Run like the wind

Posted on March 24, 2016 by Bo

I doubt very much if I would be a runner if I lived down in Cape Town. I’d blame it entirely on the wind.

What I concluded after a short run this morning in 37km/h wind is that it’s difficult to run against. It blows so hard that it forces your body off balance. It forced me to stop and walk a few times. (Okay, maybe I shouldn’t blame everything on the wind).

The sound howling through the trees and over the ocean upsets me and leaves me feeling uneasy. It’s an angry wind. Loud. Violent. Unforgiving. Nasty. All characteristics which don’t gel with me.

Post run shot of my fizzy wind swept hair!

Maybe it’s easier running on the trails through the forest? Maybe those beautiful trees would shelter me from the wind? I saw this suggestion tweeted from someone in the know (aka a Capetonian).

I’ll give it another try tomorrow. The weatherman has predicted rain for Saturday’s Two Oceans race. Wind or rain. I don’t know what’s worse.

It started out as a bet. But I ran with it anyhow.

Posted on February 14, 2016 by Bo

It started out as an agreement. A dare. Our trail running buddies, Dan & Linda agreed to run a road race if I would come along and try out a trail run. They stuck to their word and ran Varsity Kudus (*gasp* of all races!) in January. The pressure was on!

So last week, I headed off to run the Biogen Love Run 2016 night race at the PWC Bike Park to close off my end of the bargain.

The PWC Bike Park

All set up & ready for the runners

It was my first trail run. I have never even run Park Run before.

Here’s some differences I noted compared to road running:

The field is smaller. We’re used to a couple of thousands of runners lining up at the start of a road race. Here there must’ve been a max of about 350 runners. You can imagine my panic thinking I would come last in such a tiny field!
It’s casual. Very casual. Runners arrived and sat on the grass embankment, some snacking on crisps, others playing on their cellphones. No one was doing any serious warming up. No lubing or vaselining.
Before the race. Notice how relaxed everyone is!

More runners gathering and relaxing before the race.
No ASA or temp numbers are needed. We each received a little bar-coded card to pin to our clothes. Race results were up the very next day too!

Runners ready! The first batch, ready to go. Headlamps being turned on.

Runners go out in batches. On road races, everyone goes off when the gun goes off at the same time.
The paths are quite narrow. This means that passing someone slower in front of you is quite a challenge. I was unsure of the trail race etiquette, but goodness me, hardly anyone moves out the way for anyone else. It’s as if, sorry Jack, make your own way around me.
People walk. They walk and no one else gives a damn. In road races, the walkers get a bad rap. Faster runners are always complaining that walkers should have their own start or that they get in the way of ‘real runners’. Trail running is different. If you want to walk, you do, and no one gives you any grief about it.
You get dirty. My socks and my shoes were so dusty when I got home!

I really enjoyed it. It’s way less competitive than road running. It has a very relaxed vibe to it. And everyone seems to do their own thing and have fun.

Super bright headlamps! I look like I’m about to go looking for gold!

The best part? My time was fantastic! I averaged 8:14 mins per km. I thought I’d be much slower. And, I came 9/26 in my category and 109/234 total of 5km runners!

The question I’m sure you’re asking is, “has the trail bug bitten?” A little. But I’d definitely need to go shopping for the right trail running shoes and a camel pack and perhaps try out a more technical course? And a daytime run. But yeah… It was fun. Dan and Linda, you guys were right!

My Mom and I have been scheming…

Posted on February 9, 2016 by Bo

When my dog Annie was diagnosed with an adrenal gland tumor, I realized that she needed the best care and treatment pre as well as post operation. As much as I love the luxury dog boarding kennels we’ve always booked the dogs into, I thought that maybe, just maybe, my girls would enjoy some time at my parents. Besides, there’s no place like ‘home’ when you’re not feeling well, right?

So this past weekend, I packed the girls into the car and off we went road tripping to Pretoria. My parents stay in a retirement village. They have a free standing house but it has no walls. The challenge would be to see how both Annie and Emma reacted to being in a different environment and if my parents were indeed able to look after them.

My mom was so excited! (Read: So was I!)

We arrived on Friday night and they nervously walked around the garden on their leads. Emma did get a fright when she bumped into the ‘varkies’ in the garden. Little did she know that the big owl was watching us all!

How cool is this owl? It’s head moves when the wind blows! Ooooh!

Annie and Emma settled in quite quickly and it didn’t take long for them to get comfy on the couch. My Dogs They must have been exhausted (as was I) from sitting in that ghastly Friday evening traffic to Pretoria and we all slept like babies. One of the highlights of the weekend was waking up to go run with my Dad on Saturday morning! Running with my dad

My Mom taking the girls on walks while I snoozed

Meeting the friendly neighbor

Enjoying some tickles and love from my Dad in front of TV

The rest of the weekend was spent lying on the couch, going for many more walks and feeding the birds, even this little guy who practically eats out of my Dad’s hands! We truly had a ball this weekend! The best part is that it looks like Annie and Emma settled in quite quickly and my parents have no issue looking after them. *phew*

Okay Mom, so when can we come again?

My Johnson Crane journey

Posted on January 31, 2016 by Bo

Johnson Crane was the very first half marathon I attempted in 2009. I figured it was a flat route, so should be pretty easy. I was wrong. Inexperienced and a total newbie to running 21.1 kms, I hit the wall at around 17kms on that slow pull up to the finish. Johnson Crane taught me a lot. How to start a race, overcome the challenges and finish. I’ve gone back every year since then to run it. But I think after today, I’ve run my last Johnson Crane.

Early morning sunrise as we parked the car and prepared for the race

My race review of today’s run isn’t great. It wasn’t my day. I used a 4min run, 30 second walk strategy (something I’m trialling and will share in another blog post). I cruised through 5kms in under 38 mins. My next 5kms a tad slower but by the time I hit 15kms I had really started to slow down dramatically. The next 6kms were hell and with the flat roads, there was no relief on my legs. I have the sunburn to prove just how hard today was.

Got the t-shirt & the medal

Jo’burg runners are spoilt. We are presented with the opportunity to run a race every Saturday, Sunday, Wednesday and now even Fridays with the introduction of fitCal. And so we do. We enter every race we can. But in the last year or so, I’ve started to know which races I enjoy and which ones I hate. Flat races are definitely not my favorite!

The amount of work that you need to put in is exhausting. I can’t seem to get going! It was like that at Vaal last year and even with the new Johnson Crane route, I felt the same. I hated the run. And in those last few kms I kept thinking to myself, “well if you hate it, then why run it?”

I suspect I’ll have runners amnesia by January next year and enter it again. Maybe. Meh, I’ll see.