Personal Journal

Winter in Israel

2012-02-05T12:39:00.000+02:00

Winter in Israel is very close to Spring/Summer in Europe: we have rains, cool mornings, plenty of flowers and beautiful sunrises (well, this we have all year round).
I have uploaded few pictures, most of them taken near my place, on Carmel Mountain on December and January mornings.

Best of climbing 2011

2011-12-29T09:38:00.001+02:00

This video was published by Outside.
Sasha DiGiulian's Pure Imagination 9A route was rated #3 in top 10 climbs of 2011.
I just loved this video:

Images from morning walk

2011-11-26T12:54:00.001+02:00

Today I made almost regular weekend trip to Muhraka and was treated not only to a beautiful sunrise scene, but also plenty of flowers showing up after the week of rains. Morning was a cold one (3 deg.) and with crisp clear views.

Few snapshots are at KodakGallery.

Judo Competition in Yokneam

2011-11-26T12:21:00.002+02:00

It was really nice competition inside the club, so most of the competitors new each other and were used to work together.

Michael took second this time, loosing one fight to Rotem, and winning another two fights: see the first and second videos. Few pictures are at KodakGallery.

Sovev Emek 2011, 92km

2011-11-14T11:21:00.000+02:00

This was the second year of the race, which combines the range of trail running

events from 10km to 92km and several off-road bicycle routes from 22km to 62km.

I've done the 92km run and it was definitely the best ultra running event in Israel. It was perfectly organized (BIG "thank you" to Shai Hazan and Kibbuts HaZorea) with great atmosphere, nice route -- not boring and not too hard, full moon, and runners with right attitude!

My run was not without some surprises, I guess water/fuel was a bit off as well as my knees that scared me, so I went slower than I planned, but actually the legs feel almost fresh just two days after it, so I am happy with the run the way it was.

As always, the statistics from the run are at Garmin site, pictures are on-line at KodakGallery and there is also

a finisher clip this time...

More pictures from the trip...

2011-09-24T13:23:00.000+03:00

The pictures from walks around Chamonix and Zermatt are on-line.
Here are the kids pictures from family visit in Moscow and the walks.

Few pictures from the race and surroundings...

2011-09-09T10:13:00.000+03:00

I've uploaded some race related pictures and the landscapes from the trip to the KodakGallery site.

The short route of Ultra Trail Du Mont-Blanc: CCC race

2011-09-06T16:13:00.003+03:00

So, we are back from vacation and the first post reflecting on the past two weeks is dedicated to the CCC race (Courmayeur, Champex, Chamonix).
The report is going to be long, thus read on if you wish...

Short Summary from the Live Trail UTMB:

CCC®6109 - Tatiana SURAZHSKY

CCC : perturbation orageuse. Parcours modifié : montée directe à Bertone. Champex-Chamonix, parcours de repli évitant Bovine, Catogne, Tete aux Vents. 93km, 5100mD CCC : important storm. Change track: directly to Bertone. Champex-Chamonix, alternative route avoiding Bovine, Catogne, Tete aux Vents. 93km, 5100mD
Classement actuel :	933
Classement par catégorie :	53
Dernier point : Temps de course :	S-06:30 Chamonix 20:17:57
Finisher

Catégorie :	SE F (23 à 39 ans)
Club :
Nationalité :	Israël
Ville :	20692 YOKNEAM
Antécédents (indicatifs et non exhaustifs) :	SWISS ALPINE MARATHON (DAVOS) 2010

Tableau des passages
Pts	Heure pass.	Tps course	Classt.
Départ	V-10:12	00:00:00	-
Refuge Bertone	V-11:21	01:09:31	938
Refuge Bonatti	V-12:39	02:27:34	1180
Arnuva	V-13:39	03:27:19	1335
Grand Col Ferret	V-15:02	04:50:23	1254
La Fouly	V-16:38 V-16:43	06:26:13	1109
Champex-Lac	V-18:48	08:36:48	996
Martigny	V-21:48	11:36:19	830
Trient	S-00:08 S-00:11	13:56:41	878
Les Jeurs	S-00:47	14:34:53	792
Vallorcine	S-02:18 S-03:03	16:06:46	812
Argentière	S-04:21	18:09:06	868
Les Tines	S-05:21	19:09:01	890
Chamonix	S-06:30	20:17:57	933

I arrived to Chamonix with Vitaly and Michael on August 22 and got a very warm welcome at a small hotel Vallee Blanche located on the river bank. The weather was really good during few days before the race so we enjoyed our stay and had few beautiful walks.

On the race day I got to the bus to Courmayeur and arrived to the starting line an hour before the race start. This year the start was scheduled in 3 waves: 10:00, 10:10 (my start) and 10:20 to spread runners at earlier stages, which did not help a lot: we were still stuck in a long queue on the first ascend.

One of the things that was funny before the start was the queue to the toilets: the first time there was no queue to the ladies while 100 meter line waited for the gents room...

Another surprise was the announcement from the management of the race that due to the changing weather the route was changed and we were not going to visit several peaks on the way. Bovine was inaccessible and the route went down to Martigny and then up back to Trient. According to race info it should have been shortened to 93km with 5100m elevation gain, but my garmin showed that it was closer to 95km and a bit more elevation change... Whatever it was, it was the only option, so I tried just to enjoy what I get ;-)

The first part was shortened and instead of going to Tete de la Tronche we went straight to refuge Bertone. This was the simplified part and it shortened the route until refuge Bertone to ~5km. Then the route was identical to the original and I enjoyed the views and good warm weather until the Champex Food station.

The "traffic jams" disappeared after the second peak (Grand Col Ferret) and I went on with easy running downhill and hiking the uphills. Most of the route is breathtaking: beautiful single trails with mountain views.

