Running Catch-up

The past few weeks have flown by in a blur…  I was in Joburg and Pretoria for a week where I managed to take part in a 21km run with my mom and a couple of ladies from the Irene Running Club, Amanda and Thea. This run really brought back some memories from when I was younger, having grown up in Pretoria.

Last week I did another 21km for the guys at My City Running Tours – I’ll fill you in on that great run in another blog post.  On Saturday I ran with the old guys I usually run with on weekends when I’m not doing a race,  it was great to be part of the banter with people who have known me since I was a toddler.

This week I think I might have over done it because my legs feel as if they are filled to the brim with lead and I have a shooting pain in my one quad BUT, I’m heading to Thailand tomorrow where I plan on doing as much of nothing as possible, with a few runs here and there to prepare for the Two Oceans Ultra on April 3rd.  I’ll be sure to send an update on running in Paradise

Photo Credit

Leave a Comment / March 16th, 2010 / Half-marathon, Motivation, Reluctant runner

The Masai Mara Marathon Follow-up

A few months back I had to come up with what my ideal African holiday would include – the Masai Mara Marathon being one of them, then a couple of weeks ago I got an email from Chris who said that in fact this year, in conjunction with the Fairmont Rotary Club, they managed to hold this event.

It is only a half marathon distance but you get to run through the Olchorro Oirowua Conservancy.  Armed rangers are staggered along the route to keep an eye out for dangerous animals which adds to the excitement of the runners – or at least it would add to my excitement…

The cut-off is 2 hours because of the logistics surrounding a marathon of this nature and watering stations are 5km apart, not what we are used to but then again running with the possibility of being chased by something which eats meat is also not usual.

The aim of creating this marathon was to raise awareness and funds for the Mara ecosystems as well as a way to address the plight of retired Olympic legends, some of them from this area.  Sports tourism is also a sustainable way to bring money into the community, contributing to better living conditions and other facilities.

Next year the marathon is going to be held on November 20th so get your entries in early to avoid disappointment.

Leave a Comment / December 11th, 2009 / Half-marathon, Reluctant runner

The Winelands Marathon

This is meant to be one of the best marathons to run in the Western Cape and I was pretty excited to give it a go, especially since I missed it last year and the year before I only did the half which wasn’t really that spectacular.  So I signed up early and started picking up my training only to be plagued by a really sore ankle which with rest, didn’t seem to get any better – actually it started feeling worse.

So after a week of rest and loads of stress because now I’m missing out on valuable training time (you guys know what I’m talking about although in reality how much are you going to lose in a week – I mean really), I decided to see the physio.  Turns out I have tendinitis in my ankle from a damaged tendon called the “Runners Nuisance” – funny that!!

So it seems I’m going to have to downgrade the marathon to a half.  I’m sure there are others of you out there who have had to make the decision NOT to do a race or to do a shorter distance than what was planned,  what I want to talk about is that decision making process…

It took me days to actually concede to the fact that I may have to just do the shorter distance and although my ankle is flipping sore and this marathon isn’t for any specific reason, I still have had feelings of failure and disappointment which is really silly because as I said, its not like I NEEDED this marathon as a Comrades qualifier or anything.

Why is this such a hard decision to make?  I didn’t think I was one of those hardcore runners who do races no matter what -  and I’ve always put my body first.  Actually the feelings I had leading up to making the decision resembled those which I had when I had to pull out of a race, although not as bad but in the same vein…

Do you guys battle with the same kind of thing?  Can you put your finger on exactly what that feeling or emotion is??  I think once we can put a name to that feeling it will be easier to deal with – let me know what you think!

The type of scenery expected

Photo Credit

One Comment / November 13th, 2009 / Half-marathon, Injuries, Reluctant runner

My 2 Year Running Anniversary

Last week I wrote about really wanting to do the Constantia VOB Grape Run and the fact that I didn’t have a race entry…  Well if you aren’t friends of mine on Facebook then you wouldn’t know that I got an entry from Russell (not just one but 2) – so I confirm my theory, if you don’t ask you don’t get!!

