Shalom Tel Aviv Jafo. I am not sure if I will ever walk your beaches again, but it was fun to visit. I do think I could open a microbrewery on your shores and make a killing in shekels because as far as I can tell – you don’t have IPA figured out at all. Or beer in general.
More airport security weirdness: You can only get plasticware on the terminal for food, but they give you a metal fork and knife on the plane to eat. In Atlanta, you have to claim your checked luggage as you would if you were ending your flight. But since I am not, I have to walk forty yards to put it on another carousel. There is NO security checkpoint between the claiming of that luggage or rechecking it. Again, no shoe removal in Israel – and really no lines to speak of. Also, I noticed in Ben Gurion airport, there are no on going announcements declaring the alert level, keep your bags with you at all times, or requesting that you report any suspicious behavior. In fact, there are NO announcements.
Slept pretty well on the flight over from Tel Aviv to Atlanta – again forgoing the midnight meal. Did do the breakfast when I woke up though.
He still ain’t on the entry list, but you have to wonder if he will toe the line given the general lack of depth up front.
Mid day … sort of I guess … back in CO and nobody was at the house. JZ was at Waterworld with friends. KZ was at a friends house as part of a sleep over and TZ was out at work. I took advantage of the window and headed into Boulder to immerse myself in what I had missed all week: hills and namely Green. I wish I could say I had no misconceptions about killing this run. I knew that I was going into it in a hole but I sort of hoped that I would just have one of those magic days where you float up the hill. As it turned out – that was not meant to be with the day’s travel, the heat, and the like. I effectively got my ass kicked but it was … kind of nice. Green via Gregory, Ranger steady … but not able to really tag it. Came back down via Long’s Canyon. 8 miles.
Recent article in Running Times has him racing.
ReplyDeleteThat must be the latest issue, and I am guessing it is at the house. I have yet to see that.
ReplyDeleteWhy would he NOT race it? I think we all just dropped a spot....
ReplyDeleteI have no special insight on this, but I suspect that Matt has been playing it by ear this year. Given his prior champion status, he can declare as late a week before the race. This gives him the opportunity to evaluate until pretty late in the game. Given that last year he spoke post race (as see in youtube videos) that the lead up to the race was pretty physically challenging for him, I can see why he'd be a touch hesitant to commit in public.
ReplyDeleteI suspect he might be on the fence until the last minute. I also suspect that he sees this field and believes he has a good shot at the win. That is not a crack at Daryn or any of the other lead guys - as I will be seeing them somewhere on the way up (probably near the last aid station) while they are coming down. It is clear though that the PPM field is not as deep or competitive up front as the PPA.
I am going to say he is in.
Welcome back to CO GZ. Glad you had safe travels.
ReplyDeleteThanks Craig!
ReplyDeleteRabbi Zack - thought about you last weekend rolling through Fairplay, seeing all the burro dudes getting ready. They looked fairly relaxed knowing you were out of the country ;-) Welcome back
ReplyDeleteRabbi Zack! Now that is a thought!
ReplyDeleteThose guys better watch their asses next year.
I actually considered the Leadville burro race, but its timing is not ideal.