1 hour (8.6 km)

The last week in running sucked, but somehow this month ended out ok. I ran 102 km this month, which is 15 km more than the last two months. It might be because I did 3 long runs (12 km, 12 km and 13 km) during this month. It's a bit strange though because I've been a little depressed lately and I have been feeling like I'm not running enough. The depressed part is just school getting to me. This semester isn't bad, considering that last semester was horribly stressed, but I just feel unhappy about all the work I have to do and not being able to enjoy myself as often as I feel I should.

On that note, I had a great run today. I ran for 1 hours (8.6 km). That's a bit slow, but it's ok. For at least the first 40 minutes the wind was blowing really bad and I felt like I was running uphill. It's wasn't bad though cause the wind was nice and cool. Later it started drizzling a bit, and that always feels good when you are running. It also always makes people in their cars stare even more - and that's always a good thing. The town looks really nice. We switched to daylight savings, so it was still light out for most of my run, but for the last 20 minutes, the street lights came on and it looked beautiful. The town is decorated for Passover and after that Yom Ha'Atzmaut, (Independence Day) I guess. We've got flags and color lights all over the place, some even in the shape of magen david (star of David) and menorahs. It's all looking so festive. Of course, the minute I started walking for my cool down, it started pouring, so I did get soaked in the end, and I even sprinted home, but it was a nice time.

13 km

I ran 13 km on Sat. It took me 1 hour and 30 minutes. It felt so good to be outside for so long and not feel guilty about it. I literaly spent the whole weekend studying. With only my brother home, there really were very many distractions and I also managed not to watch tv. Running was fine. My pace was ok and I felt good. I'm gonna try and do a long run again this weekend. It might happen too, since this weekend starts Passover vacation. Yay!

I run for fun

I run as often as I can, and I do it for fun (as the title suggests), but it seems like a lot of people can't understand that. Does anyone else feel that way? What is it about running that makes people think I'm doing it for some other reason. Is it because running is so "horrible" or is it because I'm a size 10 and I must be trying to lose weight? Why is it that lots of times when I mention running, people start giving me ideas of other exercises that burn more calories? Sure, I'm glad that I'm down from a size 14, but that's just a happy side affect. I don't run to lose weight, I don't run so that I can eat junk food and I don't eat junk food because I run. Why is it so weird to say that I didn't want to skip a run, so I ran earlier than scheduled so I could go to Burger King with me brother? I run because I like it, and I eat junk food because I like to and the two subjects are unrelated. I'm ranting, I know, but this subject makes me mad.

still going

I'm still alive, running and kicking. OK, not so much kicking. Anyway, I've actually been running, just not very much each time. I always feel like I don't have enough time to start that second loop that makes a regular run long. I really miss it though. I run so that I can long run. I don't really care about speed, I just like having passed 12 km, or being out there for 90+ minutes.

Not long ago I got new New Balance sneakers and they are much lighter. I can tell because my legs don't bother me as much as they used to when I run in the morning. I haven't actually weighed them, but I did with my last ones and they were heavier than the ones before that. Yeah, I'm a geek, I do sometimes weigh my sneakers.

This semester is going ok so far. Passover vacation starts next week. I can't wait. I had a bit of drama with my lab partner quitting and I'm a little stressed out over my new partner. She's nice, but she's hard to understand and I feel like I can't really leave half the work to her and know that it'll be done well. Damn school keeping my brain so busy that I feel like I can't afford a long run.

12 km

I ran 12 km yesterday. It took me 82 minutes - not too bad. About 40 minutes in I got a side stitch and had to stop and walk for a minutes, but after that I was fine. I felt good and I'm glad. Maybe next week I can add another 10 minutes or so.

On Wed, I ran in the morning in my new sneakers for the first time. They are much lighter and I could feel it immediately. Actually that one wasn't so bad. I don't like morning runs, but that one was fine. My legs weren't complaining so I did ok. I just didn't have much time, so I only ran 6 km. It took me 39 minutes.

45 minutes and flowers

Didn't have such a great run today. It was a shame, but I couldn't help it, I went to bed later (much later than I should have) then I had bad dreams so I didn't even have a restful night. My dream was really scary. I wonder where I come up with these things. Still, I ran 45 minutes, and it ended up being 6.6 km, which isn't so bad. I'm actually celebrating two years of running right about now. I don't have an exact date of when I started, but I know it was a couple of weeks before Purim. It's two years since my Grandma passed away, and I can remember getting back to running after the shiva, thinking about him, and not enjoying my running. The first few runs after that were not fun, and I remember it. At the time I was barely running a few minutes at a time, so it was also not very easy. I'm glad I kept going. I actually saw my highschool English teacher running on Thursday. As I passed her she said "you're still running" and I said "almost two years" and she yelled to me (I had already passed her) "kol hakavod" ("well done"). That made me feel pretty good.

Anyway, short ride to see the flowers today. Everything is so beautiful. I have pictures!

My favorite always comes first. I love cyclamen.We actually found a new spot with tons of flowers. It's not as pretty as the other place, but it's also very lovely.

We found a big field full of anemone not far from home. It was beautiful:

Here's a thistle:

And here's a little grasshopper. It was about the size of a penny, maybe a little bigger.

Sorry it it's more photos than you can handle.

12 km

I went on a long run today. It was so much fun. I ran 12 km in 83 minutes. That's not so bad for a long run. I might have gone a little overboard. I probably shouldn't have kept going past 70 minutes or so, but I was enjoying myself too much to stop, so I kept going. I had a really nice run, and except for these creepy guys looking at me (I crossed the street so as not to run past them) it was all good. The weather is really pleasant now. It's spring and the evenings are cool, but not cold. It's great.
I'm not happy about my running during this next semester. With all the running in the weekend, I'm not going to be able to get anywhere. I just have a month of that, till Passover vacation. Then I've got a couple more weeks like that and its Shavuot. Then only a few more weeks and the semester is over. So really, it'll be mostly ok, but defiantly not anywhere near ideal.