Vitaly and Michael spent half of the day in Champex walking around the lake and waiting for me to get there. I've called Vitaly (yes, I used every piece of the obligatory equipment excluding the emergency: blanket, whistle and tape) ~20 min before getting to aid station and was happy to see my family before going into the night part. They had plenty of clothes/food with them which I did not need (then!) but it was nice having a break (although longer than I should have had) before going on.

Thus I put on an additional long sleeve shirt, jacket and said good bye to Michael & Vitaly. The original route was supposed to go uphill soon but the alternative lead us down... and more down and still down until we reached Martigny at ~470m sea level (more than 1000 elevation loss from Champex)...
It started raining, but still was rather warm. I knew that the new route went back to Trient aid station, which is at ~1300m sea level, but we got up to 1530m (Garmin data), so had gained ~1000m elevation in ~5km.

By the time I got to Trient it got colder, and the wind got stronger. I also managed to find myself without water during the uphill but the was a very nice couple filling cups with water for runners on the way and the lady helped me to fill my pack and offered sugar

When I realized that I went through the town I just put on my waterproof trousers (I was wet and cold to the bone, barely feeling my hands and feet) and tried to move faster to stay warm. It worked to some degree: I felt fine when I moved faster, but thanks to fading light I had to take care and could not move as fast as I wished.

Well, I thought to myself, as soon as I get to Vallocrine, I would fix everything... I got there fine, still feeling strong, but as soon as stopped I began shivering and not just shivering... I could barely stand up, there was no chance of changing batteries... the dexterity required for this action was far beyond what I could managed.
I tried everything I could think of: drinking three cups of hot soup + two cups of tea + eating + drying "some" clothes + warming up near the heaters... Nothing worked... it did not get better, so after wasting 45 min I just decided the last thing: to start moving. I left the aid station and moved on in the weak light of the headlamp with unchanged batteries. Then I swapped to the second (also much weaker) headlamp fearing to stay in the dark.

I tried to move as fast as I could considering the low visibility and soon felt better. The last part was almost uneventful, with few highlights:

The rain stopped
I felt that I had two blisters on my left foot from ~30km but they were not too bad till the last 5km: one of them popped and I had sharp pain on my toe, when I got my shoe off and saw that it's just a blister and not a detached nail (or toe ;-)) I put the plaster on and continued at even slower pace;
I got to the finish line with the sunrise and found Michael & Vitaly waiting for me there!

I used Black Diamond Ultra Z-poles, loved them, although have heard that several people had broken them on the descents... I guess either I weight less, or I were just lucky...

Overall I loved the experience and the organization of the race was great! Amazing support along the route from the families living in the area, I even had a home made cake from one lady in Martigny! I wish I could thank every one who was there on the route and of course my family for being there!

P.S.
One can find an interesting interview with Adam Cambell (2nd place at CCC) at IRunFar and of course the winner, Kilian Jornet.

This is the vacation plan...

2011-08-09T11:53:00.003+03:00

We are leaving for vacation on 22nd of August, and the big part of the plan is the CCC part
of the UTMB race...
It's the shortest race and I am going to run just the last 98km of the UTMB route,
but it should be just as beautiful... tell you more after I am done...
BTW, my bib number is 6109 ;-)
here are a couple of trailers (from NF and DailyMotion)

The North Face® Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc® by UltraTrailMontBlanc

First Jerusalem Marathon, 2011

2011-04-02T12:12:00.001+03:00

This year Jerusalem hosted full marathon for the first time. The route was amazing, going through Armenian quarter of the Old City and visiting Mount Scopus, Parliment, Sherover promenade and many other historical and panoramic sites. The weather was just perfect and the organization and the atmosphere of the event left me keen to run it again! Hope to get back to it in a year.

Few pictures are at KodakGallery, and the route (with my walking pace splits ;-)) can be found at Garmin site.

One more competition update

2011-03-02T14:35:00.000+02:00

This time it was in Yokneam, Michael took second in fair fight. Pictures are at KodakGallery and I also uploaded videos of the fist fight and the second fight.

Judo Competitions, Feb 12

2011-02-23T15:33:00.001+02:00

This time Michael took second place, he won 3 fights in a standard fashion, (confinement after a few moves), and had one worthy partner who took the first. The video of the long fight (#3) and the most eventful of the others (#1) are online as well as few pictures.

Desert Challenge 2010

2010-12-20T11:26:00.001+02:00

It is a unique run. The Desert Challenge full moon run takes place in the Dead Sea area for the third time and the third time I enjoy this route.
The route was around 26km long and it was finished way too soon, although I did not try to run fast -- my pace was very relaxed, definitely not a racing style. I managed even to roll over the white powder on one nice descent, luckily with minimal damage.

Thanks a lot for Ez Harim and Pro:Sport for amazing experience!
Results are published on-line, my bib number was 2126.

The route is at Garmin site and a few pictures are at KodakGallery.

One more judo event, one more gold medal

2010-12-13T09:47:00.000+02:00

No, it does not get boring! Congratulations to Michael, who won his next competition, Yokneam, Dec 09.

The video of the longest (the second) fight is on-line, the other two were just too short to capture ;-)

Sovev Emek 2010

2010-11-28T12:16:00.000+02:00

A very special race (the first of it's kind) took place just near my place. It was a 62km run (although I believe it was closer to 60km), called Sovev Emek Ultra Marathon. The course was mostly on the dirt roads with ~900meter elevation gain, see more data on Garmin Site.

There were just 15 participants in the 62km race and I was the only woman on the course. I've had wonderful 6 hours 40 minutes of running along the easy rolling terrain near my home with perfect weather and company: got a smile and a word from every runner. The organization was just perfect! water when you need it, well marked route and great atmosphere! Thanks a lot to organizers (Shai Hazan was responsible for the race) and volunteers from Kibbuts HaZorea!