With entry in hand both Nicola (who also missed the cut-off for registration) and I lined up on Constantia Main road along with the 1,500 other entrants on Sunday morning, neither of us having run a half marathon in over 3 months.  I’d also like to remind people who may not have read my race report from last year, that this race isn’t exactly easy, firstly it is off road for most of the way and secondly the first 7km of the race are basically straight up the side of a mountain – BUT the views as you go up are more than enough to make up for the screaming quads and the lungs which come dangerously close to popping out your mouth – and of course the wine tasting table right at the top of one of the hills does wonders for the energy levels

Winding through a couple of wine farms and then through Tokai forest and back into Constantia I couldn’t help but marvel at the beauty of the course and at how lucky I was to wangle an entry.   I also had vivid memories of being dragged through said course by my mother just 2 years ago, NOT in the same frame of mind!

Now, I didn’t race because I was unable to substitute the entry into my name (and besides Russ, there is no way I would have managed a sub-2 hr race) so I was using it as a benchmark to see how unfit I was – turns out not very unfit because I came in at 2:12 feeling surprisingly fresh!  Let’s hope this spells great things for the months to come…

2 Comments / October 28th, 2009 / Half-marathon, Reluctant runner

Totally Bummed

This weekend the VOB Grape Run marks the anniversary of the start of my running career – it was the first 21.1km I ever did (I didn’t first run a 5km and then a 10km and so on, I just went big from the start ) which was almost exactly 7 months before my first Comrades.   But,  huge disappointment when I went to sign up all the entries were gone…  They only allow 1,500 entries since you run through some of the most magnificent wine farms in the Cape.

Now I understand the reasoning behind restricting entries but when I emailed to find out if there were any substitutions for people not running (there is a huge wine festival the day before the race so guaranteed there will be at least 1 person of the 1,500 not making it on the day), they said no…

If there is anyone out there who has an entry and isn’t going to run please let me know and I’ll go to VOB and try again, if not I’ll see you out there running the 5km with one of the new running converts Vanessa (I can’t claim her conversion, that belongs to someone else unfortunately).

Leave a Comment / October 20th, 2009 / Half-marathon, Reluctant runner

Weird Running “Shoes”

Way back in 2008 when I had some knee trouble I visited an orthopaedic surgeon to make sure I wasn’t causing any damage in my training for the Comrades,  one of the things  he told me while he was examining me was that I should incorporate some barefoot training into my running schedule.

His reasons were quite valid I thought – when you run with shoes on you strike the ground with your heel first, when you run barefoot you strike with the ball of your foot first which causes less tension on your knees.

Of course the barefoot training never materialised, actually coming to think of it neither did the schedule, but last week a runner passed me on the road while I was driving home and he had these on.

I have seen these (called Vibram 5-Fingers) before and mentioned them on a few of the running forums I go on from time to time, but I’d never actually seen someone using them.  The theory behind these shoes follows what my knee guy had to say about training barefoot – which due to obvious reasons isn’t really the way forward when you are looking at boiling hot, tarred roads with glass, stones and various other foot piercing materials littering your way.

I’m curious to see how these rather peculiar ‘shoes’ perform…  Have any of you out there used them??

Photo Credit

One Comment / September 8th, 2009 / Comrades Marathon, Half-marathon, Injuries, Reluctant runner, Running, Training

Knysna Half Marathon

• 5am

Wake up to a damp, cool morning (not as cold as last year thank goodness)
Have breakfast
Head to the pick-up

• 6am

Stand in line at the pick-up point for the buses (read: local minibus taxi) to take us into the forest

• 7am

Finally get into a minibus taxi

• 7:30am

Get to the drop-off point in the middle of the forest

• 7:35am

Find a bush to have a wee

• 7:45am

Shaun and I start making our way through the 6 000 people lining up at the start

• 8:10am

The start rifle (it was actually a rifle and not a gun, I had a look) goes off

• 8:15am

Cross the actual start line and finally manage to start running!

• 8:24am

Pass the first km marker – that’s 9min/km!!  Holy Cow, we need to move through the people faster than that!

• 9am

The field finally thins out and we manage to strike a rather fast pace and stick to it (Shaun wanted to do a sub 1:50, I was just going to hang on for as long as possible).  Take off warm top I’m wearing and throw on the side of the road for the township folks who are lining the course, waiting for this annual race to top up their wardrobes.

• 9:45am

Shaun and I realize that our consistently fast pace is not going to get us to the finish in under 2 hours.  We are bummed.  Can’t understand how we can be running our legs off and still be so far behind.  We decide to sacrifice talking for a faster pace.

• 10:00am

Shaun manages to persuade his legs to go a bit faster than mine and surges ahead.

