RAANAN RUNS THE NYC MARATHON

NYC marathon summary

2008-11-25T17:55:00.019+02:00

The NYC marathon is behind me. Was amazing, justifying its slogan – “a race like no other”.
A bit late (and a bit long...) below is my race summary, feel free skipping the details and scrolling all the way down to Paula...
Thanks for all the support along the last 6 months!
Raanan

First, the bottom line:Time- 4:17:05; 18,180-overall (out of 38,377); 13,865-men division; 4,605-Men age division; 1-hapoel ramat gan fans division.

Before getting into the race itself, some memories from the weekend. It seems as NY during the marathon weekend is ALL around the marathon. TV, news, events and thousands or runners walking the streets of Manhattan with flags and running uniforms.

Thursday - Arrival in NY and the Marathon Expo

Thursday was Expo day, almost directly from JFK, collecting my marathon gear, Fred’s team uniform, and 5 hours of obsessive sports shopping (didn’t really buy that much but still made sure I go threw every booth). Best purchase of the day – throwable set of jacket-pants-gloves that would save me on the freezing wait for the marathon start.

Friday - last training run in Central Park

On Friday we (=first lady & me) went to do the last 5k of the marathon course. It was so cold I didn’t manage to get any sweat during a 30 minutes jog. But the skies were blue and the park was full of runners from all over the world running with uniforms and flags, singing songs and greeting each other

Friday - Finish line rehearsal and Respect to Fred Lebow

Saturday morning was the International Friendship Run – 5km from the UN to central park. The amount of ppl is overwhelming, many running in national costumes carrying flags. Later, brunch at 7A in the East Village followed by the movie Run For Your Life

Saturday - International 5k Run, Runners from Japan & The Netherlands

Early evening we went to Tavern on the Green in central park that hosted the traditional pre-race pasta party. 40,000 runners + spouses having dinner. The evening included pack, check, unpack, check again and so on of the race gear.

Saturday evening - Pasta party

Sunday started with 4:30 wakeup, 5:30 Fred’s team breakfast. Coffee, banana and a bagel with a couple of Gatorades.

Sunday wakeup

At 6 we all went out for a team picture at times square and boarded the buses. A dozen buses with a police escort leading the convey opening traffic lights for us (nice…). Later i found out that the first bus was carrying the elite runners (Paula too?...)

Sunday 6am - Fred's team at times square

The start village under the Verrazano is an amazing logistics operation hosting 40,000 runners. The freezing weather was a killer with 3 hours to the start at 10am.

The race started at 3 waves, 9:40 10:00 & 10:20. I was assigned to the 10:00 wave and at 9:15 I entered the orange corals (Orange & Blue – upper bridge, Green – lower). The next 45min were slow progress toward the start line at 9:55 I threw away my long training pants.

Sunday - at the start village under the Verrrazano Narrows bridge

The thing with the cloths is an amazing example of turning a big problem into a great feature – since its freezing during these several hours at the start camp you need plenty of layers, hats, gloves etc. After checking in your bag at the UPS trucks there is no way to deposit anything. So runners are encouraged to keep their warm cloths and get rid of them along the way. Yes – just throw them away to the sidewalks and volunteers collect these cloths that would be later cleaned and given to charity.

Sunday 10am - what a start...

At 10:00 I was getting close to the start line at the base of the Verrazano bridge and suddenly it started – the huge mass of people move from walking to running. At 10:05 I crossed the start line and started the 1 mile climb to the top of the bridge. What a site, the skies were clear blue and the bridge was a carpet of runners. Very exciting and emotional start, my hr was over 170bpm (my overall average hr was 150..). Got rid of the wind jacket and feeling great ready for Brooklyn. Brooklyn is the longest part of this 5 borough race, and definitely with the most diverse human scenery - the churches sometimes have their choirs out singing, hasidi men and women (seporated…), families, fire stations, police, students. At my 10k checkpoint I was feeling perfect, exactly on my 6:00 min/km pace, low hr of 145, gor rig of the gloves and the sweatshirt.

