SO MANY CHOICES and THE HUNT FOR THE RED DISA

This weekend passed the race calender was full... There were 3 races I would have like to have run:

The 27km Freedom Challenge, near Franschhoek. A flattish 27km race from the prison that once housed Nelson Mandela, and you get to run a km for every year he was incarcerated.

Top Forms 10km race. If I had found myself on the startline I would have set about seeing if the legs still had a bit of speed in them, always good to line up at a fast and flat race!

Silvermine XL, a 35km trail race, and one I was looking to run... really enjoyed the ran last year.

But sometimes Dawn says: Please can we do something else.... So

I've had it 20 years

I dusted off the old bike (we have a 110km race coming up and 1 training ride should be enough) and we headed out...

25km turn around point

It was a perfect morning for cycling without a breath of wind. Don't get me wrong cycling isn't my thing and I did find myself looking up at the mountains looking for the guys racing Silvermine's 35km...

At 14h00 I found myself alone at Constantia Nek about to set off on a little run. Now, because I had 50km of cycling in my legs I had 2 route choices, but as I started that first climb it was clear that I was going all the way to Maclears Beacon. To say I am competitive would be an understatement, and as I took a split time at the turn off to Nursery Ravine 24:52, I pushed on...

The old body didn't feel old today, it was working and the steep rocky climb and winding single track didn't slow me down as I seemed to have bounds of unused energy, the splits to Nursery and Skellie were good. I finally stopped my watch at Maclears 57:48 my fastest time by over a minute. it was now time to enjoy the run back.

On Top of Cape Town

It was down hill from here and while I could have chosen many different routes, it's February and that leaves you with only one choice:

THE HUNT FOR THE RED DISA

It didn't take long and after 10min I was off the main trail and..

The Hunt Was Over

I've never see so many....

All the way alone the river

It was the heat of the afternoon, so I decided to take a quick dip before running on...

The water was lovely

I stopped so many times on the way back, an hours run took almost 2 hours...

So while I missed a trio of races, I think I had the best run!