Sovev Emek 2010

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!

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

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

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

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.

Back from vacation!

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

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

 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

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

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.