Brooklyn

Pulaski Bridge is the half marathon point, on pace, no pains, and Queens is on the other side of the bridge. Queens was my home for 3 years when I was seven years old, I have clear and wonderful memories from that period. At 25k entering the Queensboro Bridge. At the end of the bridge, a sharp left turn and its welcome-to-Manhattan. Up first avenue through the largest and loudest crowd on the course. Over two million people gather along the race course. Where else can a person see with his eyes 2 million people?..

Manhattan- 1st avenue 25k mark

After 500 meters up first Avenue I hear my name, looking back I see Ravit, 100 meters of suicidic run the opposite direction and i hand her my head and arm warmers and get some action pictures.

Fred's team & MSKCC Hospital at 27k

At mile 17, under the MSKCC hospital I pass by the Fred’s team staff and hospital patients. During 1^st avenue I passed by a naked runner who would later be named as “the naked guy”. Also saw Larry the Lighthouse , but didn’t manage to see the famous Mr. Testicles.

The Bronx

At 32k, crossing Willis Avenue Bridge and entering the BRONX. Exiting the bridge cant miss a very loud DJ, with hundreds of fans welcoming the runners with “this is not the fuxxen upper-east-side, this is the Bronx! you better start moving”. Two more kilometers over the Madison Avenue Bridge and its back to Manhattan through the laud crowd of Harlem.

At this point, with about 8km to the finish I am almost on pace, hr around 150bpm, my legs start hurting, nothing fatal but the pain is there and growing. At around 36k entering the Central Park, no “Wall” but the pain deepens.

After 40k with the smell of the finish line and the Central Park crowds all the pains disappeared.

40k mark Central Park

Finish line, medal, mylar blanket, food bag, in the route toward the exit. Two minutes after the finish everybody was shivering from the cold weather. The streets of Manhattan were loaded with tired but happy runners that would continue to wear the marathon medal all week long. Two hours after the finish line, an ice bath, massage (courtesy of Fred's team of course...) and ready for celebration dinner. Was AMAZING!...

was amazing!

the one and only Paula - crossing the finish line and on the cover of Monday's NY Times

New York City Marathon – the day after

2008-11-04T05:44:00.003+02:00

Was an amazing event and an astonishing experience.

Exciting, tough, overwhelming and great fun.

Overall feeling well with relative minimal damages.

Results: Time - 4:17:05; overall place - 18,180

Details and pictures to come…

Thanks for all the ongoing support

Raanan

Its coming…

2008-10-28T21:13:00.002+02:00

Four days to the NYC Marathon.

Almost 100% healthy & very happy with my training season. Logged over 1,000km, hills, weights & lots of (boring) injury prevention stretching. No excuses or understatements. I am ready as I’ll ever be and no “one tough course” can reduce my expectations for a great race.

I have no illusions it would be painless but I definitely want a great run. Feeling good, finishing happy with no physical surprises. Although I’m running for fun, definitely not chasing a result, deep down, just like with every runner (or every one), there is a target result we shoot for that can‘t be ignored… So… any time under 4 hours & 20 minutes would be great, going below 4:15 would be fabulous, 4:25 or above – fadiha.

I cant wait to see the scale of this event. The ING New York City Marathon Creates $220 Million in Economic Impact on the city Not bad for a run…
The amazing video clip below provides a peek on the logistics required for creating such an event.

This week's educational corner courtecy of Sir Charles:
“Charles Barkley was asked how does he dominate the rebound in spite of his disadvantage in height and athletics, “my tactics is simple” he replied “I am going to get the fucken ball”

See you in NY!

http://raananrunsthenycmarathon.blogspot.com/

Tzeala Race & Peak week

2008-10-06T19:55:00.003+02:00

Just finished week#5, with a fun field race in Tzeala.

The Tzeala race which was formed only a year ago became a very popular event and was sold out with 1,400 runners from babies to grandparents.

This week is the peak week of my marathon training with 75 weekly km's and my longest long run of 35km comming up this Friday. 4 weeks to go...

Hatima Tova,

Raanan

participents of the 600 meter and 200 meter races during mental preperation prior to race start

The MONSTER MONTH

2008-09-23T21:35:00.003+03:00

After over 600 summer kilometers, the marathon is (still) 6 weeks away.
This period is the money-time of the marathon training, the Monster Month - These 4 weeks are the most critical and most difficult weeks of the marathon training. Mileage peak (300 km/month), the longest long runs (35k), more hills.

And we're tired. Or injured. Or Both.

It is during this month that many runners get injured - pull hamstrings, knot calf muscles, get ITBS (Iliotibial Band Syndrome), inflame knees, and more. If the injury is too serious, its bye-bye marathon. Every ache and twinge is a warning sign. It is a time of anxiety and stress.
Mental fatigue also catches up, getting tired of training, tired of 4am weekend wakeups, tired of energy gels, tired of the ice baths…

But now we need to get through Monster Month. And do it in one piece. Over-motivated pre-40-crisis amateurs stick to the training plan. No matter what. Even though something feels physically wrong, if the spread sheet says “this Friday 30k at marathon pace+10” - you do. And the cruelest side of marathon training – injuries don’t have a clear warning sign saying “stop here or get injured”. Since pain permanently escorts you from the day you start with the 30k long runs, it is does not serve as a stop sign.

The positive side of Monster month is to get to see the rewards of the last training months. A 24k weekend run is now considered as an easy long run that does not require recovery days.
As for motivation during Monster Month, runners are recommended to 'visualize the race' – ahh Verrazano Bridge, Central Park...

Till the Verrazano, its the 2nd Tze’ala race on October 4th.
Shana Tova!

The best running shoes

2008-09-11T21:21:00.000+03:00

New running shoes get me excited like a kid with a new toy. I recently got the new model of the Mizuno Wave Creation 9 shoes. Me very happy...

I’m often asked “how good are they?” “are they better than Sacouny/Asics/Brooks” etc.The quest for the “best” running shoe is a popular journey most runners go through.

Our search for “the best” product isn’t unique to running shoes. “Blackberry or iPhone”, “Sony or Sharp”, “Prada or D&G”, “Patek Philippe or Audemars Piguet”, “Mercedes or BMW”, “Morgan Stanley or Merrill Lynch”?...

Personaly, the minute a sales person includes the word “best” in a sentence when pitching to me I get an immediate turnoff from him, from the store and from the product he is trying to push.

This is my 3^rd Mizuno, I came across this brand an year ago. While trying various brands at the Miami marathon expo, one of the shoe fitting guys (a marathoner of course) asked me “so which brand inspires you the most?”. “Inspires” – it all came down to “inspires”. It’s a given they all fit my foot biomechanics, have top technologies, comfort and durability. INSPIRATION becomes the decision parameter. Insperation as the USP. After most commodities (almost every product or service today) reach their product stability (cell phones are soon there), inspiration becomes that main selling parameter.

I recently started using a Mac laptop, still running windows on it, but a Mac. How is it compared to my previous IBM? The feeling is great, I don’t think it has anything to do with its features…

Bellow is a video of Apple’s brilliant “I’m a Mac, I’m a pc” campaign. Although they are supposedly showing of features, I can bet their campaign brief top requirement was “inspire”.

Finishing week #8. Climbed to 64 weekly km with a 32k long run. Feeeling the load but no major injuries (hamsa hamsa…). Next week starts the money-time month of my training plan that would lead to 70+ weekly km

Nothing like the first time

2008-09-01T21:13:00.002+03:00

This morning I’ve joined the excitement of my girls that started their first grade in school.

Last night, I’ve joined the excitement of friends (and of the first lady) that did their first 10k race in the Tel-Aviv night run – the Nike Human race.

The second most exciting thing, after doing something for the first time, is “soaking” the excitement of someone close going through their first time. The first grade experience, watching the excitement/fear/happiness on the girls’ faces was very emotional.

***Ilai also started his new trom-trom kindergarden today – excited for you to gever

The night run was amazing. The largest Israeli race ever, perfect organization, great atmosphere. The scenery and feeling was similar to big races in the major cities of the world. Tel-Aviv was not included to be among the participating cities and does not appear on the cities list at the back of the red shirt or the global results list. Only heavy pressure of the local Nike agent managed to add Tel-Aviv to New York, London, Seoul & San Paulo.

Now no one can ignore that:
1) Tel-Aviv is on the global map
2) Tel-Aviv is RED

Have a great week & a fabulous year!

On track with my marathon training plan. Finished week #10 with 60 weekly km, 9 weeks to go. This week plan is 64km with a 32k long run. The weather is a killer!.. 4 weeks till October

Mazal Tov to Paul and congratulations on the running trainings in Kos, Greece

302 times in 16 days

2008-08-07T20:49:00.000+03:00

What is so fascinating in watching 8 men run 100 meters? Or watching a hammer-throw event? Technique, performance & “moves” are nice. But we don’t really care how perfect was the breathing tempo or the number of strides - its all about COMPETITION. It can be running, boxing, wind surfing or anything else, the closer & tougher the competition, the more we like it.

Competition is one of the most powerful motivators (on the upper part of the list right next to “fear” & “greed”). Who would be the first to get the bomb, who would make more sales this year, who would get more electors in the primaries.
Competition generates those additional drops of magic juice that do not exist in normal/training situations. When “playing” transforms to “competing”/”betting”/”i-will-kick-your-ass” game, those magic juice drops come up. And than it becomes a totally different ballgame.
And the 2nd best thing after participating in a good competition is watching one.

The Olympic Games provide us over 300 competitions in the next 2 weeks where 10,500 athletes would compete to get their gold/silver/bronze medal.

Below is an amazing video showing its not always about medals, sometime a competition over 4th place can become very painful…

"It's at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys."

Emil Zatopek

Father’s love

2008-08-02T20:55:00.003+03:00

Week 14 behind me, 52 weekly km and the first 30km long run of the season. After eight weeks of increasing mileage, week 13 is an easy recovery week which following it starts a month that would take me to the 60s (km/week).

Below is a clip on Rick & Dick Hoyt, known as “The strongest dad in the world”, an amazing example of a father’s love to his son and of the power of determination;
prepare the tissues…

At Rick’s birth in 1962 the umbilical cord coiled around his neck and cut off oxygen to his brain. Dick and his wife, Judy, were told that there would be no hope for their child’s development.

The couple brought their son home determined to raise him as "normally" as possible. A group of Tufts University engineers came to the rescue, once they had seen some clear, empirical evidence of Rick’s comprehension skills. "They told him a joke," said Dick. "Rick just cracked up. They knew then that he could communicate!" The engineers went on to build — using $5,000 the family managed to raise in 1972 - an interactive computer that would allow Rick to write out his thoughts using the slight head-movements that he could manage.

When the computer was originally brought home, Rick surprised his family with his first "spoken" words. They had expected perhaps "Hi, Mom" or "Hi, Dad." But on the screen Rick wrote "Go Bruins." The Boston Bruins were in the Stanley Cup finals that season, and his family realized he had been following the hockey games along with everyone else. "So we learned then that Rick loved sports," said Dick.

In 1975, Rick was finally admitted into a public school. Two years later, he told his father he wanted to participate in a five-mile benefit run for a local lacrosse player who had been paralyzed in an accident. Dick, far from being a long-distance runner, agreed to push Rick in his wheelchair. They finished next to last, but they felt they had achieved a triumph. That night, Dick remembers, "Rick told us he just didn’t feel handicapped when we were competing."

