Y. Karp? Why Not!

The day started out cold and wet. Looking out at the slick roads winding their way below my brother's Jerusalem apartment, I imagined that I'd be doing more sliding than running in that day's race. But, as the old Aussie song goes, "Will you tie it up with wire, just to keep the show on the road?" - yep, the show will go on, and I'll do whatever it takes to make sure I'm in it. The taxi had difficulty reaching Givat Ram. Thousands of people were converging on the stadium. Some jogged slowly, warming themselves up for the race, others arrived by car, bicycle, and groups in sporty uniforms disembarked from coaches near the entrance. When I arrived inside the grounds at about 8.00am, the festivities were in full swing. A band was playing Israeli tunes, with an unlikely bagpipe accompaniment. At the registration tent, I obtained my runner's pack, complete with a t-shirt, timing chip to strap to my shoe, and an energy bar. Shortly afterward, I met my wife a...

Monday, 15 March 2010 Well, this is it. The moment of truth approaches. The race, scheduled for 18 March, is right around the corner. Here is how I have been preparing: Got myself a knee brace. It is adjustable, so it fits well. I went running with it last night and ran 5km without feeling any twangs or twinges in the knee. Perfect. Last Friday I took a run at 10am. I decided that I really should practice running at the same time of day as the race. Boy, what a different kettle of fish (no carp jokes!) The sun beating down as I jogged impacted greatly on my performance and I was an absolute gonner after only 5km. I hear it might rain on race-day, so perhaps that will save me. In any case, I'd better remember to adequately liquify liquidate hydrogenate hydrate myself before the race. I spent last week camping with my bro in the Galil/Golan, one day of which was dedicated to hiking, climbing, jumping and swimming through a very challenging trail. 7.5hrs of near non-stop leg-workou...

Sunday, 14 February 2010 It was hot, and unexpectedly so. Setting out on a run at 10.15pm might not exactly be the easiest time of day to go for a 10km run, but it should have been cooler. It wasn't. And I was hot. Angry, actually. I shouldn't have been, but I got upset at little nothings all evening and then I let it out on myself. I dressed in a hurry, slammed on my Brooks Adrenaline GT9s and ran out of the house, nary a stretch, my body unprepared for the grueling hour ahead. But I didn't care. I just needed to let off steam. At first I wasn't certain I would go the whole 10km. I was still wary of damaging my knee. But it was self-destruction time. I was in one of those moods. So out I went, into the unnaturally sweltering night. The first ten minutes went quickly. I ran, rather than jogged, and could feel the heat of the sweat gathering ominously under my shirt. My breathing steadied and I climbed the Yarden hill. The wind seemed to push me back at every step. My ba...

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Sunday, 7 February 2010 I'm back! Since my injury on 23 December 2009, I have been training extremely lightly. 3km here, 5km there. Low-pressure jogging to keep the body going, but nothing strenuous. In fact, that was all I could manage for a while. I would run a few kilometers and then my knee would start hurting, so I'd stop. I saw an orthopedist who said my injury is a common one. Just a strain that will sort itself out in time. I don't have time! The marathon is on 18 March and I have to get into shape. But ill patience is what got me injured to begin with, so I forced myself to take it easy. Today I did my first 10km since 23 December. I ran strongly for the first 6km. Heading up the hill where I originally hurt my knee, I started to feel a twang. It got steadily worse. I decided to ride out the pain for just a little bit. Perhaps it will settle down. About 700m into the 1,200m climb, the knee started to steady. The pain was still there but didn't get any worse. I ...

I'm from the future. The problem is, I can't prove it. That's the most frustrating part. If I was going to travel through time, it would be handy to have at my disposal a ready way to prove to you that I am from the future. But I don't. I'm only from two weeks in the future, so the technology is pretty much the same as today. There's no point in pulling out my new iPhone, e-book reader or some such other device because you could easily say that all I have is a prototype of a soon-to-be released version of the product. Besides, I didn't bring any of them back with me. I suppose I could give you tomorrow's winning lottery numbers if only I had taken note of them. Sorry. I didn't mean to travel back in time, but here I am. I'm stuck in your timeline now and have to make the best of it. Truth be told, if I was going to purposely time travel, I don't think I would travel two weeks into the past. That's pretty boring. Perhaps I'd go back to...

I urge you all to read Caroline Glick's article as it appears on Jerusalem Post: Upon returning from Cairo on Tuesday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu proclaimed, "It's time to move the peace process forward." The most sympathetic interpretation of Netanyahu's proclamation is that he was engaging in political theater. It was a low and dishonest statement uttered at the end of what has been, in the immortal words of W.H. Auden, "a low and dishonest decade." Everyone with eyes in their heads knows that there is no chance of making peace with the Palestinians. First of all, the most Israel is willing to give is less than what the Palestinians are willing to accept. Read More: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=1&cid=1261364564316&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull