22/06/14

So, this post is overdue by about three weeks now. The truth is, I haven't been in the writing mood very much given the situation I've been in. From three weeks ago Monday, I started with a little cough and sore throat and things just got progressively worse, health-wise, from there. As winter wraps us up into its fold, the temperature starts to drop into the single digits, the days get darker earlier, a sense of gloom hangs in the air, the rain starts to pour for days on end and the blustering wind cuts to the bone, quite literally as I feel a heightened sense of pain in my left forearm - the result of the plates being affected by the temperature drop I'm told - running, as well as staying healthy, becomes more and more of a mission.

I carried this slight cold with me for about a week (or so), continuing to run as much as possible without cutting too much into my training but also maintaining a check on my health. I didn't manage to match the previous two weeks' mileage but, regardless, I still put in a decent effort given the fact that I am not at all prepared for running in the Cape winter.

26-05-14
Mon-PM 11.7km - 1:23:00 (466m)

Evening run with Sheldon on the Lion Loop. Very easy pace to deal with a sore lower back and just some general leg fatigue. Sheldon ran with my headlamp and I used a handheld torch. Dark trails made running at a slower pace a little easier. 

27-05-14
Tues-PM 7.2km - 41:16 (400m)

Set off after work on a Signal Hill loop. Calves felt tight and strained from the get go on the way Pat's Track. To top off the the body fatigue, I was feeling pretty woozy as well. Probably from not eating enough during the day. Pushed through to the top of the saddle worrying whether I could push further up the Lion but the weather had other ideas. The wind at the start of the Lions Back trail was strong enough to convince me that heading further up, in my current state, was a bad idea. Cut things short and headed back to the Signal hill lookout and down the Noon Gun Battery trail.

28-05-14
Wed-PM 10.5km - 1:14:58 (602m)

Another evening run on the Lion. Started up the Noon Gun Crush route in the dark (is it just me or is getting dark at midday!!) feeling pretty strong after the last few days. I'm not used to feeling strong after the Noon Gun battery climb but things felt solid which made for a happier, more positive run. Made my way through to the saddle and started up the Lions Back. Thankfully the wind had quietened down since yesterday which meant that a full Lion summit was on the cards. Pushed pretty strong up the switchbacks and started up the Lion main trail pretty hard, feeling confident. skipped the chain section and ran along the side trail on the Lion summit because I wasn't too sure about the safety of climbing in the dark. Ironic because I slipped pretty hard on the flattest section of the trail. Landed nice and firmly on my ass. Good times. The descent was uncomfortable after the bail but still managed to put in a good effort down Pat's Track and home. Shower, Ice pack on the butt and a beer to wind down.

29-05-14
Thur 
No run. Took a "rest" day - which in all actuality was actually an excuse to go share some beers with the guys and head to the Labia theater to watch the premiere of Ryan Sandes and Ryno Griesel's new  documentary on their record-breaking traverse of the Drakensberg mountain range - Travailen. If you haven't checked it out yet, then get on it ASAP. It's an absolutely phenomenal production that captures the attempt beautifully. Check out the review by iRunFar as well..

30-05-14
Fri-PM 13.1km - 1:23:23 (938m)

Nothing too special tonight. Wasn't feeling 100% healthy the day before which carried over to today. Still, managed to do some higher tempo on the fireroads ascent and the first stretch of the Signal Hill ridge without feeling too stretched before starting up the Lions Back. Took it relatively easy up to the summit of Lions Head but put in a solid effort on the descent (as best one could in the dark) then, for no apparent reason, let the legs loose down Pat's Track and back home. 

31-05-14
Sat-PM 11.8km - 1:45:08

Still carrying some health issues from Thursday night. Sheldon and I took a slow run up Signal Hill - my legs were feeling pretty tired which was a bit of a concern to me as the effort we were putting in wasn't enough to put that kinda strain on the calves and I was kind of nervous that this was the onset muscle fatigue of getting flu - which wasn't helped by the strong wind and thickish mist. Still, a fun time running with a buddy and a good scramble up the Lion. We sat on the top for a while just taking in the serenity (no scenery because the mist was so thick) before heading back home.

01-06-14

Sun
No run. Woke up feeling absolutely dreadful. Rest day.

So, as mentioned above, the mileage I recorded didn't manage to stay on par with where I would have liked it but that's all part of the game. We can't always be in control of every situation and not every little detail will go according to our plans, much the same that no run we do will ever be the same. We won't have identical conditions, both physically and mentally, to benchmark performances on, we won't be able to have all the other runners figured and the list goes on. But we adapt. We use the information that we do have at our disposal and we build new strategy around it. We change our gameplans according to the situation we find ourselves in.

I think that's one of the main lessons in any sport; that, no matter how much training you put it or how much you analyse and scrutinise every detail, ache over plans, there will always be a proverbial spanner in the works just hovering and waiting to push us on to unexpected paths. As a novice to the sport of trail running, mountain running and as a complete rookie to the world of ultra distance running, I do what I can to extract knowledge from those around me that possess it. those that are willing to take the time to speak about their experiences, the elites that write articles and my fellow beginners who have their own unique experiences to share - I try and gain as much from them all as I can to better equip myself for the run.

The week of the 2nd July started poorly and, decidedly, trying to test my resolve and conviction towards adaptation.

As somebody who is used to running, at least, 5 times a week, being sick is, to be blunt, a pain in the ass. It doesn't necessarily limit your ability to run so much as it does your running ability. Sure, you wont be logging your fastest times but you'll still be able to get out there (maybe just bundled up under a few extra layers).

I would have killed to be sick like that. Instead, I had to deal with some muscle-crippling flu strain that lamed me up enough to not be able to run at all but still ok enough to warrant going to work (instead of to the doctor and home to rest until it passes). Essentially, it culminated in a depressing week of non-running and some serious agitation on my part.

02-06-14 to 06-06-14
Mon to Fri
The dreaded man-flu strikes. Monday to Thursday are the worst days with Friday being a full serving of false hope which led to some stupidity.

07-06-14
Sat-AM 5km - 18:54 (17m)
Parkrun with the guys. Chris and I set an early pace and maintained for the majority of the run. It's all better explained in their run report. Guess we shouldn't have had those vegan lamb bunny chows the night before as kilometre 3 was the striking point for both Chris and I. Stomach issues in the 5000m dash ain't nothing to mess with. Still, both of us putting in sub 19 minutes was pretty fun.

08-06-14
Sun
No run. Return of the flu. Guess yesterday's outing was a little premature. Awful weather so not much guilt for sitting this one out.

Total Hours: 6:45:39
Total Mileage: 59.2km
Total Gain: 3262m

Some of you may remember from an earlier post about how Anton Krupicka is my main inspiration in the running scene (that's not to say he is the only one, I gain inspiration from many, many sources, but Anton is my number one go-to guy) and I have been reading back on some of his musings on his blog from his past winter (our summer). Anton had been laid off for some time with a significant hip injury (although, at his lowest point, he still outperformed me - the mind boggles) and he had a hard time dealing with it. He wasn't able to hit targets that he would usually reach in his sleep. He was pushing some serious mental barriers.

