Long Run in a Low Place

So I'm finally ramping up and had a good running week. After 6-months of not exercising and having to change from racewalking to running because of the hills (and to try something different) I had to start all over again. I'm not sure if I'll be able to to the Jerusalem Half-Marathon next month, but I discovered another race that I think I will do:


Since I'm still too early in my running training and this event is coming up next week I was at first thinking about racewalking the Half-Marathon. But they are also doing a 10K run and a 10K walk that looks interesting. Here's the race information:

At the Lowest Point on earth, the tradition continues - 26th DEAD SEA HALF MARATHON – February 16, 2008

The Tamar Regional Council is once again organizing the Shalom Marathon – Dead Sea Half Marathon – February 16,2008. The starting point for all races is the Ein Gedi Spa, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of Jerusalem and 4 kilometers south of Kibbutz Ein Gedi. Participants can pick up their equipment and racing numbers on Friday, February 15th, 2008 between 5-8PM at Kibbutz Ein Gedi's Sports Center and on Saturday morning, February 16th, 2008 from 7-8:45 AM. (Distribution finishes 10 minutes before start of race.) 2km Children's Race For children up to 14 years of age. From Ein Gedi Spa in the direction of Masada 1 kilometer and back, along the sand-track parallel to the Dead Sea Shore. Starting time for race: 8:45AM, February 16th, 2008 Assemble at Ein Gedi Spa (4 kilometers south of Kibbutz Ein Gedi). Racing direction will be south on Route #90 towards Masada and back. (Visit Masada, Herod's stronghold, during your free time) 10km Race Walking From the Ein Gedi Spa 5 kilometers in the direction of Masada and back. Starting time for race: 8:30AM, February 16th, 2008 Assemble at Ein Gedi Spa (4 kilometers south of Kibbutz Ein Gedi). Racing direction will be south on Route #90 towards Masada and back. (Visit Masada, Herod's stronghold, during your free time). Handbike Half-Marathon From the Ein Gedi Spa to Masada and back. For physically disabled. 21.1 kilometers Starting time for race: 9:10 AM, February 16th, 2008 Assemble at Ein Gedi Spa (4 kilometers south of Kibbutz Ein Gedi). Racing direction will be south on Route #90 towards Masada and back. (Visit Masada, Herod's stronghold, during your free time). Half-Marathon From the Ein Gedi Spa to Masada and back. 21.1 kilometers Starting time for race: 9:15 AM, February 16th, 2008 Assemble at Ein Gedi Spa (4 kilometers south of Kibbutz Ein Gedi). Racing direction will be south on Route #90 towards Masada and back. (Visit Masada, Herod's stronghold, during your free time). For more information please look at :www.deadsea.co.il

Oops, they didn't mention that there is also a 10K run, so should I walk or should I run? I was able to run four days around my hilly Jerusalem course and had no idea what it would be like to run in the lowest place on earth so today I headed off to En Gedi Kibbutz to find their "athletic center" which is mentioned on their website and do my long run there. However, once I got there the guard didn't know anything about an athletic center or a track and the person running the information desk at the resort said that it isn't for guests. She knew that there would be a race next weekend but didn't have any information about it--"check the Internet" was about the extent of her knowledge.

Not wanting to waste a trip to the Dead Sea I ran around the parking lot of the public bathing beach. My goal was to run for an hour but since my Polar foot pod isn't working I have no idea how far or how fast I was going. Towards the end of my run some guys were sitting on a park bench drinking and smoking and one of them said, "Hey, I think I know you." I did a couple more laps (each lap was longer than a regulation track) and since it was starting to heat up and my heart rate kept going up and up--I decided to call it quits at 50 minutes and socialize for a moment.

After the run I went to the En Gedi Spa and splurged on a massage. Boy did that feel good and my recovery was really quick. Well, we'll see how I feel tomorrow! One interesting thing about the run was that the Polar automatic altitude sensor flashed an error, but it seemed to read fairly accurately at -385 meters. Don't know why it fluctuated, I was just running around on a flat parking lot.

So the daily runs were two kilometers each with an average pace of 7 minutes per kilometer (11:15 min/mile) and average heartbeat of 167 bpm. The long run today was 50 minutes and HR of 170 bpm. At one point I hit 182 bpm which isn't my limit but it was too much for an LSD run. Must have been the heat towards the end.

Here's a screenshot of the Polar screen with way too much information: