At this stage Modern Athlete isn’t a glossy mag yet but you can subscribe and I read it online because it’s just easier for me.  What really got me going this month was the fact that one of my friends Julie has her story in there…  Julie and I  have finished a number of races together – we also ran the Comrades together this year, so we know each others lives pretty well at this stage given that we have had ample time to swap stories – but reading her story again gave me the same feeling of intense motivation as the first time I heard it, so I would like to share it here with you.

Here is the link to the story, you have to sign up to be able to read it but it is worth the extra 3 minutes

Julie and Me

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I especially like the suntan lotion application method

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I would suggest entering just in case you decide you might want to do it – or just enter and then you have to do it because you have paid

(Jo I’m speaking to you my friend!!)

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There are some obviously glaring differences between trail and road running but bare with me as I state the obvious and then the not so obvious below, and then let me know if you agree or not:

Road running, although it has the potential to take you through some lovely areas, just doesn’t quite get you through the back-country like trail running does.  To be fair, you are so busy watching your footing while on a trail that you do miss out on some of the spectacular scenery, but I have no problem stopping to take it in because guaranteed there are other people doing the same – without stupid comments from fellow road runners like “This is a run, not a walk” – I kid you not…

Trail running doesn’t seem as competitive to me, I’m not sure if this is just in my mind but at the start of a road race you can (or at least I can feel the tension amongst the runners which isn’t there on a trail run.  At the start of a trail run the most I feel is a touch of confusion as people just generally mill about until someone shouts ‘GO’ – creating a much more relaxed atmosphere.  Again, to be fair, I guess if I was competing for a prize in trail running I’d probably feel the pressure…

Trail running is WAY more trendy   It’s all about the gear, which does look super cool and rugged but also costs more than road running gear so you have to build your trail wardrobe up over time.  Many of my friends have commented on this point, so this isn’t just me!

The vibe after a trail run is so much more community orientated.  Most people disappear after a road run, which means by the time I come in most people have left already… Ok, ok that isn’t always true but with the trail races I’ve done it seems like most of the field stays behind to socialise – and I have been nowhere near the front…

Perhaps this has just been situational with the trail runs I have done, what about you and your experience with it?

In conclusion I think road running will always be part of my life but I’m going to accumulate some rugged trail gear and keep going off-road to see where it takes me

Me, looking very uncool

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I can see virtual hands going up all over the place because I know I’m not alone, not by a long shot…

It became evident after/during the Two Oceans a few weekends back that I was in desperate need of new shoes (and no this is not an excuse for my performance).  The shoes I have now are almost exactly a year old, having realised at the same time last year that the shoes I had then, New Balance Pronation shoes were way past their shelf life (even though it was premature in my opinion).  So I’m no stranger at getting new shoes 7 weeks before the Comrades, hell last year I even changed brands which did give me a few sleepless nights in the decision making process.  Luckily my new shoes never gave me a moments trouble, which given the circumstances was very fortunate.

This time around I had been advised by my biokineticist that I should try a slightly lower pronation shoe to what I had – to be fair she did tell me this last year November.  Yesterday I was faced with the dilema, do I buy the shoe I have never had issues with or do I listen to the professional and make the change to a different model?    Luckily being paralysed by indecision is something I am familiar with so after umming and aahing for a while I took the different model.

Running in them yesterday felt a bit strange.  I could feel rubbing on the inside of my foot – the type that would get rather unpleasant on a long run of lets say for example, 89km.  They also didn’t really match my outfit which had me thinking twice about the decision I’d made.  Today I called my biokineticist and she heard my sob story which really boils down to the fact that buying new shoes is always a cause of anxiety for me and she suggested I go with the old style shoe given that I’d only woken up to the fact that I needed new shoes at such a late stage in the training game.

So, this afternoon I sit with my new Asics 2150’s feeling much more comfortable.  I’m taking them out for a test-drive later but something tells me that I think they will be just fine.  And you know, I don’t even feel bad for having new shoe anxiety, my mom loses 8/10 toe nails every time she does a long race – no wonder I’m a little paranoid…

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Ok, ok so I knew I’d take some strain having only put in 30 minutes of running the whole time I was away, I  was banking on the fact that we did quite a bit of walking and that lugging my backpack around must have counted for something – right?  Wrong!!  At least now that research has been done

As predicted I did battle but only towards the end.  I ran the whole way with a fellow club memeber, Jason who was doing a trial for Rockport and wearing dress shoes…  Yes, you read correctly – he had dress shoes on but their soles were designed by Adidas so they weren’t too uncomfortable.  This provided me with an excuse to take it easy towards the end where the only words which came out my and Jason’s mouths were complaints about being sore or tired or went along the lines of ‘Why the hell do we do this to ourselves?’  Anyway all those things faded into nothingness once we finally managed to reach the end and ran into the packed stadium, behind the guy with a prosthetic leg and the Old Mutual Worm which is a group of guys who run the entire way together dressed as a worm, literally.

6:18 isn’t a bad time considering the circumstances and I’m happy that I made it in the 7 hour cut-off.  I’m going to have to put in some quality training before the Comrades to make sure I don’t end up boring everyone around me with my complaints on the day, so I’ll keep you updated on what the next few weeks hold for me.

Oh and thanks Jason for keeping me company the whole race, I think I would have probably died of boredom before getting to the end if I’d run on my own…

Photo Credit

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On the way home we managed to get stranded in Hong Kong when Cathay Pacific kept bumping my friend and I off the flight home, resulting in us buying another way home which included a 23 hour plane journey…

So, at 5am tomorrow morning my dad will drop my mom and I at the start line.  I’m planning to finish in around 6 hours although just to finish would be great

Good luck to everyone doing the race, Ann please make sure you step OVER those reflectors in the road and Julie, I’ll look for you at the start.

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I took my place in the starting group just as the ‘gun’ went off and basically resigned myself to the fact that the race was going to be difficult given the fact that the longest run I’d done since November was 18km… Taking it slow for the first 17km’s, I searched for someone I knew which I could run with but alas, besides some familiar faces I ended up just putting my iPod in and blasting any negative thoughts away.

My trusty seconds were waiting for me at the foot of Red Hill ready with sweet potatoes to fortify me on this notoriously steep and windy road.  As I was about to head off I spotted Christopher, my last Red Hill running partner starting up the hill so I fell into pace with him and the person running with him Julie.  Now Julie is from North Carolina so we immediately hit it off chatting about the States (I lived there for 2 years) and all the other interesting topics you manage  to cover on a race that takes over 4 hours, if you are not sure what these topics include here is a short list:

• Ben & Jerries Ice-cream
• Divorce
• Running shoes
• Other Races
• The Comrades
• Cancer (Julie has survived stage 4 breast cancer)
• Jelly Bellies
• French Vanilla Coffee Creamer

That is just a short list

The trusty seconds were waiting 4km’s from the end with more potatoes and it is only then that I realised we were almost done, Julie and I had been chatting so animatedly and consistantly since Red Hill that it felt like the rest of the marathon had just flown by.  We both realised we weren’t going to make it under 4:30 so we decided to pick up the pace and give it our best shot to the end which we made in 4:34 – I am almost positive we did those last 4km’s at 4 minutes a K…

Now, I meet many people on these races all of which make some impact on me – there is Katie from  Pinelands who encouraged me to go on alone at the half-way mark of my first comrades, then Anne who fell very badly at the Two Oceans but still managed to help drag me over the finish line – but Julie is going to stick in my mind for a long time I think.  She danced for the camera’s just outside Cape Point Nature Reserve and copped a feel from the guy wearing a bra about 5km to the end.  She fought and beat cancer, running between Chemo sessions and bragging about the fact she didn’t need to shave when she lost all her hair – her strength of spirit is tangible and I consider myself privaledged to have spent 3 hours together running with her.  Thanks for running with me Julie, they make them tough in the States too

Special thanks also to Nicolene and Ines for sacraficing their Sunday morning and seconding for me, also to Amanda for letting me stay over – I might have to make this an annual thing!!

If you ran let me know how it went, the gale-force winds we were putting up with didn’t make this the easiest race I’ve done…

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Check out the profile below:

Good luck to all the first time marathon runners, despite the look of the profile this is a spectacular run with beautiful veiws which, if you aren’t too tired, you should stop and admire.

Also for the first timers, the last 5km are always the worst so make sure you eat enough during the race to carry you through to the end.  I have my trusty second Nicolene waiting at the bottom of Red Hill and again just after The Point, so if you are in need of some energy then look out for a red Polo and trot over to ask for some food.

I’ll send an update next week.

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Cape Town is left almost people-less on that weekend as everyone who is not already in Knysna heads up there for one of the biggest party weekends of the year and yes, the race.  As I mentioned in my race dissection from last year, there are pretty few people who actually do this race seriously which is probably why it is so much fun…

The entries opened on February 1st, they usually open in April, so make sure you don’t get left out.  The race is on July 10th this year!  Hope to see you there.

Half Marathon Route

Full Marathon Route

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