The pictures are at KodakGallery, results at GanSport (Hebrew).
There is a race summary in the local version of Running World (in Hebrew).

Congratulations to Michael!

2010-11-22T11:11:00.001+02:00

Well, Michael has added one more gold medal to his nice collection. This time the competition took place in Herzeliya on the 20th of November. First two fights were kind of boring: the first one Michael just showed that he can earn different points (yuko + vasari) but finished in regular fashion with confinement of his partner. The second fight was one confinement only. But the third fight, the final one was worth the waiting. Michael had the same partner as 8 months ago (the same place) and this time he won. This is the video of the final this Saturday (compare the fight with the same characters in February this year).

Pictures are at KodakGallery.

Holidays are over, few pictures are online

2010-10-06T14:52:00.001+02:00

I must say that the pictures do not make justice to this cave, life is just much better than you can see it on the best photographs.
We have eventually visited the Stalactite cave (in Jerusalem area: Avshalom reserve). This cave is considered relatively small but it's still one of the most beautiful stalactite caves around the world.

Few pictures are online at KodakGalery.

Vacation 2010: Davos

2010-08-16T12:32:00.001+03:00

First part of our vacation we spent in Switzerland, Davos: a very beautiful town in Swiss Alps. There was plenty of rain during the 9 days we stayed there, but I would not complain that we did not have a chance to enjoy the area. In a few words if you think of a beautiful place for vacation, this place gets a high score.

There are plenty of pictures are at KodakGallery.

Swiss Alpine 78K, 2010

2010-08-14T19:06:00.037+03:00

This race was on my mind even before I ran my first race... A race in the mountains, not too long (fits in one day with a full night rest before and after), not too short (to care too much about speed) and amazingly beautiful! The pictures from the race are at KodakGallery, and there a couple of videos online: finisher clip and Michael's video.
The data from my FR 310 is at Garmin site.

I approached it in well planned (even if in a bit odd manner) stages:
1. 80 km race in Israel;
2. Mountain marathon in Swiss Alps (Jungfrau);
3. the goal (?) race: Swiss Alpine 78k,
78.5 km race with ~2300m of elevation gain, also in Swiss Alps.

The main problem that during the whole period, a year and a half I had just a couple of months with pain free running: one injury was followed by the next, repeat... Even as I started this race on the 31st of July 2010, I still had some dull strange feelings in my right calf and left knee...

As a year before, at Jungfrau, I combined the race with family vacation, but as it was close to 2 marathon distances and I were not sure I could hike a lot the days following the race, I opted to have a "vacation" part before the race. This also fitted my evil plans to adapt to the altitude and enjoy the walk along the hardest part of the route 4 days before the race. The plan worked the best way it could, even on the preview on the 26th of July I did not feel the lack of oxygen as much as I did at the end of the Jungfrau marathon.

I opted for the offered early start option (6:00 am), since I was really undertrained;
Furthermore, since my 80km time was slightly over 10 hours even not in the mountains, I did not estimate my time as much faster than 12 hours, I thought that 11 hours and 30 minutes is a reasonable guess.
Well, I felt like I was cheating all the way, but I still do not regret my decision.

First hint I got at preview, when I walked with a German guy who had finished this race a year ago under 10 hours. He said that it seams that I am strong enough to be done in closer to 10 hours than 12. I thought he was overoptimistic...

The race early start was on a beautiful clear morning with the first rays of the sun. The white frost covered the ground and the grass.

First 5km were in Davos and then we left the town and continued on the easy dirt road. There was a beautiful semi transparent cloud on the side of the road which stayed still with no wind to move it... I concentrated on being light on my feet, going slow and eating a gel and a salt cap every hour. Then I saw a "AlpenKiwi.de" printed on a shirt of one guy. I enjoyed his video from the previous year and knew that he finished under 11 hours... What he was doing running at 6:00? Well, it seems that there were 2 kinds of runners who took the early option: slow runners having some experience and doubting runners. The second kind included many first timers and slow starters. AlpenKiwi told me that last year he was the last one to pass Keschhutte before the cut off, and then accelerated to finish in 10 hours and 40 minutes. Well, I could not count on the negative split, so I continued with my easy pace.

After ~15km there was a long downhill section which I covered much faster than anticipated and arrived to Filisur an hour before I thought I should. Not a big deal since I planed to walk the uphills so now I felt a bit better about this part of the plan. I also happened to be "the first slow lady": the real first lady, Jasmin Nunige passed me at ~50km mark, running steadily uphill on her way to Keschhutte.

The way from Chants to Keschhutte is... walkable... Well, there is "just" one km (at ~48km mark) with really crazy gradient, where it seems you have to fight it hard no matter how slow you move. So I concentrated and just tried to keep going until the trail became less special ;-)

Another advantage I got by starting early besides the confidence to be free of the cut off threat is an almost empty trail ahead of me. The fast runners were still sparse: they had to gain 2 hours and most of the early slow starters stayed behind... So I had an easy and beautiful panorama trail to Scalettapass for me alone! or almost so ;-)

Then came the most tricky part: technical downhill on tired legs... once again just concentrated on keeping my feet on the ground and not turning any ankles. Fast natives ran there, but I did not want to take chances...

Last 14km were on more crowded beautiful dirt trail (mostly mild downhill) with runners from 42k joining the fun... Even had a glimpse of Vitaly and Michael 2km before the finish which was really a nice touch for the day! While I began feeling two big blisters on my feet (probably from the tiny stones that managed to get into my socks + downhill) and it added some spice for the last 2 hours or so, I still believe that this was the best race I had until now.

I finished in 10 hours 21 minutes, see results at SA site (bib number 1901).

Back from vacation!

2010-08-14T17:14:00.000+03:00

We are back from a 3 week vacation!

