Tags: None
Well what a race, We drove down, it is 1600km, took our time stopping over enroute. We did a fast 6km on Thursday to get rid of travel stiffness. We went to the expo on Friday, driving the hilly part of the route on the way there , I hate expo's but the vibe is good and gets the adrenalin going at least.
Some friends joined us for lunch, they had fried fish and chips, liz and I had grilled fish and chips. I really do not enjoy greasy fried food anymore. I was too scared to try on my Tshirt, one cannot wear it if one does not finish the race. It was called cherry tomato, but is really orange..
The day of the race dawned and we caught the train to the start, that worked well, this was a recommendation from Malcolm Salida, the person we rented our accomodation from, he is a walker, and came in with us, his wife even picked us up and took us to the station, they were a great help to us. The first 4ks of the half and Ultra are the same, so we had to wait for the route to clear from the half before we strated at 6:25Am.
I was getting more nervous as we heard the 21 singing the national anthem, then off they went...
I bumped into a guy I have met at various races over the years, he claimed he was fitter than before, and would do a 6:30. I was dubious.
It took 4 minutes to cross the line, our races are all gun to gun, so it makes your average pace suffer for the first few kms. At the time I thought I was going too slow, I only really checked my watch at 3km, and my average was about 7:34 , which meant I was actually walking at or below 7:00/km, no wonder my shins were burning. I knew I had to finish around 7:25/km to get a medal. I was about 450m from the start so this also messes with your averages. At around 7km another novice latched onto me, all I know is his name was Andrew, it is good to have your name printed on your race numbers, but sometimes confusing when your name is called out so often. I was really near the back of the field, as I passed various traffic police they were talking about re-opening the road ...
My initial plan was to go as close to 7:00 /km till halfway and then deal with the hills. I also did not want to push too hard as I did not want to burn... When I got to the first slight up hill at around 20km I was at 7:10 and really worried about who I would have to give my Tshirt to. Then I see a sign, 1km ot the first cutoff at 28km, well that got my heart pounding.. I made it by 3minutes. That on the easy half of the race.
We then hit little chappies ( Chapmans Peak) , a hill around 2km long gaining around 100m, I decided to push the hill and poor old Andrew could not keep up, he had been my shadow since 7km, I never saw him again.I find it amazing how I seem to get stronger at this sort of distance into a race. Going up little chappies was great, then we descend about 50m only to climb about 150m over the next 3, on real chappies My Garmin decided not to save my race data so some guesing is required here, it \also did not give me my race time, but average was there. At the crest of 35km I passed the guy who said he was aiming for 6:30, he looked tired. From 35km we go back down to sea level from 250m up, over the next 4km , I found the road camber quite hard in this section, it took a toll on my hamstrings, so I did not push too hard. I went through the marathon mark in 5:09 which was pretty much on track, making the marathon cut off by a few minutes
The climb from 42k to 48km is about 200m. As we started climning I saw Malcolm ahead I got to within 20 m of him when he took off like a shot, I pushed quite hard but never saw him again, once again I made the cut off at the top by about 2 minutes. It was quite confusing as the announcer kept on contradicting where the actual cuttoff was.
As we levelled off for the push to the end, one guy , a veteran with 17 medals claimed we had the medals aoriudn our necks. I was quite harsh on him "it is not over till the fat lady sings" etc. Within a km he was vomiting on the side of the road, I did not see him again, I hope he finished but..
At 6km to go I passed Wilma, Malcolm's wife, she was shocked to see me, was I ahead of Malcolm?
The various spectators on the side of the road changed from it's tight to you will not make it you walk. With the adrenaline pumping hard I pushed hard up the last hill. As I entered the grass end section the crowd was going wild. I could not look at anyone, for fear of tripping on the grass which was pretty damaged from the 16000 half marathoners and the 7200 Ultra marathoners in front of me.
As I crossed the line I knew I deserved to wear the Tshirt, the medal felt really great around my neck, I had made it in 6:58:57, with 63 seconds to spare . I called it a lonely medal, thinking it would be my only one from this race. I have subsequently decided I will do this race again but, must seriously work on my speed. I need to the do the first half of this race much much faster.
I was surpised to find out that I must have passed Malcolm going up Constantia Nek, he finished 30 senond behind me.
What a race! What an experience! I have already startred planning my qualifier for next year.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Two Oceans on Saturday
The nervousness is starting to work on me, the anticapation of my 5th Ultra Marathom is rising, so far the long term weather forecast is good. Lets hope it stays that way.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Shoe update
I was very lucky i took my Skyspeeds back to the sweat shop, and ended up getting a full credit towards Nimbus 12.
The skyspeeds are not designed for my weight, the heel cushioning is very soft and therefore collapsed on me. I know the Nimbus are a bit heavy with a high heel, but i will continue to use them for races longer than 21. They do give a lot of support and feel very comfortable.
Liz is less than impressed with my bright yellow Nimbus 12.
Nimbus 13 comes out in July and I believe they will be a bit lighter.
My right glute is still a bit sore so I am trying some trigger point massaging, as well as stretching, and using the foam roller.
2 weeks to oceans.....
The skyspeeds are not designed for my weight, the heel cushioning is very soft and therefore collapsed on me. I know the Nimbus are a bit heavy with a high heel, but i will continue to use them for races longer than 21. They do give a lot of support and feel very comfortable.
Liz is less than impressed with my bright yellow Nimbus 12.
Nimbus 13 comes out in July and I believe they will be a bit lighter.
My right glute is still a bit sore so I am trying some trigger point massaging, as well as stretching, and using the foam roller.
2 weeks to oceans.....
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Long Tom Ultra Marathon 56km
Well what a race!. We drove down 450ks the day before, and got to see the route in sunshine, juts to add a bit more fear to my mind. We camped near a river in Sabie which was great, had our usual humus , brocolli, cheese and biscuits/ rice cakes for Liz. We did not drink any wine as Bryan says we should take it easy the night before a race, he was most impressed when we sms'd him saying we were drinking coffee.
We had an early night, up at 4:45 am having heard some rumblings and seen some lightning during the night.
As I put my shoes on I felt a drop of rain, driving the 1km to the start the heavens opened. Carmenn was dropping us off and going to second us a bit on the race. Gerhard and Liz would run together with me keeping up the rear. The water was so deep on the main road that by the time we managed to get about 100m to under a shelter at the school, we were soaked. My shirt felt 2kg heavier. My cap was oaked, no hang on that is not a cap I had left my cap behind, I had my head torch on- I gave that to Gerhard in disgust.
It was Gerhard and I over a few glasses of wine who came up with this hair brained idea of doing this race as it was "good comrades training", fortunately Liz is always up to a challenge.
We met some members of our club one dear old soul mentioned that this race was tougher than comrades- remind me never to invite her to give me motivational talk - it was her husbands birthday and he was doing the race for the first time.
But as Carmenn had already left I suppose that bailing was not an option, we all three thought about it.
The rain eased a bit, buses coming from Lydenberg said it was only raining in Sabie, 2ks out of town was only mist.
When I put my shoes on I had put lots of vaseline on my feet in case they got wet. This had been a good call.
We went out in the rain to the start. I was struggling in my mind to work out a real race plan, just knowing that sub 8.30/km would give me medal. Standing in the rain waiting for the last buses to arrive from Lydenberg was not fun. I get irratated by being wet and waiting- not a good omen. I had put sun screen on but by now I suppose that was flowing down the river.
Eventually we started off, and by was the first km long, I just kept plodding( literally in my wet shoes) along. It was at 9km that I could at last feel that I was not going uphill for a few strides. We had gained about 400m by now. On my Garmin 2 of these k were above 75m gained. I managed to average 8:01.km to the end of 9km.
The next 17km was undulating, we only gained about 200m, but for km 18 we gained 89m, there was not much down. I had got my average to 7:59 at the end of 27km. We were still in very thick mist so not much of a view,
Having done the warm up , the climbing now started in the next 6km we climbed 440m. This was followed by few undulating kms at 36k my average had crept up to 8:09.
At the end of 42km I realised that as much as I was ahead of my goal, I could do 7h30 finish. Initially I had worked on 7k/hr making it in 8hrs. At 42km I was at 5:40 which made me 20 minutes ahead. I then knowing the rest (except for 2km of uphill) was nice and down, decided to stretch the legs a bit- knowing this would actually work out the lactic acid, and probably aid in lengthening my hamies. The last 10kms or so were done in some pretty hot sunshine, the mist cleared after we crested th escarpment at 37km
I really felt good as I ended strongly dropping my average pace back to 8:01, although I never went faster than 7:18/km
I did manage a negative split, considering that the steepest hardest climb started at the 28th I was pretty happy.
I drank 32gi energy drink the night before and 4 times during the race when I met Carmenn- she kept telling that I was catching the runners. I ate 2 jungle oats dark chocolate energy bars, a small milo bar and a bar one. Lots of chocolate I know but the dark chocolate was the best.
Today I am walking fine, suffering a bit from sunburn on my shoulders, hammies and right glute are a bit tender. Back is a bit tight. I think I may do this race again. I do not get blisters normally and yesterday was no exception. I will however need to get new shoes as these Hyperspeeds have "lost" their heels.
Liz finshed in 6:30, Gerhard in 7:00 and I came in 7:25, a great race
We had an early night, up at 4:45 am having heard some rumblings and seen some lightning during the night.
As I put my shoes on I felt a drop of rain, driving the 1km to the start the heavens opened. Carmenn was dropping us off and going to second us a bit on the race. Gerhard and Liz would run together with me keeping up the rear. The water was so deep on the main road that by the time we managed to get about 100m to under a shelter at the school, we were soaked. My shirt felt 2kg heavier. My cap was oaked, no hang on that is not a cap I had left my cap behind, I had my head torch on- I gave that to Gerhard in disgust.
It was Gerhard and I over a few glasses of wine who came up with this hair brained idea of doing this race as it was "good comrades training", fortunately Liz is always up to a challenge.
We met some members of our club one dear old soul mentioned that this race was tougher than comrades- remind me never to invite her to give me motivational talk - it was her husbands birthday and he was doing the race for the first time.
But as Carmenn had already left I suppose that bailing was not an option, we all three thought about it.
The rain eased a bit, buses coming from Lydenberg said it was only raining in Sabie, 2ks out of town was only mist.
When I put my shoes on I had put lots of vaseline on my feet in case they got wet. This had been a good call.
We went out in the rain to the start. I was struggling in my mind to work out a real race plan, just knowing that sub 8.30/km would give me medal. Standing in the rain waiting for the last buses to arrive from Lydenberg was not fun. I get irratated by being wet and waiting- not a good omen. I had put sun screen on but by now I suppose that was flowing down the river.
Eventually we started off, and by was the first km long, I just kept plodding( literally in my wet shoes) along. It was at 9km that I could at last feel that I was not going uphill for a few strides. We had gained about 400m by now. On my Garmin 2 of these k were above 75m gained. I managed to average 8:01.km to the end of 9km.
The next 17km was undulating, we only gained about 200m, but for km 18 we gained 89m, there was not much down. I had got my average to 7:59 at the end of 27km. We were still in very thick mist so not much of a view,
Having done the warm up , the climbing now started in the next 6km we climbed 440m. This was followed by few undulating kms at 36k my average had crept up to 8:09.
At the end of 42km I realised that as much as I was ahead of my goal, I could do 7h30 finish. Initially I had worked on 7k/hr making it in 8hrs. At 42km I was at 5:40 which made me 20 minutes ahead. I then knowing the rest (except for 2km of uphill) was nice and down, decided to stretch the legs a bit- knowing this would actually work out the lactic acid, and probably aid in lengthening my hamies. The last 10kms or so were done in some pretty hot sunshine, the mist cleared after we crested th escarpment at 37km
I really felt good as I ended strongly dropping my average pace back to 8:01, although I never went faster than 7:18/km
I did manage a negative split, considering that the steepest hardest climb started at the 28th I was pretty happy.
I drank 32gi energy drink the night before and 4 times during the race when I met Carmenn- she kept telling that I was catching the runners. I ate 2 jungle oats dark chocolate energy bars, a small milo bar and a bar one. Lots of chocolate I know but the dark chocolate was the best.
Today I am walking fine, suffering a bit from sunburn on my shoulders, hammies and right glute are a bit tender. Back is a bit tight. I think I may do this race again. I do not get blisters normally and yesterday was no exception. I will however need to get new shoes as these Hyperspeeds have "lost" their heels.
Liz finshed in 6:30, Gerhard in 7:00 and I came in 7:25, a great race
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Sasolburg Marathon 5/2/11
Well Liz and I decided we had drunk and eaten a bit much previous to our previous few half marathons so we put some thought into this week. We wanted to eat earlier, also we stuck to brocolli / cucumber and humous followed by some cheese and biscuits. She had a GNT and I had a Guiness. ( better than the previous week when celebrating her bday we had bottle of champers and a few glasses of white)
We left home at 3:45 which is way to early for me, we got to the start around 5:05 so we were not rushed at all, had time to get our numbers, and drink some Energade, then wander off to the start. Liz's running partner Gerhard joined us for the race.
My goal was to go easy for the first 10 the do a fastish 20 and see how I felt near the end a sub 5 would be nice but was not essential. I suppose I should pay more attention to the route profile in my planning . To complete a marathon in sub 5:00 one needs to average better than 7:06 per km.
At 10km I was averaging 7:01 and feeling good. It was not a very hilly route, but from 17 to 30, there was only 1 km where we went down , the rest were all slightly uphill. at 20km I was still averaging 7:04 and by 30 I was at 7:08 at which point I decided to just walk at a comfortable pace in interest of not picking up an injury etc.
I ended feeling fine, at 5:05:20 for an average of 7:19. I still got a medal and a really good purple T shirt, but a DNFIT ( did not finish in time) so not official result.
Liz had a good run, ending in 4:13 so qualified for Two oceans a batch ahead of me. I qualified at the Big Walk, she was however a bit upset because Gerhard beat her by 3 minutes.
The positives I take from this race are
1 I felt great after the race, did a dogwalk on Sunday and a 9k recovery on Monday.
2 My average HR was much lower when I do a 21- it crept over the last few hills to end at 154.
3 I must plan my pace around the elevation changes, not just how I feel will work for me.
4 If you are not going to make a goal time, slow down and make it a training walk.
We left home at 3:45 which is way to early for me, we got to the start around 5:05 so we were not rushed at all, had time to get our numbers, and drink some Energade, then wander off to the start. Liz's running partner Gerhard joined us for the race.
My goal was to go easy for the first 10 the do a fastish 20 and see how I felt near the end a sub 5 would be nice but was not essential. I suppose I should pay more attention to the route profile in my planning . To complete a marathon in sub 5:00 one needs to average better than 7:06 per km.
At 10km I was averaging 7:01 and feeling good. It was not a very hilly route, but from 17 to 30, there was only 1 km where we went down , the rest were all slightly uphill. at 20km I was still averaging 7:04 and by 30 I was at 7:08 at which point I decided to just walk at a comfortable pace in interest of not picking up an injury etc.
I ended feeling fine, at 5:05:20 for an average of 7:19. I still got a medal and a really good purple T shirt, but a DNFIT ( did not finish in time) so not official result.
Liz had a good run, ending in 4:13 so qualified for Two oceans a batch ahead of me. I qualified at the Big Walk, she was however a bit upset because Gerhard beat her by 3 minutes.
The positives I take from this race are
1 I felt great after the race, did a dogwalk on Sunday and a 9k recovery on Monday.
2 My average HR was much lower when I do a 21- it crept over the last few hills to end at 154.
3 I must plan my pace around the elevation changes, not just how I feel will work for me.
4 If you are not going to make a goal time, slow down and make it a training walk.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Cape Town Big Walk 50km
We really enjoyed our weekend away.
We flew to Cape Town on Thursday the 11th, got our car and headed out for a wine tasting with Pieter Walser of Blankbottle.(www.blankbottle.co.za) I really enjoy his ideas behind making wine, and we learned much as we sipped on a variety of obscure varietals. Who would have thought that a Cinsaut was actually drinkable. Fortunately Pieter had to set off for Wellington or we may have never left. We have ordered a few special bottles.
We then set off to get some supplies for supper, 1kg of Strawberries, with some salad, veg and ostrich wors sounded good. As we passed through Franschhoek we saw French Cheese tasting- I'm an Ingram, we bought some Gruyere and Camembert, before heading off to Stony Brook (www.stonybrook.co.za). Got there too late for tasting, but got an SB. We did a walk up to the dam, what a stunning location, we can forgive the ticks we picked up. Its started rainin so we decided to try some Camembert with SB. Well 300g of Camembert is not much. It wa sgood not to have TV so we had a good long peaceful sleep.
The strawberries made a good breakfast, then off to start tasting. "The Max" is an awesome name(our one dog is Max) as well as a stunning Cab Sav, we bought a few with an MCC (SA version of Champagne) had a good tasting, set off for My Wijn, (www.mywynfranschhoek.co.za) a boutique winery where we tasted some stunning wines. Spent a few hours talking to Johann before setting off for Simons Town. We stopped at Tokara (www.tokara.co.za) for a light lunch. We got to Marianella a but late so kept our host waiting (www.marianella.com), traffic and road works can be problem.
What an amazing place, we were in the guest cottage. We unpacked, then went off to Seaforth for a fishy supper. (www.seaforthrestaurant.co.za/aboutus.html), walked along the beach for a bit before endulging in grilled blue nose, was pretty good.
The next morning we did a loosener, Liz did 5km out, I stopped at around 3.7km and waited for her to return. It was amazing to walk at sea level, may HR hardly got up at all. After the easy walk we set off for the Good Hope center to collect my numbers. On the way back we looked at variosu spots that Liz could meet up with me. It was different to be on the receiving end of seconding. I then watched Cricket and rugby followed by a relaxed braai and getting everything ready for my early morning. What a night, the wind howled..and howled.....
The next morning was quite chilly so I put on a light sweater. Liz drove me to the start. I took a black plastic bag and an Energade- which I drank just before the start. When the gun went the rush was amazing, I held back and decided to just enjoy the race, the south easter was directly into us. I walked at a comfortable pace, getting down to about 7:30 / km on average. Liz had gone back to Marianella after dropping me off and to do a run from there to millers point( our turnaround point) ,I got hot quite quickly then a referee told me in no uncertain terms that my number must always be visible so I took the sweater off, I gave this to Liz on her return run. (She later admitted she nearly did not go because of the wind) When I turned at Millers I was about 20th. I noted how strong most of those in front of me looked and wondered about my hoping for a top 10. It was really good to have the wind at my back, so I increased my pace, never going below 7:00 /km but close to it, but walking at a comfortable pace- my speed training obviously paid off. Liz met me at Glencairn ( we drove the route the day before and settled on some good locations) and gave me 330ml bottle of weak Energade (about half strength), this was a life saver as the water tables were very infrequent. At 25k to go I was on 3:02:30( the distance to here was 24.4km) It got quite hot on the stretch through Kalk bay to Muizenberg, but I like heat. Liz met me on Steenberg rd at around 33km– Energade again. I started catching and overtaking some walkers now. At around 40k I overtook the 3rd man, and at around 43k I overtook the second guy. I was so scared he would catch me that I never looked back. As I over took him I felt my hamstrings getting tight and cramping.( I have had tight hamstrings since a month before comrades) Just then Liz popped up with the last Energade, and I took 2 Cramp Ease, they seemed to work immediately- I had taken some previously as a precaution.