I took great insight from those writings in learning to deal with my not-so-significant-in-the-grand-scheme flu. Here I was, losing a week of running and feeling - admittedly - depressed about it, whereas Anton had lost a good portion of a year to injury. For a professional athlete, losing such a significant amount of time could only amount to a great deal of internalising frustrations and anxieties. Perspective can play an extremely important role in all this. I'm nowhere near being a professional athlete (heck, I'm not anywhere near being an amateur either) so what could my week of no training realistically do to my mindset that I couldn't overcome? What makes my training and my running so special that taking a week off could merit such disappointment and tension?

Well, I don't have an answer for that and I doubt I ever will. It's just one of those things that I chalk up as being inherent to being a runner. We all experience highs and lows and nobody else's experience can or will be the same as ours nor will we ever be able to completely empathise with them. It's just too personal an experience to project onto another person. Maybe it becomes a question of dedication or passion? I'm not really in a position to ask those questions but they are things that play on my mind from time to time. For another post though.

11-06-14

Mon

No run. Coming back from flu and not wanting to push it too hard.

10-06-14

Tues-AM

The weather was completely atrocious when I woke up so I figured I'd put in a session at the gym. Started things with a warm up on the treadmill, 10 minutes at 5min/km pace. Moved on to my regular gym session after warming up. Some strength training in preparation for the climbing excursions I'd like to get in during the summer. Ended off the session on the treadmill again for some fartlek-style training. Started with an easy 400m at, more or less, 5:30m/km pace then kicked it up to 1200m at a sub 4min/km pace. Pushed super hard to break a 5 minute mile, narrowly missed out. Ended the treadmill session with a 400m sprint at 3:30m/km pace on a 15% incline. Legs felt super bushed after that. Burning sensation underfoot which I wrote off to pushing so hard on a treadmill in MT00s.

PM

Set off on an an evening run with the intent of pushing a Lions Back loop which was cut short about a kilometre into the run by excruciating pain underfoot.

11-06-14

Wed

A trip to the hospital and an x-ray revealed a stress fracture in my 3rd and 4th metatarsals in my right foot. Doctor recommends 6-8 weeks off. Frustration.

12-06-14 to 15-06-14

Thurs - Sun

No running.

16-06-14 to 22-06-14

Mon - Sun

Week 1 of 8 down, only 7 more long, frustrating weeks to go until I'm able to start training again. Not much going on right now other than a few gym sessions to work on core and upper body strength. 

25/05/14

19-05-14
Mon-PM 11.2km - 1:08:25 (546m)
Started the week with an evening run up the Lions Back (fast becoming one of my favourite climbs). I could definitely feel that I was carry some fatigue in both my calves which I blame on the fact that last weeks mileage was more than double the previous weeks. I didn't allow myself a transition time to build back up. Live and learn, I suppose. Kept the pace pretty easy so as not to potentially blow my legs out, which seemed to work as I made my way up the Lions Back in a decent time, all things considered. On the way up, an intense cloudbank hit the Atlantic seaboard and, within minutes, had shrouded Signal Hill in a thick layer of mist. Watching it roll in so fast was almost surreal, as I sat on the Lions Back, mesmerised by what I was watching transpire. so much so that, for a minute, I completely forgot that I had to run back down into it to get home. Descending Lions Head, I ran straight in to some of the thickest mist/fog I''d ever seen. Visibility was cut down to roughly 2 or so metres in front of me. I decided that, for my safety, I'd take an easier route back home instead of running Pat's Track through the pea soup in which i found myself. Headed on the trail back towards Clifton/Bantry Bay and then dropped down on the lower contour path of Signal Hill. This spat me out onto a road in Upper Fresnaye which, although it was pavement pounding, was very well lit.

20-05-14
Tues-PM 11.3km - 1:20:39 (642m)
Set off on the top path through to the Signal Hill lookout area, using the Bonecrusher Blaze route, and could immediately tell that this run was not going to be the best I'd ever had. The cloudbank from the day before seemed to be hovering over the hill but, more so, was being bolstered by low-hanging cloud being blown in by the breeze off the ocean. The top track along Signal Hill is quite fun as it's, more or less, flat and has some super quick sections which are interrupted every so often with techy underfoot conditions, which means you can't just go to sleep and sprint through. The problem, however, was that the cloudbank was still hanging low enough to warrant slower stepping through the sections. My tired legs didn't mind this all that much. To top off everything, I was experiencing some mild stomach issues. Nothing too graphic but still made moving fast uncomfortable. Made my way up the Lions Back (in a similar time to the day before) and proceeded in getting blown over by the wind. I was pretty taken aback by how a few metres of elevation could have such different weather conditions. I had initially planned on summiting Lions Head but the wind factor was much stronger than I had anticipated so I slunk down the jeep track and made my way back to the lookout area and back home.

21-05-14
Wed-PM 10.2km - 1:02:38 (551m)
Set off on Pats Track up Signal Hill to try summit Lions Head, seeing as I missed out due to weather conditions the day before. The skies were clear which led me to believe that conditions would be more favourable with the added bonus of not having to run through the mist. About half way up the trail, my stomach started acting up again. I'm not sure whether it has to do with my diet being out of balance or if it's running related but these minor stomach issues I've been having are starting to get quite annoying. they've taken some of the fun out of running. It's hard to fully enjoy the experience when you're stuck wondering whether you can trust that it's just flatulence. Regardless, I pushed through up the Lions Back but, again, had to call it quits on going to the summit of Lions Head. I wasn't feeling my best and figured that maybe I needed to get home as quick as possible before I had a trail-side accident. I was both wrong and right. In my haste to get home, I miscalculated a step, in the dark, and found myself rolling through some bushes on the side of the trail. Thankfully that was the only accident that occurred. A few scrapes and a bruise or two.

22-05-14
Thurs-AM 5km - 23:05 (18m)
Woke up early to get a morning run in because the weather had been predicted to get worse in the afternoon. Settled on doing a road run as my calves were quite stiff. Only once I started running did I realise the extent of the fall from the night before. Some significant hip pain in my left hip forced me to cut the run at a measly 5kms. Still managed to get a decent pace going. I'll chalk this one down as a recovery run. Thursday night beers were just what the doctor ordered. Sampled some delightful craft beers down at Mitchell's Ale House and shared some great company. Lifted my spirits after the mornings endeavor.

23-05-14
Fri-PM 13.1km - 1:30:07 (1172m)
Went up the Bonecrusher Blaze route on Friday evening with the intention of summiting Lions Head, regardless of weather conditions or body issues, and managed to keep a consistent pace the whole way up. Didn't push too hard on any of the ascents as I was trying to keep myself in decent shape for the charity run we were doing the next day. Sat atop the Lion for some time before heading back home to some well-deserved pizza and rest. Made sure I didn't push the descents either. The last thing you want to be doing the day before is race is quad-bashing, unnecessarily, downhill. No matter how fun the trail may be.

24-05-14
Sat-AM 17.8km - 1:48:26 (790m)
The weather on Saturday morning was both beautiful and hideous. Those of us up early enough to run the St Lukes Childrens Hospice Charity Run were treated to a rare electrical storm in the early hours of the morning, which was quite spectacular, but were also subjected to some rain, wind and mist as we set off on a short but steep adventure on Devil's Peak. I'm pretty sure that some of the trail we ran along is the same sections used in the Two Oceans Trail Half Marathon, so it was nice to be able to experience after missing out on an entry to the Two Oceans this year. The climbs were fun, the single track quick, the views were magnificent and the weather was manageable.

