Guess who just told me "you triathlete types are so funny." ??? the very person who is soon to become one of those "triathlete types"!!!!!!!!!!!!!


GO NIKKI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#37

TEL AVIV TRIATHLON

Sorry I haven't updated this for a while...but I've been busy doing absolutely nothing!!!!!!!!! It is sooo nice. Though not exactly true, since my last exam, I've been biking, and swimming, and organizing the house and cooking and doing stuff that is easy to put off during the busy school year.
Anyhow quick update on the Tel Aviv Triathlon. It was Alon's very first triathlon, though he has done lots of running races and a few duathlons. Swimming is not his strong point and he really only swam for 2 weeks prior to the race...as long as he doesn't drown he'll be ok! He banned me from talking about the race for the 2 days before. Anyhow, we were up bright and early at 4.30am on an already hot Saturday morning. We loaded up the car and headed into Tel Aviv which only took about 15 minutes since there was no traffic so early. Unloaded the bikes and headed to the transition area, this time we'd brought our own pen for body marking. In the races in Israel there seem to not be any official number marking people. There are usually a few pens floating around, but you'd better bring your own just in case. If you join the triathlon union, you get a number which is used in all the races. Anyhow, we numbered up, put the numbers on our bikes and our helmets on and then were allowed into the transition area.



It's all about the shirt!! Which you get before hand...still not sure why most of them are black. We met up with some BGU friends and set our things up in the transiton, then walked over to the boardwalk to watch the start of the 40+ race. The water looked great..it was a 2 loop swim, with a quick run on the beach between loops. I really don't like to have to stand up suddenly in the middle of the swim, sprint and then throw myself back in the water. Quite a few people passed me. The water was warm and flat, even saw a few fish. I got out of the water and ran up to the transition area. For the some reason the bike portion of this race was drafting legal..probably because it's a 3 loop course, and it's just easier to allow drafting rather than try to police such a crowded course. It was hard to find a group to draft with at first, when I did find a good group, it seemed like they were going too slow for me, but if I didn't stay with them I would just be out on my own. So I stuck with the group. Alon passed me at the end of the bike course and was already out of the tranistion area when I got there. The run was so hot...Running at 10am in the summer in Tel Aviv is not pleasant!!! It must have been in the 90s and very, very humid. Any time I tried to pick up the pace, I felt like my head was going to explode. I drank water at every aid station and dumped ice on my head but it still didn't make me go faster. So I decided just to enjoy myself and plod along rather than make myself sick for 1 or 2 minutes. I don't know how people can run well in the heat. Is it better hydration? More heat training to get used to it? Having no body fat to insulate you??? I would like to know!
Anyhow the race ended and my time was not the best but I still had a good time.
I talked to Alon afterwards and found out he had been in the last 5 out of the swim..but he passed over 100 people during the race. Better to be the hunter than the hunted! For his very first triathlon and without much swim training, I think he did great! :-)

So many sports this week..Wimbledon and the Euro 2008 soccer tournament and.....
TOMORROW...the Tel Aviv Triathlon!!!! Alon and I are both doing the Olympic distance, and it's his first triathlon ever. we have bets on when he'll pass me on the bike...not that i'm such a great swimmer, but he has only been swimming for 3 weeks! will report back in a few days :-)

The picture above is from the Physicians for Human Rights clinic in Tel Aviv. The clinic sees mainly illegal workers and refugees. I was lucky to volunteer before the clinic closed its doors in protest of the government doing nothing to help with the growing refugee problem and their assumption that PHR would take care of things. There are now thousands of refugees from Africa, many fleeing from Darfur by way of Egypt.

Anyhow PHR also runs a free clinic in the West Bank so I decided to go today and see what it was all about.



Gas station in Taibe where me met and had really good coffee.



Even tractors need to fill up.


This morning 4 of us left Beer Sheva and drove up to Taibe, an Israeli-Arab town, where we met the Israeli doctors and translators that were also volunteering. We went through the checkpoint without even stopping (entering the West Bank isn't a problem) It was about a 30 minute drive to Beit Furiq, a smallish town in the Nablus(Shechem) area. The clinic takes place in areas where there is less access to health care. The team consisted of a family doctor, an internist, a neurologist, a pediatrician and a chiropracter, plus translators and students.



Local ambulance.



Kids following us into the clinic.

When we arrived patients, and mothers were already lined up waiting for us. There were alot more people than I expected. The students divided up amongst the doctors, so I started out with the neurologist who saw mainly people complaining of generalized pain, but a few interesting cases, like a young man that had been in jail in Israel for 2 years, had suffered some head trauma and now was having vision and hearing problems. Another man had a bullet wound in the back of his neck and half his face was paralyzed. Some of the men couldn't be given much help and were refered to hospitals which hopefully they could find some way to afford. The chiropracter was set up on the other side of the room, and was busy with lots of men complaining of back pain. For each patient, there were at least 4 other men observing (while smoking cigarettes) and giving advice.
After a while, I went up to join the family doctor, who seeing all kinds of patients, mainly women and older men. One boy came in with jaw and tooth pain, his teeth were totally rotten, he needed a dentist. It was hard to see so many people who needed more specialized care that they probably wouldn't get.
We worked until about 3, ate some pita and lamb kebabs, hopped on the bus and headed back to Israel.

Lots of posters on the outside of the cement buildings of the town, which had apparently seen lots of action during the second intifada. The posters mainly depicted Saddam Hussein(think that needs to be updated) and gun wielding young men in front of the Temple Mount.

Here are 2 of my favorite songs by Idan Reichel.

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FROM THE DEPTHS
THE DEPTHS

From deep depths I called to you to come to me
with your return the light in my eyes will come back
it's not finished,
I am not leaving the touch of your hands
that it may come and light up/wake upon
hearing the sound of your laugh.

From deep depths I called to you to come to me
the moonlight I will again light your way to me
they're spread out and melted again
the touch of your hands
I whisper, ask in your ears:
Who is it that calls to you tonight - listen
who sings loudly to you - to your window
who put his soul so you'd be happy
who will put his hand and build you your home
who will give his life, put it underneath you
who will be like dust living at your feet
who will love you of all your lovers
who will save you from all evil spirits
from the deep depths.

From deep depths I called to you to come to me
the moonlight I will again light your way to me
they're spread out and melted
against the touch of your hands
I whisper, ask in your ears:
Who is it that calls to you at tonight ...

Who is it that calls to you at tonight ...
(x2)

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Here is my mountain bike getting ready to go out for her first ride in a very long time! She has been through alot of abuse...Mountain Men, 3 Xterra Maui's, 1 Battle of the Saddle (at 6000ft!) and numerous rides across sand, lava (Pahoehoe and A'a), through Kaloko rainforest which actually just hides the sharp lava. You can see her scars..and I have plenty as well. Actually I'm a little sad that the K-shaped scar on my shin from Kaloko is starting to fade.
Anyhow...I got the shock redone, refilled (whatever it's called) as it was totally mushy and dangerous. I don't think I'll be mountain biking enough to justify getting major, expensive new parts. So..this morning I went on my first ride outside of Be'er Sheva! It wasn't the most scenic..but it was fun!! And it felt very good to be mountain biking..I haven't forgotten all my skills though I am pretty weak. I went with some friends from the BGU bike club for a very mellow 2 hours. We followed the train tracks for a while...turned east for a bit, were chased by a few dogs, cut across into a eucalyptus grove and just meandered around. Especially nice as I've been sick and haven't done much for the past 10 days! Oh!! and I saw some camels which still makes me excited though it's like seeing a cow to people that have lived here for a while. :-)

I'm not actually in any of the following pictures, but you can pretend I am.


See the gamalim?

I have been dreaming about getting a pair of Crocs for almost 2 years. Why haven't I gotten a pair yet? Because I am horribly indecisive and would never be able to choose between all the juicy colors and to make matters worse there are now even more styles. I rememeber when I first saw someone wearing them, I think around 2003, I laughed at them, but secretly wanted to steal the shoes and chew on them. They are so soft and squishy and colorful.
They are so past trendy now, I see babies wearing them, taxi drivers, families of stressed out parents yelling at their kids..all wearing matching crocs (or knock-offs). There are even websites about why people hate crocs.(they probably secretly wish they had every color)
BUT..I still want some of my own!!!!!!!! Maybe this is the year to give in.

Just got back from the north where I participated in the Emek ha Yarden Triathlon. It is a triathlon festival with kids races, sprint, olympic and half-ironman distances. I did the olympic distance tri which was the longest triathlon I've done in quite a few years. (the reston triathlon is just short of an official olympic). Anyhow, the race started at 7am and I needed to get my bike into the transition and everything set up by 6.30 am. As we hadn't arranged a place to stay(which I will do next year for sure!) we woke up at 3am, started driving at 4am and got to the race site at around 6. I hadn't slept too well the night before, but the excitement kept me awake for the drive.
The triathlon takes place on the southern shore of the Sea of Galilee or the Kinneret as it is called in Hebrew. The shoreline is at an elevation of 200 meters below sea level...which means more oxygen in the air to make me super speedy!! Anyhow, I got my bike into the transition, numbered up, sunscreened (though supposedly it is harder to burn at such low elevations)arranged my run shoes (with socks...i always wimp out and put on the socks for fear of blisters)and headed down to the shore.

