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.
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:
