I was very excited when I decided to participate in my first ultra marathon – the PRO:SPORT Ultra 50k race. I started running with a water pack and started hill training to prepare for the hilly terrain of the race. (It wasn’t easy to find a hilly place to run in flat Tel Aviv so I ran the same ¾ of a mile back and forth.) After spending the last few months trying to improve my speed for the Tiberias Marathon, it was a hard but challenging change, and I actually started enjoying it.
On Monday I found out I wasn’t going to be able to take part in the race – I’ll be traveling. So I decided to go to plan B – run the Tel Aviv Marathon again. I was disappointed about the change in plan since I had been looking forward to doing something new, taking it up a notch while not worrying about the result of the run (I just wanted to finish, regardless of how long it took).
I was feeling a little depressed about missing the race until I went running this morning. It was sunny but chilly and I decided to run along the beach. I ran a 7.5 progression run which I enjoyed very much. I was quick and felt strong. The run kind of got me focused on my new goal.
The Tel Aviv Marathon will be held April 8th giving me another month of training before the race. I want to improve my time but know that chances are slim since it will probably be hot and the course is much slower than the Tiberias marathon. Still I will train hard to try and run another sub 4 marathon, and if I don’t then at least I will have another marathon under my belt (number 5).
The Ultra marathon will just have to wait a year.
Hi Michael,
I have diabetes for four and a half years. I started running races three years ago. This year I am running my first marathon in Tel-Aviv.
I volunteer in JDRF and I established a “Run to CURE Diabetes” group in the marathon. Here is a link with all the details: http://www.jdrf.org.il/index.php?dir=site&page=news&id=3072index.php?dir=site&page=news&temp=1&id=3072
I am very interested if you have tips which can help me in the marathon. I am using insulin pump.
Please contact me via e-mail.
Sincerely,
Alon