For the past twenty five years or more Dick, who is 65, has pushed and pulled his son across the country and over hundreds of finish lines. When Dick runs, Rick is in a wheelchair that Dick is pushing. When Dick cycles, Rick is in the seat-pod from his wheelchair, attached to the front of the bike. When Dick swims, Rick is in a small but heavy, firmly stabilized boat being pulled by Dick. More here

Doing it with celebs

2008-07-28T21:18:00.000+03:00

The New York City Marathon participants include everyone from professional elite athletes to professional musicians, models and film stars together with middle-eastern middle aged amateurs.
Cool-Running’s list of 25 Celebrities Who’ve Run a Marathon.

Finished week 15 with 44 weekly km & a 24k long run. Upcoming this Friday, the first 30k run…

Have a fabulous week!

LA 1984

2008-07-24T20:33:00.000+03:00

With the upcoming Olympics; One of the legendary examples of determination (and marathon agony…) was in the LA Summer Olympics 1984. I was 14 and I remember this scene as if it was yesterday.

Her time of 2:48:45 would have won the gold medal in the first five Olympic marathons

On the rocks

2008-07-19T22:31:00.014+03:00

Closing week 16, 44 weekly km with a 22k long run. Relatively easy week, but the weather… oh the weather…
With the hot & humid Tel-Aviv summer (close to 30C at 6am!...) and in the quest for knee recovery I started experimenting with a ice baths.

Recipe:
- fill the bath with cold water about 20cm height.
- Add 20kg of ice - 13*1.5L bottles I’ve pre-frozen
("why is our entire fridge filled with bottles?!?!")
- Strip the plastic (cutting the bottles bottom)
- Wait 20 min for the water to get freezy
- Get in…

The shock and the agony are beyond words. 12 minutes later my legs felt amazingly refreshed. Highly recommended, This would definitely become a part of my routine...

Paula Radcliffe, World Record Marathoner after a race

The science behind it (From RUNNING TIMES):
"Ice baths offer two distinct improvements over traditional techniques. First, immersion allows controlled, even constriction around all muscles, effectively closing microscopic damage that cannot be felt and numbing the pain that can. Ice baths treat both injury and soreness. The second advantage involves a physiological reaction provoked by the large amount of muscle submerged. Assuming one has overcome the mind’s initial flight response in those first torturous minutes, the body fights back by invoking a "blood rush." This rapid transmission circulation flushes the damage-inflicting waste from the system, while the cold water on the outside preserves contraction. Make sure not to stay in any longer than 15 minutes; 10 minutes is usually sufficient. There is a strong consensus among the running and scientific community that all of those can be effective in both minimizing and recovering from running injuries."

Have a cool week!

Perspective

2008-07-12T08:55:00.006+03:00

As you probably know, I will be running the NYC Marathon this November with Fred's Team to support The Aubrey Fund for Pediatric Cancer Research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

I would like to share with you words written by Linda Hanna, a Fred’s team runner. Linda lost her son Sean to cancer last year

What Can Cancer Do

It can teach you to celebrate the ordinary

It can encourage you to live a life of passion and compassion
It can promote new dreams
It can humble you and enhance your humanity
It can heighten gratitude
It can challenge you to become adaptable
It can expand your heart and increase your capacity to love

- Inspired by Sean Hanna
- Written By Linda Hanna

Tearful but triumphant, Fred Lebow, founder of the NYC Marathon, crossed the finish line of the New York City Marathon with Grete Waitz in 1992. Weak from his battle with cancer, Fred struggled but finished and said, “Running the marathon is the best way I know to fight this disease”. Fred died in 1994, The cause of death was brain cancer.

The over achievement paradox

2008-07-08T23:00:00.004+03:00

"High expectations are the key to everything." said Sam Walton the founder of Wal-Mart. Totally agree!. Careful/cautious/protective/conservative expectations approaches not only kill the fun but are directly reducing the potential results. Don’t get me wrong, throwing goals & numbers that you don’t think you can hit is not “setting high expectations”, this is simply stupid forecasting. But setting (especially for yourself) goals that are lower than what you think you can achieve is a crime.

The “Make big promises; over achieve” works with everything: sales, children, wife, analysts… everything. Everything except the marathon training plan. I learn and re-learn this exception over and over again. DON’T OVER ACHIEVE YOUR TRAINING PLAN!
After defining a customized training plan, making sure it complies with the basic rules such as: Increase the total weekly mileage by no more than 10%; no tough interval workouts during rest/recovery days; a training day is not the race day, don’t go “all out”. The most important thing is to stick with it. Not only actually doing the plan but making sure not to run more/faster/harder than defined. When running the weekly long run at the planed marathon pace you should never increase your pace. Going for a 10km easy recovery run and changing it to interval training because I though I felt extra strong had a price in a form on my right knee in ice.. The instinct of “I will do better that the plan – will get better results that I planed” can be lethal in the marathon..

Week -17 plan, 20km wknd long run and a total of 40 weekly km.

Extreme corner - Dean Karnazes Runs 5 marathons in 24 Hours on a treadmill over Times Square

Credit – the amazing picture of Beza Nababa Photographed by Razi Livnat during the Amsterdam marathon

The plan

2008-06-30T22:33:00.007+03:00

The base & recovery weeks are officially over and my 18 week training plan has begun. The two main parameters of a marathon plan are the long run and the total weekly mileage. Next weekend I’ll be climbing to 18km. long way to go till the peak week, 3 weeks prior to the marathon day that would include a 35k long run and a weekly total of 75k.
This plan would definitely be modified… frequently…

In today's insane corner we have the SpartaThlon - a 246km ultra in Greece...

Congratulations to Tamir on his first half Marathon in Rio!...

No Pain – No Pain!…

2008-06-23T21:33:00.006+03:00

Beza Nababa, Israel’s hope for an Olympic medal in Beijing

Photographed by Razi Livnat during the Amsterdam marathon

After two months that included physical therapy, ultrasound & massages in addition to stretching like a ballerina every day according to the physician’s orders, i finally got rid of the pain on my right knee pain (IT Band). Or at least that’s what I thought… just a couple of weeks ago; my right knee introduced me to its inner side - the MCL. After ignoring the aches on my inner lower knee during several easy runs, the situation got worse and its back to “active therapy” mode…

Several months ago, when I asked Inbal, a NY Marathon 2007 graduate, about her training plan and targets for the NY 2008 she replied with “just want to avoid the injuries – should be fun running with no pain…”. At that time, I didn’t fully appreciate this. The longing for “no pain” running…

Inbal is now training for NY 2008 with a blind runner.

Learning about the determination and will power of such blind runner’s puts our pains & challenges in their proper perspective...

Shavu'a Tov!

How extreme can it get?...

2008-06-17T23:20:00.004+03:00

Uri Kirshenboim is one of the major reasons I was infected by the running fever. Less than a year ago he literally made me do my first race, the first Tzeala race that he initiated “a friendly 5km run”, next came a 10km race and from there it was no way back. This Sunday Uri completed the Comrades ultra marathon! 87 km through 5 major mountains in South Africa – unbelievable!!! eighty-seven-kilometers…

There are many extreme endurance races out there. From the Antarctica Marathon at -30F, The Great Wall Marathon, The Comrades, The Western States 100 mile race and more. There is also one race that is known as “The World’s toughest footrace” – the Badwater ultra marathon – 130 miles of desert and mountains at 130F. Runners are instructed to stay on the white line of the roads to reduce the pace of their shoe soles meltdown…

One of the men that did a Badwater is Dean Karnazez. Dean is also famous for doing 50 marathons in 50 consecutive days in all 50 states finishing with the NYC Marathon which he completed in 3 hours!...