(From L-R) Sheldon, Myself and Chris in our Fry's Superhero outfits.

Sheldon and myself backed off the early pace and just had fun with it. We may not have won the race but we won the hearts of all the spectators and other runners. Chris, in true Chris fashion, burned through the course to take 2nd place, missing out on the win by 6 seconds. Even though we only set out to have fun on the run, I definitely picked up a few key areas that I need to work on in the coming weeks. Important to note that my legs felt good during this run. Not much calf fatigue or knee strain. Taking that as a moral victory.

If you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong!

25-05-14
Sun-PM 13km - 1:26:38 (1087m)
Ended off the week with a trip up Lions Head. The pain that I didn't feel during the run from the day before was not going to let me off so lightly (the fact that I was running with a hangover can, and will, be completely ignored). The climbs were slow and frustrating and the flats felt sluggish and tired. Regardless, I wasn't going to let that stop me and pushed on up the summit. I have my eye set on doing my first ultra this year so time on legs and learning to push through the physical discomfort have become priorities for me.

Total Hours: 8:39:58
Total Mileage: 81.6km
Total Gain: 4800m

A solid week of running, all in all. I'm a little disappointed that I was unable to get that vertical gain ticking over into the 5000m territory but, as it stands, this week is the most elevation I've done this year. If I can, I want to keep this average weekly mileage for the next month before looking to step it up into the 100km per week mark. My legs have been carrying quite a substantial amount of fatigue which is something I'll be keeping an eye on. the last thing I need is to blow a leg at this point in my training.

I know that, earlier, I said that I wouldn't be entering another proper race this year but, as plans usually do, things have changed. I've got my sights set on entering the Ultra Trail Cape Town 62km race at the end of October (initially I wanted to go after the 100K as my first ultra but there are qualifying criteria that I don't meet..) so that leaves me 4 months to work on building a solid base for my endurance, speed and strength. What this means is that, apart from spending some time in the gym to work on general strength and fitness, I'll have plenty of time to work on my mental game. I understand that by the 40th kilometre my body will be sore and it will be tired and it will be begging me to just stop which is why training my mind to focus is such a key element.

18/05/14

12-05-14
Mon
No running. Traded in my Monday for a rest day, which may or may not have been deserved, as well as got around to sorting out some things that were left undone when I went away last week. Housecleaning, if you will.

13-05-14
Tues-PM 11.6km - 1:03:03 (500m)
Nice and easy evening run on the Signal Hill loop. Took the long way around the base of Lions Head, which is a route I hardly ever do from that direction, and back down Pat's Track. Still finding it pretty difficult to run in the dark. Having the headlamp makes a difference, naturally, but it's still pretty sketchy to try and move at pace, in the dark, on these trails. There's just rocks waiting to jump out at you everywhere.

14-05-14
Wed-PM 11.3km - 1:08:30 (668m)
From start to finish I was having a torrid time on this run. I don't know if it was something I did or didn't eat but I had the worst acid reflux the entire time which made the run less than enjoyable. Still, upset stomach and all, I got to sneak in a half Lion on a route I like to call the Bonecrusher Blaze (I honestly have no idea why it was called that but I'm just going with it). Things got a little hairy on the return leg down the Noon Gun Crush route with some near falls on less-than-stable trail rock. More darkness on the trails as the sun seems to be setting earlier and earlier these days. I can get used to having 10 hours of sunlight a day but only if it means I get to use at least an hour and a half of that. Seems I'm only getting half an hour maximum before I have to switch to the headlamp. DST would do Capetonians a world of good.

15-05-14
Thur-AM 8.7km - 41:10 (~40m)
Took an easy morning run to test out the tread on my old New Balance MT10s. The heel got crushed out on this pair a lot quicker than the forefoot (which I blame on poor form during the transition to a more minimal shoe) so I replaced them for trail running but I figured that I could probably use them on the road where the conditions are a little more favourable and forgiving than the trails. Took them on a little out and back along the promenade before work. I figure that I could probably get them re-tread somewhere, on the heel, and use them as a pair of short-distance road shoes. I wouldn't bother running anything more than 15km in them, definitely not enough support for pavement pounding. Cape Town is getting chilly in the mornings too.

16-05-14
Fri-PM 12km - 1:14:15 (879m)
Took an impromptu trip up Lions Head on Friday night. That makes it summit number 11 for the year. I'm going to need to work on that number. It had rained during the day so the trail conditions were a little slick, wet patches and puddles all over the show, making for some interesting underfoot conditions. Wore the wrong pair of shoes out for this run, took the 3090's, but in my defence, I hadn't planned on summiting Lions Head. I was just going to do a half Lion and head home because i was meant to be meeting people for dinner. I can say that it was well worth it. I may not have set my fastest time up the Lion but I felt a lot stronger on this summit than I have on previous attempts which is a great sign for my overall fitness. The only real issue i had was some tightness in my calves and knees on the final push to the summit but that pain is generally expected.

17-05-14
Sat-PM 14.6km - 1:20:48 (1053m)
Made sure that I wore the correct shoes and set off to tackle the Lions Back, in the afternoon. The legs were feeling nice and loose, nothing pulling tight and, weirdly enough, no calf pain. I did misjudge a few steps here and there and ended up rolling my right ankle, slightly, on the way up Signal Hill. Nothing too bad, that I had to turn around, but it would have been nice to not have stepped so lazily. Ended up doing two laps up the Lions Back, I was feeling so good, both times hitting a decent pace up. Right now, at such an early stage in building up my training base (to the point that I'm doing 100km weeks consistently), I'm not so much worried about pace as I am about consistency. Both laps up were within 10 seconds of each other. On the way back home I must have really been feeling good because I did a 19:30-ish 5K down Pat's Track and hit a ½ mile PB.

18-05-14
Sun-PM 15.2km - 1:56:16 (1424m)
Chris ran the Helderberg mountain Challenge on Sunday morning. 24km with 2km of vertical gain. Suffice to say I was pretty jealous. Not to be outdone by all that, Sheldon and I decided to hit Table Mountain and get some vertical of our own going. Took Sheldon up India Venster, nice and steep, and then we set out running along the entire front face (Town facing) of the mountain. Hit the loop through to the cableway, dodging tourists along the way, and then back to the Platteklip intersection, up and through to Maclears Beacon to tag the highest point in Cape Town, back along the trail to Platteklip stairs, down, jelly legging, and ended off with a few kms of road back to the car. Briefly considered a sneaky 5km night run on the promenade but decided against it once my butt touched the couch.

Total Hours: 7:24:02
Total Mileage: 73.4km
Total Gain: 4562m

Great to be back in Cape Town and on home trails. While it was nice to get away last week and see family, I definitely missed running on Signal Hill and Lions Head. Had to put myself through my paces and attack the vertical to make up for all the flat running I did the previous week. It was also great to be able to put more time on the legs and get back to slightly higher mileage weeks. Been topping out in the 50s lately and now I'm looking forward to upping that to around the 70km per week mark. If all goes to plan (a very loose plan, I might add) then I should be hitting the 100km per week in the next 4 months or so. I know that I could probably go to that zone quicker but, all things considered, I want to make sure that my body, and my wallet, remain unharmed in the process of transition and building.

The theme for this weeks running has most definitely been "consistency". Whether that be consistency in the distances that I've been running or the splits on uphills vs the splits on flats/downhills, I've tried to maintain my consistency as much as possible. I figure that when I'm running long races, it'll be the consistency that I've built up that will see me home rather than even dreaming of relying on speed and strength. Some times one has to be brutally honest and come to terms with the facts. But, as I proved to myself in the Summer Trail Series, I have the ability to be consistent, if anything, and if I look after my body right, all the while putting in the hard work, then, come race day, I shouldn't have anything to worry about (although the prospect of running my first trail ultra/road marathon has me slightly nervous).

Speaking of road running, I hit the New Balance outlet store to see if I could pick up a pair of road racers to start doing some pavement pounding in (I'm considering entering a road marathon and, if i do, I have my heart set on a sub 3hr debut, possibly even a 2:45, so I need to put in the time on the road to get used to bashing away at my knees for 42kms) and, while I didn't find anything in my size, I did come across a sample of the 2014 Minimus Zero V2s which had me jumping for joy. It's like the designers at New Balance heard my pleas for a trail shoe that can hold up on the trails we have here while offering you equal parts protection, traction and responsiveness all bundled in a lightweight package. The stack height looks great, the outsole looks strong (except for maybe one or two of the smaller centre spine lugs that feel a little flimsy), the upper offers good toe and heel protection and the shoe has a 0mm heel to toe differential. For a shoe nerd like me, this is some of the most exciting stuff I've seen come from New Balance in a while. I also read that they're going to be re-introducing the MT101s which has me in a spin. But more on that later when I've put a couple hundred kms on a pair.

11/05/14

05-05-14
Mon
No running. Rest day after the WFL run. Tired legs.

06-05-14
Tues-PM 7.2km - 47:20 (360m)
Midday recovery jog/walk along Signal Hill. Decided to take some time on the mountain before I headed to Durban. No pushing on the inclines or declines. My left leg, from the knee down, was in some pain. A little tender spot behind the kneecap and a sharp pain on the outer section of my shin. Still, it felt good to get the time on my feet. Almost made me late for my flight.

07-05-14
Wed-AM 11.1km - 52:40 (170m)
Chalking this one down as another recovery run although I was able to hold a much more consistent pace. Ran from my parents home to Ansteys Beach and then kept going along the beachfront. Definitely had a lot of fun running along the ocean with the sun warming things up. The route was also pretty much flat so it aided keeping the pace consistent. From the left knee down there's still a bit of tenderness. The outer section of my shin doesn't seem to be enjoying things lately.

08-05-14
Thurs
No running again. My left leg was a bit swollen at the base of the calf muscle and the outer section of the shin. Not sure what this means but not really willing to push it to the point of failure. Spent the day getting a tattoo and then taking care of some stuff at home.

09-05-14
Fri-AM 4.3 km - 20:03 (50m) 
Short run to grab some groceries at a very easy pace. I figure that, seeing as I would like to run North Beach parkrun on Saturday, I might as well take it as easy as possible without being lazy. The left knee felt better after being iced, however, my left calf and shin were still in a bit of pain.

10-05-14
Sat-AM 5.1km - 18:43 (25m)
I'm not really one for PBs on short or flat courses but I'm going to claim this one. Technically, my time for the 5km was 18:30 which is a full 0:35 quicker than my previous PB for a 5km. Just goes to show that hills and mountains are really just speedwork in disguise. The North Beach parkrun is a pretty simple and flat out and back that is flanked by the ocean on one side so it can be pretty easy to get distracted or slack off on the pace. Thankfully, my puppy dog instincts kicked in and I couldn't help but chase after the lead runner. (Sidenote: he floored it on the return leg and did me in by 1:10. Second run at NB parkrun, second place for the second time. At least I'm consistent)

11-05-14
Sun-PM 8.4km - 48:49 (604m)
Easy group run with Shelds, Chris, Michal and Ariadna through Newlands Forest and along the boardwalks. Legs felt good on the climbs (considering all I'd run for the past few days was flat roads) which is a good sign. Left calf and shin only played up after we stopped running. Time for more acupuncture and some massage therapy perhaps.

Total Hours: 3:07:35
Total Mileage: 36.1
Total Gain: 1209m

Not a great week for running, quite frankly, but not too terrible considering the run last week Sunday. Flying home to Durban and taking some time off of work was quite enjoyable. Always good to reconnect with your roots and strengthen those family bonds, even if it is only for a short while. Better to be grateful for the time you do have than to get caught up bitching about it and losing even more in the process.

My mom lost a very close friend to cancer on Thursday. I was in the middle of my tattoo sitting at the time so I only found out what had happened when I got home. Nobody likes to see their friends or family in pain but I'm just glad that I was able to be there for her as opposed to potentially having been sitting in Cape Town and having to find out about it.

Busy setting up a new section on the blog to put all my thoughts into one place and not burden those that get tired of my rambling. Keep an eye open.

04/05/14

28-04-14
Mon-AM 13.3km - 1:58:11 (1194m)
Public holiday Monday meant extra mileage. Chris and I went up India Venster from the Pipe Track parking lot. No better way to spend a public holiday. My hydration was pretty off and I got a little dehydrated. Dark urine aside, it was a fantastic run. Legs felt solid through the whole climb and run.

29-04-14
Tues-PM 9.2km - 53:10 (490m)
Took a run along the Signal Hill trail to the viewpoint overlooking Clifton beach. Table Bay and the Atlantic Seaboard were covered by a cloudbank so it was pretty cool to spend some time running above the cloud line.

30-04-14
Wed-PM 7.6km - 44:02 (390m)
Ran the Signal Hill loop in reverse tonight and headed up through to the old noon gun battery. Slightly slower descent than usual to take care of a niggle I was feeling in my right calf.

01-05-14
Thurs-PM 11.3km - 1:07:26 (750m)
Another public holiday and another longer run. Signal Hill loop and added in a half summit of Lions Head (trail was incredibly busy so I didn't bother fighting the crowds to the summit). Not the best time I've done on this particular loop but in my defence my right calf felt like it had gotten worse from the evening before.

02-05-14
Fri-PM 5.2km - 36:35 (375m)
Took a trip up the new route that I found on Signal Hill. Didn't push hard at all. Used this run as a taper for Sunday's run. Both calves felt pretty tight.

03-05-14
Sat
No running today. Spent the day getting shit together for the Wings For Life World Run.

20-04-14
Sun-AM 33.2km - 2:37:12 (185m)
Wings For Life World Run with Chris and Sheldon. All road and horrid weather but we kept a good pace and had an awesome run. Pretty bummed that I couldn't do the full marathon distance. Super stiff legs afterwards (as expected). 

Total hours: 7:56:36
Total Mileage: 79.8km
Total Gain: 3384m

A pretty high mileage week (in comparison to the previous few) with some good distance runs as well as some good elevation gained. 