Short summary is as follows: first day we stayed in Zurich with our friends, then spent 10 days in Davos, where I enjoyed SwissAlpine k78 race a lot (race report to follow complete with pictures). Finally we went to Russia, smoke filled Moscow with 40 deg. celsius heat to visit my relatives. Pictures from all stages will be on-line in a few days!

Weekend trip: Nahal Amud

2010-06-29T11:30:00.000+03:00

We had been lucky with the weather, so we used the opportunity and had a very nice walk along Nahal Amud (the Pillar stream, called this way because of the pillar like stone near the stream).

The pictures from the trip are on-line.

Judo competition, on the 20th of May

2010-05-23T10:36:00.002+03:00

Michael has won his three fights at the competitions that took place in Menashe Regional Center on the 21st of May.

Video of the final fight is in YouTube, pictures are at KodakGallery, as always.

Marathon Tel-Aviv 2010

2010-05-16T13:21:00.001+03:00

This was my first road marathon and now I am wary of such: I just never ran on asphalt and now I can confirm that it is much more painful than running trails.

First of all I should say that the organization of Marathon Tel-Aviv was close to perfect, there was water more than every 4 km, there were 4 points with electrolyte sport drinks and three tables with apples/oranges.
I ran with a hand held bottle and had two gels in it's pocket, which in retrospect should have been 3, but this should remain as memo for the future. Otherwise, all went nice and easy until the sun got up and then it got hot! Every time I passed water station I poured another bottle on myself and from time to time refilled my bottle. The most challenging part was in the open sun after ~27km, but I were not chasing records -- just doing a long 4 hour run, so I slowed down and it was almost fine...

Actually my legs did not a bad work, but kept scaring me from time to time, as paranoid as I am nowadays, I walked every time I felt a familiar twitch in the calf, but who cares ;-)
The route can be seen at Garmin Connect, and there are some pictures at KodakGallery.

Judo belt exam 2010

2010-05-04T14:07:00.002+03:00

Both Vitaly and Michael had their judo exams on the 25th of April -- just before Vitaly's birthday and got new belts.
I've shot a short video while they played around before changing the belts, and, of course, the pictures are on-line.

Passover (Peisach) walks in Carmel

2010-04-28T12:53:00.001+03:00

We had a couple of nice walks in a good weather during this year Peisach holidays. The first one was a trip to Sumak ancient settlements (pictures online) and the second to Etzba (or "finger") cave also in Carmel.
This place was first visited by Michael with his school and he liked it enough to go back there with us.
So, thanks to Michael! pictures are uploaded and ready to viewing!

Jerusalem Half 2010

2010-03-22T09:51:00.001+02:00

I've gladly accepted an invitation for a nice training run: Jerusalem Half Marathon 2010. I did treat it as a training run: running every day more than 10km before it and trying to feel comfortable all the way. It still took 1h51min instead of planned 2 hours, so probably the atmosphere had its effect...

The weather was just perfect: not too hot and not too cold (around 10 deg. Celsius), perfect visibility; and Jerusalem is a beautiful city!

BTW, now I have the elevation profile and the route available! see more data at Garmin Connect site.

Beautiful trail running video from GripMaster

2010-03-11T10:13:00.005+02:00

I've really enjoyed this video. Done with a very good taste. I embed it here with the permission of the gripmastertrails site owner,
Thanks!

Fun morning run

2010-03-10T12:16:00.004+02:00

Just a note re. today's morning run .Feel free to skip it ;-)

The run began from an easy section to the Marina, where I turned North and continued alone along beach, alone -- that is, there were no other runners which was a bit unusual, but whatever. Got over an easy part to Appolonia and negotiated the reconstructed part of the beach.

Non runnable. Huge stones in heaps... well, it was just for 400 m, but took the best part of 10 minutes. But I was rewarded by the performance of a beautiful couple of kingfishers immediately after. Encouraged, I continued North. Somehow the next 4km were much harder than I remembered -- really soft sand and a lot of small stones sneaking into my shoes. Well, I am used to slow running, and when I run slow I can run over almost anything (at least I thought so at the moment).

57 minutes and 9km gone, I rearrange my shoe laces and turn back (I did remember, it is a working day...), get over the 4km of sand and stones and back to the Appolonia site, again a lot of kingfishers -- I've noticed at least 5...

And then my foot slipped on the stone... When I stopped rolling over I was in the embryo pose and stayed there still for a couple of minutes. Got up and moved a bit, well, that was not that bad, everything moves, a couple of scratches and bruises on the thigh and the arm, shoulder is dirty but not too painful.

Yes, lucky I was. Back to running.
Everything feels fine, but I am a bit dizzy after the fall, so skip the foot work on the stones where I can, and just run along the water, sometimes in the water. Final part of the run is to get back from the beach to the sports club for the shower. Oops the staircase I used to run up is closed due to some reconstruction works...
No big deal, I just go up some narrow parallel trail...
Which ended in the dead end -- tall iron fence along the street I want to get to. Are they serious? I am already dripping blood in a couple of places, dirty and wet...

Here comes a fun part: there is an elderly couple hesitating at the entrance of the stairs (closed, remember?) and happy to see me (at least somebody); they ask how they can get down to the sea... I smile and say "sorry, don't know" (really, I should not suggest to THEM to go the same way, right?).
I just climb over the fence (Yes, I AM a climber) -- it's only 1.5 m high ;-)

Back to the world and enter the sport club with a huge stupid smile on my face, just 2 hours passed as I left it.
Why did I feel so happy? I do not want to analyze it, I just know that I felt really GOOD...
T.

Judo competitions in Herzeliya

2010-03-04T11:32:00.001+02:00

This time it was a second place, well done and deserved. The pictures are at KodakGallery and there is a video of the second fight online (Michael lost it, but fought well even with a sore shoulder -- he pulled a muscle in the beginning of the fight).

