The Race

I'm a little embarrassed having not written in so long. I never even gave a walk-through of the Hakavat HaTavor race I spoke so much about. Now that you're asking, it was absolutely the hardest thing I've ever done in my entire life. I couldn't have imagined how much of an 11-km race would have been uphill. You'd think that physically and logically: what goes up, must come down. Yet somehow, it didn't seem to really work like that.

From the second the whistle was blown, it was an immediate uphill battle. Within minutes I started feeling a burn in my legs that can really only be the product of attempting to run up a 60 degree incline - for 2 kilometers straight. Not only that, the pure concentration of people all competing for the small surface area of dirt road, made it that much harder. By the end of the first kilometer I was already ready to give up. I'm definitely not one to give up easily, but I was just totally unprepared for what was happening.

I'd soon (after about 7 kilometers) figured out the method I would end up using to get through to the end of the hardest race I'll probably ever compete it. While most people seemed to be pacing themselves (or their partners) and keeping it clean, simple and consistent, I found that the only way I was going to finish this off was to do what I do best - be EXTREME. I consider myself an extremist, often having an all or nothing mentality. I'm sure my unconventional method for completing the race drove Nate crazy (since we ran together, he let me set the pace and he followed), but it was the only way I saw myself getting to the finish line, so it had to be done.

As the race went on, it became increasingly harder for me to make it up the steep, steep hills. There were some points when the burning in my calves became so intense that I just couldn't even feel them anymore, let alone race them up unfamiliar inclines. But when it came to the intermittent downhill portions, I would just go all out, reaching insane speeds to make up for lost time as I would serpentine through the sweaty crowd of robotic runners. It wasn't the most efficient form of racing, but it worked for me.

Don't let this picture fool you, I saw the camera and pushed myself to smile

I can go on and on describing how hard and intense the experience was for me, but I still would not do any justice to how my mind and body really felt. The last kilometer or two were sort of a blur. Every time we passed the volunteers distributing the mini water bottles, I would grab two, take one squirt in my mouth and then just pour the rest down my back. It was the only thing I could do to stay upright. Before I knew it, I was able to see the finish line arch in the distance, and I knew I had done it. Nate and I looked at each other, I reached out for his hand, and we crossed the finish line together.

We did it!

  I want to just bring up the fact that I know I haven't written in a while and that's going to change. It's been a while since the race and I definitely need to keep this updated. So stay tuned.