The Wings For Life World Run on Sunday was the definite highlight of the week, both for running and personally. It's nearly a week after the run and I'm still carrying the runners high from participating. hopefully next year more people will enter and get involved. 

In Durban seeing my family for the next week. Don't expect too much elevation but going to try get a couple of decent distance runs in.

Also, losing my mind because of Transvulcania this weekend. Cannot wait to see who takes it. Sage, Timmy and DBo are going to give it their all! 

27/04/14

21-04-14
Mon
A public holiday on Monday and the build up to my birthday meant that I spent, basically, the entire day with my family. I don't get to see my parents often anymore since we all live in different parts of the country so I decided to make the most of my time with them this week.

22-04-14
Tues-PM 7.4km - 41:49 (322m)
Hit the Signal Hill loop for an easy jog. Felt pretty solid on the uphill to the Signal Hill lookout and ended up setting a CR on the climb up. Could probably do it quicker if I put more effort into it, if I'm honest with myself. Lately I've been a little lazy when it comes to running the entire length of an uphill climb so it's nice to know that I can still do it.

23-04-14
Wed-AM 12.9km - 1:38:00 (860m)
Just a nice and easy early morning summit of Lions Head before the sun came up. I think I was probably 3/5 of the way home, along the Signal Hill side trail, when the sun decided to make an appearance. I can see that I'm still going to need to take some time to get used to running with a headlamp as well. The views of the city on the way up the Lions Back were quite spectacular though. It's a fantastic sight, watching the city wake up.

24-04-14
Thurs
Another day off from running. This time to recover from all the mescal the night before. As it turns out, Thursday seem to be my unofficial washing days as well so I'm usually quite rushed for time on a Thursday after work to try and fit in a run. I guess that's just another thing to add to the list of things I need to work on.

25-04-14
Fri-PM 8km - 50:55 (422m)
Another easy evening jog along Signal Hill. Took the bottom track which climbs up and joins the main trail halfway between the Clifton beach trailhead and the saddle. The sun has started setting way earlier now as winter draws near and I found myself stopping a number of times and just admiring the colours of the skyline and the light filtering through the trees. I don't recall ever being as mesmerised by sunsets, in my life, as I am these days. Decided to push it hard on the descent and try beat the sun. I lost.

26-04-14
Sat-AM 3km warm up - 13:50 (15m)
Had to scout the route for parkrun, early on Saturday morning, to make sure that there were no obstacles along the way and no interference with the World Triathlon Series being hosted in Cape Town this weekend. Chilly, early start means running in tights and gloves. Brr.

Sat-AM 5km - 19:05 (19m)
Decided to let somebody else manage the funnel at Green Point parkrun this weekend so that I could have a little run around. Chris showed up just before we got going and the two of us ran together for a bit until Chris decided his legs were too eager and he sprinted off into the distance. He finished second and I took fourth and I set myself a new 5km PB. I guess I could have gone sub19 minutes but for the final 2km I had already given up on catching Chris and decided to just enjoy the route seeing as though I hardly ever get to run it.

27-04-14
Sun
It was my brothers' last day in town so we spent the day together. Didn't end up running.

total hours: 3:42:59 
total mileage: 36.4km
total gain: 1638m

All in all, not the best week of running I've ever had although I'm not going to beat myself up over it. Before Monday even kicked off I had figured that, with my parents being here, I wasn't going to get all that much mileage in so the fact that I nearly managed 40km was quite a surprise.

I've also had way bigger fish to fry this week. I've been living inside my own head quite a lot lately trying to process some emotions I've been experiencing. Seeing my parents again for the first time in 6 months was a welcome relief. I've never been big on family (that's not to say that I don't love them) but since moving away to the opposite side of the country (and not to discount all the turmoil of the last 12 months) I've felt like I needed to forge a stronger bond with them. I know my parents aren't going to be around forever and I've already missed way too many opportunities, than I'd like to recount, to tell them that I love them. 

I've also been dealing with some unnecessary work-related stress for some time now. Lately I've been under the impression that my extra efforts have been noticed by those with the authority to make decisions within the company so I was looking forward to my annual review this week. I had grand ideas of the possibility of a promotion as well as a raise. I'm not one to "toot my own horn" but I felt like the things I was asking for were in no way a step out of line or unreasonable requests. Suffice to say, things did not turn out the way I expected them to. So, watch this space for more on that. It would be accurate to say that my future with the company is murky at best.

On top of all of that, I've been having, what I would call, some pretty serious anxiety about turning 28. I know that it has been an over-reaction (which, admittedly, I am prone to) and I know that there are probably going to be people reading this, older, bemoaning my moaning but, I guess, the reason I've let it get to me is because I had a 5 year plan in place (figured it out when I was, more or less, 23) and this week, being the fifth year, I did some deep self-reflection and I wasn't happy with the results. Nobody likes to fail. Especially when they set themselves, generally, realistic goals that could (and should) easily be conquered within such a large time-frame. Nobody likes to look in towards themselves and discover that they haven't really made all that much progress. Having said all that, Wednesday was a remarkably uneventful day, other than my run up Lions Head. We went to dinner at El Burro in Green Point and had some of the most amazing Mexican food you could wish to have, I may have had one too many mescal shots and, as it turns out, 28 wasn't so bad.

However, obviously, as is the nature of the universe, some things are out of your control and I can, more or less, accept that. I can accept that I have also not played as big a role in creating the progress as I should have. But I can still feel frustrated by this. And I am. 

I know that running can't fix all my problems and I'm not going to pretend that it will either. But it has played a big part in the last 10 months and, every day that I am able to get out there and hit the trail, I take comfort in this security blanket that I have, if you will. 

Things may not be perfect right now but that's not to say they can't be fixed.

21/04/14

14-04-14
Mon-PM 8.9km - 42:02 (414m)
An unplanned sleep-in and stiff legs meant that the run after work was kept pretty easy. Mostly on the road and hitting a fair amount of steps to get that gain in.

15-04-14
Tues-PM 7.4km - 44:07 (332m)
Another missed morning of running. Trying not to get into habit of sleeping in too late before work especially now that winter is so close. The cold is going to make it tough enough to get up early as it is. Had to cut the evening run short so that I wasn't late to fetch my brother, who is visiting, from the airport. Hit a 1km PR of 3:26 on the descent back home on the out and back.

16-04-14
Wed
No running. Spent time with my brother who I hadn't seen for 6 months prior. The price you pay for living in different cities, I guess. 

17-04-14
Thurs
More of the same, sadly. I suppose I could have gotten up early for a run but this habit seems to already be set. Need to work on breaking the cycle. 

18-04-14
Fri-AM 12.2km - 1:24:09 (860m)
Managed to drag myself out of bed and up Lions Head, nice and early. Also tested out my new headlamp. Very handy but I can see I'm going to need to run more often with it to get used wearing it. 8th summit of Lions Head this year. Horribly slack.

Fri-PM 7.3km - 45:30 (397m)
Casual evening jog on the Signal Hill loop. Legs took a little bit of a beating on the descent in the morning run so kept things mellow. No point risking unnecessary injury. 

19-04-14
Sat
No mileage. After parkrun, my brother and I hung out for a bit, tried to join buddies at Forries post-2Oceans and ended up spending all day at the Slug on Kloof Str watching rugby and football. Usually I'm pretty angry with myself if I don't clock any miles for a day but I honestly didn't even think about it today.

