December 2012

Where to start, well let us just have a little look back at were we have come from... OK it was Winelands Marathon, and the rest week, that about sums it up. So with the rest week now behind us it was time to start training again...

After my surprisingly fast half before the marathon I wanted a fast 15km and a fast 10km before the year was over, So the plan was to put in a couple of speed sessions. Yes I can handle the distance, so I just wanted the speed I had from before the marathon...

My plan was good, but the weekend got in the way (remember the long run with Sam over the mountain?) Then role on the 4th and my birthday!!!

What do you do for your birthday?

• take the day off.
• sleep in
• go for a run
• have lunch by the pool
• go out for a romantic dinner with my lovely wife

So I put in a days leave and slept till 07h00 before setting off for a run. I was on my own and with the Bakkie parked at the Nek I took off down the contour path again...

There are so many differnt runs I could have done, but with sam we had run slowly. (Sorry Sam) With the clock ticking and the 80's tunes in my ears I set off.I knew I would be faster than the weekend, but most of the time would be made on the mountain, so I was pleased to see the 1st split of 63:51 (2 minutes faster) then the split to Platteklip 23:41 (another minute). Lets call Platteklip 2.2km with 700m Climb!!! I still didn't have any bounce as I started the climb up the face of the mountain, but I slogged on, and then after about 20min I started to become focused and put in a little quad work!!! Stopping the clock on a fast 29:16. My breath caught up with me after 5 min and then I set off. I don't know where it came from, but I was on fire and the tricky sinlge track slipped beneath my feet like a tartan track...

Then 20min later I hit the wall (OK 2h20 on only water will do that) but lucky for me I had my Turbovite and a gu in my bag...

Shattered Coach

It took 10min to kick in and for my legs to start to work again... but by then the running was over I only had 5km to go and it was all down hill... 2h54:34 I stopped at my car, a full 25min faster than on the weekend!!!

The rest of my week was spoilt by a quick trip for work to Pretoria, so I only got in a couple of short runs... Role on the weekend and my 15km race.

I looked at the easy runs as a bit of a taper, so I thought I might be up for a quicky!!!

The wind was blowing and as I tried to push the pace I could do nothing, and with 6km down and the wind behind us I was flat, and was reduced to a jog...

After running like a three-toed sloth with only 2 toes, I headed into Constantia for hills on Sunday after 8 reps of about 1:45 (340m with 30+m climb) I was ready for home and the pool...

With the year almost over it's time to post this blog, as this weekend we are away for a few days and i hope to have tails from a far on my running adventures!!!