the Ford Institute (as well as IIN), so we’ll be getting all Jungian and Shadowy. I will share here as I can.

You know, I didn’t know if I was going to share all this here. It’s hard to be so transparent when you’re the coach and to admit that you too need coaching. But I feel good after writing this. Having the marathon process so public really pushed me to accomplish it. At times I REALLY regretted how public it was! But it felt so supportive to know how many people out there were pulling for me. So, as much as my sharing hopefully helps you, know too how this accountability also helps me. Thank you!

Now, who’s coming with me this time?

Filed Under: Exercise, Goals, Growth, health coach, Inspiration, Running, Tel Aviv Marathon, vegan, weight loss Tagged With: Achievement, Exercise, Goals, Nutrition for Athletic Performance, Self-Improvement, Tel Aviv Marathon, Vegan Athlete, weight loss

Race Report Tel Aviv Marathon 2012

April 1, 2012 by Emily Segal 8 Comments

As many of you know from Facebook, I finished the Tel Aviv Marathon on Friday in a time of 5:44, eight minutes slower than my predicted finish but before the six hour cut-off.

You also probably know that I was pretty down on the experience right afterwards. If I had written this post then, I would have said that running a marathon was the dumbest thing I have ever done and that I would never ever EVER do it again.

Now a few days have passed. I have had time to forget some of the worst pain and to allow some of the better memories to come through. I have a tremendous amount to express and I imagine it will come trickling out over the following months. The fact that I set this GIANT goal last year, spent months researching it, planning it, training for it and then accomplishing it, really is awesome and a bit overwhelming.

Lessons Learned and Confirmed:

We can accomplish anything we set our minds to. It may not come out perfectly or pretty, but we can get it done.

Setting a tough goal and then working to get it done is the most amazingly delightful and empowering thing. Goal Achievement = Invincibility 101.

Age and body shape do not need to be limitations. There were old and gray runners way ahead of me. There were younger runners behind me. Some people were small, others less so. Determination levels the playing field.

You don’t need to eat any animals or animal products to be able to run a marathon. Booyah! This is probably the thing I am most excited to prove to the world. I trained and ran on a 100% Plant-Powered diet. There is sufficient protein in plants alone to build the strong muscles it takes to run 42.2km (26.2 miles). You can be strong and powerful AND make compassionate food choices.

Plant-Powered 45 year old Vegan Marathoner

Description of the Day:

It turns out that a full marathon is NOTHING like a half marathon. I did not expect how different it would be. Aside from the obvious double distance, there were a quarter as many participants in the full as there were in the half and they were a shockingly serious group of runners. As I lined up at the back of this relatively small group, I kept thinking “but where is everybody?” The gun went off, we began, and they friggin’ bolted. ALL of them. By the time I passed the sign for KM 1, there were NO runners in sight. I forced myself to not look back but assumed I was the last person and I was completely shocked and disheartened. I had expected to be at the back but not from so early on and not that far back! I cannot explain in words how devastating this felt. It was like having the wind knocked out of my sails right at the start.

One tiny benefit of being alone at that point is that the course photographers were bored. It was like having my own personal paparazzi. I mugged about for the cameras like an idiot while they egged me on. There are 25 crazily good pictures of me on Facebook, HERE.

Forty-five minutes into the marathon and on came the half marathoners sounding like a rampaging herd of elephants. That was kind of scary and I got knocked around quite a bit as the lead packs pushed past, but at least I wasn’t alone briefly. But by km 11, the two races separated and once again, total solitude. At this point, on the full marathon course, there were no bands and few spectators. It wasn’t even 10am and I felt like the city had forgotten that I was still out there struggling on with hours ahead of me.

I also discovered at this point that a woman about my age had been following me and using me a pacer. She came up and we chatted a bit. She told me there were others still behind us. She and I would run together for much of the race. It was great to have a body there but I was limited by my inability to be exhausted and speak Hebrew at the same time. In the end, she finished a few minutes behind me and I was there to give her a high-five in the International language of achievement and joy.