20-04-14
Sun-AM 8.7km - 57:43 (~430m)
Had issues with my phone GPS recording (as usual). Had to keep the morning run short so that I could make it to the airport to pick my mom up. We were still late.

Sun-PM 12.2km - 1:30:27 (860m)
More GPS issues on the evening run up Lions Head before going to pick up my dad from the airport. Still, felt pretty good on the climb up the Lions Back and managed to hit my second best time going up the secondary route to the summit (around the side of the Lion, skipping the chains). Set new ¼ and ½ mile PRs. Still nowhere near good enough to break a sub-4min mile. 9th summit of the year. 

Total hours: 6:03
Total Mileage: 56.7km
Total Gain: 3293m

Caught up in two minds about this weeks summary. On one hand, I know that I could have run 7/7 days even if I did some barefoot (which I haven't done in some time. Slacking off seems to be endemic). On the other hand, it's been good to see my brother and parents. Last time I saw them was 6 months ago for my brothers 21st. I'm guessing that the upcoming week will be more like this as well while my family is down for my birthday. I suppose I shouldn't feel too bad as I really am making the most of my time, even if it's not time on foot.

Going to have to start trying to make time before or after work to hit the gym up as well. Come next summer, I'm looking forward to getting into some climbing so I figure that, while the weather gets shit during winter, I can use that time to do some upper body strength training for the climbing season.

Not really in the mood to write anything more substantial right now even though I do have quite a bit on my mind. Perhaps for another post.

13/04/14

While we were away in Franschoek the other weekend, I had a pretty incredible moment during my Sunday morning post-hangover run. I wanted to write about it last week but I was riding such a high that it might have added unnecessary length to the post. 

Anyway, as I mentioned in the last post, I elected to run to the dam on my own, to ensure that the weekend wasn't a complete write off, and somewhere between the city centre and the access road to the dam, I had to stop for a moment and figure out where the heck I was running. I'm not too familiar with the layout of Franschoek but, from the map, it seemed that everything was laid out in a pretty easy-to-get-around fashion. I guess I was - definitely - being a little paranoid (or lazy) because I started to panic at the prospect of having taken a wrong turn, even though I basically had to get on one road and stay straight the entire time. 

So, as I was standing around trying to get my bearings, it suddenly dawned on me that I was absolutely alone. I guess not totally "alone" as the town centre was probably about 4 kilometres or so back along the road but for the most part I was out there by myself and nothing else. I hadn't seen a car since I left the town centre and I was running through, what is essentially, wide open farmland and vineyards. 

It was an incredibly inspiring and humbling moment, just standing there on the side of the road, being completely dwarfed on all sides by the Jonkershoek Mountain range, in front of me, and the Hottentots-Holland range in all other directions (I might have these names wrong. Feel free to correct me if I have). In that moment of silence, where not even the wind made a sound, I had never felt more insignificant or more powerful in my whole life. I was very much haunted by some of the monologue by Anton Krupicka in "In The High Country" where he discusses the importance of the mountains and how we can learn about ourselves through them (sidenote: Tony is a huge influence in my running and, more importantly, the way I view being in the mountains. I definitely recommend checking out his videos).

What struck me the most, and indeed has stayed with me since that day, is how silent everything was. Most trail runners are already very familiar with the type of silence that I am talking about but for those of us that run "urban trails" (that is, trails surrounded by urban areas) we have a different concept of silence. Sure, the trails are remarkably more quiet than the promenades and sidewalks, however, when surrounded by city and urban sprawl, such as Table Mountain is, we still get the feedback of the city. From the top of Lion's Head, one can still hear the buzz of the city below. 

Out there, somewhere along the R45, on the side of the road, under the sweltering heat of an unrelenting midday sun, I was treated to absolute silence. To a stillness that, for some, does not come by very often. And I was reminded, in that moment, exactly what it was that I was looking for every time I put on my shoes and headed out the door.

07-04-14 
Mon

No running today. I marked it down as a rest day but in reality it was just me struggling to get back into routine after a pretty amazing weekend away with good company. Instead, a couple of us hit up a beginners class for Hot Yoga at Yogalife. It was my first experience in a yoga studio and a thoroughly enjoyable class. Definitely felt it in my core the next morning.

08-04-14
Tues am

Early morning gym session. The weather wasn't inviting when I woke up so, instead, I used the time to hit the gym and hop on the treadmill. How anybody can run on those contraptions is beyond me. I did 5x1km hill "sprints" with the grade set to 15% and the speed set to 12km/h. I don't know what that 15% equates to in terms of gain but running uphill at a 5 minutes/km pace was a good way to get the heart-rate up. The constant thumping was annoying.

Tues pm 10.2km - 1:11:09 (549m)
Sheldon and I met after work for a run up Signal Hill. Nothing too intense or strenuous. Ran to the lookout above Bantry Bay and watched the sun go down. The season changing brings on a whole new dynamic to the colour palette of the sky.

09-04-14
Wed pm 8.1km - 47:30 (431m)
I guess I slept through my alarm on Wednesday morning because, not only didn't I go for a run but I also nearly got to work late. Taking this as a sign that my body is not 100% yet. Still, I made an effort after work to head up Signall Hill along the bottom treeline route (there's a nice steep climb at the end to get to Pat's Track on Lion's Head), perched on a rock and watched the sun go down. On the way back down I bumped into some people who I hadn't seen for a while so I walked a bit with them and chatted then stepped up the pace to make up for lost time. Left hamstring and calf were feeling a little tight.

10-04-14 
Thurs pm 5.1km - 44:38 (353m)
From the first step I took, I realised that this run was not going to be fun or long. the pain from my left hamstring and calf had spread and become my entire left leg and hip. I may have felt terrible on the run but it was still good for the soul to watch the sun go down.

11-04-14 
Fri pm

After Thursday nights shambles of a run I decided to sit Friday out and rest. Did some basic stretches (that I learnt from yoga on Monday) and iced my calf.

12-04-14
Sat am

More of the same, sadly. I tried to warm up in the hopes of running parkrun but after a few metres I had to pull up and decided against risking further injury. Restlessness started setting in, especially watching Michael Bailey and Josh Hodge come tearing around the corners for parkrun. 

13-04-14
Sun am 12.1km - 1:27:32 (617m)
On Sunday I decided that enough was enough and went on my merry way up Signal Hill. Big mistake. I didn't realise just how hot it would be and I paid the price. I was smart enough to take water with me because I set out with the intention of climbing Lion's Head but changed that plan after spending an extended period in the baking sun. The route that I ran usually takes me about an hour and ten or so but this time I had to stop three times: once to refill my water bottle and twice to puke from the heat. First time that's ever happened as far as I can recall. The positive out of all that was the fact that I was able to run and complete 12kms.

