The Long Run

1.27 mi, 15:33, 12:14 avg

Ran along the shore in Tel Aviv near the hotel.  The wind was strong and waves were crashing over the seawall.  Tour guide said this was pretty rare for around here.  I was going to run at least three miles, but I ran into Jessica so I stopped my run and walked with here for a while before returning to the hotel.

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday to Jessica.  We would have a little celebration for her after dinner with a candle, a card and gift I had packed, a card that her kids made and cards and gifts from her parents and sisters.

3.16 mi, 30:28, 9:38

Ran along the water in Tel Aviv starting from the hotel, heading south until I ran out of sidewalk then turned around, ran past the hotel a little bit so I'd get at least three miles in.  Weather was much nice this morning with the sea calm.

Later that morning we would visit Yafo (or Jaffa) which is now actually part of Tel Aviv-Yafo but was originally a separate city and the only city when Tel Aviv was just sand dunes near the water about 1908.  In Yafo there was a big statue of a whale to represent the whale that swallowed Jonah because he got on a ship at Jaffa instead of going to Ninevah.  If asked today to go to Ninevah or board a ship from Jaffa I'd most likely choose the cruise from Jaffah (just being honest). 

2.019 mi, 18:00, 8:55 avg

Short run on the treadmill after getting to the hotel in Jerusalem.  I was just trying to get in my steps but felt a little bit better than I had so I kept on moving up the speed.  Treadmill was in kilometers so I ran to 3.25 by the time I made it to 18 minutes.  This would be my last run from 2017.  I was at least getting in my steps each day, usually around 16,000 per day due to sightseeing and some added extra walking here and there.

I have much to write about on this trip.  After Tel Aviv we toured some cities and sites along the coast - Jaffa, Caeserea, Acre, an old British internment camp from pre-1948, and then stayed in Haifa for one night.  The next day we drove across the county to a hotel located on a kibbutz near the board with Lebanon, staying there for two nights and going on a jeep tour of Golan Heights, stopping at a winery for a tasting, driving up a mountain with a view of Syria, and then driving down towards Jerusalem via the Sea of Galilee (in the town of Tiberias there were signs up for the Tiberias marathon coming up on the weekend -if only I could have stayed!).  Drove past a sign for the sight of the sermon on the mount.  There were many sights like this but it was often a blur since there was only so much time to stop at so many places.