Outeniqua Half Marathon

Last weekend we managed to go with other VOB members to George for the 2008 Outeniqua Half Marathon. The route was great lots with lots of indigenous forest and vines. We arrived quite late at the dam only to discover that the start was not where we parked but a little over a kilometer away across the dam wall. So we raced off to run to the start line. I was about 400 meters from the start line when I heard the race start count down and pressed start on my watch. Normally this would have totally stressed me out but I managed to focus on getting to the start line. When we got the start line no one was there, it was strange I kept running and met the back markers. It was great in a way passing people in a way that I have not ever done before. I was running way faster than I normally do at the start but the interesting thing was that my heart rate was way lower than it normal. My wife had a buck cross her path on the route; great seeing wildlife on the route and the unique sounds of Loeries in the trees above.

Eventually I managed to catch up to the 2 hour crowd, fortunately before the first down hill. The route goes through the forestry campus; it reminded me of a place I ran in The Netherlands with small roads and people riding bicycles. Then the route started to get fantastic with high trees and vines. The down hills were really steep with two tough up hills, I walked a bit on the first hill but found the second hill not as bad even though it was longer. I remember saying that is a pretty looking bridge and then realized that bridges cross rivers and have a valley on the other side. Then a few bumps and then a down hill of over 7 km. On the way downhill you don’t see much until you get to a point where you see an amazing view of the lakes, river and coastline. The last 3 km was tough I really pushed going down the hill and the last few bumps on the route seemed really hard.

Here is the Outeniqua Half Marathon 2008 kmz file for the route that can be viewed in Google for those who are interested (The real official route is 400m shorter).

And this is the route profile.

Crazy Store Table Mountain Challenge – Relay

I ran the 2nd leg of the relay last weekend. I really enjoyed it. I ran the same leg and ran a bit slower this year than last year. The race is a 3 leg relay, 8.6, 10 and 17km. The guy that did the first leg was really quick, so this meant I started with some really fast people. This turned out to be a bit frustrating having to stop to let faster people pass me.

The temperature was perfect with now wind and only a slight drizzle towards the end.

I remembered it being flatter last year, the was a section where we went up what must be 100 m only to come straight down again moving only a few meters as the crow flies. I am not ashamed to say I sat on a rock to catch my breath. I was glad that I did not go though with running the whole thing, especially when I handed over to the 3rd guy doing the 17km and much more technical stretch. He was wet and bleeding when I met him at the finish (after I had a shower and breakfast).

The organization was good, and I am happy with the cap and t-shirt. Apparently it was the largest field of runners on a trail race in Africa.

My Garmin 305 struggled to get signal in a few places, so I had to fill in the blanks with SportsTracks software, strange how the Garmin software lacks that functionality.

The KMZ/KML file if you want to see the 2nd leg in Google Earth: Crazy Store Table Mountain Challenge Relay 2nd Leg

Addiction

Okay so wanting to run is not like needing a fix of tik, but I understand how I person can do something they know is harmful but do it anyway because they “HAVE TO”. On Tuesday I had to run, I even tried to not leave work but the next time I thought if I should be running or not was after 6 km. Once again one week too soon, I also notice that I see a week as a magical length of time where everything can be fixed. I have personal graphs that prove otherwise. Guess it is the difference between knowing and believing.

1009 km only 600 to go (1000 miles = 1609 km)

This year’s running so far has been harder than last year. I only ran 1001 km last year and no I have passed that before the end of August. August saw me running the least in one month since I started running. All of a sudden 1609 km (1000 miles) seems so far away, 4.84 km a day keeps mounting up. Last night I thought I was ready to start again but alas once again on week too soon. Added to the stress is a relay I am doing in September and a race I really want to do in October (that I have already paid for). I stand by my belief that no one ever goes to physio for just one session. People have noticed I am running with a sore leg and they ask me what’s wrong but I don’t want to be “The guy is that is always injured/complaining about niggles”.

Right now I am doing a lot of soul searching and asking myself if I enjoy “being a runner” or the act of running.

Sticky Situation

Last night I was running and it was great, towards the middle I started to feel something sticky in my left shoe. I have had changes made to my orthotics so I thought maybe the glue was melting or something. I thought well there is nothing I can do about it now so I started to ignore it and then forgot about it. Which is why I was so freaked out when I took my shoes off when I was about to shower.

    

Cleaning up was a bit of a mess, Luminol and blue light would make things look interesting.

It is amazing how much blood can come out of one toe. Also it amazes me how toes don’t complain much so I can see why people with Diabetes need to look after their toes.

Matters of the heart

Last week I was quite worried about my heart rate, I thought that I was getting sick or something because my heart rate was too high. I have only managed to get it to 207 thBut I think I am over it now maybe it is this strange does not kill you but does not go away virus that is affecting people in Cape Town. I am happier now that I have an expert opinion that maxing out my heart is okay at my advancing age :) July promises to be a better month for my running. I really have taken a rest this month, should get my orthotics fixed up. Some how I think my plan of adding cardboard cutout inserts under my shoe inserts is not going to get rid my shin splint issues that are rearing their head again :(

Favorite running partner

I never realised how much I missed running with my Colleen until we went away last weekend. We went to Houw Hoek Inn (we go once a year). I was feeling a bit stressed because being in the land of no hills really killed my hill climbing. Houw Hoek has a pretty good mountain to run up so that is what we did. Also took the camera along, I need something that I can attach my camera to. As usual I had already mapped the course using Google Earth.

It energized me to be running with her. She amazes me how she glides up hills (being roughly half my weight helps) and lifts my spirit when we are together. Also managed to see places off the N2 that we have driven passed and never knew about. It had been ages since we last run together even before I went away. Also ran on a railway track quite a workout, because the sleepers where forcing me to take smaller strides. In the end we did not run far, but so far it will be one of the more special kilometers of the 1609 I want to do this year.