Sun pm 9.7km - 1:16:04 (454m)
Sheldon and I met up in the afternoon to watch some football and decided to have an evening run, after things had cooled down a touch. I treated this as more of a recovery run. No unnecessary pushing on straights or uphills (Pipe Track has a fantastic, runnable uphil section that gains about ~100m over a km and a bit. Very tempting to run hard up it). We headed out towards Corridor Ravine to get away from the noise of the city and just watch the weekend melt away beneath the horizon. I kinda wish my phone camera wasn't so ruined because the photo opportunities were immense.

total hours: 5:40

total mileage: 50.2km

total gain: 2404m

I don't know whether to feel good about the fact that I've finally gotten to a level of fitness where I can run 5 days a week or to be upset that I'm not able to run the distances I want to. Ideally I'd be allocating around 20 hours to running which would mean I can start getting my mileage up into the 100km+ range but I guess that coming back form injuries etc can set you back in your training somewhat. I'll just have to settle for trying to double what I'm currently doing.

I've also made a conscious decision to not enter any races this year. I have a specific goal in mind for a secret project that I'm working on for (hopefully) early to mid spring so I've set some pretty large goals for myself. The important thing is to remember to keep them within reach and reason.

A little good music to kick off your week. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

06/04/14

Today should have been a special day for me. It should have marked the, official, one week anniversary of my commitment to logging my running with pen and paper. A mundane, and possibly banal, practice considering the wealth of technology at my disposal, I concede, yet one which I look to with much enthusiasm and much optimism, in regards to improving my running and training, overall.

However, it is not. 

It is not the anniversary I, so enthusiastically, longed for and it is not the anniversary which I was hoping to write about and keep this as short as possible. 

I do, on the other hand, have an extremely valid, and mildly lengthy, reason for the fact that it isn't the first anniversary post. Last week Saturday, the 29th March, I set off on a mid-morning run, as I usually do, with the intention of summiting Lion's Head, as I usually do, but with no real time or pace in mind. The weather was particularly warm for, what is typically, the first month of Autumn and after the initial kilometre, from my doorstep to the trailhead on the Green Point side of Signal Hill, I could already feel slightly unsettled. 

Mentally, I hadn't given the run any thought before embarking as I run this particular route, up to, four times a week and didn't feel the need to treat it any differently from any of my other training runs. At most, I had given some thought beyond descending Lion's Head as quickly as possible so that I could, possibly, add in a lap around the base of the mountain to indulge in the views of Camp's Bay and Clifton beach. 

Physically, I was feeling pretty good. I might have had a bit too much coffee that morning after parkrun but, I mean, the coffee at Brew is so good that you can't be blamed for having more that one in a visit. I had no muscle fatigue from the day before's tempo run up the side of Signal Hill (on Lion's Head trail) and I was feeling rather pleased about that but, still, my stomach was feeling a little upset with the amount of coffee vs the amount I had eaten. Regardless, off I ventured.

Firstly, a key learning I've made in the last few months (running in summer) is that either carrying a water bottle or running a route with access to water points is of vital importance. We could probably spend hours discussing the pro's and con's of running sans water in an effort to train your body to run in a dehydrated state but that sort of specific risk-taking is generally not everybody's idea of a good run.

Secondly, I've discovered, the hard way, that there is no variation of foot-striking that can soften the blow of running over particularly jagged scree and rocky trail. Heel-striking is asking for trouble, especially when running in 4mm-outsole minimalist trail shoes, but mid-foot and even tip-toe -striking do little to reduce the pain. 

On this particular run, I had already decided to take it slower than usual on the way up to the start of the Lion's Back (the second trail, on the back of Lion's Head, that I am fond of as it is more conducive, I feel, to actually running up..) because of the heat (and lack of water). At any rate, I summitted Lion's Head in little over 45 minutes and immediately collapsed at the top, in a sweaty, dehydrated heap. At this point I had ruled out the "victory" lap around the base of the mountain and decided to stick to the plan of descending as fast as possible and getting myself home to rehydrate and refuel the depleted reserves.

For those of you that have run, hiked or walked up and down the Lion's Back, you'll know that it is vastly different terrain to that of the jeep track that meanders up the front of the Lion. The Lion's Back looks like pathways made from rock-slide. There are small sections of hard-packed dirt but, overall, it can be very trying on the soles of the feet. and on this particular descent, I happened to step on, possibly, the sharpest rock on the entire trail with, possibly, the least protected part of the sole of my New Balance MT10v2's. These shoes have no rockplate in them so sharp rock can definitely make an impression on your sole, for lack of better phrasing.

The outcome of this incident essentially led to me licking my wounds on as slow a canter as I could down the rest of the trail and finally along the rest of the 3,5 kilometres home. I earned myself a beautiful blood blister on my right heel which bled profusely when lanced and some time off my feet. I actually promised myself that I would take a week off of running and recover but keep active by cycling at gym as well as doing some strength training. But those that run know how long these sort of resolutions tend to last.

I did, however, give myself Monday to Wednesday off of running. It might not sound like much but, for somebody that tries to ensure at least 7 running sessions a week, 3 days off is quite a big deal. I took myself to gym and did what training I could (that didn't involve me needing to stand up to lift heavy objects and put unnecessary pressure on my heel) but by Wednesday evening I had already decided that I would lace up again on Thursday. 

03/04 Thurs am 10.1km - 43:17 (78m gain) 
I put in an early morning high-tempo road session along the Sea Point Promenade. My New Balance MR3090v2's have more heel support due to a greater stack height (even though they weigh in at a 4mm heel-to-toe drop, the same as my MT10v2's) which relieved quite a bit of pressure off my injured (and now bruised) heel. Ended the run with some mid-tempo 3x mini-hill repeats.

03/04 Thurs pm 8.9km - 49:44 (465m gain)
After the mornings strong run, I felt quite happy with how my heel felt so I decided to venture on to the trails again. I took my usual route on Signal Hill up to the Lion's Back trailhead. Nothing too strenuous. Kept a decent tempo while making sure to watch where my feet were landing to avoid another heel disaster. Ended off with some small hill repeats on my road to warm down.

04/04 Fri pm 14.7km - 1:40:41 (629m gain)
Sheldon and myself took a very relaxed-pace run. Both of us are carrying little niggles (my heel, his ITB) so we made it a priority to enjoy the run more-so than cover a specific distance or time. Watched the sun go down from the lookout above Camps Bay, ran amongst the early-autumn colour palette and ended the run by doing the last half on the road to make use of the street lights (note to self: a headlamp is a must).

05/04 Sat am 5.0km - 19:43 (46m gain) 
Myself and 4 buddies hit up the Stellenbosch parkrun. It was Chris's birthday and we were on our way up to Franschoek for the weekend so we decided to do parkrun in Stellenbosch as opposed to the one in Green Point (where I am an event Director). Nice route, great weather and some good runners too. Didn't push too hard, just hit my stride and stayed at a comfortable pace that kept the next closest runner a good minute or so out. Chris ran a 18:21 and took second. Ricky, Sheldon and Sarah all ran comfortable paces and times. We hit the Root44 market for some breakfast and then missioned to Chris' sisters house to freshen up. Chris and I did a 2km or so warm down run. 

