About Anat
“I’m not doing that. It’s too much logistics.” That was the first thing I said when my spinning instructor from my local gym told me that I should participate in a triathlon. Less than a month later, I borrowed a road bike, put on my one piece bathing suite and participated in the Women’s Triathlon in Herzelia. That was in June 2007. Here I am, almost three years, twenty (!!!) triathlons, one marathon and two 70.3 distance races later; Soon to be an Ironman Finisher. (Tfu tfu)
This is how it happened. I used to be normal. I had a cumfy desk job in the army working 8 till late every day about an hour from home. What happened was that eventually I got sick of sitting on my ass the entire day so the minute I began making more than $100 a month, I signed up for Holmes place; a gym near my house. My goal : to try every single class until I find one that I love. I did step and yoga and aerobics and stretching and… Spinning. I loved Spinning. The very fact that you could listen to music, close your eyes, and sweat in the dark was very fun for me. I kept at it until well in to my College years.
During my studies, I flew to Philadelphia as an exchange student at University of Pennsylvania (AKA Wharton). After about once spinning class at the UPenn gym, I was very disappointed. Who would have though that the quality of a spin class in Israel was so superior to that of the US. The room was lit, the music was just a mix from someones iPod, the instructor was reading off a piece of paper, and she could also probably do without 10-15lbs of flab. I couldn’t spin there.Then Daphna came along. She was doing her Graduate degree at Upenn; She used to be a squash champion and she ran a full marathon! (Sounded amazing to me at the time) After I met her andtold her about spinning, she offered to run with me andI agreed like a happy puppy. In the following weeks I ran with Daphna but finished every session completely breathless. Daphna would call me and we would go running if I could. After a while I began calling her andone day she couldn’t run with me. I then took my shoes and ran by myself along the river in Philadelphia (Where Rocky runs). That was my first solo run. Before I returned to Israel, Daphna told me “You should participate in every single 10k race in Israel and one day you will do a marathon”. At the time I thought that maybe they the Ivy growing in the University did have some “therapeutic” value but I ended up doing exactly what she said.Upon my return I participated in ALL of the 10k races but then… the season ended. I was already loving the races and loved the competition and pushing myself to the max. It was then that I signed up for the womens triathlon. I loved it. Shortly after, I had a bike (Cinelli Experience Aluminium) and began racing in every triathlon there was. At some point, after being 4th place in my category (only seconds away from 3rd place), I realized that I could make it to the podium. Ever since, I have been taking the top places in my age group.
After my studies, I moved to Chicago to freeze my ass off for six months. There I met Sharone Aharone, an Israeli triathlon coach who owns a team / gym called wellfit (www.wellfitinc.com). I wasn’t looking for a coach but we became friends and he started coaching me. Before I knew it, we were both signed up for the Ford Ironman 70.3; my longest distance yet. We did the race in Florida andmy time was 5:45; much less than expected. After returning to Israel (with a shiny new Orbea Diva), I continued with Olympic triathlons and began training for the NYC marathon. I even got my mom to participate in two triathlons with me. A curious Israeli fellow starting sending me messages on Facebook after discovering me on the marathon participant list; searching “Israel” and “Female”. A month after meeting we moved in together and soon after, we ran the NYC marathon. I completed the race in 3:47; 13 minutes less than expected thanks to my coach and my new training partner, boyfriend who is also my most favorite person in the world.
Meeting Tamir, the curious fellow from before, meant meeting the extended family as well. I met Raanan, his brother in law, and quickly found out that they had their hearts set on Ironman Brazil. They have only been riding for about a month or two but they had bigger goals in mind. After having a quick and impulsive think, I decided to inform them that I, too, will race. After all, I’ve been doing this for three years so if they can do it, so can I.
Here I am, signed up for Ironman Brazil on the 30thof May with my boyfriend and his brother and law (We are the only Israelis signed up for this race). We call ourselves the third wheel and we plan on having a BALL in Brazil! We also want to share our experiences witheveryone so with the help of our handy flip video camera and our questionable expert writing skill and style, we began this blog. Read it, enjoy it, and comment on it. We might need some encouragement along the way.
Just to give myself a pat on the back, here are my results throughout the years. I like to look at it when I’m updating the “hobbies” section of my CV 
Enjoy!
Meanwhile – Here are my results -
Below are my competition results from 4sport , shvoong , and realtiming.
Also you can see explanations about triathlons / duathlons below.
