Night Running

One of the really great things about preparing for the Jerusalem half-marathon is that Zach and I have been discovering new paths and parts of our neighborhood as we search for more interesting running routes.  The other day we were stopped on one of our regular routes at the entrance to the beach by an army blockade including rolled barbed wire across the road!  This meant we had to quickly change plans and run in uncharted territory - hah.  But we discovered a really nice road that runs along the bluffs and then came back through a fancy neighborhood - all without getting lost :)

Yesterday was the first full thunderstorm we've had since last winter - yay!  The pouring rain and cool winds made the apartment smell sooo good - I love that stormy rain smell :)  The pictures below show some of the clouds around our apartment just before the storm came rolling in.

That night, after the storm was long gone we went out for a run and what a beautiful run it was!  The beach has a boardwalk from downtown Tel Aviv to our beach (and beyond...) and as we ran along it we could see the storm far out across the ocean with flashes of lightning lighting up the distant sky.  I wish I had a picture of it!  The boardwalk is also lit for a long time just by little lights along the ground so you still get the full effect of stars in the sky without the light pollution - it's amazing :) Stars, salty wind at your back, the fresh smell of rain and a distant thunderstorm over the ocean.  Love it.

 This picture is from one year ago - just after we moved here, on the boardwalk at the Port in Tel Aviv.  The storm from last night was not nearly as close as the one in the picture was!