In this picture you can see how we had to start pretty far out in knee deep water...the means of course having to run back in over the rocky ground. The water was cool but not too cold, completely flat and just perfect for swimming. It wasn't very clear but I don't think there is much to look at underwater anyhow. Not like Hawaii!! The start was good, a few kicks and people randomly switching to breast stroke, but pretty soon I got into a good rhythm and found someone to draft. When I got closer to shore I swam as far as I could rather than having to walk over the rocky bottom, but eventually stood up and hopped up to the shore where there was a 5 minute run up to the transition. I was happy with my time of 35 minutes, especially considering the fastest women was only about 25 minutes once the run and transition time were added.


If you look close, you can see me in the bright pink top and black shorts making my way to the shore.

On to the bike which was great! I didn't get any pictures of it, but it was more hilly than I had thought has the road didn't stay close to the shore.

here's a pic to give you an idea of the scenery.

It was an out and back 40k on the eastern shore of the Kinneret which I guess is considered part of the Golan heights even though it's below sea level. It wasn't too hot, fun downhills after the climbs, and wonderful views..I was flying along happily...BUT..not drinking!! When I looked at my water bottles after the race I realized I'd only drunk about a quarter of a bottle. oops! Not good for the run. I really wanted to get under 1.20 for the bike so I was pushing the whole time and not thinking about drinking. I need to get a handlebar bottle with straw which make drinking effortless.
Anyhow...Back to the transition area in 1.18. I got a bit lost..went to the wrong rack, but eventually found my running shoes, which mysteriouly looked blue and not their usual green! I put on my socks, despite my resolve to try running without them and headed out for the run.

here I am trudging towards the finish line


The run was not as pleasant as the swim or bike. Most of it was on a concrete walkway, except for a short off-road loop into some fields at the turn around. The sun had come out and it was hotter. Anyhow, when I tried to move faster I couldn't so I kept trudging along looking out for every kilometer mark, hoping they would go by quickly. Unfortunatley the did not go by fast enough. Run time: 1.03. Running after biking, and running in general has never been my strong point but I know I could do better!! NEXT TIME!! Anyhow my time was good enough for 3rd in my age group (triathlon is still a young sport here so it's easy enough to place!)


Here I am getting my 3rd place trophy. Of course as soon as I got home, I checked the results to see the times of the girls who beat me...plotting my climb to the top!

And of course, thanks to faithful sherpas! I can't wait till Alon learns to swim better so I can do the same for him.
alon taking a quick nap while we wait to pick up my bike

The problem with making energy bars that are so good is that we eat them all in a few days. A few while biking...the rest with coffee, for breakfast, for a midnight snack. There is so much cheap and delicious dried fruit available in Israel that it's easy to pack the bars full of figs, dates, raisins, apricots and cranberries.



Here's the basic recipe:

2 cups of dried fruit: chop, not too finely, but to a size that's easy to eat
1.25 cups of nuts: roughly chopped
2 cups of crushed oatmeal.

In a bowl, mix 2eggs, 3 ripe bananas, a dash of vanilla, a pinch of salt if desired.

MIX above ingredients.

Melt over low flame: 1 ounce of butter and 1/2 cup of brown sugar

ADD to first mixture and stir it all togther

Put in a buttered/floured medium size baking dish and bake for about 30 min at 350F. (note..this is not so precise, so keep checking the bars to make sure they are done and not burning)

There are many ways to modify the recipe: use honey for part of all of the brown sugar, use sweet potatoes(cooked) for some of the banana, add chocolate chips and cut back on the sugar, oil instead of butter...whatever you can think of should work!

Two weeks into the second semester and already I like it much better than the first. It's alot to ask someone to move to a new country, find an apartment, meet new people and start studying medicine at the same time! So..this semester I only have one of those things to focus on. All the extra time, with less worrying...that means time to get back into shape for some short triathlons! Today I went swimming for the first time in several months. I was so happy to be in the water, it was warm, the pool wasn't too crowded and I swam an mile no problem. Tonight I'm going to spinning class for the first time with the BGU bike club.