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Sprint Triathlon
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750m swimming, 20km cycling, 5km running
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Olympic Triathlon
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1.5km swimming, 40km cycling, 10km running
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Half Ironman 70.3
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2km swimming, 90km cycling, 13.1km running
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Sprint Duathlon
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5km running, 20km cycling, 2.5km running
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Olympic Duathlon
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10km running, 40km cycling, 5km running
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Indoor Triathlon
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10 minute swim, 20 minute bike, 15 minute run
| Date | Competition | Distance | Time / Dist | Place by gender | Total Place | Place in division |
| 30/05/2010 | Ironman Brasil | IM | 12:07:32 | - | 877 | 15 |
| 14/05/2010 | Marathon Tel-Aviv | 21km | 01:56:30 | 68 | 917 | 31 |
| 24/04/2010 | Nadav Swim | 5km | 01:30:42 | 12 | 12 | 2 |
| 19/03/2010 | 21st Raanana Race | 10km | 00:47:00 | 10 | 344 | 10 |
| 12/03/2010 | Petach Tikva Duathlon | Sprint | 01:14:09 | 5 | 49 | 1 |
| 20/02/2010 | Ein Gedi Run | 21k | 01:55:40 | - | 598 | 19 |
| 29/01/2010 | Half Israman Eilat | 70.3 | 06:34:28 | 7 | 97 | 3 |
| 05/12/2009 | Pro Sport esert Challenge |
Ultimate Challenge | 08:50:42 | 1 | - | 1 |
| 20/11/2009 | Isrotel Triathlon Eilat | Olympic | 02:47:15.05 | 8 | 80 | 2 |
| 05/09/2009 | Nike Ceserea Triathlon | Olympic | 02:52:19.95 | 7 | 72 | 2 |
| 17/07/2009 | Maccabiah Triathlon | Olympic | 02:51:18.65 | 2 | 34 | 1 |
| 27/06/2009 | Tel-Aviv Triathlon | Olympic | 02:24:29.90 | 7 | 103 | 2 |
| 17/06/2009 | 8th Netanya Triathlon | Olympic | 02:47:52.95 | 6 | 56 | 3 |
| 06/06/2009 | 16th Womens Triathlon | Sprint | 01:18:03.40 | 20 | 20 | 4 |
| 17/05/2009 | Ford Ironman Florida 70.3 | 70.3 | 05:44:57 | - | 781 | 23 |
| 26/04/2009 | National Duathlon Championship | Olympic | 2:41.41 | - | 606 | 16 |
| 22/03/2009 | Suntrust National Marathon | 21km | 1:54:14 | 515 | 1455 | 171 |
| 22/02/2009 | Hustle Up the Hancock (Stair Climb) | 97 Flights | 17:28 | - | 600 | 40 |
| 07/02/2009 | FFC Indoor Triathlon (Gold Coast) | Indoor | 9.22 mi | 8 | 27 | 3 |
| 17/01/2009 | FFC Indoor Triathlon (Oak Park) | Indoor | 8.88 mi | 6 | 17 | 2 |
| 17/08/2008 | North East Triathlon | Sprint | 01:41:46 | 10 | 53 | 2 |
| 28/06/2008 | Tel-Aviv Triathlon | Olympic | 02:31:28.70 | 7 | 101 | 2 |
| 31/05/2008 | 15th Womens Triathlon | Sprint | 01:24:36.40 | 24 | 24 | 4 |
| 17/05/2008 | Healthy Kidney Race (New York) | 10km | 49:40 | 339 | 1862 | - |
| 02/05/2008 | Agamon Duathlon | Olympic | 02:26:59.95 | 4 | 37 | 2 |
| 18/04/2008 | Rishon Le Zion Run | 10km | 00:49:17 | - | 144 | 8 |
| 12/04/2008 | Herzlia Run | 10km | 00:47:58 | - | 580 | 10 |
| 27/03/2008 | Jerusalem Half Marathon | 21km | 01:56:38.50 | 34 | 456 | 19 |
| 07/03/2008 | Ultra Marathon | 15km | 01:35:52 | 278 | 6 | |
| 01/03/2008 | Kfar Sava Race 08 | 10km | 00:51:36.00 | 51 | 583 | 27 |
| 16/02/2008 | Ein Gedi Race | 21km | 02:02:18 | 32 | 733 | 32 |
| 17/11/2007 | Tel-Aviv Half Marathon | 10km | 00:53:07.64 | 40 | 536 | 19 |
| 30/11/2007 | Isrotel Triathlon Eilat | Olympic | 03:10:36.25 | 20 | 226 | 5 |
| 23/11/2007 | Tel Aviv Run | 10km | 00:53:07.64 | 48 | 562 | 23 |
| 17/11/2007 | Merutz Eyal the 6th Ramat Hasharon | 15km | 01:24:22.50 | 76 | 750 | 33 |
| 27/10/2007 | Ramat Hasharon Duathlon | Sprint | 01:31:31.35 | 15 | 134 | 3 |
| 19/10/2007 | Hulon | 10km | 00:58:25.15 | 44 | 564 | 19 |
| 29/09/2007 | Gan Shmuel Triathlon | Sprint | 01:22:00.40 | 15 | 94 | 3 |
| 08/09/2007 | Cesarea Nike Triathlon | Sprint | 01:31:31.75 | 17 | 120 | 4 |
| 28/06/2007 | Nike Tel-Aviv night run | 10km | 00:54:33.15 | 47 | 535 | 42 |
| 02/06/2007 | 14th Womens Triathlon | Sprint | 01:27:28.35 | 56 | 56 | 16 |
| 12/05/2007 | 3rd Ramat Aviv | 10km | 00:55:12.00 | - | 67 | 4 |
| 28/04/2007 | 3nd Herzlia Run | 10km | 00:53:56.00 | - | 483 | 15 |
| 03/03/2007 | Kfar Sava Race 07 | 10km | 00:57:36.75 | 83 | 677 | 48 |
| 23/03/2007 | 18th Raanana Race | 10km | 00:56:10.80 | 58 | 718 | 23 |
| 17/02/2007 | Ein Gedi race | 10km | 00:58:53.20 | 61 | 361 | 26 |