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