I then walked it out to the finish. My first ever podium finish. I thoroughly enjoyed the race. It was awesome to walk into the finish and be whisked away by the Spartan Harriers team ( they are the organising club) it felt good to be a celebrity for a short time. We waited around for the prizegiving and to be presented a silver medal on stage was great. Photos to follow. I finshed as the second man in 6:02:48, I was really happy with the time especially as many walkers complained about the wind, heat and poor water tables. It was also good to achieve a negative split, ie faster in the second half than the first half. By the way I used My Asics Hyperspeed which were perfect. there were 35408 entrants in total , but only about 200 in the 50k.
We then went back to Marianella, and I watched Arsenal beat Everon, end to a perfect day. We then had the Stony Brook MCC to celebrate, but struggled to with the Max so we left some for Monday.
On Monday we headed off to Cape Point Nature Reserve where we did some dune walking, this really helped my legs. There is also a nice long climb up to the light house, the bus tourists seemed to struggle, not sure why.
We then headed of to fetch our friend Eve at the airport, going back over Chapmans Peak, and up Constantia Nek to get an idea for our next visit to Cape Town when we do Two Oceans over Easter.
Had a seafood diner with Eve, finished "the max" and had a good catch up. The seconding got to Liz and she passed out.
On Tuesday we set off for a stunning drive over Du Toits kloof pass, up through Slanghoek vally and over Bains Kloof pass to Wellington. Did some interesting tasting at Doolhof and Ridgeback, off to the airport and home to Max and Sasha.
Great weekend
We flew to Cape Town on Thursday the 11th, got our car and headed out for a wine tasting with Pieter Walser of Blankbottle.(www.blankbottle.co.za) I really enjoy his ideas behind making wine, and we learned much as we sipped on a variety of obscure varietals. Who would have thought that a Cinsaut was actually drinkable. Fortunately Pieter had to set off for Wellington or we may have never left. We have ordered a few special bottles.
We then set off to get some supplies for supper, 1kg of Strawberries, with some salad, veg and ostrich wors sounded good. As we passed through Franschhoek we saw French Cheese tasting- I'm an Ingram, we bought some Gruyere and Camembert, before heading off to Stony Brook (www.stonybrook.co.za). Got there too late for tasting, but got an SB. We did a walk up to the dam, what a stunning location, we can forgive the ticks we picked up. Its started rainin so we decided to try some Camembert with SB. Well 300g of Camembert is not much. It wa sgood not to have TV so we had a good long peaceful sleep.
The strawberries made a good breakfast, then off to start tasting. "The Max" is an awesome name(our one dog is Max) as well as a stunning Cab Sav, we bought a few with an MCC (SA version of Champagne) had a good tasting, set off for My Wijn, (www.mywynfranschhoek.co.za) a boutique winery where we tasted some stunning wines. Spent a few hours talking to Johann before setting off for Simons Town. We stopped at Tokara (www.tokara.co.za) for a light lunch. We got to Marianella a but late so kept our host waiting (www.marianella.com), traffic and road works can be problem.
What an amazing place, we were in the guest cottage. We unpacked, then went off to Seaforth for a fishy supper. (www.seaforthrestaurant.co.za/aboutus.html), walked along the beach for a bit before endulging in grilled blue nose, was pretty good.
The next morning we did a loosener, Liz did 5km out, I stopped at around 3.7km and waited for her to return. It was amazing to walk at sea level, may HR hardly got up at all. After the easy walk we set off for the Good Hope center to collect my numbers. On the way back we looked at variosu spots that Liz could meet up with me. It was different to be on the receiving end of seconding. I then watched Cricket and rugby followed by a relaxed braai and getting everything ready for my early morning. What a night, the wind howled..and howled.....
