Tel Aviv track…not for beginners..
or for people who trained in the snow all winter…
Honestly, I cannot begin to say how unprepared I was for this run.
THIS RUN ahhh oh my god was it hard. I swear, I had no idea. I had googled it and every where online people were like ” ohh yess, it was so fun and soo easy. I just ran it in a breeze blah blah blah facile” LIES all of them LIES.
The run started at 6am..It was slightly cool and we were all warming up jogging to the starting point.
I had woken up at 5 to prep and have time to make my way across the city
I had a little carb boost and espresso per usual before a race, so I was feeling fabulous and ready to go
It was massive and colourful set up at the start. Everyone was waiting around, stretching and preparing
We all then crammed our way to the starting line. Apparently online it said that the event in total had around 40.000 runners ( which I could totally believe!) we were packed like sardines and the sun was beginging to come out…dun dun daaaa
BAM we headed out. Music blasting, the crowd cheering as per a usual running event, but one thing I noticed was that most people did not start out with extra power, but started out with more ease. The sun was coming up and it felt oh so casual..but I went ahead full power like my usual starting method..big mistake..tremendous, yuge.
Now other than that during the race I did not get many photos, mainly due to the fact I was absolutely dying. As we ran the sun rose higher and higher, as did the temperature. Not a single cloud in the sky it seemed.And the hills, oh those damn hills! I never thought Tel Aviv had so many inclines when I was exploring it earlier but let me tell you, it ddoooooessssss
Aside from the personal issue I do have to note the course was amazingly setup, the motivation and the crowds gave you so much strength. Every couple kilometers there were stages with Dj’s playing you onward
but back to me dying.
SO as I was trudging along, hoping to death for a nice sea breeze to come save me, my knee gave out.THATS RIGHT km number 12 I became a hobbly old man. It was just this sudden crack and I felt like I would fall over. I got dizzy and naseous and slowed to a crawl. I tried to pick the speed back up but I couldnt. However I realize there was no other options and I kept hobbling forward the next 9km to the end. It was absolute hell and I have to admit at the end I cried the whole last 1,5km. I was sooo over it.
I made it though.
got my razzle dazzle medal and a handy dandy snack box
I headed to the medical, got some nice ice for my knee, then proceded to throw up in the toilets..puuuhhh runners life
All in all, I absolutely fell in love with Tel Aviv. The run is hard, dont kid yourself. And when in doubt ice it out…but dont get me wrong, Ill be back next year..with vengeanceeeeee
