THE DEVILS IN THE DETAIL

PERFECT DAY ON THE MOUNTAIN

In my books every day's a perfect day on the mountain... but last Saturday was kind of nice!!! It been sometime since I spent any time on Devils Peak so a little run was planned: 06h30 from UCT... Ake was/is in Wales, Will was sick, Eddie was on Baby duty, Katya was working, Richard went home, Bernie had no transport, Elske's moved to Somerset West, and Ian to the USA...

Lucky for me...

MARIE WAS IN...

So from UCT we headed up to Rhodes Mem and onto the gravel roads to round the base of Devils before taking the single tracks up to the saddle. We could have stayed on the Oceans trail route and rounded Devils on the top contor, but...

Today was Devils day, so up we went...

THE LAST TIME I WENT UP!

Unlike the last time I went up there wasn't a cloud in the sky of even a breath of wind...

WE MADE IT UP

At 1000m it's enough of a climb to get amazing views of the city... Since we didn't have brealfast with us we had to head down as time was marching on...

ON THE WAY DOWN

We didn't head back the way we have come, but headed through the saddle (the path needs a bit of clearing) to "climb" down Newlands Ravine...

HIDDEN BY THE BUSHES

3h15 of running later we had covered only 20km but with more than 1200m of climb and plenty of bushes to fight no-one was complaining!

This weekend: VLAKENBERG

WINELANDS

We woke before the partying youth would return home and with Dawn and the Puppies packed we headed out to Stellenbosch...

The rain had left a chill in the air, I hear there was snow on the mountains, and with most of the clouds lifted and very little wind it was ssetting up to be a great day for marathon running!

OK so we should really have left 10-15 min earlier to beat the masses and the traffic. I didn't need a real parking bay as Dawn was going to be following the race.

I left Dawn to feed the 'Children' and walked to the start joining a couple of friends on the front line!

It wasn't long before we set off, well I set off while half the field bolted off as if they had lined up for a 100m sprint!

Slow down, Slow Down a marathon is a long way and I can't run that fast... 

Finally I caught my friend Eddie and a couple of other guys, the pace felt good and we passed 1km in 4:08 perfect just want I wanted..

Now when it comes to running I am a bit of a control freek! and it was long before I was setting the pace with maybe 10 guys feeding of my energy! It was easy going to start with and while Eddie only stayed up front with me for a couple of km (he wasn't have a good day) I had plenty of over guys to chat too.

5km 20:37, next 5km 20:23, and the 5km to 15k 20:28... Now having arived at the start a little letter than planned ment one thing, no 2nd toilet stop! So while on any normal training run this isn't needed, there is something about a race (even if not racing)... I left the grown at 17.7km and rejoined the race 1min 20sec later and a kg lighter! 5km to 20k 22:22.

I was now on my own and full of running, so I set about chasing the sub 3 bus down... 20:20! OK let me tell you a little about the route now: While it's very flat till 15km then there is a hill to 20 and another to 25, and while I thought the weather was still great for running it was raining! (and I was ahead of the hail!) The bus I had kept together for the first 17km was in pieces I by 22km I was passing them. The wind now picked up a bit, but that was a good thing as it was time to turn and head back. I now had the last 2 guys from my bus in my sights and by 26 I caught them, it was a slight inclimb so I just went by dropping the Nedbank runner, but Seppie joined me. On the other side of the 'hill' Seppie picked up the pace, I told him to keep it easy as we still had a long way to go... I did think it was a little cheeky of me as he is a super star runner in his own right with a 62min half to his name! (but that was a long time ago and I do have more Marathon under my belt than him!)
We ran together 20:08 21:05 (up a little hill and on a gravel road) 20:32... That would take me to 40km, but Seppie who had struggle on the hill wasn't struggling any more and at 39km kicked... HA HA HA I wasn't going to race him it was about keeping the body moving smoothly and that's all I did... 2.2km to go 9:02.

OK have you done the maths? 2h54:57 and still running 4:05/km at the end... maybe there is a little fitness coming back!

Sorry no pictures today, while dawn was watching it was chilly and wet, so she was supporting from the car, and not jumping out to take pictures!

THE COME BACK KID (or should that be OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN)

Before we talk about my "Come Back" there is a lot of other racing that has been happening:

First up, on the 25th was the UTCT (100km or 62km trail race), while they started in the dark and some would be ending in the dark I was only up at first light, early enough for me! I started my run at the Nek and ran over the mountain to meet the runners at the top...

Finding the perfect shot!

So much for the perfect short, the clouds closed in and...

Leading lady, no Lion's Head in the back ground

It was cold and windy up there and I didn't stay long, I was only dressed for a run on the mountain!

So I headed back...

I decided to follow the 2nd lady down!

OK I was really up there to support her and would have run a couple of hours with her if it was aloud! I took a shortcut and let the guys race on... I did catch the race again on top before heading back down to the Nek.

Leg 1 finished

I didn't see Chantel again, but I was back on the route a couple of hours later to watch the front guys finish leg 2 (loop into Hout Bay).

Eric had been leading since the mountain and was a long way ahead and looking strong, Andrew in red was 3rd, but would catch 2nd... I watch 6 guys come through, but I had to go home before I found myself out the whole day...

Watching ultras can take a long time!

Now a week later I was back up the mountain watching the next race: 3 Peaks... I had left home 5 min later than planned and had to run hard to see the front guys come through!

Martin in 2nd place, but would end up winning

 I left Maclears before the first lady came through but was heading on the route so I saw Katya flying along the top...

Katya leading the leads as she turns at Maclears

When she caught me I let her pass and tried to stay with her till Platterklip! She bounced down while I watched a couple more guys (and ladies) slogging up before I headed back to Constantia Nek...

Me playing on the mountain!

On on with my comeback...

While I might never have really taken off and I even run a couple of races while on holiday, I don't feeling I racing if I'm not on the road or track lining up for something fast!
Now not that I was hoping to be running fast I lined up for the Old Mutual 10km race in Pinelands. I didn't race, but ran as hard as I could, and those last 3km hurt. I was happy with my 37:15.

With 3 peaks on the Saturday (2h30 on the mountain supporting), Sunday's half (Landmarks) was not going to be easy, but it would be good training for Winelands Marathon on the 15th... The race breaks up into 5km flat, 5km climb, 5km down, and 5km (6.1) flat. it was hard work, but the body held out.  I was aiming at 84min and while the last 5 required a bit of work and I finished with 3 sec to spare...

Winelands, here we come ready or not!