• 10:07am

I hit the grass on the field and hear the guy announcing that we have less than 60 seconds to make it over the finish line in under 2 hours.  I manage to force my protesting legs to sprint the last few hundred metres.

• 10:something am

I cross the finish line in 1 hour, 59 minutes and 33 seconds.

Conclusion

• In a race with 6,000 people (most of them seriously under trained, and not just my type of under trained but unfit and still marginally drunk from the night before) we should start in the front or not try and go for a PB.
• The Knysna Half Marathon is spectacular in terms of scenery and is still a great weekend away.

2 Comments / July 13th, 2009 / Half-marathon, Reluctant runner, Running

Running Casualties

Yesterday I was very proud of myself for heading out on a 13km run with my friend and long time running partner Jo who has also been suffering from running doldrums.  Bare with me here as a set the scene…

I usually get changed at work, throw all my stuff in my boot (that is what us South Africans call a trunk) and head to where I plan to run from – in this instance the Sea Point Promenade which is always a hive of activity.  I am very aware of petty crime and theft and so I’m careful not to leave anything in sight to tempt people to break in and steal my stuff, yesterday being no exception.

Anyway after spending a lovely hour and 40 minutes or so on the route, Jo and I got back to our cars having solved the worlds problems and feeling very proud of ourselves for putting in the distance (eventhough it might be a little late, Jo is running the marathon route of the race I’m doing this weekend).  Upon driving off I thought I heard my boot bang a little like it wasn’t open, so I stopped to have a look…  Turns out some low-life had stuck a screw driver into the lock, opened my boot and stolen my handbag (with camera, ID, purse, bank cards etc) along with my bag full of work clothes!!!

Now I’m no stranger to crime, especially petty theft having been relieved of my purse not even 6 months ago from a spawn of satan, right outside my front door (of course I was uber fit so I chased the scum bag all the way down my road and would have caught him if he hadn’t chickened out and jumped into a car which was waiting for him) – I mean who steals from a 5ft nothing, slightly built girl with her back turned???

Anyway, I don’t want to give anyone a bad view of SA, it is a magnificent place and like any developing country you have to be careful and keep a close eye on your stuff but I’m really getting sick of this!!  I think it is time to band together as a nation and make it impossible for the dregs of society to get away with stuff like this.  It has also taught me not to get too attached to any of my belongings and although Leo over at Zen Habits says this is the way forward, I’m sure I don’t need to be taught this lesson again…??

Anyway what I’m really after is a couple of ideas on how to stop this from happening again.   I can’t go home and then head out to run (not in winter anyway, it gets dark too early).  Should I fit an alarm??  Does anyone know of a fancy locking mechanism??  Either way if you have any bright ideas/contraptions please let me know!!!

Safe running…

One Comment / July 8th, 2009 / Half-marathon, Reluctant runner, Training

Half Marathon Coming Up…

I’m so excited, I feel like a child looking forward to the school holidays or Christmas because on Saturday is the Knysna Marathon (I’m only doing the half) – a beautiful run on dirt roads through the most spectacular indigenous forests  surrounding the town of Knysna on the Garden Route.  I did this race for the first time last year, just a month after the Comrades and ran it in 2hr 30min,  I was running with a friend who was doing it for her first time so took it easy the whole way. This year my intention was to start training a couple of weeks before the race so that I wouldn’t struggle but, in true Reluctant Runner fashion – my training only started on Saturday…

This race is a highlight on most runners and non-runners calendars.  Entries are limited so they are treated like gold and snapped up the minute they open – half of Cape Town empties to head up the coast for what promises to be a weekend of fun, pain and more fun (although somewhat limited depending on how stiff you are).   I have so many friends running this year not just the half but the full too PLUS a couple of converts who are marking this as their first tentative footstep into distance running!!  So if I don’t see you at the race, I’ll see you here afterwards for a full race run-down…

2 Comments / July 6th, 2009 / Half-marathon, Reluctant runner

20 Hours and 58 Minutes…

Ok everyone so we are within a day of the Comrades Marathon and I’m about to head off to Durban.  If you want to keep track of me you can find out here.

I (ok not me, but someone who I’ve asked) will be updating my Twitter and Facebook status with my progress.  I’m not sure how much time I’m going to have this afternoon so if I don’t manage to get online – See you at the end!!!

One Comment / May 23rd, 2009 / Comrades Marathon, Fund Raising, Half-marathon, Injuries, Motivation, Reluctant runner, Running, Training