Great dane miles

Day 3:  Really busy day, Woke up at 4:45 to do a run along the beach again (12 Miles with a tempo to average 7 minute pace the whole way).

Ate a great early morning breakfast then we got on our way to Cerascia to see some ancient roman ruins which were amazing. WE then travelled to Tzfat to see the old city, it was an amazing sight to see all the old buildings and how mystical the town was, It was my so mystical when I was ripped off and ended up paying nearly $100 in Sheckles for gifts probably worth far less. However, the Yemen bread was excellent, and I enjoyed listening to the music of the old men.  Went on a short hike which I was exhausted for afterwords, then went back to the hotel to in a Kibbutz to hang out do some small activities and sleep.

Day 4:  woke up at 6:30 to get my easy run in, I did 6 easy miles in the Kibbutz on the small roads and farmland which was beautiful and peaceful.

Had a solid breakfast then went to pick up the soldiers, they were awesome off the bat and we all got to know each other pretty well in some activities at another Kibbutz, then we went to a City on the Sea (Tiberius) I had my first Shwarma which was massive and tasted great (Much cheaper than Tzfat) Explored a few streets of the city and then headed over to another Mountain which we weren't able to climb because we arrived late, but it was still an amazing view of such a large area of land, absolutely beautiful. Got back to the Kibbutz to play some political games where things got slightly heated In debating, followed by some dinner, and then more activities with the Israelis.  Had a nice down to earth Convo with a couple people afterwords just hanging out outside . Went to bed early.

Day 5: Workout day, woke at 5:15 to get it in. Easy 15 minutes felt like crap mapped out a 600 meter segment of a mostly flat road in the Kibbutz.  I was off and on the grind only 40 minutes after waking up running 1:57 for the first slightly downhill one.  Came back in 1:55 for the second slightly up hill one.  As I was taking my 90 second rest a dog came out of nowhere and chased me down.  I cut my rest in half and didn't even time this one although it was fast because i was running from sed dog. I decided to run on the back end of the Kibbutz which was more of a downhill / Uphill climb.  I hit 1:53, 1:50, and 1:45 for the more downhill rep and 2:01 and 2:00 for the 2 uphill reps. Saw another dog on the cool down so I was cautious, but finished up with about 8 miles today.

Actual days activities:  We ate breakfast quick and drove over to an Arab village where I had a very unique experience like nothing I have ever been to before, the two young girls walked us around the village that seemed very intimidating at first, but then it really began to feel safe, the outskirts were covered in trash and the people clearly were struggling, they welcomed us into their Mosque and we enjoyed some Hummus afterwords.  Afterwords we had a graffiti tour which was amazing, seeing all the interesting art and unique stories, then we went to the square where I ate some good stuff from a bakery, and bought a few items, went to the hotel quickly and then back out to the downtown city.  Aaron and I explored the whole street to see some really packed bars and fruit stands, we then settled on a nice Cafe, I had a little Gold star and apple pie with iced cream, can't say I didn't love it, came back to The Q went to bed around 12:30.

Day 6: Woke up nice and early at 5:45 after a nice 5 hours of sleep.  Easy day of 6 miles I initially wanted to go to down the beach and back, but there was thunder  / lightning over the sea and me being a lifeguard instinctually avoided the beach (Although our tour guide later informed me that it would have been alright to run on the beach anyways) well I did the 6 back and forth in the parking lot area defending from 8 minutes to 6:30 pace.

Got back for a nice breakfast and then off to Independence hall for a short tour, It was historically insightful.  Did a small scavenger hunt around the BLVD followed by Rabin square which was even more historically significant.  We then had a great big lunch at this tech convention, then we listened to an interesting convention that I fell asleep for.  We then went on a ride into the desert to the bedowins where we had another great big meal middle eastern style. At night we all talked with each other reflecting on how things are going so far, followed by my falling asleep at 10ish.

Day 7: Long awaited desert run:  8 miles down to a valley that was beautiful , it was awfully windy so my "Progressive run" didn't get much faster than 7 minute pace.  Afterwords my shoes were stolen when I left them near the tent.  For the remainder of the trip it looks like I'm using my old Brooks Pure Cadence...

  Had an eh breakfast followed by a dope camel ride which I took several sick pics for.   Then we drove to Masada where we climbed up the mountain which was relatively short going up, but going down was a bitch and long.  The history was incredible learning about the mountain and how it played a role in Jewish history.  We went over to a Dead Sea resort where I had some falafel and swam around the sea, skin was so smooth.  Long bus ride to nice hotel where I had a hearty dinner followed by a comedians presentation that killed it tonight.  Afterwords had a low key  New Years celebration with a few of the Guys, was asleep by 12:45.

Day 8: Today's run was something unique in that I had every excuse in the book to not run.  First off I technically had the day off, but I knew that my threshold workout scheduled for tomorrow would be difficult to complete in Jerusalem so I had to get it in today.  Secondly my shoes were stolen at the Arab place yesterday so I would have to use my Brooks which had been "retired" for a long time now.  Thirdly I woke up extra early to shit my brains out as I had a ten something that didn't agree with me so I felt a little off. And fourthly the bike trail I was anticipating to do this on was straight quicksand as my shoes clumped with mud and it became clear if I wanted to do this it would have to be on the road.  I wanted a good start to the new year so I sucked it up and hammered down the mountain for my first rep of a 2 x 2mile 2 x 1mile workout. For a practically all downhill 2 mile rep I hit 11:10 in the rough wind / rain.  I took a minute rest then climbed back up which was rough.  I hit 6:10 for that first uphill Mile, then around 6:45 for the 2nd for about a 13 minute 2 mile for uphill I considered alright.  The next single mile was 5:10, followed by another at 5:19.   I cooled down back the 2 miles up the hill for a total of an 11 mile day.

We went right into Jerusalem to the old city where we went to the Jewish Quarter. The weather was rough.....very windy cold and rainy as we made the hour walk/tour to the wall. When we arrived the sun came out and I put my small note into the wall and said the Shema.  I was surprised to see a small synagogue next to the wall where many rabbis were praying.  We didn't stay for too long and headed back to the bus.  We then drove to a nearby mall which was packed.  I got some bomb Subway type stuff and walked around and got some ruggala from a really good bakery.  The mall closed quickly and we headed to the hotel: The Jerusalem Gardens.  The hotel was much nicer than what we had been staying in.  We did a few Shabbat activities and I worked out for the first time in the gym they had since I got to Israel.  Dinner was amazing, so much food.  Afterwords spent some time doing a couple activities and then everyone went down to drink at the bar, I just hung out and then went to bed early.

Day 9:  It's Shabbat so this is the first relaxing day in a while, Woke up around 8 to go see if the gym was available for the treadmills, since they weren't I just went to breakfast which was pretty decent. We had several activities and then Lunch followed by my first Treadmill run in years.  Ran 7.5 at a fastish pace, had another group activity and then straight back.  We later went to a smaller mall where I got some inexpensive pasta which was awesome.  Came back to the hotel to relax