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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
Keep it up man!
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