Few pictures from Desert Challenge 2009

2009-12-09T10:50:00.003+02:00

Yes, I did it again this year. The weather was perfect the landscapes mesmerizing... I was injured... Probably it was not the smartest move on my part but I do not have any regrets...

Few my pictures are at KodakGallery. Those were taken by the event organizers
Many more pictures can be found at Flickr.

Judo Competitions, Nov. 08

2009-11-12T13:22:00.001+02:00

Michael has won two (of the two) sparrings and has earned his next gold medal. Videos from the competitions are online (the first and the second fight). The pictures are as usual at KodakGallery.

Full Moon on the 4th of October

2009-10-06T17:11:00.000+02:00

This is a view from our window. Explains a desire for a night run ;-)

Late update for our vacation : Russia

2009-10-06T16:44:00.001+02:00

Here comes the last update from our vacation. In Russia we first were taken to a beautiful place, called Veles which is located close to several towns from "The Golden Ring of Russia" -- Vladimir, Suzdal, etc. There we spent 3 days, lucky with beautiful weather and, of course, the pictures are on-line. The last 4 days we were in Moscow (well, close by, in Mytishci) staying with the family and seeing friends. Here is the slide show.

Jungfraujoch - Top of Europe! and more Switzerland

2009-09-23T15:57:00.002+03:00

Next day after marathon we took it easy -- a train trip to the Jungfraujoch with a few hours on the site were enough for the day. The pictures are online.

After that we hiked to Bussalpen and visited friends in Zurich, leaving Switzerland for Moscow on the 10th of September. More pictures are here and there ;-)

Jungfrau Marathon Summary

2009-09-22T14:35:00.014+03:00

It was beautiful and I really loved the experience. Being unable to push it as much as I wanted (because of the injuries) I enjoyed it also as a scenic hike and had plenty of time to look around enjoying the views.

I even have 3 pictures of me taken by marathon-photos.com (with some pictures shot from the train back -- see the slideshow) and two video clips: official finishers clip and encounter with Michael at ~11km.

The results are online too (mine is 5:33.09 with the bib number 4704).
Now if you want to read the detailed report...

Intro
I've passed through Interlaken for the first time in the summer of 2007 and wished that I could come back and hike around the area. The town is located between Lake Brienz to the east and Lake Thun to the west, at the foot the famous trio of peaks, the Eiger, the Mönch and the Jungfrau.

By some weird chance I've started to run the same year and a bit more than year later I saw a web page of a mountain marathon starting from Interlaken and going upto Jungfrau. I registered for this race in December 2008.

More Intro
Well, it was not hard to register, but since May 2009 I could not run as much as I wished thanks to problems with the foot tendons. Moreover, being really talented when it comes to injuries, I managed to get an acute extensors tendinitis in my left foot just five weeks before the race. I could barely walk for two weeks of those...
...but the foot slowly got better and I, hoping for the best, left for Switzerland on the 3rd of September.

Marathon
The marathon started on the 5th of September at 9:00. I was offered a ride from the hotel (Berghof Hotel, Wilderswil) to the start by 8:00 and handed in my one piece of baggage with my bib number. The weather (rainy and windy on the 4th of Sept) was just perfect: sunny with around 10 degrees Celsius at the start and +1 -> +4 degrees at the finish with great visibility.

I did not know what to expect from myself after the injuries, so I planned to go slowly (just under the cut off times would have suited me). Trying to go really easy and get into a comfortable pace I noticed that I went much faster than I should: ~5 min/km. So I deliberately slowed down whenever I looked at the watch (see the splits info).

At ~11km we've passed Wilderswil where I stayed with my family; and Michael actually managed to notice me, while it was more challenging for Vitaly ;-)

Everything stayed relaxed for some time and I passed the 15km marker in 1 hour 15 min... and then the things started to get more interesting. While my feet behaved the best way they could (I felt them but they did not get worse) my left knee welcomed every step with rather sharp pain. It seemed that the run was over. Well, I thought, I have not much to loose, in a worst case I'll take the train back and slowed down as much as I could while still running until 25km.

25km, is where the "uphill" of the mountain marathon begins, so it is mostly walked by many runners. I switched to the strategy adopted in my 80km: walk the uphill (almost all the way to the finish ;-)), run the downhill (last 1 km). Actually during 38->41 km I had no choice for the pace, since there were serious "traffic jams" along the steep and slippery narrow mountain trail. The amazing 20min time split for km ~41 shows the stand/walk pace of that part ;-)
So, I've been "forced" to do a relaxed "hiking" marathon... I felt strong till the end and besides my knee everything was great -- I felt kind of weird watching people around me working hard and feeling like I have a nice scenic walk, although any attempts to run uphill got very strong protests from the knee, threatening to end my race right "here and now".
By the way, I felt better with my style when I saw that although people passed me running the less steep parts (where I walked), many of them were slower on steeper parts, and there I was able to get ahead of them again without struggling.

Besides the usual gels/bars/bananas/bullion/water/etc. there were chocolates offered from ~40km and I did accept the offer ;-) The spectators were amazing! Besides the colorful bands along the way people stood for hours in small villages they read the names of total strangers on the bib numbers and found words for every runner!!
Very special marathon, indeed!

Marathon Splits Info

2009-09-22T14:06:00.015+03:00

I uploaded my marathon data from Garmin into SportTracks software, there is plenty of interesting statistics available there.

Here are my 1km time splits for Jungfrau Marathon, 2009.