The next morning was quite chilly so I put on a light sweater. Liz drove me to the start. I took a black plastic bag and an Energade- which I drank just before the start. When the gun went the rush was amazing, I held back and decided to just enjoy the race, the south easter was directly into us. I walked at a comfortable pace, getting down to about 7:30 / km on average. Liz had gone back to Marianella after dropping me off and to do a run from there to millers point( our turnaround point) ,I got hot quite quickly then a referee told me in no uncertain terms that my number must always be visible so I took the sweater off, I gave this to Liz on her return run. (She later admitted she nearly did not go because of the wind) When I turned at Millers I was about 20th. I noted how strong most of those in front of me looked and wondered about my hoping for a top 10. It was really good to have the wind at my back, so I increased my pace, never going below 7:00 /km but close to it, but walking at a comfortable pace- my speed training obviously paid off. Liz met me at Glencairn ( we drove the route the day before and settled on some good locations) and gave me 330ml bottle of weak Energade (about half strength), this was a life saver as the water tables were very infrequent. At 25k to go I was on 3:02:30( the distance to here was 24.4km) It got quite hot on the stretch through Kalk bay to Muizenberg, but I like heat. Liz met me on Steenberg rd at around 33km– Energade again. I started catching and overtaking some walkers now. At around 40k I overtook the 3rd man, and at around 43k I overtook the second guy. I was so scared he would catch me that I never looked back. As I over took him I felt my hamstrings getting tight and cramping.( I have had tight hamstrings since a month before comrades) Just then Liz popped up with the last Energade, and I took 2 Cramp Ease, they seemed to work immediately- I had taken some previously as a precaution.
I then walked it out to the finish. My first ever podium finish. I thoroughly enjoyed the race. It was awesome to walk into the finish and be whisked away by the Spartan Harriers team ( they are the organising club) it felt good to be a celebrity for a short time. We waited around for the prizegiving and to be presented a silver medal on stage was great. Photos to follow. I finshed as the second man in 6:02:48, I was really happy with the time especially as many walkers complained about the wind, heat and poor water tables. It was also good to achieve a negative split, ie faster in the second half than the first half. By the way I used My Asics Hyperspeed which were perfect. there were 35408 entrants in total , but only about 200 in the 50k.
We then went back to Marianella, and I watched Arsenal beat Everon, end to a perfect day. We then had the Stony Brook MCC to celebrate, but struggled to with the Max so we left some for Monday.
On Monday we headed off to Cape Point Nature Reserve where we did some dune walking, this really helped my legs. There is also a nice long climb up to the light house, the bus tourists seemed to struggle, not sure why.
We then headed of to fetch our friend Eve at the airport, going back over Chapmans Peak, and up Constantia Nek to get an idea for our next visit to Cape Town when we do Two Oceans over Easter.
Had a seafood diner with Eve, finished "the max" and had a good catch up. The seconding got to Liz and she passed out.
On Tuesday we set off for a stunning drive over Du Toits kloof pass, up through Slanghoek vally and over Bains Kloof pass to Wellington. Did some interesting tasting at Doolhof and Ridgeback, off to the airport and home to Max and Sasha.
Great weekend
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Shoes next step....
I have just taken the time to actually weigh my shoes.
Hyperspeed 245g after 68km
MR828 NB lightweights 340g after 51km
Asics Skyspeed 375g after 58km
Asics Nimbus 11 455g after about 800km
Who needs ankle weights with these weights. No wonder the Hyperspeeds feel so light!!
I really struggle to walk in the Nimbus mow, they actually feel heavy and like bricks on my feet.
I really like the MR828's especially the price, so I went and bought a spare pair for when the nimbus are finished.
I will just use the Nimbus for LSD walks (Long Slow Distance)
The Skypspeeds for long races, the Hyperspeeds for up to 21 and the MR828's for everyday faster training and Nimbus for LSD.
Hyperspeed 245g after 68km
MR828 NB lightweights 340g after 51km
Asics Skyspeed 375g after 58km
Asics Nimbus 11 455g after about 800km
Who needs ankle weights with these weights. No wonder the Hyperspeeds feel so light!!
I really struggle to walk in the Nimbus mow, they actually feel heavy and like bricks on my feet.
I really like the MR828's especially the price, so I went and bought a spare pair for when the nimbus are finished.
I will just use the Nimbus for LSD walks (Long Slow Distance)
The Skypspeeds for long races, the Hyperspeeds for up to 21 and the MR828's for everyday faster training and Nimbus for LSD.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)