Wednesday, June 30, 2010

THE WATERFRONT

After Church on Sunday Dawn and I decided to pop down to the Waterfront for lunch. I work in Town and every day that I'm out in town I tell her about the large number of foreigners that are here for the soccer, so a trip to the Waterfront would give her a chance to experience for herself.


Boy was the Waterfront rocking with all English and German supporters getting ready for the match. The vibe was exciting and the food places were packed. Well the places that weren't charging R 150.00 a head were packed, while the over the top places were empty. After looking at a couple place (the ques were to long) we popped into Wollies and bought take-a-ways and sat in the sun to eat, far better idea. It was the most amazing day and one wanted to be outside.
I know I should have taken a picture of the crowds, but I didn't maybe next time!
We left around 15h00 and headed out of the Waterfront turning right as we hit Town. We drove under the foot bridge to the Waterfront and the foot bridge of the fan walk heading to Kloof. At this point I pulled over and left the car to Dawn!!!
Wearing only bright Pink Pollies, a peak and a running back I headed up Kloof Street to Kloof Nek. Now as I headed up the hill something happed that has never happened before... First a lady leaned out of her car (she was the passenger) with her cellphone and took a picture... Then wait for it some-one else pointed a camera out of a van and also took a picture!!! I don't know why, but I would have it a guess that it wasn't because of my dashing good looks...
From the Nek my run home took me on the jeep tracks through Deer Park to the Kings Block House. and the contour path to Kirstenbosh, before taking the Green Belts home. It was a magic run on the most perfect day to be out in the winter sun.
Who knows what I'll be doing next weekend in between the Tennis and the Cycling.

EESTERRIVIER 15KM

Last Saturday I had Dawn up early and we headed out to Eesterrivier for the 15km race. I had been aiming at running a good time, club colours 52:15. The drive out was interesting as the mist on the N1 and Baden Powell Drive was so heavy we almost missed to turn off.

The heavy mist made for great running conditions; no wind and cool not freezing. I can't say I took off like a bullet, because I was 3 lines back and the start was slow, but I was fast enough to be on pace at the 1km mark (3:24), didn't want to run any faster. Had to work hard for the first half of the race going through 5km in 17:19 (on pace and on my own). Just before the turn around I caught 3 Juniors and 1 other Vet. At the turning Chris told me that I was still behind the leading lady, and if I didn't want to be beaten I would have to pick up the pace... It was good running in a group and we were closing the gap. We hit 10km in 34:20 and we working nicely, then one of the juniors decided it was time to surge breaking up our group as the others chased I couldn't up a gear and chase as I was already running flat out! I was still catching Tanith Maxwel and Johnny (the Vet) as they were now running together. Then with 2km to go the road seemed to get a slippery (like Diesel had been split on it) and I just couldn't keep my sub 3:30 rhythm and the gap open again. Come the last km I didn't have anything left and could just hold my pace to the tape. My time of 51:38 was the fastest I've run in a number of years. I was 33rd over all and 5th Vet so out of the money, need to choose my races better if I want to win some money!!!

I run back for Dawn who was also after Club colours she was running nicely and was easiely 71min finishing with a time of 68:01 (pitty about the 01!).

Next road race will be a 10km to see what I'm made of!!!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

MONTRAIL ROCKRIDGE



Got a new pair of shoes the other day and had put off wearing them because of the rain, something to do with the "They are new, I don't want them to get wet," theosophy. Anyway I took them for run on the contour path last Saturday and they did just fine, but then yesterday I took them for a real test!


I met Jayde at the Nek at 08h00 and we set out to test the new Montrail Rockridge. From the Nek we headed up the single track, no heroics as we had a long morning ahead of us. The path up is mostly sandy with wooden stairs and running slowly / walking up there didn't even test the shoes. On the top we took the concrete road to the dam wall and crossed over. Just a point there, 15min on the road went fine, but the shoes would only really be tested on the road on the way back. The rain of the last couple of days was a thing of the past, but the old railway track to Kasteels was a little wet and I found myself running like a fairy hopping from one dry spot to another still trying to keep the shoes dry.

Kasteels was the first real test, but with tired legs and a very wet track I took the down hill easy and yes the shoes were great but I was still taking it easy, that was till the gradient eased and the wet sandy rocks turned into a river!!! There was no more dodging the puddles. The river took us down to the Pipe Track which was also mostly under water. I was now running without a worry in the world the shoes were wet and my feet were cold, but even through the water the ROCKRIDGE was firm under foot and I never missed a step. Now here is something I really liked about the shoe: The river came to an end and we had a bit of dry path to run on, and unlike other shoes that seem to take forever to dry I felt that the ROCKRIDGE just needed a few steps to splash out the water...

From Kloofnek we started to climb again, we took the stairs (there wasn't a escalator and I didn't have money for the cable car) to the contour path. The views would have been amazing but with visibility down t0 less than 20m due to the mist we couldn't see anything. After 15min of climbing and an energy bar we headed to Platterklip. Once again we were running through rivers, lakes and waterfalls. With mountain to the right and cliffs to the left I never once worried about losing my footing.
With almost 2 hours of running we decided that getting back to the cars at the Nek was more important than racing up Platterklip, so our only aim was to run down the tourists, and boy were the English out in force. 28min later we stood on the top with just a little jog on the flat top of the mountain to go. OK Table Mountain is anything but flat, and heading through Echo Valley took us down steel ladders and along wooden pathways, I’m sorry to say this is were the MONTRAILS let me down and my legs slipped out from under me on the slime covered wooden walkway. (Are they trying to kill people, those walkways are lethal when wet.)
The shoes had held up well after 3 hours of the roughest trails I could throw at them, now on tired legs I had 20min of concrete road to run. Let me just say this: I’m not going to be lining up for a road marathon in then any day soon. Something I have done in my STREAKS!