Notice the change from 15km -- where the knee decided to remind that it existed and nice 20min km number ~41 where there was "traffic jam" on a slippery single ;-)

Time	Distance	Split time	Split distance	Split pace	Elev. chg.
0:04:54	1	4:54	1	4:54	0
0:09:40	2	4:46	1	4:46	1
0:14:30	3	4:50	1	4:50	-2
0:19:25	4	4:54	1	4:55	-8
0:24:30	5	5:05	1	5:05	9
0:29:26	6	4:55	1	4:55	28
0:34:30	7	5:04	1	5:05	3
0:39:41	8	5:10	1	5:11	5
0:44:30	9	4:48	1	4:49	0
0:49:51	10	5:21	1	5:22	26
0:54:59	11	5:07	1	5:08	29
1:00:08	12	5:08	1	5:09	8
1:05:19	13	5:11	1	5:11	-12
1:10:31	14	5:11	1	5:12	16
1:15:37	15	5:06	1	5:06	-3
1:21:53	16	6:15	1	6:15	10
1:28:18	17	6:25	1	6:25	54
1:34:32	18	6:13	1	6:14	20
1:40:23	19	5:51	1	5:52	23
1:47:12	20	6:49	1	6:49	48
1:53:42	21	6:29	1	6:30	-13
1:59:38	22	5:56	1	5:56	8
2:06:30	23	6:51	1	6:51	56
2:11:48	24	5:17	1	5:18	8
2:17:16	25	5:28	1	5:29	-82
2:24:18	26	7:01	1	7:02	5
2:37:00	27	12:41	1	12:42	192
2:50:44	28	13:43	1	13:44	169
2:59:11	29	8:26	1	8:27	11
3:09:24	30	10:12	1	10:13	90
3:16:55	31	7:31	1	7:32	21
3:24:47	32	7:51	1	7:52	29
3:36:11	33	11:23	1	11:24	122
3:46:45	34	10:33	1	10:34	103
3:57:47	35	11:02	1	11:02	106
4:07:32	36	9:45	1	9:45	66
4:16:41	37	9:08	1	9:08	22
4:26:08	38	9:26	1	9:27	80
4:34:52	39	8:44	1	8:44	18
4:48:19	40	13:27	1	13:27	141
5:09:02	41	20:42	1	20:43	165
5:21:36	42	12:33	1	12:34	31
5:28:11	43	6:34	1	6:35	-67

Jungfrau Minirun

2009-09-21T15:03:00.005+03:00

Jungfrau Minirun was held a day before Jungfrau Marathon. Michael decided to try it out and it worked out really good: he managed to enjoy himself even in the rain (he was lucky to have no wind, though). The results are online too (5:02 time for bib number 1466).
The slideshow is online as well as two video clips: mine and official one.

Back from vacation!

2009-09-21T10:22:00.003+03:00

We are back! The vacation was intensive: we traveled to Switzerland and Russia.
First stop was for Jungfrau Marathon were I participated in the marathon (race report will follow) and Michael ran "Jungfrau MiniRun" -- 1km in 5:02! Then we hiked in the region (also going up to Jungfraujoch -- "top of Europe") .
After that we stayed for a couple of nights with our friends in Zurich and left for Russia.

The next stop was "Veles": a fairytale location in the woods in the area of the Russian "Golden Ring".
Finally we had just 3 days in Moscow to see family and friends. Time flied...
More details and the pictures will follow soon (hopefully!)

Climbing at Mazok Nir (near Manara)

2009-06-18T13:11:00.006+03:00

We had a wonderful day rock climbing on the north of Israel.
Michael was rather successful and managed to enjoy himself.

The KodakGallery slideshow is on-line.

Amazing running video

2009-05-17T10:33:00.003+03:00

This video was posted (and created) by Matt Hart from Montrail team on his blog for his presentation.

I watched at least 5 times... and I believe I'll watch it many many more, it always brings a smile out from somewhere:

UltraRunning from Matt Hart on Vimeo.

Saturday run

2009-05-10T15:01:00.006+03:00

Weekend morning run this Saturday was kind of special, so I'll leave a note here even nobody but me will look at it twice ;-)

It was a slow and long run (45 km, which took me almost 5 hours) that began a half hour before the sunrise and was finished with sun shining and temperatures well above 20 degrees (celsium).

The plan was to have a relaxed run with some noticable elevation gain, but I've changed a route a bit to visit a nice looking trail I have not tried. It was well worth the trouble: a couple of doe was crossing the trail, probably going to the creek close by and I had pleasure to watch them disappearing into the forest. I've slowed down (as if I were fast before :-)...) and studied the place they disappeared at...

Just a few minutes after, I was surprised by a different couple: this time they were short-toed eagles! they were really close to me, not more than 5 meters and I had a chance to have a good look at them... I saw more of their kind later and also the reason they were out: hunting snakes. The snake I met (well, it just crossed the train and I jumped over it, even without saying hello) was not a small one and luckily it was not interested in me.

I had a few more encounters which are more or less common in our area: cows, bulls and calfs running from me; red fox; and a lot of white storks... oh, yes and after 8 oclock there were cyclists and hikers...

On my way home it was getting hotter and I was out of water with 4 km to go, so I stopped by the stream (a beautiful part of Nahal Shofet near Ein HaEmek) and cooled my feet in the water...

Thus I have got home tired and happy after 5 hours out ...
The link to the route can be found on MotionBased site.

Pictures from Ultra

2009-03-30T12:56:00.002+03:00

The slideshow is online, thanks for race organizers for providing the pictures!

First Ultra (80 km) done! 27th of March, 2009

2009-03-29T11:02:00.015+03:00

Just for the sake of change it is going to be a loo-o-ong post and not really family oriented -- feel free to skip it ;-)

This is my first try at a race report that covers my second official race (here is the first one) and my first ultra -- 80km run. It was a trail running event (defined as a "cross country adventure race") organized by Carin Goldblatt and her company Pro-sport. The elevation profile of the race looks far from boring (see below).