Although desolate and lonely, the course was spectacular. The city has never looked lovelier. The weather was absolutely perfect – cool and cloudy to start with a few gentle showers, sunny but breezy and cool (75F I’m guessing) later on. The Mediterranean had her turquoise on in a convincing impersonation of the Caribbean. North Tel Aviv was posh and immaculate, Ganei Yehoshua and Park HaYarkon were lush and green. There were scullers on the Yarkon River that made it look like the Charles. Running down the closed main streets of the city center felt like Yom Kippur without the solemnity.

Me and the beautiful Sea

At km 28, my husband showed up on his bike and rode next to me for the rest of the race – another benefit of being so far back – the rules didn’t seem to apply anymore. I was suffering deeply by then. I was exhausted, my toenails felt like nails were being driven through them on every step, I had a big blister on the bottom of one foot, and my knees and hamstrings were calling it a day. My husband kept joking that I should get on his bike for awhile – no one would know. It was tempting I tell ya!

At km 35, I picked up a second escort. My friend Pamela, also on her bike, rode on my other side and stayed with me all the way to the finish line. Running (and walking by this point) between the two bikes was wonderful. I drew so much energy from the two of them and they let me rant like a lunatic and bathed me with positive words. Pamela has probably never heard so much swearing in her entire life! Sorry Pammy!

You know how during childbirth you’re out-of-your-head with pain and fatigue and begging to be put out of your misery? No? Well I was, and this marathon was pretty much the same. I wanted an epidural and I wanted it BAD!

Two more friends met me on the course: Lymore walked with me a bit, and Olivia, just hours before a trip abroad, ran alongside me. That is when it really dawned on me what needs to be different if I ever do this again. I need people. It’s as simple as that. Training alone was fun for me, but running a marathon alone felt like crap.

The other stunning and amazing thing that happened for me is that although there were few spectators, there were the race volunteers and the other runners who had already finished and were walking home. Every 20 seconds of the last hour was a chorus of Kol Hakavod’s (Good for you), clapping and cheering.

Israelis are a generally surly bunch. I think it says a lot about the power of exercise and fitness that this particular group were so very kind. Either they were riding high on their endorphins or they just have a generally more positive outlook because they work out. If more people in this country and our neighboring lands exercised I think we could solve a lot of our problems.

There ya have it, run a marathon and come up with a solution to Middle East Peace! I’m totally not joking by the way. I may have just found a new direction to pursue…

Gratitudes:

To those of you who cheered not jeered, I thank you. Every single “Kol Hakavod” was a gift, and the folks who said “You’re at the end, only a little left” were my epidurals.

To those of you who served drinks and snacks, and guided and clapped, thank you for staying there until the very last person passed.

To my friends who helped me on the course, amen, what can I say? Pamela, I’m not sure you can really understand what an angel you were to me.

To Oran, who came over with homeopathic remedies for my post-race cramping and pain a few hours before her Shabbat company arrived, and stayed to let me get some of this off my chest, I am deeply grateful.

To my husband, who helped me by taking care of the house and cooking every Friday of my long training runs, who got up at 4:30am and drove me to Tel Aviv, found parking, walked me to the start in the pitch dark, and escorted me for hours on his bike, then came home and cooked Shabbat dinner, I clearly married the right man.

As we drove home from the race, my husband said “Emilooshka, I hope you know that if you can run 42.2km, you can do ANYTHING.”

Thank you G-d for making sure I found this man and for not letting me mess it up when I did.

Post-Race Swollen-Legged Banana Massacre (not my yogurt)

Now, I know that some of you are reading and thinking “Well sure, Emily can do this stuff because she gets all this support. There is no one in my life who would ever support or help me, especially not my husband!”

Listen UP: You have to ASK people. You have to say “I have this dream and I need your help to make it real.” And if at first they don’t believe in you or your dream, then you believe in yourself. When they see your determination and your perseverance, they will come around.

When I told my husband I was going to do this marathon (…lose 70 lbs; … go back to school at age 38; …open my own business (twice in 2 different countries); … move to Israel; …become vegan) he has always answered with skepticism. I forged ahead and when he saw I was serious, he climbed aboard.

You believe in you.

You believe in your dream.

You make it happen.

Your own angels are just hovering there, praying for you to begin.