06/04 Sun am 6.5km - 28:12 (52m gain)
After everybody had recovered from Saturday evening's festivities and finished up with breakfast , we vetoed a hike mission and decided that spending the day by a dam was the best idea ever. True to fashion, I decided to run to the Berg River Dam from Franschoek town centre. Halfway into the run my calves started cramping slightly and my back was giving me issues (as a result of way too many drinks and some macho heroics the night before) but I pushed through and treated myself with a dip in the dam before the others arrived. Which they never did. They, instead, hit a smaller dam closer to town (though not by much) so I laced up and used the 2km difference as a warm down. Both Saturday and Sunday's runs were with my New Balance MT00's. Not sure why I chose to take that pair with me but I must admit that it was a lot of fun running fast(-ish) in the 0mm drops.

total hours: 4:50

total gain: 1200m

While I didn't do as much running this week as I would have liked to, I'm still pretty happy with what I did manage to get done considering that I am carrying an injury and spent the weekend away, partying with friends. I don't feel like I cheated myself out of any miles, like I usually would under any other circumstance, and I don't feel as if my training took any kind of hit from it. Next week will be a little more of the same as I wait for my heel to, umm, heal up a bit more. I also didn't plan on picking up this back problem which I'm hoping to resolve by foam-rolling, icing and possibly heading for some acupuncture. The group of us are going to go do some beginners yoga as well so I'm hoping that it helps with the back a little.

I guess that about sums up the week. I'm still trying to figure out the frequency of posts. Too many could definitely be more admin than I bargained for but I do want to keep it quite regular. There's no rush to perfect everything though so just stick with me and we'll see where this goes.

I'll get around to including some images with these posts as well when I sort my camera out. Add a new element to this.

For those that may be interested, you can check out my Strava profile here.

03/04/14

I guess to start things off, as well as get the first post out the way, I'll outline the purpose of this blog and give a brief insight into what prompted it's creation as well as a little introduction as to who I actually am. I'll start with the purpose of the blog and you can make your mind up from there if you want to know more about me. No promises.

Firstly, I love to talk. In all sense of the phrase. I've been known to waffle on about nothing in particular, sometimes for hours on end, talking the ear off of whoever is unlucky enough to be in earshot of my diatribes. It's a bad habit but not one that I'll likely be giving up any time soon. It's an entirely unconscious (and most likely nervous) habit and probably has something to do with the fact that I don't pick up on social cues particularly well (somewhat of an irony for somebody who studied social psychology and behaviourism). Mostly, though, I'm talking about running, which leads me to my second point.

I've never really been one for taking detailed records of my actions down. Maybe because I've never participated in a sport or activity that this particular skill was quite integral towards. Regardless of the reason, since I started running (and taking it way more serious than I ever have by taking to mountain running), I've become quite aware of how important it is for one to, in some manner, log their runs. But that importance is a double-edged sword. Most people are quite happy to purchase a fancy GPS watch and utilise whichever GPS app they can download to their smartphone (I, myself, am a user of Strava. Highly recommend it for basic GPS recording) and use the sites set up for interpreting the data, to keep track of their activity. While I do concede that these methods might be fine for some (like elite athletes), I feel that they also have an inherent danger of "bogging" you down in metrics. There is just too much being thrown at you in such a small space of time, for starters, and, as I've seen happen, it becomes way too easy to find yourself scouring over metrics after each run, analysing every single kilometre you ran, and just generally measuring your running up against a false standard. Your body is your best source of feedback. The data that your toes, arches, heels, shins, calves, knees and all the other muscles groups involved send back for interpreting is more important than your p/km splits or vertical gain. Your body knows what is right for it and it will sure as heck let you know when something is amiss. So, in an effort to wean myself off of Strava metrics, I'll be using this blog as a sort of run log whereby I update with my weekly mileage, vertical gain and time spent on foot (these three pieces of information are most important to me and my running) but more importantly,  I'll be recording how my body felt before and after the run as well as periodic updates as to how my body is responding to my overall training. 

Lastly, I'd also like to see this blog be used as a platform for me to voice my opinions on things I see fit and, hopefully, connect with other like-minded individuals (or otherwise, debate is healthy) from all areas, especially those that I wouldn't have the chance to connect with due to geographical constraints. I have a tendency to be a touch anti-social, but I find that this is more due to social anxieties, and because of this, I have found it difficult to meet and connect with others who are as passionate about running as I am. So the whole "online and anonymous" route of social interaction seems to be a nice way of leveling the playing field, so to speak.

Now that all the explanations are out the way, here's a little bit more about me (other than what you have already, most likely, picked up on from the above paragraphs).

I have always been involved in sports of some kind since I can remember. I grew up playing traditional sports like football, cricket, swimming and athletics but my passions, from an early age, were already leaning towards cricket. Somewhere along the line I gave up athletics (probably because I was rather self-conscious about my skinniness) and swimming (again, self-consciousness) to focus on football and cricket. Eventually, as things do over time, my interests had waned in traditional team sports. In my teens I swapped cricket and football for skateboarding and surfing. A rebellious lifestyle for a rebellious teenager. 

During my teen years I experienced many injuries from the skateboarding (and then bmxing) of which there are far too many to begin mentioning but broken bones and a cast were a common sight. As time progresses, we learn that there is a limit to how far we can push our bodies, and at some point, in my early twenties, I decided that I wasn't going to keep trying to find out what that limit was any more. I stuck to surfing as it was, relatively, harmless and I enjoyed doing it. 

Fast forward to 2013 where it had been some time since I had seen the water (even though I used to live a stones throw from the ocean!!), I had moved cities (from Durban to Cape Town) and had dabbled in crossfit and some road running as a way of ensuring that I was not leading a, totally, sedentary lifestyle. It was around the start of the year that I went through a bad patch which revolved around a breakup and me feeling very sorry for myself. My activity took a hit, i stopped going to gym and hit the road infrequently.

After a few months of moping around and teetering on the edge of living a destructive lifestyle, I decided to start running more. The typical New Year's resolution that most people make but one that I promised to see through. Until that moment, the longest distance I had run (without keeling over or walking) had been a 10k race. After a few weeks, though, I realised why I ran on the roads so infrequently. My body just could not take the constant pavement pounding. Likely to do with the fact that I had never paid attention during my athletic years to the wisdom of the coaches in regards to form and technique. I found myself on the receiving end of painful shin splints, throbbings in my hips and a general discomfort all around.

The one positive in this whole scenario was that the shoes I was running in (Nike Pegasus 26) were, as I'm told, actually designed to be trail shoes so I decided that I would put them to such use as, after moving to Cape Town, I had a plethora of trails to choose from. This breakthrough, coupled with some mountain hiking in the winter, was to be my very own awakening. An epiphanal moment, if ever there was one.

Since my first venture onto the trails, I have been completely and utterly hooked on trail running. I'd be hard pressed to try and describe the feelings I have for the sport without going into even more, ridiculous detail than I already have so far in this post.

The experience of the mountains stirred something in my soul that had never been aroused until my first footsteps on the majestic, silent guardians of the natural world, and for this I am eternally grateful. In such a short space of time (nearly my one year anniversary) I have discovered more about myself, physically and mentally, than I have my whole life.

I hope that you will join me on this journey, as I find out more about myself and the things that I am capable of, and share yours too. As I mentioned above, I aim to use this to engage with like-minded individuals.

So, I guess that's the first post. Quite lengthy, I'll admit, but I feel as if all the important ground has been covered. I'll be trying to keep this updated as regularly as possible with a minimum of weekly updates.

Ryan