The race started at 5:00, but since it was the night of the summer saving time change, it felt more like 4:00 and the wake up call was at 1:45am. Suprisingly I had a very good sleep and felt rested. The temperatures were a bit cooler than promised by the forecast (6 deg. celcium) so I added one more layer of thin wool just before the start.

After running for a few minutes I noticed that I am running with the leaders which was not good -- definitely not my pace, so I slowed down and forced myself to walk the up hills (at least which were well defined ;-)).

The trails/single tracks were slippery (with their share of mud, not really bad) and going either up or down for most of the time, I managed to sprain my ankle somewhere close ~15km. Luckily it worked still, and after massaging it and a couple of minutes walk I managed continue running and forgot about it until the end of the race (after the final check back home it was just a bit swollen and had a bruise but worked).

The first "feeding zone" was at 30km mark so I changed into "summer gear" and made a mistake asking to fill my pack with water and not isoton. I believe that was the cause my hands got swallen by 50km (second feeding zone), thus I asked to refill with half water/half isoton at that stage. I still felt good at 50km, but felt that I was running for some time ;-)

At this point my FR405 said "battery low" and I switched it off... Not a good thing since I prefer to know where I am regarding to the distance left...

After that I was definitely weaker and started to walk more -- one of more experienced runners adviced to take more than 1 gel per hour, which worked until the last feeding zone (#3) at 65km.

I refilled my pack with 50%/50% mix again and put few more gels into its pocket and started the last part, 15km long. Then the hardest part started, I realized that I still can run and run smoothly (althoug all the muscles did hurt) but lacked the motivation to do so... I did not intend to stop -- that was not an option without a serious reason, but I did not care much for the speed anymore. I walked everything which was not downhill!!! I have been leading woman for 75km (do not be impressed -- there were just 3 females in the race ;-)) and when I was passed by the next one, Tali (there were only two persons who passed me and both at this stage) I had strength to go with her at her pace, but I just DID NOT CARE! I was angry with myselft but not enough... So, I finished 5 minutes after her...

So in summary I finished my first ultra with the result of 10:10:42 (look for the bib number 28), was the 2nd female, 19th overall (the were 43 runners, I believe the last 4 did not make the cut off at the 65km, and 2 DNF'd...), managed not to notice the blisters before I took my shoes off...

After getting home I was pleasantly surprised that I could stretch everything and nothing complained too much (although every muscle was painful -- even my cheeks! until I took a bath and had dinner, after it felt much better).

I was really hungry after the race, but could not look at anything sweet after the amount of gels I consumed.

As a matter of fact, today (two days later) the only thing which is uncomfortable during walking is a bruise on the back of the ankle which is in contact with the shoe and a blister under the nail ;-)

I managed to enjoy every moment of the race, the weather was just perfect -- the downpour rains started half an hour after I got home ;-)

11km walk along HaShofet Stream

2009-03-08T16:29:00.004+02:00

This Saturday we had a very beautiful walk along the stream near our place ( see pictures at KodakGallery ). The weather was hot and sunny -- real summer! and after two weeks of rains there was plenty of water in the streams. Flowers were plentiful and colors were well represented... In a few word we enjoyed it a LOT!

One more judo competition, one more gold to Michael!

2009-03-08T15:17:00.004+02:00

Congratulations again to Michael, he had won one more competition on the 1st of March. Pictures are again at KodakGallery.
Video of the fist and second fights are online as well.

Bouldering in Haifa

2008-12-14T12:09:00.004+02:00

I've put online one more recent set of pictures. I've taken Michael to bouldering (at XPark in Haifa -- "kir Yoav") and it seems that we'll be doing it more. He enjoys it enough to get back even with sore hands and fingers.

Desert @ full moon

2008-12-08T10:01:00.007+02:00

So it did happen: I could not resist the temptation and ran official race which was held in the Dead Sea area. It was a 30K night run in the beautiful desert with landscapes illuminated by the full moon.
Many runners still used headlights, while others, including me, enjoyed the natural moonlit surroundings. I did not really "race" it -- the purpose was to enjoy it as much as possible.

The group of fast runners even honoured my tradition of getting lost on the trails and of course I've followed them, but not the whole way -- I am not the fastest. My route from garmin can be found at MotioneBased.

Nice video from the event can be found at flix.

Michael won one more competition!

2008-12-07T16:36:00.003+02:00

Michael got his next gold medal in judo competition that took place on the 16th of November. The pictures are @ kodak gallery.
There are also 2 videos: first fight and the second.

Vacation in Israel, May 2008

2008-06-03T11:37:00.004+03:00

We had an amaizing vacation during 17->25 May with our guests from Moscow, pictures from the trip are at Kodak site. We covered several places in Israel during this week: Qumeran caves, Ein Gedi streams, Dead Sea, Rosh HaNikra grottos, Eilat, Red Sea and Red Canyon... Every place is beautiful by its own way

Rosh HaNikra trip (May 10)

2008-05-26T14:50:00.002+03:00

We had visited Rosh HaNikra for the first time on the weekend of the 10th of May. The weather was just perfect -- sunny but not hot. There were plenty of hyrax families enjoying themselves on the rocks besides the entrance to the grottoes. The pictures are @ KodakGallery.

Nahal Taninim (Crocodile stream)

2008-05-01T17:15:00.004+03:00

There are no more crocodiles on this stream nowadays, but there were plenty of birds, beautiful beach, horses, gees and nature all around! Have a look at few other pictures.

"Gilboa March" - 20K!!!

2008-04-07T09:54:00.004+03:00

Last Saturday I somehow convinced Vitaly and Michael to join me for 20K scenic walk. It was a nice walk but we had a bit late start -- 9:00, so we have finished it at 14:40 instead of the predefined "by 14:00", which was a disappointment for Michael -- no entertainment in the end :(...