And if you’re not sure you can even believe in yourself, bring it to me, baby. I will lend you some of my faith.

Any dream will do.

Hey, what do you know, a blog segway into Passover…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wET9fnLpERM

Filed Under: Exercise, Goals, Running, Tel Aviv Marathon, Triumph Race Club Tagged With: Achievement, Exercise, Goals, Nutrition for Athletic Performance, Team Triumph Race Club, Tel Aviv Marathon

My Final Exam – Tel Aviv Marathon T-minus 1

March 29, 2012 by Emily Segal 4 Comments

(It says the road is closed for the marathon)

Here we are, the 11th hour.

I stand here today on the edge of a goal that will challenge me more than anything else ever has. Tomorrow I run my first full marathon.

My only goal is to finish it before the course closes. I have 6 hours to do so. If I take only a few short walking breaks, my pace will bring me in for a 5:36 finish. If I have to walk more…. well, I’m cutting it close.

A lot can happen in those 5+ hours. Good things can happen. Bad things can happen. Things I cannot control can happen. Things I CAN control, I might have to struggle to do so.

But even if I cannot complete the race in the time allotted, I feel that I have already succeeded. I got through my training. I did everything I said I would. I have run 100′s of kilometers, with my longest single run being a 36k. I have already accomplished 99% of what I set out to do. All that remains is the final exam.

Although I have my fears and worries, I truly believe I can do this. I believe I can finish 42.2kms (26.2 miles) in under 6 hours even if I am the last person to cross the finish line.

To all of you who have been with me through this journey, I thank you for reading. I thank you for telling me how this all has inspired you. I am honored by those of you who have been inspired to change your own lives and to take on your own new challenges. Every ounce of support you have poured out to me has strengthened me and I will carry it with me tomorrow to keep me strong.

Although tomorrow is my test, and mine alone, it feels very much like it has been a community project.

And now, as Elphaba says in Defying Gravity (something I hope I will manage to do tomorrow),

It’s too late for second guessing.

Too late to go back to sleep.

It’s time to trust my instincts,

Close my eyes and leap…

Filed Under: Exercise, Goals, Inspiration, Running, Tel Aviv Marathon, Triumph Race Club Tagged With: Achievement, Exercise, Goals, Running, Self-Improvement, Team Triumph Race Club, Tel Aviv Marathon, Vegan Athlete

Preparing for Your Long Run

March 25, 2012 by Emily Segal 2 Comments

Today I wanted to write what goes into preparing for a long outdoor exercise session. I have a checklist that I check before heading out the door. Trust me when I say that forgetting your sunscreen or water bottle on a hot day is none too pleasant.

ID: You MUST have some sort of identification on you. Although most likely you will never need it, if something happened to you and you were unable to speak, you would want the paramedics to be able to notify your family and know your name and any medical condition you may have. I have a pocket that attaches to my shoelace in which I keep my house key and a slip of paper with my name, my husband’s phone number and the suggestion that I might respond best to English not Hebrew.

Sunscreen: I never wore sunscreen before this year when I began to notice brown spots appearing on my cheeks. It’s too late to reverse the damage I’ve already done, but not too late to prevent future damage. Don’t be cocky like me. Just because you don’t burn, doesn’t mean you are not incurring damage that will show up years later. I am seriously bummed out about those spots.

A hat: Same reason as above, plus protection against heat building up on a dark head like mine. A hat with a brim also keeps rain out of your eyes on a rainy day.

Sunglasses: My husband and I are addicted to Native Dash XP’s. We have been wearing them for years and would not wear anything else. They are perfection.

Vaseline or other anti-chafing gel: Anything that rubs – be it skin or fabric – will end up chafing. That’s breasts, nipples, armpits, butt cheeks, testicles (so I’m told), and the elastic band of your undies. Grease it all up! I have used aloe vera gel and Vaseline. Some runners use diaper cream.

Ibuprofen taped to arm: This is one of the techniques I have worked out during this training period. I tape two advils to my inner arm and one hour into my run, I pop them into my mouth. One hour in and things are starting to swell, especially those knees! Also helpful in case you fall or get blisters or chafing. Goes without saying that I’m not a doctor so don’t take medicine advice from me.

