Friday, July 14, 2006

Break in Assignments

Northern Israel
10 km from Lebanon Border

I managed to get out of Gaza yesterday and had a night at home before heading up to the Northern Border of Israel & Lebanon , I look at it as a sub 50 minute run from the office to the finishing line of Hezbollah , but the run has been cancelled.

Enough of that rubbish, this morning I got up at 5am as I really wanted to get a run in between assignments. Having not run since last Saturday when I had that disasterous and sore long run.

This morning I did have a great run, when you get one of those magic running moments. It came as the sun was breaking thru and I crested the highest point of my run. Every run should have a crest when you feel you can see your whole world in front of you.

8 km - very hot great time just wonderful to run

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

The Gaza Stairmaster , in pictures




The view up and the view down , 14 floors of training
Mal
Gaza City

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

The Gaza Stairmaster

So I thought that I would be having a non training day, but in adversity there is victory. The office we use in Gaza is in the main street in the city, yes there is a city here "Gaza City" as opposed to Gotham City, 1.4 million people make it possible to have a capital city.
Anyway back to the story, Israel gets annoyed, blows up Gaza Power Station, whole of Gaza loses 42% of total power available, City goes into power restrictions, old dodgy elevator in building does not work where office is on 14th floor.
So rather than a trendy machine, with watt displays and buit in fans, videos on demand etc etc.
Me I just climb 14 floors, might start timing myself.

Back in NON training

Tuesday July 11 2006
Gaza City

Weekend leave from Gaza, enabled me to just kick back and do some training.

In fact the first thing I did when I left the office last Thursday was to head to the Gym, in the old days perhaps I would of headed straight out for a beer or two. Nowadays I get far more enjoyment from heading to the gym than to the pub.

Now do not get me wrong I still really enjoy a cold beer in a frosted glass, but the feeling I get from a workout now seems so much better and when you wake up in the morning you have the desire for more and no regrets with a headache.

The Saturday long run was planned for 25km, and now for the excuse it was to hot and naturally after listening to Steve’s podcast of running in hot weather I managed to do everything wrong and get dehydrated to boot. Also both my knees started to ache along the illotoral connections.

But I got a solid 17 km’s (10 + miles) so I was happy and later in the afternoon I had a hash run this is where beer and running meet, another 7 km but with a lot of walking, due to the fact that my knees were really sore.

Sunday, I did my Spinning Class and followed it up with Yoga. I am finding Yoga to be a great way to stretch and get my flexibility back.

Monday – Well its back to Gaza but with my heart rate monitor this time and tomorrow morning out come the sunglasses and you know what that means

Friday, July 07, 2006

The sanctaury of the Gym

The first thing I had when I got out of Gaza yesterday was a cup of coffee , then next thing i wanted was to head to the gym and it felt great just being somewhere quiet again where I could work out in peace.
Gyms can sometimes be stale and sterile, but it just felt great after being in Gaza to be able to step into the steam room and feel all the crap come out of the pores of my skin
I plan to run a solid 25 km tomorrow morning, I have not been this psyched about a run since the NY Marathon last fall so till then I am going to relax and just have time to myself
Downloading the new Phedippidations and other podcasts , then the road beckons

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Phedippidations & Gaza

I may not be able to run whilst on assignment down here, and since I am on my now newly regimented month off a year training schedule I do not feel so bad.
But I still do download aand listen to Phedippidations each and every episode. To download the show before last took nearly three hours, see how soon we forget the world of basic dial up Internet connections.
I want though to thanks all my friends at phedippidations both on the show and through the forums for their kind words and support over the last weeks it has meant a lot to me.
I may not be able to run long and listen to the latest episode #51 Passion but I was cleaning my armored car and getting it ready for another day out on the roads of Gaza
To everyone out there
RUN and enjoy the freedom it gives us all
Mal
Gaza City