Pictures from the event are at KodakGallery.

The School Trip, March 28

2008-04-07T09:47:00.002+03:00

On the 28th of March I accompanied Michael in his School trip to Gahar stream near our place, Zorea forest, the pictures from the trip are @ KodakGallery

New trip - new pictures

2008-03-20T14:16:00.003+02:00

This time it was an organized event called "Zaadat Yokneam" near our home on the 8th of March. Just two of us (me and Michael) participated in the whole process - we walked the longer 11km trail, while Vitaly joined us at the finish line for the entertainment part.

The pictures are available at KodakGallery

Valrhona chocolate in Israel

2007-12-10T11:08:00.000+02:00

After complaining a lot about the lack of chocolate places in Israel the simple Google search resulted in a great result: I've not only found Valrhona chocolate in Israel, moreover the shop is located "just around the corner". So here is the link for the chocoholics in Israel to the "Bakers" in Nesher, Haifa.

Pictures from the past (cont'd yet)

2007-12-10T10:18:00.000+02:00

And the last trip in this series was to the another amazing location in the area of Yehudiya Forest -- Upper Zavitan stream and the highest waterfall in the Golan mountains. The pictures are also @ KodakGallery.

Pictures from the past (cont'd)

2007-12-10T10:12:00.000+02:00

The second trip was to a beautiful area in the northern part of Israel -- Nahal Bezet and the Stalactite cave, the pictures are as usual at KodakGallery

Pictures from the past -- September 2007

2007-12-10T09:59:00.000+02:00

I've just realized that I still did not put the links to the pictures from our trips during "Sukkot" holidays from the end of September -> beginning of November. So I'm rectifying this mistake now -- better later than...

Here is the link to the pictures from our day at Flower park in Kibbutz Bachan -- a lot of orchids and more...

Michael's Judo Competition

2007-12-03T10:42:00.000+02:00

On the 25th of November Michael took part in judo competition where he was second in his category (weight + age). The pictures can be found at KodakGallery.

Recalling Moscow trip: friends & picture exhibition

2007-09-10T12:46:00.000+03:00

While being in Moscow we enjoyed meeting with friends in a "Hermitage" tea club and continued to a beautiful picture exhibition (wild nature). The meeting was fun, and the exhibition was just amazing... Thus we could not help taking "our pictures"... Have a look yourself @ KodakGallery.

Hexagon Pool

2007-09-10T12:06:00.000+03:00

Last weekend we took advantage of a very useful hint and payed a visit to a Hexagon Pool (also known as "Meshushim Pool") in Yehudiya Forest park.

This pool besides being one of the most beautiful places I've seen, is a unique geological phenomenon. The wall of the pool consists of hexagonal basalt pillars, which solidified when the lava cooled down after the volcanic eruptions in the Golan.

Many springs run into Hameshushim stream that fills the pool, and its current is strong year-round.

The pictures from the trip may be found @ KodakGallery :)

September 1, 2007

2007-09-10T11:56:00.001+03:00

As I've previously mentioned, Michael is a school-boy now. The first day was not really on the 1st of September - it was Sunday, September 2, but... you may find the big boy pictures @ KodakGallery as usuall.

Moscow once again: relatives & barbecue

2007-09-10T08:44:00.000+03:00

I've put the pictures from barbecue (Saturday, August 18) @ KodakGallery, so now you may check it out.

Summer trip: Moscow

2007-09-10T08:29:00.000+03:00

Well, we realized it was the last summer before Michael started school, so we made this trip to Moscow just before September: 13 -> 22 of August. Most pictures are on the same site @ KodakGallery.

Pictures from Switzerland trip

2007-07-26T14:59:00.000+03:00

We had a very nice vacation in Switzerland with a couple of days in Germany. I would like to thank our hosts in Germany: my classmate friend Olya and her husband Igor for a wonderful time! The pictures from the trip are already @ KodakGallery.

Latte Art: Rosette

2007-07-03T10:59:00.000+03:00

Just found a year old picture with a "rosette" -- a home made (by me :-)) morning espresso cup with a bit of milk...

I know it's far from perfect and there are bubbles that are far too large, but... I liked it still enough to take a picture :-)

Farewell Party in the kindergarten

2007-07-03T09:45:00.001+03:00

On the 21st of June Michael had a farewell party in his kindergarten "Sahlav". We are still getting used to a thought that he'll become a school boy this September... Time flies!

The pictures from the event are @ KodakGallery.

Michael BD Party and Judo competition

2007-06-18T12:15:00.000+03:00

We had a very busy day last Friday (15th of June): Michael's Birthday party in the kindergarten in the morning and his first Judo competition in the afternoon. He enjoyed both events and even was the best in his group of three (which resulted in a gold medal!!!) Pictures from both events are on our KodakGallery site.

Our favorite chocolate cake recipe

2007-06-13T12:19:00.000+03:00

I've eventually put the recipe of our favorite chocolate cake on my other blog. So now it is available to all!

Banias National Park

2007-06-11T16:00:00.000+03:00

This weekend we had a very beautiful walk in Banias park, where we enjoyed waterfalls, springs, remainings of the Roman city, and fish ponds.

I've uploaded the pictures from the trip to our site KodakGallery.

Metula trip

2007-06-11T15:37:00.000+03:00

This summer we want to try visiting as many beautiful places around us as possible.

First beautiful walk took place in the end of May in Tel Megiddo National Park, so we tried to continue with the places around Metula on the 3rd of June.

Personal Journal for Surazhsky Family and Friends

2007-06-10T09:14:00.000+03:00

This blog is intended to be a personal family journal but I hope that it will help to keep up with us for our families and friends.

Also I hope to put here the information related to our free time continuously (that is so rarely is updated on our family site).