Tag: Running

This Week’s Long Run

Started out a bit later than I planned, but got going anyway.

The tide receded so much that you could see the treacherous rocks usually hidden under the waves in the dog beach.

The gulls were out in full force again, taking over the river.

A moorhen paddled in the shadow of a boat.

Halfway point:

Gulls and night heron enjoying the boats.

A cormorant swam in the river, in search of fish.

A pied kingfisher was on the lookout too:

All in all it was a great 10k run in beautiful weather.

This week’s long run

It was cold and windy and boy did I not want to go outside to run, but a training plan is a training plan and I have a race coming up, so…

The beach was still half flooded from last night’s storm.

The waves were incredible and the water was brown with sand and silt.

Seagulls had pushed inland and had taken over most of the river, forcing the other waterfowl away.

Cormorants had moved up the river as well, and a dejected goose took refuge on the banks.

9k done despite the cold weather.

Cold run

Last night was cold, very windy, with annoying drizzles. I had an annoying day at work, and I didn’t feel like doing the 6k run that my plan called for. It would have been so easy to just skip it.

But I didn’t, and even though it was a tough run, I pushed through. As usual the toughest part of the run is getting out of the door.

This week’s long run

I’ve still been running, but I’ve cut down on my photo stops lately, so there haven’t been as many of these posts. That being said, I couldn’t help myself this week, since yesterday we had a bit of a storm, and all throughout the run I could see its aftermath.

The beach was still partly flooded and the waves made short work of the breakers.

Crows taking advantage of fallen trees.

Gulls and waterfowl really enjoyed the weather – not a lot of people about, and the tide brought quite a bit up with it.

A little over 8k on an enjoyable and interesting run in almost perfect running weather.

My 2017 – an utterly positive roundup

 

2017 was the year I ran a race in my underwear.

I also read 42 books, almost twice as many as I originally planned on reading.

I finally finished the first draft of my novel and started working on the second draft.

I went on the Big Thunder Mountain Ride in Disneyland Paris, despite being afraid of heights, and I ran a 5k and a 10k mere hours apart in the Disneyland Paris Half Marathon Weekend.

I translated and heavily adapted a Parsley game for a friend’s wedding, arranged a Tabletop Day gathering, played  and I started playing Pandemic Legacy 2. So far Matt Leacock is killing it with the story on this one.

I saw and enjoyed Wonder Woman, and I saw and loved Star Wars: The Last Jedi. I planned on going to more movies (I can’t believe I missed Coco, but travel plans will do that to you), but I’ll make up for it in 2018 I’m pretty sure.

I ran three 10K races, two 5K races (and 3 virtual 5Ks), more kilometres than I have ever run in a year (over 700), and I broke my 10K PR. I ran like through downtown Washington to the Mall and Lincoln Memorial, and through Greenwich Park all the way up to the Greenwich Observatory. I learned to appreciate yoga.

I joined Tel Aviv’s Urban Sketchers and went to sketchcrawls in Jaffa, Neve Zedek, the Carmel Market, Rothschild, and Florentine. I drew 100 people in a week as part of Liz Steel‘s challenge, and I sketched more frequently than I ever have. Learning to let myself experiment with my drawings, let my lines be looser and fortunate mistakes to happen has been a revelation that I plan on exploring more in 2018.

I journaled each day for most of the year, and finally started filling all those notebooks I bought. 2017 was also the year I fell in love again with Moleskines, but more on that perhaps later.

I challenged myself to take a photo a day, and succeeded, and I plan on continuing with that challenge in 2018. It makes me stop, look around, think about composition, lighting, atmosphere — all things that are valuable to me both as an artist and a writer.

2017 wasn’t without it’s challenges, fears, troubles — but it was also full of triumph and hope, good things that I plan on carrying on with me to 2018 and beyond.

Happy new year!

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Underwear Race

Ran a 5k in a memorial charity “Underwear Race” to raise awareness for colon cancer prevention. It was wonderfully organised, a fun and colourful race in perfect running weather. We all got colourful underwear to wear over our tights (some put it on their head). Two clowns ran around the pre-race crowd, a polyp in rollerblades that cackled and hugged people, and a “doctor” in scrubs that chased after him. There was great music at the starting line, the runners were all amped up, but lovely people (no pushing, a lot of positive interactions with people in the park), and the course was a runner’s dream (flat and wide and beautiful). A “must repeat” race for me in 2018.

This weekend’s runs

Ran a 4K yesterday and a 7k today. Getting back on track after a November of travelling, and feeling pretty good about it.

Last night there was a photo shoot at the deserted beach. It wasn’t particularly cold, but it was windy. Must have made it an interesting time for the photographers, with all that sand blowing about.

Went on an early run this morning, but because of the cloud cover I couldn’t get any good shots of the sunrise.

This evening…

… I didn’t feel like going for my scheduled 5k because it was hot, and I spent most of the day on my feet at a friend’s wedding, so I was tired and pretty sore. But I dragged my ass to the gym, put in my 5k (I hate treadmill runs), and was rewarded with this view on my way back:

There’s never a run that’s not worth it.

This Week’s Long Run

Started early today, and once again was rewarded by pretty magnificent sights.

The geese were out in force, entirely fearless, grazing wherever they pleased.

Isn’t that view magnificent?

A man fed a group of stray cats and night herons before sitting down to fish. The cats had the good sense to keep a wary distance from these well-armed birds.

A night heron between the rushes.

A total of 10k run today, 5k run yesterday and 25k run this week. Not bad at all.

Summer sunset

Taken on a humid and crowded 6k run on the Tel Aviv promenade. No better view to be had.