The Wall

2008-06-16T21:49:00.003+03:00

Two weeks have past since I finished my first Marathon – the San Diego Rock-n’-Roll Marathon. I can still visualize the preparation, the excitement and anticipation, the effortlessness of the first half of the race … and the pain and agony of the last tem kilometres after hitting the wall at the 30km point. My quads cramped, aiming to lock and I was under the threat of a DNF (did not finish) score. The joy of the finish line was extreme. The tough fight gave it a very sweet taste.

New York is going to be different, New York will be festive, no place for The Wall while running my favourite city.

First, what is the “Wall“? Our bodies are primarily fuelled by high-octane glycogen (carbohydrates) during a marathon. The other fuel we use is fat, which uses oxygen less efficiently. Our bodies tend to burn off the glycogen first, and once that is depleted, it will switch over to fat. This causes you to slow down, feel fatigued, and hit the “Wall”.

Quick self post-mortem – in addition to the classic rookies mistake of running the first half much faster then planned, I blamed my crisis on poor preparations mainly lack of hills training, no legs weight lifting and not enough mileage. These items earned “respect” in my NY plan. My formal 18 week Marathon training plan starts July 1^st. The current weeks are known as “base building”, recovering and preparing the body for the actual training period.

I love XL-ing long term plans. Playing with assumptions, simulating the progress and actually “visioning” what it would look like 6/12/24/… months from today. There is a certain “high” feeling that falls on me during this planning period -I can literally feel it happening. The anticipated “down” usually hits me on the first days of the execution phase. Suddenly, there is a feeling that I didn’t really recover from my previous “race”, the down to earth tasks are not that exciting, the milestones seem to far away and even the easy ones that I laid out first are not that easy… a pseudo “mental wall”.

Last Friday I did my first long run for this season – easy pace 10km along the Yarkon river ending on the beaches of Tel-Aviv. And it was tough!... my knees hurt, it was hot, I wanted it to end… during this one hour run questions like “if this is how 10k feels, how would 30k in August weather feel like?” took over what used to be a “runners high” feeling.

My next long run is a 12km this Friday, 20% more than my previous one…

“When I hit the wall I focus on my next step and then do it over and over again until it’s gone”
Anonymous Everest climber

Welcome!

2008-06-12T23:25:00.000+03:00

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to my new blog! This fall I will be running the New York City Marathon. The idea of 42.195km through the 5 boroughs of NY, crossing the finish line in Central Park is about to become real… only 6 months and 1,000km of training are between me and the starting line on the Verrazano bridge.

Just a year ago my longest run was 5km and running was definitely not my thing. The NYC Marathon changed from a “someday I’ll do it”, to a “this year it’s gointo happen baby…” obsession. Pre-40 crisis symptom?...

“Few things in life match the thrill of a marathon”, it reads on the pedestal of Fred Lebow’s statue. Jerome Drayton, when asked to describe the marathon replied: "To describe the agony of the marathon to someone who's never run it is like trying to explain color to someone who was born blind". Both are probably right…

In this blog I will share my thoughts, feelings & insights throughout my marathon challenge and its resemblance to life and business IMHO. Feedback, comments and babysitter proposals are most welcome. Feel free sharing this site with others.

Raanan

I will be running the race with Fred's Team. In 1991, Memorial Sloan-Kettering forged a unique partnership with Fred Lebow, running legend and creator of the New York City Marathon. While undergoing treatment at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Fred jogged up and down the halls of the hospital. Seeing the faces of pediatric patients, he became determined that runners could help find a cure. In 1992, he completed the New York City Marathon while encouraging friends and relatives to sponsor their runs and raise money for Memorial Sloan-Kettering. His legacy lives on -- Fred's Team has raised over $32 million since its inception. The team has expanded beyond New York City as runners cross finish lines around the country and globe.