Kleenex: When I run, so does my nose. Take kleenex to avoid wiping it on your shirt. Stick it in your waistband.

Music/ipod: If you want to listen to music or a podcast, don’t forget your mp3 player! Sometimes I run with, sometimes without. I am still trying to decide about this year’s race, but I think I will probably use it to dial in my desired pace at the beginning of the race. Running too fast early on is the key mistake long-distance racers make. I use PodRunner Podcasts to match my cadence to a pre-determined steps-per-minute: 174-175 to start the race. Then, after the pack thins out (ie, I get left behind), and I am not tempted to try to keep up, I will probably take the music off and soak in the sounds of the surf, the city, the spectators, the entertainment and my own thoughts.

Watch and foot pod. I have a Polar RS300X with a SD Foot pod. This is my 2nd year with it and I love it. It tells me time, distance, pace, heart rate, calories burned if I wear the chest strap (which I don’t for running, see chafing above), and all sorts of other cool features.

However, because last year I had a bit of a disaster with an inaccurate foot pod that led me to believe I should be finished with the finish line nowhere in sight, I now double check my mileage by logging my route into www.sportdistancecalculator.com.

Food and Drink: Big topic, let me break it down.

If you are exercising for less than an hour, you probably don’t need to eat anything and you can just drink plain water. However, if your workout is going to be longer than 1 hour, you will need to eat something and to drink an electrolyte beverage.

Food during a workout:

Your body generally has enough fuel for about 60-80 minutes of strenuous activity. I personally have found the best results by eating some carbs before I get hungry – at about 80 minutes into the workout. I use a commercial gel called Gu, my raw cookies, or just plain old dates. Runners pin their food into their shorts, or buy shorts with built-in pockets like these big-butt beauties from RaceReady.

First of all, do I get major crazy points for putting a picture of my butt up in public??

If you are overseas and want to order from Race Ready, contact customer service for the lowest shipping option. They shipped my shorts for about $12 USD and marked the package in such a way that it flew right through customs. It also arrived 2 days after I ordered it.

Now, in my case, I have learned via many, many blood sugar crashes that I can’t just eat sweats during my runs. Although I do not have diabetes any more, I do still have hypoglycemia. I don’t eat any sugar in regular life and doing so on my runs doesn’t work well for me. So I mix sweet snacks up with some sandwiches. Yes, I run with two half-sandwiches tucked into my shorts! I’ve been using peanut butter and salt, but a friend suggested marmite and I’m going to try that. I know this is not as easy to digest as the gels and drinks, but it is the only way I have been able to keep my blood sugar steady.

For me, the timing is: 1:20 for the first snack and then every 30-45 minutes until the finish. I expect to be out on the marathon course for over 5 hours, so basically I am a running buffet. Smaller, faster runners with normal blood sugar don’t need to eat quite this much, in case you were wondering. Some probably run the entire race without eating a thing. Everyone is different and you need to figure out what works for you. You will know when it has been too long without food because you will become cranky, tired, your legs will feel like lead and you will want to quit. The classic Hitting the Wall symptoms. It works best if you don’t let yourself get to that point in the first place, hence the buffet in my shorts.

Drink:

Exercise over an hour and you need to replace electrolytes. You can use a commercial sports drink like Gatorade, or if like me, you want to avoid all that sugar, try Ultima Replenisher, which uses stevia. I couldn’t find it the last time I was in the US and came home with Emergen-C instead. I ran with that for a few weeks, but again, the fructose gave me trouble. So….

I made my own of course!

Emily’s Electrolyte Drink
Squeeze the juice of 2 clementines into your 750 ml sport water bottle. Add 1/4 tsp salt.

Fill with water and shake. Sip during your workout, adding more water as when it becomes available.

I finish about 2-3 of these bottles over a 5 hour period.

BE CAREFUL! Plain water can literally kill you when you are competing in an endurance event!!! People have died from drinking too much plain water without any electrolytes. You need the salt to keep things in balance. Apparently you can buy salt tablets, but I haven’t used them.

OK, you’re all geared up and ready to get out there and RUN!