Tag: tel aviv

Waiting…

Stillman and Birn Pocket Alpha, Super5 fountain pen, Rohrer and Klingner Lotte SketchINK and Schmincke watercolours.

Tel Aviv food scene sketches

Three sketches of three different quick food spots in Tel Aviv, before and after applying watercolour. The sketches were done in 5 minutes (for each one), over the past three days. I then took reference photos and applied watercolour at home. The point is to draw more even when I know I have no time to draw.

I used a Stillman and Birn pocket Alpha, a Staedler 0.7 pigment liner (for the first sketch, in the middle of the page), and a Super 5 0.7 fountain pen filled with Rohrer and Kilngner SketchINK Lotte (which is black and permanent). A waterbrush (because I’m going for quick and dirty here, and the Alpha can’t take much water anyway) and my Schmincke watercolours did the rest of the job. The photo came out too dark, but the scans I made of the page were consistently out of focus, so this will have to do for now.

This week’s long run: how to run when you really don’t want to

My mom has some very serious health problems, and that (coupled with some travel) has  made me put my running on a two week haitus. Except for an “angry run” of 4k that turned into 6k, I haven’t been lacing up lately, and that’s not good.

Yesterday I put in a 4k, and as usual after a break, it was pretty rough. Not as rough as I knew this morning’s run would be. It was scheduled to be a 10k, but I dropped it to a 7k, knowing that all things considered even that would be a challenge. I would have to fight my lizard brain all the way through this one, so I would have to use all the tricks I had to get through it:

Trick #1: Remove all obstacles to getting out the door. For me that meant setting an alarm, setting out my workout clothes, and charging my headphones the night before.

Trick #2: Promise yourself something nice once you complete the run. For me it was breakfast at my favourite cafe.

Trick #3: Distraction, distraction, distraction. This is the most important thing, and why I chose a new route, and I saved my favourite podcast (Do By Friday) for this run.

Trick #4: Give yourself a break. I allowed myself to stop for breaks, so long as they were only for a few seconds, and I went right back to running again. I needed to decide this in advance so I wouldn’t feel bad about taking the breaks that I knew that I would need. The point was not to beat myself up for something that couldn’t be helped.

It worked, and I got rewarded with some pretty nifty new views:

Get out there and run. You can crush it, no matter what the little lizard says.

This week’s long run: clear skies, birds and unbearable heat

Started out earlier than last week, because of the heatwave we’re experiencing now, but still had a hard time running, especially during the last kilometer. Last night’s 5k was also difficult, as it was super humid outside. Breathing water while running is no fun at all.

Started out a little after 6:00 AM, to clear blue skies.

Since I set out earlier than last week, I did get to see some birds out and about. This little egret is a Tel Aviv Port regular, waiting for unlucky fishermen to throw it their little fry.

Near the halfway point I saw a hoopoe, with its unmistakable crown, poking around the grass for insects. It’s our national bird, which is a bit funny, since hoopoes generally migrate to Israel on during the summer.

8 km done and dusted. I had to stop a lot, drink a lot of water, and stop twice to top up my water bottles from water fountains, it was so hot. I’m pleased I got my run in, but I can’t wait for cooler weather. It’s only the beginning of July and the blast furnace that is August still lies ahead… 😅

This week’s long run: clouds and sunshine

Managed to leave the house earlier than last week, but still not early enough to entirely skip the heat. Thankfully it was a windy day, so the heat wasn’t too unbearable, which meant that I could speed up my run a little bit.

The clouds were gorgeous, edged with morning light. It almost looks like a winter morning (Tel Aviv winters aren’t very grey and rainy) because it was so overcast.

There’s usually a lot more wildlife around the park, but since there are more people out this time of year (running, walking, doing yoga, playing with their dogs), only a few ducks and geese were around the boat docks.

8K done today, 4k done yesterday, and it looks like I won’t have time for a proper run tomorrow, so rest and stretch day it is. That’s the floor of one of my favourite coffee places, by the way. My machine is on the fritz and I haven’t had to fix it, so I’ve got to schlepp a bit for my brew nowadays.

Summer 5k, World Cup edition

This is from last week’s 5k – I just realised that I forgot to post it. Ain’t Tel Aviv gorgeous?

The promenade cafes and restaurants are packed with people watching the World Cup, including random bystanders.

The sunsets at this time of year are some of the best:

Midweek 5k run: Chinese festival and Te❤️iv.

I usually run with my running group midweek, and then I rarely have time to stop for photos. This week was crazy in terms of scheduling (as will next week), so that meant either running by myself midweek or giving up on my runs, and I am NOT bailing on my runs. They help me keep grounded and sane in this crazy time.

There’s a new sign on the Tel Aviv Port deck, and I really like it:

Get it, Te-love-iv?

There was also a very colourful and very popular Chinese food festival in the Port’s farmer’s market area. I got slammed in the face by a Chinese dancer waving long ribbons around, but it didn’t hurt, it just made me decide to circumvent the festival on my run back.

The lifeguards still leave their posts way too early, but that doesn’t deter people from swimming in the sea. A little over 5k done and dusted, with some hill repeats in the middle. I hate hill repeats.

A Glimpse into How I Journal

I like my journals to be filled with little sketches and bits and pieces that I collect here and there (labels, business cards, etc). It brings the entries to life, especially when I read through them later on.

So for instance yesterday I created a 3 minute sketch of a group of ladies enjoying themselves at a local cafe:

And here’s today’s page, about to be filled with notes:

So if you go to lunch somewhere, remember to grab their business card so that you can stick it in your notebook later.