In closing, I have this to say: for real trail put on the ROCKRIDGE you won’t be sorry I’m not.

Friday, June 11, 2010

CAN YOU FEEL IT...

It is here… The Mother city is alive with the colors of Bafana Bafana, World Cup fever is blowing over the city through the sounds of the Vuvuzela. I have been walking through Town every day this week and it looks like every second person is a foreigner here for the SOCCER. I've taken a couple of pictures to try and capture the feeling...


There are flags hanging all over the place and even some of the buildings has been transformed into soccer mad supporters!

So I guess Cape Town and the rest of South Africa is ready for this month of madness. I'm heading out now to have a look at the stadium before going home to watch the opening ceremony and Bafana take on Mexico.

GO BAFANA GO

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

TABLE MOUNTAIN 16km RACE

On Sunday I lined up for the Table Mountain Race for the 21st time, and this is my story:
In years gone by I thought I was strong on the hills and loved running on the mountain, so it was only natural that I fell in love with this race. Back then I was hungry to do well, win, break an hour, and yes I have been lucky enough to do all of that, but those days are as good as over. That said I still train hard and hope for the best!!!
At the start this year I was first out of the blocks and started opening up a lead. This was short lived as a guy from Jo'burg joined me at the front after the first turn about 2km into the race. This was good for me as it kept me honest and I had to work to stay with him I wasn't going to be beaten up my mountain. With one turn left to the bridge I thought I had him as I was pulling ahead, I hoped he would falter and start walking... But no he pulled back and joined me for the steep section to the bridge. The race now flattens and I felt we really picked up the pace I wasn't worried about winning I just wanted a good time. I had a look at my watch at the tap, and then started scheming about how I could take the King of the Mountain. On the last steep bit he slowed, I think because of the mist he thought the climb was starting all over again. He had no clue, I guess he didn't even know there was a prise to the top. I bolted and set off like a rabbit scared sprinting like Ben Johnson (yes a man on drugs). He was never far off but I went over the line first and then I slowed with the idea of letting him take the wind for a bit, but he had also slowed. Again i thought I had him so I upped my game and pushed for the dam, but no sooner had I started to pull ahead he decided it was time to close the gap. It was turning into a nice race and I was really enjoying to games we were playing. I was the using every game in the book to stay ahead and he just kept fighting to get back in the picture.

I think the top dam was leaking as the road was under water, again I took my chances and went for it hoping that he would tackle it like a fairy... again my lead didn't last long. I had one more chance to break him, the single track to the dam wall. This was going to be fun, was I able to take him to pieces in the mist on the wet rocks...? Almost, I heard him slip in the first couple of steps. I think this is were he realised that he had a race on his hands so he wasted no time in catching me on the dam wall. I want to say he was here to win and had taken it easy till now and now he had a race on his hands. We climbed up onto the road and started to run back, he was now uping the front pushing the pace, but noticed that I couldn't keep up so he backed off to keep the games up!!! It's all ways nice to be in front running past the back markers and having them all cheering for you. I sped past the marshals at the King and started heading down... He stopped and I hoping he was a spend case, but all he was doing was stopping for was sherry!!! He was playing with me and had caught me by the time we past the tap. I was running for 2nd... with about 2 km to go he left me for the last time and finished about 30 seconds ahead. My time of 65:44 was the slowest time I've every raced that race, I think I'm getting old, or did Saturdays Trail race take to much out of me?

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Cape Town's Big Wheel


First there was the London Eye and now there is Cape Town's Wheel of Excellence...

On my way to the office on Monday I saw this thing glowing in the dark, it looked really good and at lunch today I popped out to fill the bike with petrol and stopped to have a look and take this picture. I hear it's going to cost between R 70 - R 80. I'm not planning on taking a ride, but my wife wasn't against the idea so watch this space.
PS if that cloud wasn't there you would see Table Mountain.

PIZZA NIGHT

So last night was PIZZA NIGHT. Dawn and I have been out for pizza almost ever week since 5 March 1996. You could almost call that our first date... but we only started going out in September of that year. (That is another story and not for today)


I had planned on taking a picture of the pizza, but when the pizza came through I was in pizza eating mode, and any thoughts of picture taking were gone. But I can post this: my Lunch and left overs...
But that has made me hungry, so I'm going to eat. Till next time Bye!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

LET US GET THIS STARTED

So I was on the internet looking at a friends blog, and since he hasn't writen anything for a long time, no wait, make that a very long time... I decided to create my own blog.

Why you might ask, well that is the very question I am asking, so let us just see what happens. I would like to get the time to write weekly, or even more than that.

So what will I be writing, not much, as I don't really have anything to say... That said I might let you know about my plans for the weekend, or what happened on the last weekend. I might just talk running, then again I might feel like talking about the trip to work, the traffic or the weather. You will just have to wait and see.